Chapter 24
“It’s about time, princess”
As I enter the library, two familiar prisoners, a guard, and a librarian are waiting for me, watching me expectantly. It was the large red-headed female who spoke. And it seems they’ve found out my identity.
Or should I say former prisoners.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get word that you were out!”
Sadia looks at me with a questioning, concerned glance, and I flash her a look of reassurance. She’s known me my whole life. She trusts me.
“Okay,” she says to the guard. “You may go.”
I don’t think she appreciates his presence in her library.
“The king says you are responsible for them. They are to remain under your supervision while in here.”
“Understood,” I agree.
The burly guard glances at Sadia and the prisoners. “If she leaves, you leave. Understood?”
“Yes, yes,” Sadia says, shooing him away. “Now go.”
When he leaves, she gives me a look. “Do I want to know?”
“Nothing to tell. Just a misunderstanding by my father,” I tell her.
She raises her eyebrows as if she has many more questions, but she doesn’t press.
I gesture for Gaethri and Rhydra to follow after me as I take off down the long center aisle.
They follow without question, and we don’t speak again until we’re in the very back, far away from Sadia’s desk. Still, we need to be extremely careful here. It would not be difficult at all for someone to hide amongst the shelves and listen.
I stop near a table, facing them.
“You did it,” Rhydra says, not hiding her surprise.
“I said I would try.”
“Thank you,” Gaethri says with a deep, rumbling chest voice.
I give him small smile. “Listen, the deal is that I have to keep an eye on you guys while you’re in here.” I lower my voice and lean in. “I really don’t care what you look at, and I’m not going to monitor you. I have my own research that needs to be done.”
Rhydra crosses her arms, perplexed. “We told you why we’re really here.”
“And?”
“You’re the elvish princess. You do not care?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Rhydra presses.
“I have my reasons.” That’s all I can offer them. There are two others in on this with me who haven’t told anyone else. I can’t just prance around telling whoever I decide to trust on a whim. Even though part of me wants to tell these two specifically for some reason.
Before they can press further, I walk away and begin to browse.
There must be something here. I pull out a book on the construction of this very castle.
Seems like a good place to start today. I choose a table close to them, close enough I can hear them talking.
But I don’t want to sit directly with them, out of fear they might start grilling me again and I end up spilling more than I should.
After a while, my mind begins to wander, and I start glancing at the door, wondering if any other company will join us today. It’s almost time for dinner now.
After a while, I accept that they’re probably not coming today.
I glance over at Gaethri and Rhydra, who are whispering between each other and looking at their books on and off. I don’t care. Let them work toward breaking the curse too. I don’t care who breaks it. As long as someone does. Just as long as they don’t tell everyone they meet about it.
But if they find something that could help us…
“How’s it going over there?” I ask. “Any luck?”
They shake their heads. I wonder if they would really tell me. “Do you want to take a break for dinner, or do you not care?”
“We’re fine here. Dothronites can go days without eating if we want to.”
Rhydra nods in agreement.
“Okay. Fine by me.” If I leave, they have to leave, according to my father’s silly rules. So I stay in my hard wooden chair, resuming my research.
More time goes by, and I’ve gotten nowhere once again. I’m used to the disappointment, though. I spent years scouring this library before I found the passage about breaking the curse just recently. A couple days of searching with no luck is nothing in comparison.
Then again, it does suddenly feel like time is running short, and it’s more important than ever that we find these things as soon as possible.
A door shuts, and laughter follows. I instantly recognize Raef’s raucous laugh. A strange sense of… anticipation? No, excitement washes over me.
Raef finally turns the corner, grinning from ear to ear, but no one follows.
“Well, don’t look so sad to see me,” he says, pulling out a chair at my table and taking a seat. His back is facing Gaethri and Rhydra, whose presence he somehow hasn’t noticed yet.
Was it painted on my face? Or in my body language?
“I’m not. It was getting a little boring here. I needed a distraction.”
“Well, I’m your guy.” He grins, taking a bite of an apple.
I sense motion and look up, finding Daegan striding in with a frown. His eyes meet mine immediately. A grin tries to escape, but I try to keep my mouth level. Something like confusion flickers in his eyes as he studies my face.
Gaethri clears his throat across the aisle, and Raef jumps out of his seat, spinning around.
“What the… have you been sitting there this whole time?”
“Those dragon instincts are not very good, are they?” Rhydra says dryly.
“Apparently not,” Raef grumbles.
Daegan glances at them, then back at me. “You did it.”
“Yeah…”
His jaw ticks as his eyes remain glued to mine, and I have to clear my throat and avert my gaze before I crumble under the intensity.
“So,” I say to Raef. “What did you do all day?”
“Kicked ass up at the training grounds.”
“Yeah… I saw.” I allow myself to look at Daegan again as he pulls a chair out next to me, across from his friend. His eyes stay glued on mine as he sits.
“You didn’t see me,” Raef says. “I fucked those elves up.”
Daegan’s lip twitches. He has a small red cut along the sharp line of his jaw.
“I’m sure you did,” I reply.
“Here,” Daegan says, setting something on the table in front of me. It’s bread with vegetables and cheese that’s loosely wrapped in a cloth.
I look up at him in confusion.
“You weren’t in the dining hall at dinner. Figured you were here. You did a lot of… training today.”
“Thank you…” He noticed I wasn’t there? And he thought of bringing me food?
“Is that what you call it? That guy had them standing around doing close to nothing.” Raef glances at me. “No offense.”
I shake my head, taking a bite. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until the food was placed right in front of me.
“It wouldn’t be a terrible place to start if they were training long-term to be warriors,” Daegan remarks. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of time on our side. We need a quicker fix.”
“So what do we do?” I ask after I swallow a bite.
“Tomorrow, come to me,” he says.
I look down at my bread. “Adrian isn’t going to like that,” I say quietly.
When I look up and meet his gaze again, his jaw is tense. “And you don’t want to upset him?”
I shake my head again. “No, that’s not… um. I’ll be there.”
“Okay.”
“So are we going to talk about the two prisoners behind me, or…” Raef says quietly, leaning in.
I nod toward a shelf far away. They follow me toward it. When I believe we’re well out of earshot, I turn to face them with my back against the shelf.
“I… don’t know what to do with them…” I admit.
“Well, we can stop treating them like prisoners,” Daegan speaks softly. “They’re on our side. Whether they know it or not.”
“So what do we do?” I whisper back. Daegan is leaning in too close. I can smell his smoky, woodsy scent.
“Is there a way we can have them work with us without telling them everything we know?” Raef ponders.
Something washes over me at the word. We. A sense of belonging settles over me, followed by a warmth I haven’t felt in a long time. I never realized how desperately I needed someone to share this burden with.
“They don’t bring anything to our team. They don’t have any information we need,” Daegan replies. I can’t help the smile that tugs at my lips.
“Maethrel said to trust the two travelers. I know it’s them. It has to be,” I finish eagerly.
“And who says we can trust Maethrel completely?” Daegan rubs a hand over his chin, deep in thought.
“He gave us his blood,” I say.
We all look at one another, stumped.
“We don’t have to make any decisions yet,” I say. “We can keep meeting here, keep training, and maybe the right decision will reveal itself to us. We just need to be careful what we say.”
“Which we should be doing anyway,” Raef says, and we both side-eye Daegan.
He tilts his head back. “I know. I know. I’m an idiot.”
“Wow. He admits fault,” I say.
“I have plenty,” he says softly, the intensity in his stare kicking up again as he looks at me.
“You know…” Raef muses, interrupting whatever the moment was. “Our invitation to stay in this wonderful kingdom was not indefinite. Eventually, we’ll have to travel back home…”
My stomach turns sour at the thought. I’ve gotten used to them here already, oddly enough.
“Well, we’ll have to figure it out before then,” Daegan proclaims with confidence. Then he takes off back toward the table.
Another night spent in the library, another night with no progress.
We talk about exploring the castle again, but I need to be here so Gaethri and Rhydra can get their library time in too.
We decide we’ll all try to be more observant and look around the grounds in our spare time when we’re not in here.
Both Daegan and Raef walk me home after a late night this evening, with Raef making me laugh several times while telling tales from their youth. Daegan even allows a rare smirk or two to escape.
When we reach my room, my stomach drops.
Adrian is sitting against the wall next to my door. He stands abruptly when he sees me approaching from down the dark hall, and we all stand in awkward silence as he takes in my company with displeasure written all over his face.
I feel Daegan tense at my side, his arms crossing as he plants his feet.
“Elle, where have you been all day? Can we talk?” Adrian asks, ignoring the males beside me now. He has a fresh cut on his cheek and a small bruise on the other side.
I hesitate, standing in awkward silence as all the males seem to await my answer.
“Sure,” I say, stepping toward him. “Thanks for walking me home,” I say to Raef and Daegan as I leave their sides.
“Yep. Any time,” Raef replies, retreating with a mock bow.
Daegan lingers a moment longer, his body tense and his eyes never leaving mine. Finally, he nods and then follows Raef.
Adrian watches until they’ve completely gone from our sight, then he releases a breath and faces me. “What is going on with you?”
“What?”
“Why are you spending time with them? Again?”
I stand tall, holding my shoulders back. “I like them.”
“What?”
“I like them. They’re my friends. They’re interesting. And different.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Excuse me?”
He releases a frustrated breath. “I worry about you, that’s all. I’m not trying to tell you who to spend your time with. I’m just… worried.”
“Well, good thing I’m training now,” I say with a grin.
His mouth hangs open like he wants to say more, but he stops himself and closes it. His eyes soften as he reaches out, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
“You know,” he says, barely above a whisper. “We never got to finish what we started that night. Never really got to talk about it.”
“I—” Looking up into his deep green eyes, it suddenly feels all wrong. “Adrian, I’m really tired. I can’t do this tonight. I’m sorry…”
He pulls back, disappointed, and before he can say anything further, I turn, open my door, and shut myself inside.
I collapse onto my bed, holding my forearms over my eyes.
No, that didn’t feel right at all. I’ve felt that weightless, breathless, floating feeling when I’m locked in someone’s gaze, but it wasn’t a pair of green eyes.
It was a deep, moody blue.