Chapter 9 #2
His words apparently fell on deaf ears, and she continued to feverishly rake her fingers through her hair. He reached for her wrist, clasping it gently. “Lindy.”
She tensed, drawing her shoulders up to her ears as she sank into herself and squeezing her eyes shut before Atlas realized his mistake. He immediately let go, but when she opened her eyes again, the light from before was gone.
Anger, deep and smoldering, burned in his chest, and he wished he could find the person responsible snuffing out her light and give them a piece of his mind.
Preferably with his fists.
Lindy crossed her arms and glared at him defiantly. “I’m allowed to touch my own hair.”
He recognized her defenses, knowing she was choosing to fight rather than show weakness, and forced his own expression to clear.
“I’m not angry with you, Lindy. I’m angry for you.
” His words were thick with emotion, and he had to curl his hands into fists to keep them from reaching for her.
“I’m angry at the person who taught you that you aren’t allowed to be vulnerable and imperfect, who taught you to expect pain instead of gentleness.
” His eyes searched her face, hoping that somewhere in her fierce expression he would find answers, and his voice dropped to a whisper. “Who hurt you?”
“Does it matter?” Her words were distant and hollow as she turned to stare sightlessly into the fire.
“Only because I would like to know whose home I’ll have to pull down around their ears.”
She laughed bitterly. “I don’t think even you would be quite capable of that. They build castles in Nedra specifically to withstand sieges.”
The implications of her words were a slug to his gut, acting as a bellows to the angry fire still simmering in his core. He cursed. “Who said anything about sieges? I was thinking more of a rampage.”
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “Language, sir. What would Ms. Fumley say?”
“She would flick me in the mouth even while silently agreeing and then offer to help plan a coup.”
“A coup?” She raised an eyebrow. “King is a rather bold step up from hermit.”
“I don’t want to be king,” he said quickly. “But no man who would raise a hand against his own flesh and blood is worthy of wearing a crown, and no country deserves a king like that, either.”
He could see the sheen of tears reflected in the firelight as she pulled her gaze away. “And who would you set up as a ruler to replace him?”
“I don’t have a lot of connections, but I do happen to know a queen.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want it, either. If I never set foot in Nedra again, it will be too soon.”
“Then I guess we’ll leave them in chaos to sort it out themselves.”
“No. Philip doesn’t deserve that.”
“Who’s Philip?” He kept his tone light despite the irrational twinge of jealousy.
“My brother.” Lindy pulled her hood back up and drew her knees to her chest. “He was an unexpected surprise—the heir my father had given up hoping for while he punished us for not being. He’s a sweet boy; I felt bad for leaving him on his own, but once he was born, my presence in Nedra became superfluous. ”
Atlas frowned, doing his best to read between the lines of what she was saying. “You were going to be queen.”
“Yes. Nedran law allows for the throne to pass to the closest female relative in the absence of a male heir. I spent my entire life learning how to rule a country—something my father was sure to emphasize in any potential marriage alliances, never mind the fact that he never thought I was suitable enough to rule his country.” Her voice darkened.
“He made sure I was well aware of that.”
“For what it’s worth, I think King Theodor made an excellent choice,” he said softly.
She snorted. “I don’t think he had any other options.
We were both the other’s last resort. I tried to take things into my own hands with Prince Dorian and ended up making a mess.
Once that debacle cleared, no country in their right mind would take me.
Not even Brisia, and they’re in the middle of a war. ”
“What happened?”
“I was afraid. I knew my father was working to arrange a marriage, but I had seen what being the wife of a king was like. I didn’t want that, but I also knew that my only hope for getting away from Nedra was through marriage.
I tried to ensure that, while Dorian would marry me, he would go out of his way to stay away. ”
The pieces fell into place. “He’s the one you cursed.”
She shrugged. “It was a miscalculated risk. In the end, he neither wanted nor needed me to break the curse, and I established my reputation as a witch. If nothing else, I hoped that it would ensure that people thought twice before being rude. It didn’t.”
“Yes, because one desperate act hardly makes you a villain,” Atlas responded stoutly. “You’re too kind to throw around curses as petty revenge. Honestly, the fact that you have that kind of power and only used it twice shows an incredible amount of restraint.”
“Three times.”
“What?”
“I cursed my sister.” She flicked her eyes to him and then back to the fire. “But she was asking for it.”
There was more to the story there, he could tell, but he could also see the weariness in the set of her shoulders and the tension in her jaw.
She had shared more with him in the last quarter hour than she had all week, and that kind of vulnerability didn’t deserve an interrogation.
He wanted her to know that she was free to be open, that her emotions were safe with him.
They sat in silence for a few long moments, watching the flames crackle and dance in the warm summer night. After a while, he rose, located the knitting he had started earlier, then resumed his place beside her.
“What are you doing?” Lindy frowned at the rough cast of stitches on his stick needle.
“What I should have started out doing in the first place. You’re not alone, Lindy. You don’t have to carry this by yourself. I have just as vested an interest in breaking the princes’ curse as you do.”
“Right,” she answered dully. “Your goose.”
“I want Phoebe back, yes,” he said honestly. “But I also want to take you away from this lake. I want to hear you laugh in the sunshine and see what kind of queen you become when you’re finally allowed to exist free of fear.”
Her chin wavered as she shook her head and whispered. “I don’t want the throne. It belongs to Corbin, and I won’t take it away from him. I’ve had enough of kings.”
“Then don’t rule a country.” Unable to help himself, he reached for her chin, gently wiping away the smudge of dirt.
His thumb brushed the edge of her lip, and he heard her breath shudder.
“I happen to know of an old estate at the top of the mountain that’s in need of management, if you can stand to be around grumpy giants. ”
Atlas saw the flash of panic in her eyes, and he forced himself to pull away.
“You don’t have to give an answer now, just know that it’s an option.
There is no expectation on my part; I just said that I would keep you alive, and this would make things infinitely easier for me.
” He winked, then turned his attention to knitting.
Silence fell between them again, broken only by the nighttime music of the forest behind them and the gentle lapping of the water against the shore.
He could feel Lindy’s eyes on him as he worked, and after a few long minutes, she stood.
He tracked her with his eyes as she shed her cloak and picked up her own needles and a bundle of nettle fibers.
One of the princes roused himself as she approached, spreading out and fluttering wide, feathered wings that, from Atlas’s angle, looked as if they were attached to Lindy’s shoulders.
She returned, keeping her eyes downcast and refusing to meet his gaze, but when she sat down, she angled herself so that she leaned against him, using his side as a backrest while she stretched out her legs.
The edges of a soft smile pulled at his mouth as he looked down at her.
He had climbed down for a goose, but he had fallen for the winged witch.