46. Nora
46
Nora
A sleepover at Jenta’s house.
That’s what we’d told Eucinda and Kenzie regarding Melody’s whereabouts when she hadn’t returned home. To my complete and utter lack of surprise, neither asked where I’d been all day.
Still, the blatant absence of care stung a little, and I found myself needing to step outside for some fresh air. Melody offered a sympathetic look, but no one else commented on my leaving.
My feet carried me through the barren house, but each step felt hollow. I walked, but toward what end? I’d been thoroughly stripped of all ambition and determination with recent revelations, leaving me to wander aimlessly through the upheaval that’d become my life.
“Oh my stars. Nora!” Melody shouted after me. She raced through the front sitting room, waving a letter in her hand. I paused at the cracked open front door, my hand still grasped on the handle.
A blue wax seal stuck to the cream textured paper, and my stomach turned tense.
“We’ve been invited to an intimate dinner with the prince! You and me!”
I realized with a small degree of horror that Melody had no idea Nicholas had been with us, that he and I knew each other. She’d been through a horrible ordeal when we’d taken her off that ship. I hadn’t wanted to shake up her life beyond that, so I’d dodged the questions she’d asked.
Maybe I didn’t speak about it because I wasn’t ready to acknowledge it yet.
That word rang in my head like the pounding of a worship bell; intimate .
The excitement and delight on her face made it difficult to swallow the shock. All of this had become exhausting. Secret identities, conspiracies against magic wielders, rescue missions by a nobody girl flitting around with a prince in disguise.
“There’s no way I’m going,” I nearly laughed at the absurdity.
“What?! Why not! You and the prince had that wonderful dance. I haven’t had much more opportunity to converse with him, but this dinner surely sounds like the chance. Oh, Nora, can you see it? This time next month, we might both be living at the castle, one of us a queen!” She flattened the invitation over her chest and twirled, her pink dress gracefully following her lead.
What on earth was Nicholas playing at? I’d made it abundantly obvious that I wanted to stay as far away from him as possible. Was this his way of flexing his position? Forcing my hand because he was the prince? Showing me that if he wanted to talk, I would have to obey?
Or was this to chastise me for taking the royal horses without permission? We’d covertly left them tied to a paddock near the bordering walls, and Melody waltzed up to one of the stationed guards and struck up a seemingly frivolous conversation, during which she noted that ‘those horses tied up over there’ looked rather expensive. When they caught sight of the recognizable horses in the distance, they’d scrambled to return the beasts inside the royal stables.
“We’re not going,” I stated flatly.
Melody stopped mid spin, wobbling on her feet for a moment. “What? Why?”
I didn’t have it in me to explain, not right now. The last thing I wanted to do was think more about him. “Do you trust me?” I knew it felt like I’d taken a sledgehammer to her dreams and fantasies, but I couldn’t risk Nick getting near her either. The thought of him taking Melody by the hand, of pressing a sweet kiss to her knuckles, made me want to try on a pair of concrete shoes and walk into the ocean.
Maybe it was unfair of me to pull the trust card so soon, knowing what we’d just endured together. But it was my only card to play.
“With my life.” She forced a small smile, though I could see the disappointment behind her formerly shining blue eyes.
“Then please just believe me when I say that it’s best we don’t go.”
Thoroughly deflated and accepting my decision, she asked, “What will we tell mother? She’s already read the letter.”
Shit. Eucinda would beat me within an inch of my life if she found out I’d refused our attendance of the one chance we had at saving the house. Even if it’d add twenty years to my father’s debt to Caine, I’d pay it.
I wouldn’t let Nicholas dictate my life. Not before, when he was just an unknown prince in a castle, and certainly not now when I’d given him my body. My trust. That’d been my choice, and so was this. He would have to accept that.
Not to mention the danger it posed for my family if we presented ourselves at the castle.
Nicholas couldn’t trust his guardsmen, and if whoever was behind the abductions recognized Melody and that she’d somehow managed to escape…
No, it was too risky. It didn’t matter that my body sang at the thought of seeing him. I’d much rather live with this endless pit in my stomach by staying away than walk into unknown enemy territory.
The last thing we needed was more eyes on us. The only reason I’d been able to find out as much as I had was by keeping my identity a secret. Stepping into the public eye for the entire kingdom to gossip about—that would risk everything.
Melody stood, patiently waiting for a perfectly concocted plan to magically fall out of my mouth.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly, gripping the handle still, feeling a breeze waft in.
Her lips twisted, and her gaze jumped around the room, trying to figure out how we go forward. Her eyes caught on shadowed movement through the stain glass at the front door. Just when I thought my life couldn’t get any worse, I peered to my left to find Caine standing a foot away on the front stoop on the other side of the open door.
“Congratulations are in order,” he crooned, leaning lazily against the doorframe.
“For?” I asked.
“Making it to the final round.” He barged inside, shoving the door open all the way and knocking me off balance.
My fists curled at my sides, but I had to remember the role I played with him. Submissive.
“And you too, Miss Melody.” He tipped his hat toward her, the sight making my stomach churn.
She curtsied demurely. “Very kind of you, Mr. Caine. Shall I fetch you a drink?” She only knew a little about how awful this man was based on some of my chores at the tavern, but she hid it with such poise. Angering him only worsened my treatment, so she slipped into a carefully curated role around him as I did.
“If you please, dearest.” He dared to step forward, taking her hand in his and placing a kiss upon it. How she didn’t wince, I couldn’t fathom. Her sweet smile never slipped, embodying every part of a gracious hostess.
“Right away.” Her eyes slid to me for a split second, a silent way to say she’d return promptly.
One second, he fixed his predatory gaze on Melody’s curvy figure as she walked off, and the next, his hand was wrapped around my throat, my skull aching from where it’d just slammed against the solid wooden door too quickly for me to stop.
“Listen here, you little bitch. You and your sister will be going to that dinner, and you will do whatever it takes to secure either of your places on that throne.” Hot breath and spittle smothered my face as he hissed the whispered threat.
Realizing he was cutting off my access to air, I started to struggle.
“Oh, is that surprise in your eyes, little Ellanor? It’s a good fucking thing I was on the other side of that door to hear your ridiculously stupid plans to refuse your invitation. Well, let me make this real simple for you. I want you to think of that beautiful sister of yours.
“Now, imagine her lifeless, blue-tinged body in a hole, six feet in the ground, with nothing but dirt and worms for eternal company. Then, imagine you right alongside her. That’s what will happen if you don’t get me access to that fucking treasury and pay off your debts. Which are triple now, by the way, for your insolence,” he snarled. “Do I make myself clear?”
Darkness encroached around the edges of my vision, my lungs burning and desperate and building with pressure. My fingers desperately clawed at his firm set grip. Help, I needed help. I tried to kick, but from the ride back to Highcrest, my muscles still remained weak and strained. The fury in his eyes razed my skin, and when I thought that might be the last thing I would ever see, he squeezed harder for a split second before releasing me.
Immediately, I crashed onto the floor on my knees, one hand catching my fall while the other tried to support my chest as I choked on the air my body gasped violently to get.
“Nora?!” Melody returned, forgetting the glass in her hand. Before it shattered on the floor, she already lunged for my side. “What happened?!” she yelled, looking at Caine for an explanation.
The front door remained open, and Caine briefly glanced outside after Melody’s shout could no doubt be heard by people passing on the street. “I think our dear Nora got a little too excited. She was telling me all about your invitations to the castle, and how grateful she is for the opportunity.” His soft smile delivered a chilling message.
I barely heard Melody order him to leave over the cacophony of coughs that clawed their way out of my throat. After the door shut behind Caine with a harsh slam, Melody returned to my side, throwing her arms around me, helping me sit upright.
“KENZIE! GET A GLASS OF WATER, NOW,” she shouted into the house.
Eucinda’s cane clicked against the wood as she approached. “What on Myelle is going—”
“Watch the glass, mother,” Melody interrupted without turning around. “That horrible man is never allowed in this house again .” A rage like I’d never heard from my serene sister consumed the room. Stealing a glance at Eucinda through my tear-filled eyes confirmed she was just as surprised by her daughter.
“Here’s the water,” Kenzie announced as she rounded the corner.
“Mind the glass, dear,” Eucinda warned.
Melody rose from the ground beside me to fetch the drink and brought it back. I took tiny sips, not wanting to be without air for more than a couple seconds at a time.
My hand shook.
If he had chosen, he could have ended my life. I had no way to fight back, no control. Tears pooled in my eyes as the rest of my body began shaking.
“Come, you should rest,” Melody said, aiding me up the stairs.
“Nora, I think it’s time you tell me what’s going on. What was that about?” Melody said, stroking my hair as we cuddled together in her bed. After she’d led me in here, I’d broke down. Her pillow still held dark stains from my tears. Only after a few moments of silence, evidence that I’d gathered my composure, she insisted I give her information.
I had lost control of the situation. Of all the situations, actually. And I’d grown tired, so very tired of being so many different versions of myself to so many different people. I didn’t have it in me to assess if it was the right time or not, or what I should continue to keep secret. So, I told her everything.
I told her about training with Odion, about sneaking around at night. About running into a masked man, seeking the same justice I was. Told her all that we’d seen and learned about the kidnappings, why I’d snapped at her for using her magic in public. Telling her about the group with the baker to assassinate the prince filled me with more shame that I’d let myself believe I carried, but I shared anyway. I explained why Caine had been so aggressive. Even about the amazing sex in the trees with a man I hardly knew.
“It was only yesterday that I found out who that man really is.” I hesitated, knowing this would rock her world. “It’s Nicholas. Prince Nicholas.”
From where my head lay against her chest, I felt the moment it stopped moving. “Nora…” she said my name, near breathless, and I waited for whatever reaction was brewing. I didn’t have it in me to decipher if sharing all of it had been stupid or selfish. All I knew was that finally saying it all out loud, sharing the burden, made me feel a little less alone.
“You are badass .”
I had never heard a curse pass from her lips, and I sat up, staring blankly into her sparkling blue eyes. “Did you just swear?”
“Yeah,” she nodded, eyes wide, voice deep and equally as surprised.
A smile twitched on my lips. “That might be the most shocking thing said this evening.”
“No wonder you thought I was na?ve when you had all that going on, and I had no idea.”
“Hey, don’t you dare sell yourself short, Miss Took-down-a-human-smuggler-with-her-magic-without-hesitation-and-saved-our-asses.”
She giggled, slapping her hand over her mouth, then brushed back the hair from her face. “Who have we become?”
“Who we needed to,” I said, letting my voice fall somber. “Melody, I don’t know what to do next.”
She sighed, bringing her hand over mine in her light and lovely way. “Then let’s figure it out.”