Chapter 21 #2
“I don’t see myself losing interest. She has so much more to unravel.” He winks at me.
“Pity.” Margorate turns to me and smirks.
I will kill her for her audacity.
The shorter hag speaks directly to Jestin, “And you, handsome?”
“I am spoken for, ladies.”
I gawk at him, to fucking whom? I need my tea; where is that servant?!
“Right,” Margorate says. “Wisla, please show our guests their cottage.”
“Have a day you deserve,” I smirk at that bitch.
She bows mockingly. “I hope your day will be as pleasant as you are.”
◆◆◆
Wisla escorts us down the narrow valley.
The village is almost as tight as Tricity’s pavements.
Okay, slight exaggeration, but close enough.
Small wooden buildings sit squeezed in pairs.
The sun is overhead now, but soon it will slip behind the mountains.
Lots of kids run around, healthy and carefree.
Who would have thought?
Each cottage has a cauldron on the porch, and more than a few hags sneak glances at me while pretending to watch what’s brewing.
Before my thighs nearly give out from the march and I almost humiliate myself, destroying this fragile alliance, we finally reach our destination.
Don’t be so dramatic. Aidon scowls at me.
I grit my teeth at the sight of the dirty, neglected wooden house that looks worse than the others. The wood is darker, practically rotting.
Please, don’t let there be mould. Please, please, please.
Obviously, my prayers go unanswered. The moment I step inside, the stench of the fungus hits my nostrils.
It only gets worse.
Since hags have the hospitality of a marsh frog, the cottage has only two rooms, and I’ll have to cram all the males into one, because sharing a bed with any of them would absolutely wreck me.
“Where is that girl?” I murmur under my breath in irritation, sinking into a wooden chair that creaks under me.
Great. I need my damn balm.
“Why do you even need this so much?” Aidon comments on my thoughts, sitting in another chair, and I note that at least we have four.
”Why is that word different from others? Some kind of a masking spell?” Aidon pins me with a look full of accusation.
“Could you repeat it?” Riven strolls to us, exchanging a brief look with Aidon before saying, “Interesting.”
Freaking busybodies.
“Have any of you noticed she hasn’t had a problem wielding her power lately?” Jestin asks, raking his hair back again and again, unable to keep still. “Back then with Margorate? She controlled herself with ease.”“What have you done?” Aidon’s question is full of accusation.
The front door opens and Karo walks in, but instead of going straight to me, she waits with a terrified expression by the threshold. “My Lady, I have your package.”
Is she affronted by the commodity?
At least we know that her invisibility powers work with hags, because no one said a word about her presence.
“What package?” Aidon strolls to her and grabs her by her chin. He did it so fast, I didn’t even manage to stand up.
“Her mind is clouded as well.” He faces me, his hands tightening for a moment before he forces them still. “What have you done?”
My fingers tremble, temper rising. I need to make them go so I can take the remedy.
Standing up, I march past them, ignoring his question and answering directly to Karo. “Thank you, we will do it right away,” I turn to the others, noticing their sour expressions.
“Good night,” I throw it while making a beeline for the smaller bedroom. I don’t manage to get there, because Jestin grips my arm.
“No, you won’t walk away!” He grits out.
I freeze in shock for one heartbeat. I would expect that kind of reaction from Aidon, given how foul his manners are, but not from Jestin.
Like he is keeping the promise, which he whispered to me while I was dozing off in his arms in Santorili.
He should have been honest.
“Yes, I will,” I linger before I dust his hand off.
The hurt on his face knocks the wind out of me and my first instinct is to explain, comfort, and talk it through, but I don’t have time for it.
He searches my face, as if he is looking for a long-lost friend in me, but the naive princess he is longing for killed her family and shat all over her responsibilities.
I refuse to be her any longer.
“You can’t make me,” I snarl, as if it’s the absolute truth, like they couldn’t possibly overpower me.
I need to sharpen my comebacks before I claim that throne.
“We’re building something here, Seleste. Talk to me.” He refuses to back down. Persistent little frog.
“Please…” His voice cracks.
I give him a condescending smile, even though the rest of my heart rots inside.
“We can build later.”
“We can do it now! Is some stupid balm more important than our relationship?”
I seethe. How dare he manipulate me? Again? After he forced me on that path? I open my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, but then I hesitate and shut it, sinking into the chair again.
Is it more important? Is that overpowering need unhealthy? Should I pay more attention to it?
“Attention to what love?” I flinch when Aidon’s voice cuts through my thoughts.
“To…” I want to explain, but no words come to mind.
“...into Her Majesty’s health, of course. Nutrition should be important in her condition,” Karo states, directing herself towards the spare bedroom, then addressing the males again. “I must ask you to pardon us, we should see to her needs.”
They exchange a glance, and I brace myself for more defiance.
“Let them go,” Riven says, catching me off guard. He had been leaning by the door throughout the dispute, watching me with cold calculation. I realise now that his silence is more dangerous than I first anticipated, especially given the unusual weariness etched on his face.
Still, despite my aching heart, I don’t waste any more time on him and follow Karo into the second bedroom.
The door closes behind me, a terrible feeling of foreboding settles in my chest, like I’m one wrong move away from losing something precious, but I’m too far down the path to turn back.