Chapter 17
It is a bittersweet thought to be subjected to the elements of mortality again. The sun is a mistress.
My head throbs, waking me from my sleep. I blink, looking around the space. I’m not in the infirmary wing, so that must be a good sign. But I am in the castle.
My neck is stiff but pliable on the pillow so I look right. The lack of portrait on the wall and stacks of papers in baskets next to the bed alerts me as to whose room this is.
I slowly sit up, feeling the pain in my head again. A chair creaks to my left. Cedric is seated at a desk in the office.
“Don’t rush to get up,” he says as he strides over.
“Wasn’t planning on it,” I moan. I look at my arms, noticing I’m in a nightgown.
“Isodora,” he cuts in.
“Oh, right,” I say looking over at him as he sits on the edge of the bed. My lady helped me dress and I barely know her. I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, shy for a few reasons. His eye catches it for a moment.
“If you’re wondering why you’re in my quarters, we rested you on your bed when we first arrived, so it was soaked by the time we got you in warmer clothing. Grenn and Percy had you transferred an hour ago.”
I nod, not remembering much of our arrival. I begin looking at the vastness of his bedchambers. “So, there were no other open beds in the castle?”
“Not a single one, I’m afraid,” he replies with a hint of tight humor and runs a hand through his hair.
Cedric seems to feel a bit more comfortable around me. I like this side of him. The non-rigid Cedric. The non-kingly Cedric.
“How are you feeling?” he asks, examining me with his eyes.
“Worse than I did this morning,” I joke followed with a few coughs. “Sawyer saved me.”
“I know. For that, I am incredibly grateful.”
Slowly I push into a seated position. “Why was he in the forest?”
Cedric pours wine from a carafe into a goblet before offering it to me. “Heading to or from Krue, I imagine.”
I sip and nod. “Did Duresden really send those soldiers? I noticed a few of them had his coat of arms.” We were there a month ago and nothing seemed hostile.
Perhaps tense, but not in the sense that would force Rolan’s hand towards assassination.
In fact, Rolan seemed to be the key enforcer for a better alliance.
“We’re not sure. Their uniforms match that of his calvary yet they were horseless. They could indeed be highwaymen who stole the uniforms but twelve of them? Unlikely,” Cedric explains, rubbing his chin. “There have been skirmishes on the border in the past.”
“Borders you keep moving, I take it.” My knowledge of current country happenings is very scarce but from what servants and the court have been gossiping, Lux is very greedy.
“No, not me. My grandfather was ever the expansionist, but I have not made any new movements on any borders,” he defends. It makes me wonder what the talk was about.
“What happened to them? The men?” I ask, my mind recalling the brutal force he exerted upon the group from the forest. “There were so many.”
Cedric clenches his jaw. “Ah, a few fled. I sent Sawyer after them once I found you, but the rest were dealt with. Not ideal, considering the information we could have extorted would have been valuable.”
“If he hadn’t been there, I don’t know what would have happened to me,” I admit, recalling Sawyer’s form above me. “He saved my life.”
Cedric rubs his hands on his pants. “I, too, am indebted to him.”
Wincing from my aching joints, Cedric hands me a cup of blood. With no other choice, I drink heavily, feeling the rush of sensation coming back to my body.
“You were shot,” I state. The image of him ripping the arrow out flashes across my mind.
Cedric nods, rubbing his shoulder. “All healed,” he winks. “Vampyr healing does wonders.”
“What about me?”
His lips thin. “Since you are half cess, half vampyr, your healing abilities are different. Not drinking blood consistently affects it, too.”
“I see.” I look around the room again, not sure where to take the conversation. I haven’t had blood around anyone since that night with Cedric. The sensation of it in my mouth was unforgettable and I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about it often.
“Then have some more, Liv,” Cedric responds.
We both still.
In my head, the smallest sound echoes as if bouncing around. I would have missed it had we not gone silent.
Hummmm.
Hummmmm.
Humm.
The vibration drones in and out, as if focusing and unfocusing. Cedric and I both look to each other. “Did you just read my thoughts?” I ask, incredulous. If so, that would be a huge invasion of privacy.
“There is no way,” he breathes and his jaw slackens.
“What do you mean?” I put the cup aside and reach for my temple. The humming continues only when he stops speaking. Cedric barks out a laugh, a maniacal one and rushes closer to me. I back up against the pillow, muscles stiff from the fight with the river.
Did he hit his head in the fight?
“I am perfectly okay. And no, I’m not reading your mind. Not really. Do you hear anything? Focus on the sounds in your head,” Cedric says, searching my face.
I still and focus on the frequency of the faint humming noise that I heard. Softly, it comes in and out. I nod excitedly, keeping my eyes closed as I try to hear it better, but it stays soft and quiet.
“What is it?” I whisper, afraid to lose the sound.
“Me.”
I turn my head towards Cedric. He’s kneeling next to me, staring as if I was treasure hidden amongst ruin.
“You are? You’re in my head? How is that?”
“It’s our bond from the Bloodrite. Bonded can speak to each other telepathically, sometimes over great distances. You’ve been silent for so long, I’m sorry.” He blinks a few times. “I’m in shock over this.”
“Like Avonde?”
“No, that’s something else. We have a direct line to each other but it’s not always open-ended.” Cedric reaches forward, still stunned and lightly grabs the ruby locks that frame my face. He rubs the hair between his fingers and closes his eyes.
The hum intensifies in little spurts.
Humm.
Hummm.
Hum.
Hummm.
My mind feels a soft vibration. It’s his doing. I gasp and my eyes fly open.
Our bond.
Cedric looks to be in a trance but he nods, one hand resting on his heart and the other on my leg. His eyes stay closed and his face is firm in focus but there is something else there. Elation, determination, joy.
“I can’t hear you saying anything,” I say, squeezing my eyes shut.
“It’s likely going to take time.”
I join him and focus on the sound again because it feels like home. Like a summer’s day. Like peace.
My eyes peel open slightly and I find his gaze is drilling into me with a warming fire behind his crimson eyes.
My face heats and I wish I could curse myself in the moment.
Cedric leans forward hesitantly, sliding his hand into my hair, thumb stroking my cheek.
Our foreheads touch and the intimacy of the moment is all too much for my breath.
I feel that all of the air has been stolen from me.
“Cedric,” I murmur.
Everything pauses. The humming depletes before rushing back at full force.
“You’re injured,” he says, moving his hand from my head. I reach up and catch his wrist.
“But not fragile,” I whisper, feeling a need grow. He hesitates, but slowly moves forward again, towering over me with his hand caressing my neck as he lowers me to the pillow.
“I’m so sorry,” he says, looking all over my face as though he needs to memorize it.
“For what?” I’m afraid to breathe with how close he is, almost completely on top of me.
“I almost lost you again.” His throat works.
“You were injured already; I shouldn’t have let that happen.
They will never hurt you again.” I stifle a wince at the twinge of pain from my crown from the water tumble.
Placing my hand on his chest, I meet his eyes.
The rubies that never seem to leave my face.
There is a delicate sort of darkness that hides behind them.
Right now, they are clouded with desire.
“You’re forgiven,” I whisper. Cedric retracts immediately and distances himself from me.
His hands slide into his pockets and he looks away, defeated. “You should rest. I’ll send the cess up here soon to check on you.”
“Don’t be cold with me.” I sit up more fully, though my chest oddly feels like caving in.
He walks over to the bed and glances at the night sky spilling in from the balcony. A tendril of smoke wafts from his body, a slackening of his control.
“My job is to protect you and to see you to health. Already, I understand my presence is conflicting and I apologize for that. That is not my intention and it never will be when it comes to you.”
My head throbs again and I slowly sink into the pillows, nodding at his statement. Boundaries.
He pulls the velvet duvet closer to my chin, adjusting my foot in the process. I can only observe his movements.
I reach for his hand softly and his head drops before he retreats again, shaking off my touch. “Liv, I am walking a fine line between want and duty. Duty to you and my kingdom, want for everything that hums between us despite your malady. Do not think otherwise, please.”
And with that, Cedric pads off into the antechamber, shutting the door behind him.