Chapter Thirty-Nine Riela #2
“It was a long night.” He stood and stretched with a groan. “I’m going to clean up, then I’ll meet you in the kitchen for
breakfast before we head back to Lohka.”
I nodded absently, already reaching for a book from the stack I’d set aside for further study. Garrick had magically translated
everything in this pile, but it would help if I could browse the rest of the library without needing his assistance.
I would think he was trying to limit what I could read, but he’d translated every single book I’d brought him, even if a few
had resulted in raised eyebrows and wicked grins. Picking books based almost entirely on intuition had resulted in a few novels
mixed in with the research books, and a couple of them had been delightfully naughty.
Those were still in a neat stack by my bed.
Garrick returned sometime later and collected me from the library. Over the past week, we’d eaten several meals while we’d worked, but Garrick seemed to prefer eating in the kitchen, and I didn’t mind the break.
Especially since I knew I was going to have to bleed again to take us back to Lohka.
Grim flopped into his usual corner, and Garrick rounded the table and settled onto his preferred bench. I sat across from
him and asked, “Can you make me a translation charm so Vastien doesn’t have to waste magic on translating for me?”
Grim—Vastien—growled. After calling the wolf Grim for weeks, the habit was going to be hard to break, but I didn’t want him to think I
thought less of him just because he was in this form. Vastien, Vastien, Vastien. I silently repeated it, trying to get it
to stick.
Garrick nodded and slanted an unreadable glance at the wolf. “The charms are common in Lohka, so if Grim felt like he was
wasting magic, he could’ve easily procured one for you.”
“We didn’t exactly have a lot of time to go shopping.”
“Yet you had time for a bath,” Garrick said, his tone tight and dark. Apparently he still wasn’t over the fact that Vastien
had helped me bathe.
“And you had time to escort Lady Bria to dinner, but you didn’t have time to send one of your many, many subjects out to fetch a charm for me,” I replied sweetly.
Vastien chuffed in agreement, and Garrick glared at him. The Silver King looked slightly less haggard after his bath, but
there were still lines of stress bracketing his mouth and eyes. My heart softened.
Garrick’s magic pulsed and he slid me a bowl of porridge before creating one for himself.
We ate in silence while I debated the wisdom of asking Garrick to set up a meeting with Lord Mar. Based on both Bria’s and
Vastien’s reactions to my questions about Mar, Garrick would undoubtedly refuse, then we would fight, and I was tired of fighting.
Was it slightly underhanded to attempt to meet a rival lord without letting Garrick know? Yes.
Was I going to do it anyway? Also yes.
Lord Mar might not know any more about my magic or the seal binding it than Garrick. But there was a slim chance he would, and that was worth the risk.
Vastien and Garrick would likely disagree, but their magic wasn’t bound, so they didn’t get to decide.
Unfortunately, there was another touchy topic I needed to address this morning. I finished my porridge, then gathered my courage
and asked, “Since you didn’t find anything last night, are you going to help me research how to break the curse on the door
once we get to Lohka or are you going to leave it up to me and Vastien?”
Garrick’s head jerked up, and his intense gaze pinned me in place, but I continued before he could interrupt. “Either way
is fine, and I know you have a lot of things to do as the king. I just want to know what to expect.”
And how much it was going to hurt—mentally and physically.
Garrick’s eyes narrowed. “You are still upset about yesterday.”
“Keeping us in Lohka hurts, Garrick. So yeah, I’m a little mad you spent the time we had threatening your court, torturing people, and eating dinner
rather than figuring out how to fix it. I could’ve been in the library, but instead I had to sit through one of the worst meals of my life and smile like I was
happy to be there.”
Garrick’s face hardened to granite—furious granite—and his silver eyes glowed. “Would you have preferred for me to let the court eat you? Or maybe you’d like me to fight every upstart with designs on the throne—or on you?”
I sighed, already exasperated by this conversation. “Of course I don’t want either of those things, and I never said I did,
so stop twisting my words. If it’ll help, I will use one of my favors to request your assistance. That would be a good enough
reason for your court, right?”
Vastien growled, low and deep. Garrick ran a hand down his face and wiped the anger away with a shake of his head. “You are incredibly bad at bargaining,” he muttered. He pinned me with a gimlet glare. “Do not, under any circumstances, use one of your favors on my behalf.”
“But—”
“No. Promise me.”
I frowned. “No.”
Garrick’s stare sharpened and his magic rose, but when I didn’t drop my eyes, a reluctant smile tugged at his lips. “You’re
also very bad at self-preservation.”
“I’m very bad at many things,” I admitted with a laugh.
I had to borrow a dagger from Garrick to cut myself since Vastien still had mine. I wasn’t sure where it went when he transformed,
but it hadn’t appeared back on the dais, so I hoped it wasn’t lost.
Garrick held himself perfectly still as my blood dripped on the stone, but his magic rose and his intent was clear. “Wait,”
I said. “Don’t heal it yet. Wait until we get through.” I shivered. “I don’t want to have to cut myself again.”
He cursed under his breath, and his hands clenched into fists. At least he wasn’t enjoying this any more than I was.
I glanced at him, then at Vastien behind me. “Ready?”
Vastien chuffed, and Garrick carefully clasped my elbow, then dipped his chin. I opened the door with a rush of magic and
the world tilted.
Before I’d fully caught my balance, Garrick’s magic swept through me and healed my hand so thoroughly that even the extra
blood disappeared. “Thank you,” I murmured.
He nodded, then his fingers slid away from me as Vastien took my arm. I summoned a smile and pretended I didn’t feel the loss.
I knew he needed to secure his court after being gone for so long, but it still stung, just a little. “Off to do kingly things,
Your Highness?”
His jaw clenched. “I have to check in with the court, but once that’s done, I will join you in the library.”
I nodded. His court would likely take most of his day, so Vastien and I would be left on our own. And while I did need to spend as much time researching as possible, I also needed to contrive a meeting with Lord Mar, who I doubted spent his days in the library.
While I tried to figure out a plan that Vastien wouldn’t immediately see through, I glanced past Garrick to the courtyard—the
courtyard that was now turning green, new shoots pushing through the snow.
I blinked, then blinked again when the view didn’t change. “Did you fix the plants?”
Garrick’s shoulder lifted. “My magic is beneficial to the realm in numerous ways.”
Now that he mentioned it, the air didn’t feel quite so bitter today, and the sun was shining from a bright blue sky. We’d
left just after dawn, but now it appeared to be closer to noon—a quarter of the day gone in a blink.
I looked back to find Garrick watching me with something like wariness. “Just how powerful are you?”
“Immensely,” he rumbled, his eyes darkening.
Vastien choked on a laugh. “And he’s the soul of humility, too.”
Vastien’s delivery was so perfectly deadpan that it surprised a laugh from me. Garrick scowled, but there was amusement under
the glower. “Be glad I still have a use for you, you menace.”
“Indeed,” Vastien drawled with a taunting grin. “I get to spend the day with the lovely Riela while you deal with the arrogant
assholes of the court.” The jurhihoigli winked at me. “Guess it pays to be a lowly guard.”
Garrick snorted. “Keep talking and I will bust you back to guard duty. Immediately.”
Vastien’s expression was far too innocent. “Riela would probably enjoy patrolling the surrounding area with me.”
He was just trying to get a rise out of Garrick again, but I would enjoy seeing more of Lohka, if only the door wasn’t dependent on my magic. I sighed, and both of them looked at me with identical expressions of concern, though Garrick’s was more guarded.
I waved off their worry, then turned to Vastien with a smile I tried to make real. “Show me the library?”
Garrick’s magic flickered in an agitated wave, but he remained silent, his jaw locked tight.
Vastien waited a beat, then shook his head with a mutter I couldn’t quite catch. He smiled at me. “Of course, my lady. Shall
we walk through the courtyard first, or are you too cold? I can provide a cloak, if you’d like one.”
Garrick’s eyes were bleeding silver, but Vastien either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
“A walk would be nice,” I admitted. “I’d like to see more of the castle.”
Vastien’s silver magic rose, and a cloak appeared in his free hand. I reached for it, but he moved it away with a glimmering
grin. His hand slid down my arm until it gripped my own, then he carefully drew it toward his chest.
The leather of his armor was warmer than I expected. Vastien pressed my hand over his heart and whispered, “Don’t move.”
When I nodded, he let go and drew the cloak around my shoulders with excruciating slowness. Garrick’s magic climbed higher.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” I murmured.
“Just proving a point.” He settled the cloak, then smoothed his hands down my shoulders, barely touching while somehow looking like he was doing quite a lot more.
Garrick wrapped his arms around me with a furious curse, and the world disappeared to the sound of Vastien’s laugh.