Chapter 11
After the meeting I have a strong urge to get out of the room as fast as I can and go for a walk. I escape before my father can have a private word with me.
Yes, Daegan is a mean asshole who threatened me, but I don’t think he’d actually hurt anyone without cause. What evidence I have to support that, I don’t know. It’s just my intuition. Though I suppose overhearing his treasonous plan is cause enough for him to want to hurt me.
The crazy thing is, I don’t blame him. One wrong person overhearing and reporting his plan could have him executed.
That’s what would have happened to him if I had ran and told my father, so I’m choosing not to take his threats personally.
And luckily for him, he and I are fighting for the same cause. He simply doesn’t know it. Yet.
Meela finds me in the garden sometime after the lunch bell has passed. “I knew I’d find you out here.”
I’m predictable, apparently. There’s just so much beauty and color out here compared to everywhere else. It feels alive.
Today, the world outside is dark gray and gloomy, like every other day. But right now I feel like my insides match that dark, gloomy gray. I continue walking as Meela informs me that she’s heard vague rumors all morning about the incident.
It was an attempted rape by one of our people. There’s no dancing around it.
I fill her in, sparing no details. Except for my prior run-ins with Daegan. I still haven’t revealed that little secret to anyone. Her eyes widen at the murder and attempted rape part, and at the end, she releases a breath she was holding onto for what seemed like the duration of the story.
“I can’t believe you went there with Adrian,” she remarks.
“That’s the first thing you say?”
“I’m sorry,” she flashes me an apologetic smile. “I thought maybe you could use some humor.”
I release a deep sigh that’s been begging to come out all morning. “You’re probably right.”
“So, what do you think is going to happen? Do you really believe him? Believe her?”
I pick at a mildly poisonous blue leaf for a moment as she awaits my response, but really, there’s no question. “Yes.”
What would the world be if we always assumed the worst in people?
It’s part of why I’m trying to break the curse.
Everyone deserves a chance at being set free, and I don’t believe an entire species of beings should be assumed evil based off how others of their kind have acted.
My father’s—and his predecessors’—claim that some regions need to be contained because they’re vicious, vile creatures has never felt right to me.
Look at the dragon shifters. They’re already surprising me with how they act, while also revealing to us that we’re not all perfect either.
We elves sit in our glorious kingdom and pretend we’re superior, but really, are we so different from everyone else?
“Okay then. I’m with you.”
“Just like that?”
“Elysande, I’ve known you since we were wee little elves. If you believe it with your full heart, then I’m with you.”
I smile at her—my friend of so many years.
Would it be so bad if I told her everything?
I feel like I’ve been living with an entirely different identity for the past several years.
The guilt is finally starting to creep in.
Perhaps because I feel myself getting closer, and that means my plans will have to be revealed eventually, one way or another.
Then again, something has been off with her too.
She’s always been on the mysterious, grumpier side, but a few summers ago she went with her father, who was on assignment, to a northern region called Arryza, and I sensed a shift in her then.
She truly hasn’t cared much about anything since.
But every time I asked her about it, she wouldn’t tell me anything noteworthy.
All she’d say was that the whole trip was a bore and the Arryzans were duds.
“Oh, I completely forgot about our trip into town we had planned for today! I’m so sorry.”
Meela looks at me like I’ve drunk too much wine. “Yeah… that was obviously cancelled.”
“And Raef was supposed to come with us,” I add.
“Relax. No one still thought that trip was happening with everything that’s going on.”
“Elle.”
My eyes widen with fear as I look at Meela, refusing, for a moment, to turn and look at him.
“Elle,” he says again when he finally reaches me, sounding relieved.
“Hi,” I say at last as I turn to look at his handsome face. My eyes flutter shut in embarrassment. After the night we had, I’m greeting him like a mere acquaintance. And that makes me remember—I’m disappointed with him.
I cross my arms.
He hesitates at my sudden change in demeanor. “Can we talk?”
“Yes.”
He eyes Meela behind me. “Alone?”
“She can stay,” I reply stubbornly.
“No, I’d really rather not,” Meela adds. She walks past me, turning to wave at me from the edge of the garden before she disappears.
I flick my gaze back to Adrian. “What did you need to talk about, Sir Greenwood?” He flinches, his gaze dropping to my crossed arms, then back up again.
“Okay. You’re upset with me.”
“Yes. Very good.”
“Why?”
“Seriously?”
Now he crosses his biceps, his broad shoulders threatening to burst from his dark green shirt. “Is it because your dad sent me to check on you?”
“Yes. Obviously. Would last night have even… happened? Were you even going to check on me if you hadn’t been ordered to do so by him?”
“Elle, I wanted to check on you regardless. As soon as I heard. Your dad ordering me to go was just a bonus. An excuse to get out of there with his permission and go to you.”
I hesitate, distracted by his full lips and the way his green eyes with those dark lashes are pleading with me. “Are you sure?” I whisper.
He uncrosses his arms and reaches out a hand to grab mine. I let him. “Elle. While it was hard seeing you so upset last night, I wouldn’t…”
“What?”
“I wouldn’t take it back for anything. I’ve wanted you like that for a long, long time, and I don’t care how I finally got it, to be honest. I’m simply glad I did. And now that I’ve had a taste, I only crave more.”
I blush and glance down, remembering how exposed I was to him last night.
Mentally and physically. I laid myself out there for him.
I’m not used to doing that with anyone. Today, I’m not sure how I’m feeling about it.
I wouldn’t say it’s regret, but I was desperate to feel something… and he was there.
And I can’t forget the hollowness I felt when I woke up.
His thumb brushes my cheek, then he tilts my chin up gently. I gaze up into his eyes, and he leans in slowly. My heart races and time freezes until his lips finally meet mine. It’s not a hungry, fervent kiss like last night, but a short, delicate one instead.
It seems like he’s always very gentle with me. I wonder if he views me like one of the dainty flowers he so beautifully crafts.
“Did you… stay?”
His jaw ticks, and he takes a deep breath before holding my gaze. “No,” he answers softly.
Something flips in my stomach, and I nod my head at the admission. I glance down at the perfectly lined stone path, courtesy of the terramancer elves.
Clearing my throat, I take a small step away from him. “So, any news?”
His eyebrows furrow, and after a moment of pondering, he shakes his head. “No. No news. Still waiting on the medical evaluation.”
“So Daegan is still locked up.”
“Yes. As he should be,” Adrian says simply.
“Not if he’s innocent.”
His eyes narrow, and it’s so slight it could almost escape my notice. But it doesn’t. “I knew the guard who was killed, you know.” He looks away, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck while he lets out a breath. “He wouldn’t…”
“Are you sure about that?”
Adrian stares off into the distance and shrugs his shoulders.
“I’m sorry if it was a friend of yours, but…”
“But what?” he asks, his eyes meeting mine again. This time there’s a hint of frustration or maybe even anger that he’s never shown toward me before.
“I believe her. So it’s hard to feel bad for him.” The image flashes through my mind again. Even if it does haunt me, it doesn’t mean I pity him anymore. “He was doing a terrible thing,” I finish with a whisper, averting my gaze to a tall blue plant instead.
“We’ll see,” Adrian says. I don’t like his tone.
“Yes. We will.”
With that, I turn and storm out of the garden.
Adrian doesn’t follow.