18. CHAPTER 18
Sorin
The last thing I expected when I stormed into my chambers in Stormgaard was for Rensford to be there, waiting for me. I closed the door behind me, stalking toward the fireplace where he sat in an armchair.
He nodded, indicating the bedroom across the hall. “You’re trying to tell me this is about keeping her safe from the townspeople?” he asked, voice skeptical. “You could just as easily keep her locked away in the castle in Gothryn.”
I cleared my throat as I met his gaze. “We can’t very well use her against Kallias if she is dead.”
Ren’s gaze narrowed as I moved to the table beneath the arched window, pouring myself a glass of the amber liquid inside the decanter.
I took a swig from the glass, the liquid biting on its way down.
It was laced with blood, and I needed blood right now.
Even if it wasn’t fresh and tasted terrible.
I took another swig before turning back toward him.
“You know as well as I do, she was perfectly safe in Gothryn.” He ran a hand down his face. “Do you want to tell me what this is truly about?”
“No.” I paused, the sensation of her skin against mine still so potent in my mind’s eye. “When I touched her, it felt—”
“When you touched her?” he interrupted.
I pinned him with a serious glare. “When I touched her to carry her here. It was like I felt my own magic blazing back toward me. It was like a lit match, a spark against my skin. I felt like I had been…burned. But dragons do not burn.”
Ren’s brows drew together. “That is curious.”
“Indeed.” I threw myself down into the armchair across from him, resting the glass on the arm of the black chair.
“But she is human. She doesn’t have even a remote signature of distant fae lineage that I can discern.
She isn’t Vireth, surely. But perhaps a Veytari passing as human somehow?
” I shook my head. “I’m not sure how it’s possible. ”
“Part nixie? Sprite? Perhaps she has mage blood…” he replied.
I bent forward, resting my elbows on my knees.
The lesser creatures of the realm had been hunted to near extinction; their presence was rare in present day.
“I would have sensed something like that. The magic…it was…different. Like nothing I had ever felt before. My own power, magnified back toward me.”
“Perhaps it was nothing.” Rensford shrugged. “Perhaps you are putting entirely too much concern where the welfare of this human is concerned.”
“We can both agree on that,” I replied with a trite smile.
“What is it about her that has gotten under your skin?” His head tilted as he studied me.
“I’m not quite sure. There is something unique about her. A magnetic energy that I have never encountered before. I am unspeakably drawn to her. I want to keep a close eye on her. I wasn’t about to bring Voirel here and let Aveline remain at the castle, unprotected and alone.”
Rensford feigned that he was wounded, his hand over his heart. “Ouch. My dearest friend doesn’t even trust me?”
I grabbed the throw pillow from behind my back and tossed it at him hard. Despite the speed with which I had thrown it—he caught it easily.
“You do realize King Mavros will expect Voirel to stay here indefinitely, right?” he asked, tone serious once more.
I nodded. “I do, though I am not sure I will win that particular argument. You’ve met Voirel.”
“Ah, she is fierce indeed. But you are too soft with her. Letting her get away with every little thing.”
“Can you blame me?” I asked. “There is no one else to take care of her with my mother gone. She did a disservice to us both by having Vireth children as a human. She was only there for a fraction of her life. Voirel needed her. I know she couldn’t have foreseen the stasis, but… I merely wish things were different.”
“Me too, old friend.” There was warmth in Ren’s gaze.
I sat back in the chair, resting my head against it and closing my eyes. “Will you be staying at Stormgaard long enough to join us for dinner?”
“Us?” His voice lacked surprise.
I peeled my eyes open only enough to gaze at him with a smile playing at my lips. “Yes, us. She is not my servant in Stormgaard. As you know, I have no need of that here.”
“And that is the only reason why,” Ren said, his tone implying he absolutely didn’t believe a word of it. “I will stay for tonight, only because your shithead little brother already left and I’ve no desire to travel by ship.”
“What are you doing here, anyway?” I asked beneath closed eyelids. All I could see in the darkness was amber and ocean blue irises.
“Checking on you.”
I sat up straight in the chair. “You’re that worried about me, that you would travel all the way to Stormgaard?”
Ren held my gaze with his own before I broke it, glancing away.
“You’ve been under a lot of stress of late. Without Azhar here in Stormgaard, I worry what will become of you when left to your own devices,” he said tightly.
“My devices will be just fine, thank you.” I took another swig of the amber liquid, finishing off the glass. The burn in my stomach was from both the blood and the alcohol, singing in my veins. “Will you do me the honor of escorting me to dinner, then?”
Rensford huffed a laugh, standing. He reached out a hand to help me up from the chair. “If you don’t watch out, you’ll be as deep in your cups as Valerian in no time.”
I took his hand, allowing him to pull me to stand before giving him a rough, playful shove.
“I’ll be just fine, Father. But thank you for your concern.
” I placed a hand against his broad shoulder and squeezed.
“Last one to the dining hall has record duty for the next month,” I said, placing the glass down on the table beside the chair.
“Deal!” Ren called, already off running toward the door.
By the time we both made it down to the north wing dining hall we were panting and out of breath. We had wrestled our way here more than ran, and my cheeks were flushed with blood as I surged through the doorway first, ungracefully and narrowly avoiding slamming into the long dining table.
“Hah! I win!” I called, slapping Rensford on the back as he entered behind me, his expression drawn.
“Dammit, Blackwater. You are too fast for your own good.” Ren bent double, his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
My chest was rising and falling with rapid, heaving inhalations. My attention was so wholly focused on filling my lungs once more that I hadn’t noticed we weren’t alone. Voirel stood at the sideboard, a blush-colored dress adorning her petite frame that brought out the apples of her cheeks.
Right behind her stood Aveline.
Her dress was a deep midnight blue, dipping low to showcase her bare decolletage.
Her breasts were pushed up against the bust, spilling over just enough to have sweat trickling down my back.
The sleeves were draped across her arms, billowing outwards in a delicate, sheer fabric before coming back together once more at the wrists.
Her hair was half pinned behind her head, raven-colored ringlets spilling over her bare shoulders. She was magnificent.
As if I weren’t already having trouble catching my breath, it was now stuck in my throat as I met her gaze, mouth dropped open.
“Rensford!” Voirel broke the moment of tension as she scurried forth, gripping Rensford in one of her all-encompassing hugs. He ran a hand down her golden strawberry-colored hair lovingly. He was as much a big brother to her as I was. “I’m so glad you are here.”
She tugged Rensford over to Aveline while I stood at the side of the long dining table, motionless.
“This is Aveline, Sorin’s new…” She mused for a long moment before letting it drop entirely, unable to decide what, exactly, to call Aveline that wouldn’t be disrespectful. “And Aveline this is Rensford Albright, commander of King Mavros’s army, and Sorin’s oldest friend.”
“It’s lovely to meet you, Lady Aveline,” Rensford crooned, dipping low to kiss her hand charmingly.
Bastard.
I had entirely forgotten my own manners and any sense of propriety at all, it seemed.
“And you as well, Commander Rensford. Though I am no lady.”
A blush rose to her cheeks and I could feel myself taking a step forward without consciously meaning to do so. I was unequivocally drawn to her. I shook my head before taking a step back once more. I hadn’t realized my mouth had fallen open until all eyes in the room centered on me.
“Well, now that everyone has met…let’s eat!” I moved to the head of the table, pulling out the plush navy chair and sitting.
The others followed suit, Rensford sitting to my right as he always did, Voirel to my left. Aveline took the seat next to her. Only moments had passed between taking our seats and the first course being brought out, but it felt like an eternity of awkward silence.
Aveline in that dress had completely erased anything of use in my, apparently, pea-sized brain. Wiped clean like a slate. All I could think about was the roundness of her cheeks. The tint of her rose-colored lips. Those haunting eyes.
What the hell was happening to me?
I reached for the goblet at my place setting and took a deep drink of the wine that had already been poured. One drop on my lips was all it took for me to taste it, despite its dilution. I immediately pulled the goblet back ever so slightly.
I did not place it down.
I held it to my face as if I were still drinking. I tried to keep my face neutral and composed, but beneath the surface my blood was boiling.
Poison.
And not just any poison.
Ixia.
The bitter, floral taste was tangible on my tongue. If you had never tasted it before you might not recognize the unique flavor, but I was no stranger to it.
Ixia was one of the components in the tinctures Azhar made in order to control the pain of my curse and conceal its effects. It might be a poison…but it was effective at masking the curse. I had been taking it for years, and the recognition was immediate.
But…who would try to poison me? And in my own home?
My mind immediately drifted to Aveline.
I took another sip, a slow and sinister smile spreading across my lips as I gulped, placing the goblet back down. From the taste of it, I could easily down the entire glass and have no ill effects. It had been days since I had taken the tincture, and I was due for another dose, anyway.
There were three drops diluted into the wine, maybe four judging by the intensity of the flavor. It would have killed me had I not already built up a tolerance to it.
Was my cup the only one that had been altered? My gaze slid toward Ren and Voirel who were bent toward each other, engaged in conversation. It slid to Aveline last, no obvious signs of guilt distinguishable in her features.
Sure, it could have been one of the house staff.
But truthfully, Aveline had already admitted to having poisons in her possession and being a master at herb craft. It was bold of her to try to poison me outright. And at Stormgaard, no less.
She had no way of knowing the poison would have no ill effects on me.
Should I play into the charade and fake weakness? Faint? Or call her out in front of Rensford and Voirel?
No.
I wanted to watch her squirm. I wanted her to wonder why her plan hadn’t worked.
What a clever little human.
Rensford had been right, after all. King Faris, Queen Dyata, and likely even the princeling himself had sent her here for a reason. Who better to hide in plain sight than a human?
I felt the immediate relief from the searing pain in my side and I sat back, satisfied.
If I didn’t know any better, Aveline was trying her very hardest to avoid my gaze.
She was feigning interest in whatever it was Ren and Voirel were speaking about animatedly.
When her gaze finally did reach mine, I raised my goblet in cheers to her, taking a greedy sip.
Her eyes widened ever so slightly.
She was smart to have waited until we were in Stormgaard, I had to give her credit for that. There was no army here. No Blackwater princes to protect me. No guards or royals in sight. She hadn’t counted on Rensford being here, but she likely assumed it was a calculated risk.
I had to admire that she had one single chance to slip the poison into my cups and she took it. No hesitation.
It would have been a good plan.
I wasn’t sure what it said about me, but I found myself even more intrigued and impressed by her. She gave the outward impression of innocence, but she was anything but. She positioned herself as this quiet, mousy human. In truth, underneath that facade was something much more sinister and vicious.
She was certainly more dangerous than she appeared.
I picked up my utensil, holding her gaze as I spooned the broth from the bowl before me into my mouth. She did the same, a heightened sense of awareness shared between us. We were vigilant of each other’s every movement.
Had she surmised that she had been caught yet? Was she going to make a run for it?
I was interested in hearing her plan to get off the island, at the very least. Waiting for this meal to be over and having to act civil before Voirel and Ren was absolute torture.
The thought of exposing her to them was tempting, but I remained composed.
I played along with the conversation, and each moment that passed was another second she knew she had miscalculated.
Knew she had lost her one and only chance to catch me by surprise.
She had expected me to be passed out by now, surely.
Her composure was deteriorating by the moment, but godsdamn did she look beautiful while she crumbled. Her eyes were wide, a permanent flush staining her plump cheeks. Her teeth bit her cherry red lips hard enough to bruise.
What a dangerous game she was playing.
And she had to have known she wasn’t likely to win playing with fire. I couldn’t wipe the smirk from my lips as the meal concluded, and I dismissed her and Voirel to their rooms, leaving Rensford and I alone in the dining hall.
The maids came in to clear the plates, but I lifted a hand to stop them. “Leave us.”
I wiped my mouth with the cloth napkin, my grin falling for the first time since I had drunk from the goblet. I had downed the entire glass, and then some. I wasn’t sure if she had poisoned the entire decanter, but I had to assume not since Rensford and Voirel appeared unaffected.
“Do you want to tell me what is going on now?” Ren asked, pushing back from the table but remaining seated. I tossed the napkin onto the table as my expression morphed into a violent storm. “Sorin?”
Rensford was on his feet before the words had finished leaving my mouth.
“What’s going on…is that someone tried to poison the crown prince.”