Chapter 8 #2
“Have you ever experienced anything weird or strange that might have indicated you had a power before this? Has anything traumatizing ever happened to you before?” he asked, his eyes widening in anticipation and a slight smirk cresting his lips.
“No and … no,” she lied. She didn’t feel comfortable telling him the truth about Michael and Alexi all those years ago.
The fewer people who knew, the better. She didn’t want anyone to judge her or think less of her, and she really didn’t want people to pity her.
She had grown so much since being at the Camp and living in Joro.
She no longer cowered or cried in fear. She didn’t want to be seen as weak, even if it made no logical sense.
It was her business and her business only.
“And King Ael said that the Corvids are loyal to you?” he asked.
“What do you mean by loyal? Roya and Ferona have said that they have protected me for years. I had no idea they were watching over me.” She felt this conversation needed to end, and fast.
He smiled brightly and pressed, “Loyalty, like you telling them what to do, as if they are your servants.”
Seda’s sudden burst of laughter caught Meir by surprise, and his bushy eyebrows flew up.
This felt like too much. First, he was asking her private questions, and now he was making assumptions.
Roya and the others weren’t tied to her in any way, and she didn’t give them commands.
They were… mysteriously… protecting her.
She turned to face the window and watched the shadow of the green orbs outside dance around behind the colored glass. “I don’t command the Corvids.”
His slitted eyes met hers. “Interesting. Perhaps you could? Have you tried?”
She needed to escape these questions and this man. “Thank you for showing me where the history section is, Meir. It was nice to see you again. I’ll see you tonight at dinner, right?” She wanted to leave quickly. That same creepy sensation was rising up her spine again.
“You don’t want to look around?” He held his hands out toward the books lining the shelves around them and smiled at her.
“Oh, I’ll be back. I have a few things that need to be completed. Thank you for showing me where the section is, though.”
He studied her before saying, “Then, yes, I’ll see you tonight. Neoma will be there, too. As you know, she’s also new.”
“Sounds good,” she replied as she retreated towards the staircase leading to the exit of the library. She exited through the doors, leaving that intrusive man behind and fighting the oily feeling he left her with.
She headed to her bedroom, walking past the large, double doors to the East Wing, and noticed two guards posted at her door. She paused and looked at them. “Hello, my room is behind these doors.”
The guard with brown hair and a long beard looked at her and chuckled. His gaze flicked to the other guard with trimmed black hair and a narrow face. They both smiled.
“Is something funny?” She narrowed her eyes at them.
“No, Seda Arbor. Nothing’s funny. We know who you are, and King Ael has told us to wait for you and guard your door. Please don’t electrocute us,” the bearded guard said, and they both laughed.
“May I please enter my room?” She scoffed at their lack of good humor. They stepped aside, and she walked in. What was Cahir worried about that she needed guards at her door? Especially those two? She went inside and reached around her back to pull the laces of her dress. They wouldn’t budge.
She spent a few minutes trying to untie them and had just begun to pull at the laces, tightening them in the process, when a knock on her door drew her attention. “Yes?” she asked with irritation, trying to breathe through the constricting corset.
Cahir opened the door and entered, smiling at her as he always did—sincerely, cheerfully, and frustratingly charming. He noticed her tied-up fingers in her laces and paused his steps into the room. “Should I leave?”
“No… no, don’t go. Can you please help me loosen these? I’ve been trapped in this damn dress all day, and I desperately need to get it off.” She turned away from him and listened to his footsteps as he slowly approached her.
She felt the tickle of his breath brushing her neck as he leaned down and gently touched the laces. Goosebumps rose on her arms and shoulders, and he paused behind her. The room seemed to close in as she focused on the amplified sound of him and the sensation of his warm fingers.
Why had he stopped? Did he notice her goosebumps? He slowly started to gently tug at the bottom lace above her backside and gradually loosen it from her back, his fingers softly grazing the skin between her shoulder blades.
Her heartbeat quickened, and she felt that warm, tingly sensation start low in her stomach again.
“You have small bumps on your back,” he said as he brushed along her skin once more.
So he did notice.
After he finished, she inhaled a deep breath.
The sweet relief of not being constricted was like a breath of fresh air, and she moaned as her top loosened and the shoulder straps fell off.
She heard his breath hitch behind her and turned around to look at him.
He was bent over her, staring down at her neck, and his rich, green eyes met hers, their noses almost touching.
Heat surged deep within her as she looked into his eyes and then lowered her gaze to his lips.
She licked her own, and his eyes followed the movement.
“Seda, I—” he began, reaching toward her, but then someone knocked on the door. He swiftly pulled back.
Seda cleared her throat and quickly rushed to the closet, away from Cahir and whoever was waiting outside. She stepped into the room, easing the door shut behind her, and stood listening, her breath caught tightly in her chest.
“Come in,” she heard Cahir say.
She silently reprimanded herself for having any feelings when he was near, reminding herself that he was a liar. But seeing his reaction to her empowered her, giving her a newfound strength she hadn’t realized she possessed. What if she could use this for her own benefit?
“Oh, Sire… I wasn’t expecting you here. I just came to see if Seda was available for a walk.” She could hear Neoma’s voice from the door. Jealousy curled her stomach as she remembered Neoma’s breasts exposed for Cahir when she arrived at the castle.
Had Cahir made love to that woman? Did he touch Neoma gently, the same way he just touched her? Did he cause her goosebumps to rise on her arms?
“Seda had a long day today and is resting before dinner. She’ll see you then,” he said to Neoma.
She heard the door close and quickly changed out of the dress into something comfortable, putting on a shirt and soft shorts from the dresser.
She stepped out of the closet and saw Cahir sitting in a chair near the window.
He looked down at her legs and back up. A half smile appeared on his lips, with his dimple catching the light from the window.
“That’s the Seda I remember,” he said approvingly.
Feeling awkward and a little angry at herself for caring who Cahir touched, she changed the subject, “I met Tahti today.”
Cahir tensed and asked, “Luelle took you there? Be careful of Tahti, Seda. My mother passed away with her present.”
Curiosity piqued within Seda. She didn’t know anything about Cahir’s past or family. “What happened to her?”
Cahir stared out of the window, his eyes tracking a singular green orb outside. His voice came out in a whisper, “My mother was the light in my dark childhood. I have vague memories of her. I remember hearing her scream, and then I remember crying beside her casket.” He bit the inside of his cheek.
Seda stood, stunned and frozen, unsure how to react. Cahir had never once talked about his family before, and admitting that last bit must have weighed heavily on him, because he slumped and placed his hands over his face.
“I’m sorry, Cahir,” she replied.
He looked up at her and struggled to smile. “Tell me how the visit was with Tahti.”
She released a breath. “She was… interesting. She shared something that could be valuable, though.” She moved further into the room and sat on the bed’s edge, feeling her legs grow weak from the weight of the prior topic.
“What was it?” he asked.
“She told me about the four stones. She didn’t tell me where to find them, but she told me what they are.
” She reiterated what Tahti had told her about the stones and that she had gone to the library to find more information, but had been unlucky in her search.
She left out running into Meir there and his weird questions.
Cahir sat there and watched her talk, not saying much in return, just listening intently.
“I know what the Stone of Peace is and where to find it,” Cahir said after she finished her story.
Seda perked up. “Where do I find it?”
“It’s the Umbrea Stone, gifted to my father shortly after the war with the monsters. It was once inlaid into the crown, but it was stolen when I was a child. Now they say that La Uma has it.”
“Who’s La Uma?” Seda frowned. How was she supposed to get not only a family heirloom, but one held by someone else?
Cahir hesitated before saying, “She’s, unfortunately, a monster that lives north of here. She mostly sticks to herself, thankfully.”
“What? How did she get it?” she asked as anxiety coiled around her. How was she going to get it from this beast?
“I’m not sure. But, it’s believed that La Uma only hunts men.” He looked away from her. “We should talk to Tahti once more to ask her what she knows of her.”
How would they get the stone out of her hands? And why would he give her a family heirloom like that once they had it back? It had to be valuable, judging by the size of the hole in his crown, and it must have had sentimental value to him.
“Tahti told me Mordred doesn’t hold the Dark Stone. That the Monster King does. Do you know who that is?” she asked.