Chapter Twenty-Four Riela
Chapter Twenty-Four
Riela
The next morning, I awoke alone. I squashed the disappointment. Based on the bright light streaming through the windows, it
was already late. I couldn’t expect an Etheri king to laze the day away waiting for me to wake up.
Even if I wished he had.
I sat up, moving gingerly as my muscles reminded me of the night’s activities. I scooted to the edge of the bed and found
my clothes in a neatly folded pile. A glass of water and a steaming bowl of porridge waited for me on the nightstand. The
bowl was wrapped in moonlit magic to keep it warm, so there was no telling how long Garrick had been gone.
I ate, then pulled on yesterday’s tunic for the dash back to my room. I marveled for a moment at the repaired bedroom door.
I hadn’t felt Garrick’s magic at all, which meant I’d slept hard. I pulled the door open and nearly tripped over Grim.
The wolf stood and chuffed at me. I covered my face in embarrassment, even though my naked legs would hardly scandalize an
animal.
Still, I shook my finger at him. “You never saw this.”
He chuffed again with what could only be described as the canine equivalent of a grin. It was uncanny what he seemed to understand,
but since he could also turn into a beast as big as a horse, I chalked it up to magic and didn’t let it bother me.
Grim followed me to my room and flopped down outside my door. “Are you my guard for the day?”
He didn’t answer.
Did I need a guard, especially in the castle? The idea was troubling for a whole host of reasons, but perhaps Garrick was merely overreacting because of last night. If he thought he could wrap me in cotton just because we’d had sex, then he was about to learn otherwise.
I left Grim to his vigil and took a quick bath before slipping on a new tunic and trousers, this time in a deep gray with
black trim. It was a serious outfit for what was probably going to be a serious discussion.
I pulled on my boots and strapped the dagger to my waist. I still didn’t know how to use it, but it was better than throwing
plates if something decided to come through the kitchen door again.
“Take me to Garrick,” I murmured to the castle as I stepped through the doorway. I remained in the hallway outside my room,
and I looked down at Grim with a frown. “Where is the mage?”
If the wolf knew, he wasn’t telling.
I raised my magic, but sensing Garrick through the castle’s magic remained impossible, so I sighed and headed for the stairs
with Grim trailing after me like my wolf-shaped shadow.
I checked the kitchen, library, and study, but Garrick was nowhere to be found. Had he left the castle? Was that why Grim
was glued to my side?
I returned to the kitchen and crossed toward the outside door, but Grim blocked my path with a low growl. When I tried to
reach past him, he snapped at my hand, and I jerked my fingers back before scowling at him. “I know you’re not going to bite
me, so cut it out. I’m just looking for Garrick. I won’t go past the bridge, I promise.”
Grim grew until he was taller than me, then he planted himself in front of the door with a smug look, daring me to try to
get around him.
I crossed my arms and glared at him. “Really?”
He didn’t move.
“See if I read you fairy tales again,” I grumbled, then pointed a finger at him. “If you prevent me from entering the courtyard,
then we’re going to have problems, do you understand?”
The wolf gave me one slow blink before shrinking back to his normal indoor size and nudging me away from the door. I guess that meant the courtyard was fair game.
“Is Garrick in the forest?” I asked.
Grim blinked at me again, and I huffed out a breath. The wolf was only helpful when he felt like it.
My canine bodyguard followed me to the large ballroom, but he didn’t try to stop me when I asked the castle to open one of
the glass doors. I slipped into the colorful courtyard with a sigh of relief. The rest of the castle was kind of cold and
forbidding, especially without Garrick here, but the courtyard was absolutely lovely.
The air was cool enough that I probably should’ve brought my cloak, but the sun helped knock down the chill. I found a stone
bench in the clearing with the dais and settled down to bask.
Grim sat on the ground next to my feet, but rather than flopping over, his head remained up and alert. He really was on guard duty today.
I closed my eyes and tipped my face up to soak in the sun. Sometimes, it felt as if I were part plant, because if I went too long without sunlight, I became grouchy and dejected. But even a few minutes outside
always made me feel better.
I was drifting in pleasant daydreams when a shadow flickered over my eyelids. I opened my eyes, expecting to see a bird, but
there was nothing in the sky, not even a cloud.
Grim was also staring at the sky, and a low growl started rumbling in his chest a moment before a blur streaked into view
high above the courtyard. The blur resolved itself into a man-shaped creature, and I had a heartbeat to marvel at his delicate
wings before he smirked and hurled a metal sphere at my head.
I stared, expecting Garrick’s protections to deflect it. Grim exploded into his huge form, and his jaws clamped around my
body with bruising force.
The world spun, then I was sailing through the air across the clearing. I slammed onto the stone dais with a blinding bolt of agony as something exploded nearby. Grim howled in pain, and I skidded across the stone, shredding my clothes and tearing my skin. My ears rang with the force of the blast.
I shook my head, trying to clear it. I had to get up. I had to rescue Grim and get us inside the safety of the castle.
My right wrist refused to support my weight, and the pain made spots dance in my vision. My left arm trembled but held, so
I pushed myself up and staggered to my feet, dazed and bleeding.
It took me longer than it should’ve to realize that the courtyard had changed. Icy wind sliced through my clothes, and all
of the plants were dead, covered in a layer of trampled snow. The castle walls seemed the same, but in the distance, enormous
mountains pierced the sky.
Grim was nowhere to be seen. I rubbed my eyes, but the view didn’t change. Had I died?
But no, the pain in my wrist was real, and I didn’t believe Deir was cruel enough to continue to inflict pain after death.
A beautiful woman with gray skin, long black hair, and silver armor stepped into view holding a raised bow. She pointed the
arrow at me and barked something in a language I didn’t understand, but her suspicious expression was easy enough to read.
I stumbled away with my arms in the air, and the world tilted. I hit the dais on my knees, and enraged moonlit magic washed
over me. I sagged in relief. Garrick had returned. He could help Grim.
The woman from the vision was gone, and I was back in the familiar clearing of Garrick’s courtyard. Half of the area was on
fire—the half where I’d been sitting—and Grim was on his side next to the mage.
The wolf wasn’t moving.
Garrick pinned me in place with an icy, furious glare. “What have you done?”
I blinked at him, then looked down at the dais beneath my knees. Oh shit. I lurched up, went lightheaded, and landed back on my knees with a pained groan. “Grim tossed me. I didn’t mean to touch the stone, I swear.”
Garrick stalked toward me, his face as cold and distant as the moon. Magic warped the air around him, fearsome and terrifying.
Gone was the reluctant rescuer and the teasing lover. In his place stood an Etheri king in all his devastating glory.
“Who are you working for?” he demanded harshly.
A shiver ran down my spine at the deadly threat in the question. I held my hands up, as if that alone would ward him off.
My head was still spinning and everything had happened too fast, but he already suspected me of treachery because I’d somehow
taken down his protection charms and let my curiosity get the better of me in his office. Now I’d touched the very stone he’d
practically forbidden me from even looking at.
If I didn’t start talking, then I wouldn’t survive the next two minutes.
“I’m not working for anyone,” I said, shaking my head. Mistake. The world spun, and I squeezed my eyes shut. “I was enjoying the sun, then a man with wings threw a metal sphere at me, and
Grim tossed me across the clearing right before everything exploded.” I decided not to mention the woman. “I think my wrist
is broken, and I might have a head injury, too. Is Grim okay?”
I looked for the wolf, but Garrick had closed the distance between us, blocking my view. His expression was still glacial.
He jerked me up by my injured wrist, and I screamed in agony.
His grip immediately eased, but he didn’t let me go. “You were believable, I’ll give you that,” he snarled. “To think I had
hoped—” He bit off the rest of whatever he was going to say as anguish carved deep grooves in his face.
“I’m not acting,” I cried. “I’ve told you the truth!”
His eyes narrowed with deadly focus. “Who are you working for, and what were you promised in return for destroying the door?
You will tell me, so you might as well save yourself some pain and do it now.”
“I’m not working with anyone,” I sobbed as Garrick’s magic needled me. Tears streamed down my face, from both pain and terror. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! What door? I was just sitting on the bench when I was attacked—I wasn’t near any doors. Please, you’re hurting me!”
Magic rushed out of me, and the world shifted. Bitterly cold wind chafed my damp cheeks, and a glance revealed we were back
in the other courtyard. The woman from before had been joined by a dozen more soldiers, all armed.
Their eyes widened, then they swept into deep, elaborate bows.
Garrick’s hand loosened enough for me to slip away, but between one step and the next, the world shifted again, and I stumbled
and fell off the dais into the burned grass. Agony jolted up my right arm, but the storm of magic behind me meant that I hadn’t