6. Chapter Six
When I woke, Eero was alongside me, his arm draped over my side protectively. I first dragged a finger across his forearm before twisting around to look at his smooth, chiseled features.
The sunlight from the window danced across his face, and when his sleepy eyes opened to look at me, my heart fluttered. The heat of his dual-colored gaze was invigorating, even in innocent moments when he pressed his lips to my forehead and murmured my name.
He lifted a hand and felt my face. “You’re still warm, Aurelie.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat before burying my face into his chest, fluttering my eyes shut. “I feel fine, Eero. I promise.”
He hummed in disbelief, but his arms wrapped around my body and held me there. I breathed out in contentment when his hands dragged up and down my bare back, remnants of last night flooding my headspace no matter how badly I tried to focus on other things. We hadn’t been able to get lost in each other like we did last night in a long while. To think, it was cut short because of my…inability to control the magic within me.
I frowned and looked up at him. He’d closed his eyes again, head resting on the plush pillow beneath him. Part of me—a dark, secluded part—wondered if he’d grow tired of my anxious habits. Not just with sex, no, but that was a big obstacle. The more days that passed, the hazier the happenings of that night got. It seemed I only got more confused if a memory resurfaced, be it in the form of reverie or nightmare.
I had no control over it and, unfortunately for Eero, that was both in conversation and in lust.
He was a king, after all. I’d heard rumors of their antics and infidelity. They were notoriously impatient, leaving many a queen heartbroken when their mistresses did what they could not. Though Eero didn’t act like a king to me—rarely did his tone resound with the commanding roar of somebody willing and capable of turning a kingdom on its side—that didn’t mean he didn’t have specific standards he quietly expected to be met.
There, I frowned.
And somewhere between my frown and the blurred focus, he opened his eyes and dragged a finger across my jaw. “What is it, witchling?” he asked, tone pitching with concern.
“Nothing,” I breathed, blinking away the terror. This was just another moment. I needed to snap myself from it. Eero had never voiced such concerns; they were simply in my head. “I just wanted to apologize.”
His brows furrowed, and he lifted himself so he was supported on an elbow. I watched his silvery hair fall in front of his forehead, his lips parting far before he found his words. “Apologize for what?”
“For many things,” I rasped before clearing my throat, chuckling softly. He stroked some of my ginger strands out of the way, fingers dancing across my jaw when I moved to lay on my back. Eventually, he found my collarbone and toyed with the skin there gently. I trembled and closed my eyes. “I can’t help but feel I let you down last night.”
The shapes he’d been tracing across my skin halted. I wanted to open my eyes and look at him, but I refrained. Silence and darkness strangely calmed me.
“Last night was one of the most special nights I’ve ever shared with you, Aurelie. Very few compare.”
My breath caught in my throat, and I looked up at him finally. He was staring at my face, despite the bite marks that riddled my skin, despite my bare chest exposed for his hungered stare. As his touch returned to my cheek, he smiled softly.
I believed him.
“Why?”
“Why?” he repeated and hummed, letting his head fall to the side as he averted his focus to the window. “A lot of reasons, but… I’ve found myself worrying constantly about your well-being, physical and mental. I can only imagine what you were exposed to in that place, witchling, but I don’t blame you for the fear. It’s paralyzing simply not knowing what’s happening around you. To you.” A pause, and then he sighed. “And last night, for the first time in a long time, I saw you let go. So… don’t worry about me getting my fill,” he said and darted his stare down at me with a mischievous glint. “There will be plenty of time for that.”
I tried to rid myself of the heat in my cheeks. “You sympathize with the terror,” I rasped. “Does it remind you of when Yenira—”
I stopped.
Not many things caught me in the throat like this, but more and more, I’d found myself at a loss for words as the gravity of my reality trickled over my head. So, I flared my nostrils, cleared the lump from my throat, and continued.
“When Yenira tried to kill you?”
He grimaced. I watched him sit up slowly, pulling his face into his hands to rub the sleep away. “I lost a lot of myself that day. My life source was…drained, and with it, my magic. I should have died. Instead of death, I was left with an eye gilded by magic and powers that more often failed me than not. Fortunately, only one of those things remained.”
I sat up with him and rubbed his back. He twisted and looked at me through a gap in his fingers, his lips tugging into a small smile. I grinned right back. “One of these days, I’ll figure out all the things wrong with me.”
Eero stifled a chuckle and swiped my lips as I tried to kiss his cheek. “The only thing wrong with you is that there is not a crown on your head, but that will change in due time.”
The journey back home was longer than I anticipated. We were still in the Spring Court, but the town was unfamiliar to me. The people stared at us on our horses—which we’d bartered for with the jewelry on Sapphire’s neck—but to my fortune, they didn’t point at my rounded ears. Humans weren’t hated in the Spring Court, but the war had divided the realms. It was natural to hold resentment.
The most important part was that we weren’t stopped.
I looked at Sapphire and Casynox. Sapphire hadn’t said anything since we left the inn this morning, and although she preferred to read rather than chat, it was eerie not hearing her witty banter or snappy remarks.
Casynox had been quieter, too.
They’d known Eero a long time, and I knew it was no easy thing to reclaim a throne stripped from you. Even then, there was tension between the halfling and the general. They rode side by side, heads twisted in opposite directions as they stared over the Spring Court countryside. If it weren’t for the lingering scent of honeysuckle along the roadside, I would have fallen over at the weight of this silence.
“Do you have to ride so close to me?” Sapphire muttered just under her breath. Casynox huffed out a laugh. If I wasn’t staring at them, I would have missed it. I looked at Eero, who was already giving me a sidelong glance. He, in contrast to his quarreling friends, seemed fine. He rode alongside me, one hand on his thigh and the other on the reins. His posture was lax as he scanned the passing fields, lips pulled into the ghost of a grin.
Casynox laughed louder, his head thrown back in a moment of glee. “I wouldn’t mind the idea of you riding against me if it weren’t for the fact that you were a moping maiden last night. Let up, Sapphire. Let it go.”
Sapphire’s crimson stare bore through him like red hot coal, yet Casynox merely held that beaming grin, as if her anger was inconsequential. “Say it again, Cas. I dare you.”
Casynox shook his head, lips parted for a snappy response, but Eero was the one who interrupted it with a single word that fell off his tongue so delicately, I swore there was magic within it.
“Stop.”
Casynox swallowed his words. Sapphire’s jaw clicked as she ground her teeth.
But they complied.
I sighed and leaned back in my saddle, the horse slowing. My legs were starting to grow numb at this point, but we couldn’t stop, especially with Sapphire and Casynox bickering like this. “What has gotten into you two, anyway?”
Eero looked at me as the pair ahead of us exchanged glares, a slight furrow to his brows that was soon lost to a small, secret smile that seemed to be for me and me alone.
Sapphire cleared her throat as the tension dissolved, her lips falling into a thin line. She pulled back her long, silver hair with one hand. Casynox kept his focus straight ahead as she said, “We were...well, Casynox and I shared a drink last night after you two went to bed.”
There was a slight twinge in my chest at her tone. It was that of defeat, remorse. My mind reeled as to why she sounded this way, and Casynox didn’t speak a word.
Sapphire cleared her throat. “Casynox and I spoke of our partners, his late wife and my mate. I confided in him about Prince Evander’s trepidation toward our relationship.”
“It’s not a relationship, Sapphire! See,” he sighed and twisted to look back at me, “it’s impossible to reason with somebody in denial.”
Sapphire’s teeth grinded together again. She snapped, “Casynox.”
He snapped back. “I’m right, and you know it!”
“Casynox—”
“What?” he demanded with a huff. “It’s a truth we can all hear! You can’t even deny it anymore. He shows you an ounce of kindness after avoiding you for years, and you spiral. How is that healthy?”
Sapphire shook her head, “He’s my mate. It’s complicated, and you know it. Oh…” she paused, huffing out a bitter laugh. “Wait. You wouldn’t. Because you don’t have a mate.”
Casynox muttered beneath his breath, but Sapphire stared off into the field with a sullen look, the hurt written across her features as her lips twitched into a frown. I looked at Eero and then back to the two of them, clearing my throat before I tried to intervene. “If you two love each other, what does it matter? If you think he’s worth it, then fight.” I paused, chewing on the inside of my cheek briefly. “But don’t let him walk over you.”
She looked back at me as Casynox grumbled something in response, but I was focused on the hurt look in Sapphire’s eyes as she smiled at me. She twisted away and faced forward.
They remained quiet the rest of the way. I shared a few uncertain looks with Eero, unsure how to mend this awkward tension sizzling between Sapphire and Casynox, but ultimately, the silence worked its magic. The sun was setting by the time we returned to the manor.
And by the time we’d reached the door, Sapphire was holding a letter, her hand loosely placed over her mouth.
Casynox had retired to his room to sleep, which left Sapphire to linger by the windowsill and Eero to stand before the hearth as a fire crackled. He’d changed out of the clothes he wore on the trip, now in his usual crisp black tunic tucked into dark leather pants with black boots to match. He had his hands on his hips, the shirt pulling tight over his chest with every breath he took. I was trying to get used to how…kingly he appeared. It was easy for me to remember the quiet, observant bodyguard who’d chastised me to listen. He’d always been a pillar, but now, I needed him more than anything.
“Surely, we can find a way out of this,” Sapphire muttered, the paper crumpled between her hands. I frowned. “It’d be unwise to see him again.”
“Unwise would be ignoring the danger he poses by merely existing, Sapphire,” Eero bit back before drawing a hand to his nose and pinching the bridge. “Unwise would be ignoring the heir to the Spring Throne in such a dire time. He’s done us a favor, housing that bastard for so long. We knew this letter was coming.”
I reached for my glass of water and swished it in my mouth to wet my dry tongue before clearing my throat, struggling to find my confidence. Julius had been a friend all my life—more than that, even. There were no threats on that letter held so tightly to Sapphire’s chest, but I could read between the lines. Eero’s attention hung over me, patiently awaiting my input.
I’d always appreciate him for that. Patience. Acknowledgment. Even when I deserved it the least.
“Julius is a traitor to your crown,” I said in a hoarse voice, the tears stinging my eyes as I lowered my stare to the ground. Flashes of that night swarmed to the forefront of my mind again. To think Julius had been involved—that he was the reason I was thrown into that fortress to be maimed. Did he deserve my sympathy? “With him around, you are at constant risk. Unless we can figure out his motive…it is only wise to listen to the Spring Court’s judgment.”
Eero stood in silence. Sapphire stared out the window, a slight shake of her head. I stood and set the glass down, approaching Sapphire to fetch the paper. She begrudgingly handed it over but refused to look me in the eyes.
“Prince Evander is a friend to you, Eero. He believes in this fight, even if I’ve been told of his pacifist nature. If we must choose between saving somebody who had once been a friend but is now a traitor, and your efforts to reclaim your crown stripped from you years ago…well, I think the choice is clear.”
My voice cracked, but I held my ground. A tear threaded down my cheek, but I offered a small smile to my mate. He, again, stared. He was battling with himself. I could see it in that cold, dual-colored gaze. When he approached me, hands clasped behind his back so tightly that I could see every ripple of his muscle beneath his tunic, I could only await his judgment.
King Sólvon—fallen Winter King.
Eero Wynnoress—my mate.
“Tomorrow, we will venture forth to the Spring Castle. We will listen to the queen’s demands and discuss a peaceful resolution.”
I gulped, nodding stiffly. “It is the wisest choice.”
Eero’s lips were pursed into a thin line. He’d said nothing about my naivety or the foolishness of my sadness, but he didn’t need to. I understood how much resentment all of them held for the man who kidnapped me during that battle—who’d partnered with the wretched Summer King for reasons that would always be unknown to me. Perhaps we would get answers tomorrow—but when I looked Julius in the eyes that night, I saw nothing left of his soul.
Perhaps instead, I’d get a different kind of closure.
The kind that led to broken hearts and lost friends.