Chapter 19
Stepping out of my guest suite, I found Everett standing guard outside my door. “Do you not get hot or tired of wearing all that?” I asked, gesturing to his gleaming suit of armour.
“It’s an honour and a privilege to wear the armour of the Citrine Court Royal Guardians.”
The rehearsed and regurgitated response made me laugh. “You don’t have to lie to me. It’s not like I’m going to tell anyone.”
Everett smiled. “There have been some days when it has been a bit tiring, but otherwise, it’s fine. I barely notice it anymore at this point.”
We headed toward the crystal bridge, which connected my guest suite to one of the palace towers. My chest tightened, and my breaths became more rapid with each step we took.
“You don’t happen to have that snappy arcana that moves people, do you?” I squeaked out, grabbing Everett’s armoured arm. Realizing what I had done, I immediately took my hand off his arm. My cheeks burned with embarrassment.
He looked down at me, amusement crossing his face. “You’re afraid of heights, aren’t you?”
Unable to form the words of confirmation, I nodded once.
“Unfortunately, I don’t, but if you close your eyes, I can pick you up and carry you across.”
Without waiting for my response, Everett scooped me up easily into his arms and held me close to his stiff metal body.
I closed my eyes tightly and took deep breaths, trying to calm my nerves, as Everett walked across the bridge.
He placed me down gently, his arm still wrapped around my back. “You can open your eyes now. We’re on the other side.”
Mortified, I hastily opened my eyes to find us standing at the bottom of the tower.
“I figured you wouldn’t mind not having to walk down all those steps. It takes you a lot longer than it does me, on account of your small human-girl legs.”
“I can manage stairs just fine, thank you,” I replied, crossing my arms in defiance.
“I’m sure you can. I just meant in the interest of saving time.”
“Why? Are we in a rush?”
“Well, no. I just …”
“It doesn’t matter. Where are we going now?” I asked, annoyed.
If Everett picked up on my irritation, he didn’t let it show. “When people come to visit the palace, they usually want to see one of three things: the royal library, the enchanted royal gardens, or Crystal Cove. Which would you prefer to see first?”
The only library I had ever seen was the one in my own home, which had not been much to look at. I couldn’t begin to imagine what a library of the royal family could possibly contain.
“Are there romance novels in this library?” I asked, unashamed.
Everett laughed. “Yes. There are all manner of books in the royal library. It houses texts and tomes that are thousands of years old. I’m certain we can find you a suitable romance novel.”
Everett led the way down the grand hallway.
I thought of Forrest and wondered where he was at this moment and if he was all right.
I couldn’t imagine how overwhelming this must all be for him, not knowing who he was or who anyone around him was, yet they all claimed to know him better than he did.
I wished I could have stayed with him and been a comfort to him during this process.
It hurt me not to be at his side, making sure he was being treated well.
No matter who he may have been before we met, I loved him dearly.
I hoped my kiss in the throne room had shown him that.
Although he said he would always love me, what if his memories were returned to him, and in the process, he lost the memories we had made?
What if he came out of this not remembering who I was or the feelings we had for one another?
I missed him and what we had. We could never go back to that, and it was something I would have to grieve on my own.
“Is everything all right?”
Everett’s words brought me out of the spiral I was about to descend into.
“Yes, I’m fine. I was thinking about Forrest—I mean, Prince Sterling. I haven’t heard anything from him or received any update on how he’s doing. Do you know if he’s all right?”
Everett looked at me with something like pity.
“Last I heard, he was still with the royal healer. It sounds like they’ve made some decent progress.
His memories have returned to him, which is fantastic news.
But they are insisting on holding him for a few days for observation, just to be safe.
” He paused before proceeding. “I’m sorry that no one thought to update you. I know that you care deeply for him.”
“How dare you presume to know anything about me? What do you know about my feelings?” Anger and hurt surged up inside me, threatening to break the dam holding them in check. My chest tightened, and tears welled. Sniffling, I wiped them away before they could embarrass me any further.
Everett stood unmoving, looking at me like the small, sad, pathetic woman I felt like. “I may not know anything about you, but I’m not stupid. You’re a human, and you’re staying in the palace as a guest. Do you know how many humans have been granted that privilege before you?”
I stared at him in silent defiance.
“The answer is zero. You are the first, and there is only one reason for that: your relationship with the prince.” He started to walk away from me toward a set of towering crystal doors.
“You can get upset with me all you want, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are hurt that you’ve been excluded from something important regarding the prince.
If you didn’t care for the prince, then it wouldn’t affect you to the point of tears, would it?
” He held open one of the doors for me. “Come on. We’re at the library. ”
Nothing Everett had just said was wrong.
He may be a royal guardian, but he was also clearly astute at reading others.
I felt like a jerk for blowing up at him.
It wasn’t his fault that no one had updated me about Forrest. I figured that at the very least, he would seek me out on his own once everything was sorted.
I was used to feeling unimportant, especially since entering this realm.
This, though, cut me deeply, because despite my earlier concerns, I had held on to the hope that what Forrest and I had was strong enough to endure whatever came from him regaining his memories.
I passed Everett and made my way through the towering crystal door and into my version of heaven.
Floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows lined a circular room, separated by towering, gilded bookshelves that housed hundreds of thousands of texts, tomes, and scrolls.
Leaning against each section of shelves was a staggeringly tall golden rolling ladder.
Sunlight shone down on us through a stained-glass dome in the ceiling, casting colourful rays upon the luxurious sapphire carpet.
I made my way into the centre of the room, taking in a complete view of the impressive library.
“May I help you find something?”
I looked around to see who had spoken but couldn’t see anyone. I glanced at Everett, who looked at me and then at the floor. Confused, I peered over and down and found the source of the voice—an adorably small yellow-haired fae woman in a gold cloak. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.”
Everett laughed and walked over to grab a chair from a nearby table to sit on, as if he were getting ready to watch a show.
“Yes, I get it. I’m small, but I am not invisible, you halfwit,” she spat.
I whipped my head away from what Everett was doing and looked down at the fae woman, shocked. “I didn’t mean that. I just meant that I couldn’t see you because—”
She raised her hand to stop me from speaking. “I don’t care. Just tell me what you want, and leave.”
I looked over to Everett, hoping he could understand my pleading look for help.
“Leni, this is Aurelia, and she is Prince Sterling’s guest. If you could help her locate some romance novels, we would be extremely appreciative.”
Leni nodded at Everett. “They’ll be up in your room later today. Now get out.”
It was obvious that the tenacious little fae woman cared nothing for my relationship with the prince, nor would she afford me any favours because of it. I wanted to check out the library and pick out my own books. My already testy mood was to blame for the next poor decision I made.
“Leni, I’m sorry if I offended you. As the keeper of this library, I’m sure you understand why someone would want to choose their own books instead of having someone else choosing for them. It would be greatly appreciated if you could cut me a little slack about the height thing and—”
Pain exploded across my backside as I slid across the floor and through the open door of the library. I could hear Everett yelling at Leni while running out of the library.
“Are you all right?” He held his hand out, reaching to help me up off the floor. “Leni is very controlling when it comes to her library. She’s also incredibly sensitive about her height, which is almost as short as her temper.”
I rubbed my backside and checked myself over to make sure nothing more than my butt and ego had been bruised. “You could have warned me about that before I decided to poke the tiny feral bear,” I hissed at him.
He laughed. “Yeah, I could have, but you were too busy being mean to me. I thought I’d let you find out the hard way.”
“You asshole!” I cried as I went to smack him.
Moving away from me with unnatural ease, Everett smiled. “Come on. Let’s head outside and check out Crystal Cove. Your books will be up in your room by the time we get back.”
“Are you sure? Because that terrifying, tiny fae woman is pretty upset with me.”
“She might be a terrifying firecracker who will throw you around, but she knows better than to ignore a request for a guest of the prince.”
Right, I was a guest of the prince. A guest who was being watched day and night by a guardian and kept in a tower away from others. And then there was the prince, who was apparently healed, but despite being a very special guest, I wasn’t significant enough to have that information shared with me.
Everett led the way through a maze of hallways until we emerged at the back of the palace. The warm morning sun greeted us as we stepped out onto the grassy cliff overlooking the sapphire ocean.
“It’s just over this way,” Everett called out, breaking me out of my daze.
We walked toward the edge of a cliff where a small patch of wildflowers grew. “Hold my hand and step inside with me.”
I looked around to see what he was talking about. “Step inside what?”
Everett reached over, grabbed my hand, and pulled me toward him without further explanation. My feet tripped over themselves, and then I was free-falling. Seconds later pain exploded across my face as I landed face-first on the ground.
“You’re a clumsy one, aren’t you?” Everett said, grabbing my hand and helping me up.
Brushing broken flowers off my dress, I looked around to see that we were no longer on the clifftop.
We were now standing in a flower patch just off the side of a golden sandy beach.
Waves roared around us as they crashed onto the shore.
I had never heard or seen anything like it. The saltwater mist stuck to my face.
“I have no idea how we got down here, and I feel like I should be mad at you, but I just don’t care right now.
This place is breathtakingly beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.
” I walked over to the sandy beach, reached down, and grabbed a fistful of sand.
I held my hand out, watching the fine, tiny grains slip through my fingers.
“A faerie door.” Everett’s words broke through the silence between us.
“I’m sorry. What?” I asked, wiping the sand off my hands.
“That’s how we got down here. The flower patch I pulled you into—that’s the door,” he explained matter-of-factly.
Picking up on my confusion, he continued.
“It’s how those of us without teleportation abilities transport ourselves to different places and spaces throughout the court.
You stand in one and think about where you want to go, and if there is a door in that place, it will take you there. ”
“And anyone can use them?”
“Of course!”
“So why isn’t there one near my suite? That would be so much more convenient than having to traverse up and down that tower.”
“We don’t have control over where they are placed. They’re a naturally occurring phenomenon.”
“Hmm, I see.” I was not completely satisfied with his answer, but I’d have to accept it for now.
Having a method of transportation that didn’t require a key seemed like an important thing to keep in mind during my stay in this realm.
“Let’s have a seat over here and enjoy the view for a moment,” Everett offered, leading the way.
I followed slowly, trudging through the fine sand as it filled my shoes. Thankfully, Everett stopped a short while later.
He unhooked his cloak and spread it out on the sand. “Please, have a seat.”
I sat on one edge of his emerald cloak, my feet off to the side as I removed my shoes to dump out the sand. Crossing my legs, I stared ahead at the scene in front of me. The beauty left me breathless.
“I’ve spent my entire life living in a poor mountain village.
I have never seen the ocean before coming here.
” I stared off into the sparkling blue expanse, the soothing sounds of the waves crashing into the rock walls surrounding the cove easing the tension within my body.
All my anxiety drifted away on the wind.
“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. If I lived here, I would spend all my time here.
The sun, the wind, the water, the waves, even the beach—all of it feels so …
” I paused, trying to find the words to accurately describe it all.
“Magical?” Everett chimed in.
I turned to face the guardian, nodded, and laughed. “Yeah, or something like that.”
Everett leaned back on his elbows. His eyes closed as he lifted his face to the sun.
“When I was little, my nanny used to bring me here whenever I was upset or anxious. She believed the cove had healing abilities and that spending time here could settle even the most restless soul. Ever since, it has become the place I come to when I need a break from life or my thoughts.” He turned to face me.
“I thought maybe it could be the same for you. A nice place for you to come when you need to get away from everything. I wouldn’t mind escorting you down here whenever you wanted. ”
I brought my knees up and wrapped my arms around them, hugging them close. I placed my chin on them and took a deep breath, taking on as much of the salty ocean air as my lungs could hold. “I think I would like that,” I finally said in response.