Chapter 20
It had been five days since I had arrived at the Citrine Court, which meant it had been four days since I had seen or spoken to Forrest. Everett was unable to offer me any meaningful updates on Forrest’s status other than “the prince is doing well.” I had long since stopped feeling hurt by the lack of communication between Forrest and me.
I was now thoroughly pissed off. After everything we had been through together, I wouldn’t have guessed that he would leave me in the lurch.
Everett tried assuring me on several occasions that things were fine and Forrest would see me when he felt up to it.
I did not share the same level of optimism.
While waiting to hear from Forrest or the king and queen, I spent a lot of time wandering the palace grounds with Everett, visiting Crystal Cove and staying far away from Leni and the library.
When we weren’t doing that, Everett would ask me questions about the human realm and what it was like.
When I wasn’t feeling up to company or talking, I stayed in my room, reading one of the numerous romance novels the tiny, violent librarian sent up every day.
Fae romances were as boring and proper as I had imagined them to be, but I was not about to approach the fierce protector of the library and complain about fae literature to her.
As much as Everett kept telling me I wasn’t a prisoner, I still felt like one, despite the ease with which I spent my days.
I was plagued by dread, like I was waiting for something terrible to happen at any moment.
The king and queen still hadn’t made up their minds about what to do with me.
The silence on their end was concerning.
I had still heard nothing about Nocturna and Astra, and their whereabouts had become another major source of worry for me.
During my third day here, I had an anxiety attack and spent the whole morning crying over their absence with Everett.
He promised that he would pass on the message to the rest of the guardians to keep an eye out for the two mountain cats and that they were not to be harmed under any circumstances, as they were guests of Prince Sterling.
I could only hope that the guardians would heed his words and bring them to me safely whenever they turned up.
I couldn’t handle anything awful happening to them. They were all I had left in any realm.
*
“I don’t understand how you endured living without running water. It’s not right,” Everett exclaimed incredulously as we entered the royal garden for our morning walk.
My living conditions in the human realm were a recurring discussion. He couldn’t understand how humans survived without indoor plumbing. According to Everett, it was a “barbaric” way to live.
I stopped to smell some pink peonies. “I didn’t realize that carrying water would be such a problem for a big, strong fae guardian like you. If my small human-woman arms could do it, surely you could manage.”
Everett scoffed, “It’s not because I couldn’t do it. It doesn’t make sense to work harder than you need to for basic things like that.”
I continued down the path toward the rose bushes. “You’re right. We shouldn’t have to work so hard for basic things. But that’s life in the human realm. Our ruling class is only worried about itself and the wealthy company it keeps. It doesn’t care how the rest of the people are faring.”
We found a large marble bench in front of a fountain and had a seat.
“That isn’t fair. They should be concerned for everyone.”
“Well, life isn’t fair—especially not where I come from.”
“Do you ever miss it? Your home?”
“Sometimes. I don’t miss the village, the Children of the Celestial Mothers’ control, the struggles of daily life, or hiding who I am from others. But I do miss my friends, my home, and helping the people in my village. I miss having a purpose. Here I have nothing and no one.”
“You have someone. You have the prince. And to a lesser extent, you have me.”
“No offence, Everett, but you’re paid to sit here and keep an eye on me. If you had the choice, this is not where you would be right now. And if the prince cared about me, I would have heard from him by now.”
“I’m sure the prince has his reasons for not coming to see you.
I don’t imagine it’s an easy adjustment, to go from not knowing who you are and creating a new life for yourself to then having your memories returned and who you used to be conflicting with who you now are.
I mean, I’d want to get my head right before I sought out other people. ”
Something about what Everett said reminded me of the conversations Thalos and I had had on the way to the Citrine Court—specifically, regarding Forrest and who he was, as well as his relationship with humans.
From what I could tell, Everett had always been honest with me.
Maybe he would give me a straight answer to my next thought.
“What is Prince Sterling’s relationship with the humans like? Is he well liked by them? When we were coming through the human quarter on the way to the palace, no one seemed all that happy to see that he had returned. Captain Evergreen insinuated that they didn’t like him very much. Is that true?”
Everett stared straight ahead, his jaw muscles ticking. It was slight, but there was a shift in the mood around us as I asked the question. “It’s not my place to discuss the affairs of Prince Sterling.” His answer was short, but what was left unsaid was plenty.
“You cannot be serious right now. You have spent almost every day here telling me that the prince cares for me. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I’m human.
If he cares so much for me, then he must be decent to the other humans in this realm, no?
Or there is no way he could possibly care for me, because I am human, and he doesn’t like humans.
Either way, you’re not being honest with me.
Why?” I demanded, staring at the side of Everett’s stern face.
It was several moments of silence before he finally responded.
“Prince Sterling is known for many things in this court, and his love for humans is not one of them. Or perhaps it is his love for humans that causes him to behave the way he does. I do not know what motivates him to act like that. Maybe it’s because he’s the prince, or because he knows no one can challenge him.
He is not someone I would use the word ‘good’ to describe, and he does not treat the people of that quarter well, especially the women.
” He stopped for a moment to compose himself before he proceeded.
“When I said that he cares about you, it was something that I said aloud in the hope that I could manifest it into existence. I’ve listened to you talk about your time together in the human realm, and what you two had sounds like real love.
I guess I was trying to be optimistic that whatever parts you changed about him in the human realm would remain when he returned and was healed here.
It sounds like you still love him, and I couldn’t bring myself to be honest with you about who he is or was. ”
Frustrated, I stood up and confronted Everett.
“I don’t understand you. I’ve tried to figure out why you’ve been unusually kind to me throughout my entire stay.
You treat me like I’m an equal, unlike the other guardians I have met here, who clearly wish I didn’t exist. I see the disdain on your face when you speak of Prince Sterling.
What is going on here? Please help me make sense of all this, because I’m starting to get quite upset and confused. ”
Everett got up and took a few steps away from me, putting space between us. “Aurelia, I think it would be best that I take you back to your room to calm down. Making a scene in the royal garden is unbecoming of a guest of the royal family.”
Everett’s entire demeanour had changed. He had become stiff and rigid, and he briskly walked past me as he decided that our time in the garden was over.
I stood there in shock at the direction this day and our conversation had taken.
Everett thought I was making a scene? He hadn’t seen anything yet.
I walked over to the fountain and jumped in. I began splashing about in the water and yelling at Everett. “Does this count as making a scene, Everett? Is this frowned upon?” I threw water all around. “Is this unbecoming of a guest of the royal family?”
A few random fae I hadn’t noticed before had begun to congregate around the fountain, clutching their pearls and gasping at my behaviour.
Everett stormed over, stepped into the fountain, and tried to grab me as I sloshed away from him. “If you stop this right now, I’ll tell you,” he hissed at me. “But it won’t be until later, not here, not with all these ears around us.”
I scooped up more water and tossed it in his direction. “I’ll stop, but you are telling me everything I want to know.”
I turned toward a fae couple standing beside the fountain and was about to toss water on them when Everett agreed begrudgingly. “Fine.”
I stood up and smiled at Everett as he came over to get me. He took me up into his arms and carried me out of the fountain and out of the royal garden, away from the fae folk gossiping about what they had just witnessed.
“You can put me down. I don’t need to be carried like a child.”
Everett looked down at me, annoyed. “If you act like a child, you’ll get treated like a child.”
A petty part of me hoped that what had just happened would get back to Forrest. Maybe some public humiliation would motivate him to make the effort to come and see me.
The walk back to my suite was awkward. Everett didn’t so much as look at me or reciprocate any of my attempts at conversation.
It was obvious that I had upset and embarrassed him.
I would eventually apologize for my behaviour, but not before he told me what I needed to know.
He hadn’t been truthful with me, and that was far worse, in my opinion.
Everett put me down and went off ahead of me as I made my way up the winding steps of the tower in my wet dress.
I could hear an unwelcome but familiar voice laughing.
When I finally reached the top of the stairwell, I saw Thalos and Everett sharing a conversation on the other side of the bridge, one that appeared to be amusing only to Thalos.
As I approached the crystal bridge, Thalos noticed me and laughed harder. “I heard about the show you put on, Aurelia. The prince is none too happy with you.”
I smiled in response. Word indeed travelled fast here. “Well, I suppose the prince will just have to come speak to me about it, then, won’t he?” I replied, doing my best not to look down as I approached the bridge.
Everett made his way over to assist me over the bridge. Even though he was upset with me, I was very thankful for his help. The last thing I needed to do was embarrass myself by losing it over my fear of heights in front of Thalos.
As we approached Thalos, a mischievous grin spread across his face. “You won’t be speaking to him about it, dear. You’ll be discussing it with King Julian and Queen Oriana. You’ve been summoned.”
All the air was sucked out of my lungs, and I couldn’t breathe. It was finally happening. I was going to find out what their plan for me was.
“You’re expected to be in the throne room in an hour. Don’t be late.”
With that, Thalos walked off toward the tower, leaving me in a wake of uncertainty and anxiety.
“Oh no. Oh no.” I kept repeating the words. My head started to spin, and my vision blurred. My chest started to ache, and my breath became more rapid.
Everett put his hand on my shoulder, grounding me. “Aurelia, it will be fine. Go inside. Wash up and get dressed. I’ll wait for you out here.”
I looked at Everett. His smile was genuine and reassuring. I suddenly felt awful for our earlier confrontation. “Everett, I’m sorry for blowing up at you. I just—”
Everett held his hand up. “It’s fine, Aurelia. Please go and get ready. The king and queen do not like to wait for anyone.”
I nodded. Picking up my heavy, soaking wet dress, I ran into my suite to get ready for the discussion regarding my future in this realm.