Chapter 33 Vile & Despicable Things
Chapter thirty-three
Vile & Despicable Things
My next five days were well occupied, between showing my face to Simeon in the library, exploring the Arden, and meeting Antenor every day near the Iron Fist’s new camp.
I did not see nor hear anything from Oberon, Titania, or Devil.
As much as it stung that they all seemed to have abandoned me, I managed the feelings by practicing my magyk and spying on the Iron Fist. Their small camp grew steadily larger each day, and some of the men began to train in a new type of formation, but none of them ever went past the treeline.
Even so, when Antenor and I met at our usual apple tree one morning, he informed me that he was meeting with Simeon to report the camp’s activities.
“What do you think Oberon will do?” I asked quietly.
“I cannot say,” Antenor sighed, then he smiled at me. “Perhaps he will let you use your shadows to frighten them away.”
I just shook my head, unable to muster even an ounce of amusement.
“I think I found something else too,” he continued, “but I want Simeon to look at it first before we go to Oberon.”
“Can’t you tell me?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Oberon said the less you know, the better, and I won’t disobey him. I’m sorry, Marina.”
I folded my arms. “If I really am his heir, why does he shut me out this way? I’m not a child!”
“I know you aren’t, little cousin,” Antenor said, looking chagrined, “but we’re only trying to keep you safe.”
“I’ve had quite enough of being kept in the dark for my own safety,” I snapped, “and so you can use those precious wings of yours to fly to the Bower on your own, cousin.” Shadows poured from my hands and sank into the ground, pulling me into the Arden’s current of power.
When I appeared back in my room, still seething, I realized for the first time how much of a toll traveling by magyk was taking on me.
Even after blacking out the window and archway, then lying down for a nap, I awoke hours later with a crushing headache and a strange heaviness in every single limb.
“A day of rest it is, then,” I sighed to Sir Toby, who was posted at the foot of my bed.
When Ceres brought a lunch tray, I ate out on my balcony, hoping Prim might finally bring some news from the Hollow, which I had been mostly avoiding for fear of running into Devil unexpectedly.
The Arden’s breeze carried a distinct chill now, even at midday, so after eating, I cast a semi-transparent shadow barrier over the entrance to my balcony and settled into an armchair beside the stove, a heavy quilt over my legs and a new history book in my lap.
I had just begun drifting into another heady sleep when a shadow passed over my vision and Sir Toby raised his heads off the bed, letting out a low growl.
I opened my eyes just in time to see a winged figure land on the balcony, but did not immediately wave away the barrier.
At first, I imagined it might be Antenor, coming to demand an apology, but the feathers were a dead giveaway.
My heart began to pound as Devil approached the archway.
He looked the same as ever, but had neglected to wear his usual, arrogant smirk, and stopped just short of inviting himself into my room.
I waved the barrier away and remained silently in my chair, not wanting to appear over eager to explain myself, and reluctant to apologize anyway.
He knocked on the root-bound lintel and softly said, “I’m afraid I need a moment of your time.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Not terribly. I only hoped you would forgive my absence these past few days.”
“Well,” I said, giving him a smirk of my own, “as you said before: Archer’s Cup is not the only cause of lovesickness.”
He stared at me with his mouth open rather stupidly. “You think I have been indisposed because of—”
“Our kiss? Well, yes, of course.” It was all I could do to maintain the cocky facade I’d manufactured and hope he bought it. “Also, perhaps, your wounded pride. But I think it was likely the very high quality of my kiss that did you in.”
Devil’s face twisted with a knowing smile and he stepped through the archway, tucking his wings in. “And you suffered no such infirmity?”
“My pride is well under control, and your kisses are hardly worth swooning over, as I have told you before.”
“So, you do not wish to repeat the experience?” he asked. It was not a humble question, nor was it a trap. He was giving me an out, I realized, a way of saying no without admitting to my own idiocy.
“Not in the slightest,” I replied haughtily.
Devil just shrugged. “Then I suppose I should tell you the reason for my visit.”
I tried not to show my relief too plainly. We had both made a mistake—a drunken, foolish mistake—but now, it seemed, we could forget it and move on with our lives. What more could I ask? It almost made me want to embrace him. Almost.
Instead, I sunk back in my chair. “What vile and despicable thing have you done now, my demon?”
“I have left you alone far too long if you missed me enough to start calling me yours,” Devil said as he walked around the room, examining the trinkets on my shelves.
My face burned and I swallowed hard as he continued.
“Never fear. I have done exactly one good deed to cancel out my villainy. Jon delivered Will his precious antidote the morning after the party. Mister Scarlett might still be spared his nuptials after all, it seems. At least…those involving Helena.”
His eyes glittered dangerously, and I narrowed mine. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Well, my terrible misdeed of the day is gossip-mongering, I’m afraid. Rumor. Conjecture. Some might even call it…scandal. I hear Aliena has been training you in it.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Just tell me, you awful creature!”
“Wouldn’t you rather see it with your own eyes?” He walked backwards onto the balcony and hopped deftly onto the railing. On instinct, I stood and followed, taking my Huntress moth cloak from a peg by the wardrobe and swinging it around my shoulders.
“Must we fly?” I sighed as he held out his hand. “It turns my stomach, and I am able to travel by magyk now.”
“Oh, but I believe human manners dictate that you still owe me half a dance.”
I eyed the balcony railing skeptically. “Only in exchange for your gossip.”
He grinned. “A deal is a deal.”
I took his hand and he pulled me up onto the rail, holding me around the waist and using his wings to balance us both. Then, he stepped off, flapping steadily to hover in thin air as I swayed and gasped.
“Look at me, Mayhem,” he said, keeping a firm grip on my hands. “Only at me.”
I found my footing on the wide railing while he hummed a few discordant notes, then stepped back and forth a few times before he spun me.
I went up on the ball of one foot, grinning wildly, before turning and falling backwards into his arms. With a surprised grunt, he caught me and spun us downwards through the air.
When we landed gently in the grass, he brushed hair away from my face and frowned.
“Was that part of your plan to make my life miserable? Pitch yourself off a balcony with absolutely no warning?”
I just gave him a sunny smile. “I knew you’d catch me.”
“Are you finally beginning to trust me, then, princess?” he laughed.
“Perhaps,” I replied, patting him on the cheek, “or perhaps I know exactly what Oberon will do to you if I fall to my death on your watch.”
“Now which of us is vile and despicable?”
“Just tell me where we’re going.”
“The falls, if you please. But keep us…out of sight of the pool.”
I raised an eyebrow, but stepped forward and put my arms around his back, then pressed my face into his chest and called up my magyk.
The squeezing sensation was more pronounced when traveling with another person, and I was dizzier than usual when we arrived.
Thoughtfully, Devil had put his arms around me too, and we stayed that way for a moment before breaking apart.
I’d landed us at the top of the falls, where the pool below was effectively obscured by a natural hedge of brambles.
“This had better be good,” I told Devil, and a smile spread across his face as he pointed.
Slowly, I crept up to the bushes and peeked over the top.
The pool below was empty, save for two bathers.
One sat on the edge of the water with his legs in while the other swam a few feet in front of him.
It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the bright sun, but the familiar sight of long, golden hair hit me hard.
“Will?” I whispered, disbelieving. “Why is he—”
“Shhhh,” Devil said as he came to stand beside me. “Just watch.”
I nearly toppled over from shock when I recognized the person swimming as Jon. They were both stark naked, talking and smiling. But I thought I might fall straight off the cliff face when Jon swam right up to Will and pulled him into a long, slow kiss.
I slammed a hand over my own mouth just to keep from shouting. When they broke apart, Jon said something that made Will drop his head back and laugh loudly. I could hardly remember the last time I’d seen him laugh that way. I stumbled backwards and sat hard in a patch of dirt.
“Satisfied with your morsel of gossip?” Devil asked with a wicked grin.
“This isn’t a morsel, Devil, it’s an entire damn meal!” I hissed. “I don’t understand how this happened! I don’t even understand what—” I covered my face with shadow-encased hands and shook my head.
“Well, since I don’t make a habit of following Jon around the forest every day, I’ll hazard a guess,” Devil said, dropping beside me.
“Your darling Will kept coming back, begging for that antidote. Jon, being the consummate gentleman, took it upon himself to keep a watchful eye on this terribly handsome young human.”
“I-I did ask him to…keep an eye on Will for me…”
“Well, there we are. I’m sure your imagination can fill in the rest.”
“But…but…Will isn’t…I mean, he doesn’t…he’s never…”
“Jon can be quite…persuasive,” said Devil casually, and I looked at him in alarm. “Oh, for pity’s sake, May. I only mean Jon has a way of helping people see things about themselves they never would have seen otherwise. Understand?”
I was silent, staring blank-eyed into the brambles, my mind churning right over the edge along with the waterfall.
“Why didn’t Will ever tell me?” I muttered. “We told each other…everything.”
“He probably didn’t even know it himself.
” Devil’s tone was gentler now. “You humans have found so many ways of keeping each other trapped inside these ridiculous boxes. You think it’s easier, but it only causes pain and confusion when you outgrow a box that someone else decided you belonged in.
” We exchanged a meaningful look, and I knew he was not only talking about Will.
“Should I go talk to him?”
“And interrupt a secret, intimate moment? Where are your manners?”
“Do you think they’re…in love?”
Devil rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “I have known Jon a long time, and he could certainly have his pick of the Arden’s young men, but…he seems quite enamored of Mister Scarlett.”
“I don’t want Will to be in danger,” I murmured. “Not from Jon, but…others…”
“There are few in the Arden who would tangle with Jon,” Devil said gently, “and I will not let anything happen to him, Mayhem. I know how much he means to you.”
I gave him a faint smile, but continued twisting shadows between my fingers as I thought.
Will looked so happy, and that was all I’d ever wanted for him, but this added another layer of complications to my own life in the Arden.
Another person for me to protect from both the Rot and from Titania.
I could only assume the antidote had worked on Helena, since she had not followed Will back into the forest, but we still did not know who had placed the love spell, or why.
The vague, nebulous threat still hovered over me, over all of us, and I would not feel secure until it had been dealt with.
“What will you do now?” I asked. “Help Antenor with his investigation?”
“You seem to have that task well in hand,” Devil said, eyes dancing merrily.
I set my jaw and glared at him. “Is there ever a time you are not watching me?”
“Do not ask if you do not wish to hear the answer,” he said, standing and putting his hand out. I continued to glare and he gave an exasperated sigh. “I have something for you, if you’d deign to trust me for a moment.”
“Only a moment,” I muttered.
“Back to my home oak, if you please,” he said, gently taking hold of my wrist and pulling me up to face him.
I fought the urge to peer over the brambles again as I sifted through the various threads of magyk inside me.
When I found the one that allowed me to travel, I grabbed his wrist in return and tugged.