Chapter 57 An Arm. Cool
Chapter fifty-seven
An Arm... Cool
Alaceandra
"We come bearing food." I try to don a good mood when we arrive to Sorin and Sam's cottage, but I find that their moods seem to be no better than ours.
Tension crackles through the space and standing at the center of it is an angry Sam.
Sorin's eyes widen when we come in and he quickly stands in front of the table. "Hi, Firefly." He walks up to me quickly. "Let's put that over he-" A flash of red catches my attention causing me to almost drop the food.
"What is that?"
Sitting on the small table is an arm. A detached arm for that matter. The blood from where it is severed is pooling on the table and from the look of it, it does not seem like it was detached too long ago. My stomach turns slightly.
"I found the man who attacked you," Sam says, his voice icy. Sorin cringes.
"Did you?" I say, my mouth feeling a bit dry.
"Does that… um… belong to him?" My gentle protector is looking anything but.
Blood coats his shirt and his fists are clenched as he stares daggers at the arm on the table.
For some reason a thrill surges through me at the sight instead of the fear I was expecting.
"It is his arm, yes," he answers simply, his tone still strangely detached.
"And how did it get there?" the prince asks.
"I relieved him of its weight and put it there."
"Ah," the prince says, taking the food from my hands.
"Where is the rest of him?" He does not seem as surprised by the dismembered body part as I am.
As confusing as that is, I cannot force that fact to worry me.
Instead, the whole situation feels surreal— something within me is almost excited by all the violence the day has brought.
"I do not know." Sam's voice has deepened dramatically, his rage coating every syllable. "He got away." He punches the table. "Again."
"So, you decided to bring the bloodied part to your cottage? To do what? Examine it?" the prince questions, dryly.
"What else was I supposed to do," he roars.
"If I do not find him, Alaceandra-" His gaze finally leaves the arm on the table and clashes with mine.
The blood drains from his face. "Alaceandra…
fuck." His eyes flick back down to the arm.
"What are you doing here?" His voice has returned to his normal cadence, along with an edge of alarm.
I swallow. "Ummm… dinner?" My eyes flick to the arm again. "Not the arm though… stew. From Sylvie." I point to the little containers.
"Oh," he replies lamely. "I uh, I will clean this up.
" Gathering the table as a whole he walks past me and opens the hatch in the floor before tossing the whole thing down and shutting the door once again.
Glancing down at himself, it is as if he notices the blood for the first time.
"I need to shower," he says before running to the bathroom.
I stare after him. "Am I dreaming right now?" I ask the room.
"Hmm…" The prince pinches me and I swat at his hand. "No. Dear old Sam just went a little overboard there." He stares at my face. "I take it you have not seen that side of him before."
"No, she hasn't," Sorin answers for me. He grabs one of my hands. "Sorry you had to see that. Are you okay?"
I let out a sharp breath. "Yeah," gently pulling my hand away from him, I walk over to the couch, checking the area for any bloody residue, seeing none I plop down. "It has just been a long day."
"I am surprised you are not running away screaming," the prince says, smirking.
So am I, but if that arm is really from my attacker, I cannot be upset with Sam for removing it. I reply mentally. "Par for the day, I guess," I say instead.
Sorin kneels beside me. "Look, Lace, you just caught him at a bad time, we did not realize you were on your way up. He-"
"It is fine. It is not the first severed limb I have seen, just the first at his hands. I can deal with it. I think we have more important matters to discuss. Like the owner of that arm and what they were doing in the woods in the first place."
"Ah ah ah, like you are going to get off so easily. Mind telling us why you were in the woods yourself?"
So much for hoping being cheerful would make them forget about the whole thing. I bite my bottom lip. "Can we wait til Sam gets back? I would rather explain everything with him here. Less repeating myself."
They both nod. After a few more minutes, Sam makes his way back into the sitting room, but try as I might to catch his eyes, he refuses to look at me.
"Now tell us," the prince demands.
"I had another dream last night," I say and the men lean in to listen.
"The same man from before?" the prince asks.
"Yes, but I still could not get a good look at him. This time though instead of just speaking to me he showed me things."
Sam perks up at this. "Showed you things?"
I nod. "A cave. With two dead men hanging by the arms in it. He told me…" I pause, licking my lips. "He said Sam killed them." My eyes drift to the hatch that is currently hiding the severed arm right now and Sam groans.
"What?" Sorin asks Sam.
"I did not kill those men," Sam grumbles.
"I did not say that-"
"I know you did not say it, but I saw your eyes, Parum Bellator.
You are currently thinking that it could be possible that that is true and while I will not say that I have not killed, because I think we both know that is untrue, those men did not die by my hands.
Neither has any scout that has come upon these lands.
" His own eyes flick to the hatch. "Yet," he growls.
"Wait," The prince interrupts. "How does that have anything to do with why you were out in the woods?" He asks.
"Yeah, about that…"
"Firefly…" Sorin warns.
"So…. this morning, I overheard Sam and the prince talking about dangers on the borders and how I am asking too many questions and I thought if I could just look into this cave then maybe I could do a little digging myself because try as I might to pry information from you three, you refuse to tell me anything of value," I spit out in a burst.
"And you thought the best way to do that," Sam says through gritted teeth, "was to try to find the cave with the potentially dangerous criminals…on your own."
"Yes." I nod. Sorin sighs. "In my defense you and the prince were acting really suspicious. I thought if I did not find anything out there then that would be proof enough that the dream man was spouting lies and if I did…."
"Then you were going to believe what the idiot was saying?" Sam rubs at his face.
"Well, no… I would just probably have continued doing my own investigations."
"But instead, you walked into a trap," Sorin says.
"It seems that way." I throw my hands up in exasperation.
Another sigh. "We are only keeping things from you to keep everyone safe.
" Sam is now raking his hands through his hair.
"There have been… threats, but until now, not anything to be overly concerned about.
Informing you of every little detail surrounding these things would only lead you to be in even more dangerous situations.
We wanted to make sure that you completed as much training as possible before you are exposed to everything.
It seems though the time for that is quickly drawing to a close. "
"Why is it coming to a close?"
"Because the solstice is still three months away, but it looks like people are making their move now. Unfortunately, that means that we need to start taking action along with them. We can try to travel further into the dark lands to get them off our tail, but who is to say how long that will last."
"Off our tail? Is this because we left before my marriage to the prince? Who is after us?"
"Everyone is after you, Parum Bellator, and your betrothal to the pest is not the only reason why…. Do you remember the big rock that had that prophecy on it? The one you saw when you and Sorin were escaping?"
"Yes…."
"Well, that was about you. Once the solstice is upon us you will be able to be matched with someone. That pairing will give them all the power they need to either take over Ptheryeth or end it."
"What? You are telling me this now?"
"I need to, because that man you are seeing in your dreams is doing whatever he can to get you away from us, Alaceandra and I need you to know the reason why.
It is not out of some fucked up kindness or good natured drive for the truth.
It is so he can use you, likely to bring the end of the world as we know it.
If you choose to go with him-" He bites his tongue.
"We cannot choose your path for you, but you should know what you are deciding for or against."
A thought niggles at me and I cannot help but voice it, "Is that why you are all here too?" I look at the floor. "I mean I know that the prince has some grand revenge plot that he wants me to be a part of but what about you, Sorin? Sam?"
Sorin touches my chin bringing his gaze to mine. "As I have told you before, I will tell you again. Whether you had all the power in the world, or none at all, I will stand by your side. Whatever you choose, Lace, I will be with you no matter what." I smile at him softly and he kisses my forehead.
Releasing me, my eyes turn to Sam's stormy ones. "I will not lie to you and tell you that there are not ways I wish things to go," he says, "but I have committed myself to you, Parum Bellator. I will not go against any wishes of yours if I can help it."
I feel lightheaded, overwhelmed by all the new information and I lean back on the couch to take it all in. Another moment passes and the prince's voice rings through the room. "As lovely as all this is, Alaceandra has barely eaten all day. We should all eat."
"Agreed," rumbles Sam.
Sorin grabs the containers of food the prince set down earlier and hands them out. The prince digs in and I cannot help but smile at his vigor. "Hungry much?" I ask, opening my own container.
He rolls his eyes.