Chapter 3
Chapter Three
“Little human?”
I spin around, water splashing underneath my feet as I face Reed.
He looks like a god of water—ridiculous and unfairly attractive.
He is sitting on a rock, with an actual waterfall behind him, splashing water onto his golden chest. There is only a small space between us as his eyes fix on me, only leaving my eyes briefly to look at my neck and the marking.
I glance at his, a crown of swirling water and sharp ice diamonds.
It is glowing as blue as the waterfall behind him, as bright as the rivers spreading out in every direction from his rock seat.
His powerful legs are spread wide, and he’s wearing nothing except dark underwear, and with how wet and tight it is, he might as well be wearing nothing at all.
My heart pounds as I take him in, remembering everything that has passed between us like a knife to the heart.
Water puddles below my feet, spreading in every direction, and it’s everywhere.
Even the sky is not sky at all, but shards of brilliant ice threatening to smash down at any moment, with what looks like an aura of colours rippling above it.
“This must be a gift from the goddesses, a connection between us in our dreams. We are looking for you—”
He begins to stand up, and I take a step back.
“You’re not here!” I fell asleep in the room with Zyran watching me from a chair because I was exhausted.
This has to be a dream, like the dreams I have of my monster.
But it’s not a monster I trust in here with me now.
This is Reed. The man who chased my heart like it was a prize, only for me to give it to him and find out he was lying to me the entire time.
“Don’t you dare come closer to me, Reed. ”
He stops. His soft wisps of white hair move in a phantom breeze.
His sea blue eyes lock onto mine as he finishes standing, but he doesn’t come closer.
“Please don’t look at me like that.” His voice breaks.
“You want me on my knees, pleading for forgiveness? I’ll be on my knees for you, I’ll make the world bow, but please don’t look at me like I’m a man you hate.
I’m sorry, little human.” He drops to his knees in front of me.
The great Maiden heir, on his knees for someone he once thought was human.
“We should have told you about Tannith. That was a mistake and—”
“Don’t you say her name. Don’t you dare say her name!” I scream at him. “You took the only good thing in my life!”
“We didn’t kill her, Meredith. There are people to blame, and we are not innocent at all, but we did not kill her,” he softly reminds me.
I know he is right, but it doesn’t matter.
If I had known Tannith was dying, maybe my choice at the end of the Folkland would have been different.
I could have at least had time to speak to her, to just know.
Tannith never deserved any of this, and the truth is, neither do I.
I storm over to him. “You could have told me. I thought, at the very least, you were my friend! At the very least, we had some kind of trust between us. There is no amount of begging and pleading that is ever going to fix this. Us. I do not want to know you anymore. I fucking hate you all.”
“That’s a lie, little human,” he softly breathes out. “And fine, I’ll take hate. Come back and hurt me. Fight me, but I won’t fight you back. Just…come back.”
“Don’t you dare call me your little human.
Don’t you dare call me anything.” I shake my head.
“What is there to come back to? I gave up my chance to live a normal life with Tannith, far from the Folkland and all of you. I stood there, with a goddess’s choice, and I followed my heart.
You three cost me everything, while you gained the world.
How is it, back home? Are they throwing parties and celebrating your victory? ”
A vulnerable look crosses his eyes. “I wouldn’t know.
I haven’t gone back, and it was never home to me.
You’re home. That cabin in the Folkland was the closest I’ve ever got to feeling like I’m home.
” He reaches for me, but a sob echoes from my lips, and he freezes.
“You’re angry, and you have every right to be.
Meredith, please—let me be angry at your side.
Tell me where you are. I just need to know you’re safe. ” He crawls closer.
Hot tears pour down my cheeks. “All I needed was the truth, and you never respected me enough to give me that. I made it clear at the end of the Folkland that I’d do anything for you, and you…you were hiding and lying to me. The only one who lost is me.”
“Meredith—”
I hear him shout for me, but I turn and run. The splashing of water echoes under every footfall, but it’s not as loud as the stabbing pain through my chest as I beg whoever created this place to just let me wake up.
With a startle that nearly launches me off the bed, I wake up.
The room is silent, and the sky is just turning orange with morning light as I calm my breathing.
I pull my feet up, feeling that they are wet.
It was a dream with Reed…but it was so much more real than I thought.
I focus on Zyran for a while, waiting for my heart to stop racing.
I watch his breathing, chest rising and falling, as he reclines in the chair, his eyes closed and his thick, dark eyelashes dusting the tops of his cheeks.
He really is beautiful. The room suddenly feels too small, too daunting, and controlled.
I climb out of the bed quietly, tiptoeing around Zyran and heading to the door.
He doesn’t stir as I pull the bedroom door open and slip out without my shoes.
The cold air of the corridor is nice as I rest against the black brick wall by the door, trying once again to calm my heartbeat.
It was just a dream…I tell myself over and over, but I know it’s not true.
Reed was there and it fucking hurt. This is why I don’t let people get close to me.
I swear I hear Tannith’s laughter in my ear, her words echoing in my mind.
She’d tell me the risk of getting hurt is worth the risk of finding love.
She was always risking everything for love and yet never found it.
I fell headfirst and got hurt. I slam my head against the brick wall a few times for good luck before I actually look around.
The corridor is fashioned similarly to the rooms I’ve seen, dark and gloomy, but the pillars and gold woven through the flooring tiles are pretty. Soft, warm lights in the shape of stars shine along the walls, bright enough to see where I’m going as I head round a corner, following my instincts.
It’s hard to deny the truth that’s right in front of me: I must truly be a royal.
I want to just go to Tannith so we can laugh about all the times we both wished we were princesses, just like every other girl in the orphanage did and probably still does.
But I can’t go to her. The grief, the numbness, begins to feel like it is pulling me under as I walk faster, surprised that I never see a guard. Surprised I never see anyone.
I stop suddenly, overwhelmed, and my heart hurts, and I remember that she’s not here anymore to answer me. To understand my dry humour and tell me that I’m not a failure at literally everything I do. Now I just have to be better for her memory, and I don’t know how to do that.
I keep walking until I find two massive doors, and something about them makes me stop.
On the door is a symbol that looks familiar.
It is a circle, but within it is a maze made of shadows and spots of gold.
In the centre is a crown made of stars. Is that the royal symbol?
I assume it is, and I spend a little longer staring at it before I pull one door open.
The door is heavy, scraping across the floor before I manage to get it open enough to slip inside, and it slams shut behind me.
The room is massive. Every wall, all the ceilings, are bookcases.
Thousands of books lining every inch of them, filled to the brim.
Even the glass floor shows that the level below is filled with more bookcases and swirling steps down.
There are several seating areas on either side of the room, and a dark carpet path is rolled right down the middle towards two thrones, both equal in size.
The backs of the thrones are stars, black and pointed.
Beautiful. Made of stained glass and metal, and I imagine when the sunlight comes through the floor-to-ceiling window behind them, they must cast a unique shadow.
I’m not surprised when I hear a footstep behind me. I expected Zyran to catch up with me eventually, but it’s not him. Dain. “So you remember your way around the castle, at least.”
“Instinct, not memory. How did you know I was in here?” I cross my arms, turning to face him.
“You passed a dozen guards, Meredith. They woke me.” His eyes are filled with humour. “We control shadows, sister. They were there, but you didn’t see them. You haven’t trained in the art yet.”
Awesome. I had witnesses to my mental breakdown and head-slamming moment. I wonder if they told Dain about it. I need to change the subject. “Why are there so many books in here? I like it, I just—”
“Our ancestors used to say that knowledge is the only true power in the world, and books are a way of preserving such knowledge. The saying stuck. They believed the throne room should be in a place of power. What greater power is there than a library full of books?” He walks further in.
“The library stretches down several floors. Someone once decided to count how many books are in here.”
“How many did they say were here?” I question. Is this why I’ve always loved reading? Because it’s in my blood?