Chapter 8
The Cabin
Memories of the incident over a week ago resurfaced as Adalia patrolled the borders of the Veil in District Seven, southwest of the sleepy seaside village along the Drayton sea.
Thankfully, no further hauntings had breached the Gates and there’d been no sightings of Thorns attempting to sneak through tears in the Oscuro Veil.
Shiloh had taken a team of three other Lightners to trail the top end of the Oscuro Veil in District Seven, and Nikolas and his group patrolled the centre.
Adalia was with two soldiers scouting the bottom end, closest to the ocean.
It was a beautiful day in The Grey, and many villagers were out in their gardens, planting and harvesting. Anglers were off-loading nets of seafood to be sorted and sold in the marketplace. Adalia smiled at the passersby, even though they couldn’t see her.
She and the two Lightner soldiers quietly travelled through the square towards the deeper end of the Veil. The sounds from town dying off the closer to Oscuro they came.
Nikolas and Shiloh had been quite attentive to Adalia all week and as much as she appreciated their love and concern, it was nice to breathe for a moment without someone asking if she was ok or in any pain.
All her wounds had healed and the scrape on her face was fading daily; she was grateful that it wouldn’t leave a scar.
The two Lightners up ahead were engaging in conversation and Adalia hung back, enjoying the quiet of the rocky trail that gently wove itself through the trees. Her presence startled a flock of birds, and they darted off to find a new place to feed. She breathed deep, enjoying the woodsy scent, and smiled. The Grey wasn’t as grand and vibrant as Lucius, but it was still beautiful. A wonderful place to live a simple and wholesome life.
Her honey-coloured mare plodded along the road, its fur glinting in the sun like a thousand tiny flecks of gold.
While lost in thought, Adalia heard a tune floating in the breeze. Stilling her horse, she looked toward the sound. It was coming through the Veil. She wanted to explore it, but her head told her no. She shouldn’t step through the Veil without invitation, especially if there wasn’t a Gate—but her heart tugged her towards the milky curtain.
What if it was the blue-eyed prince?
But what if it was the–King?
The tune touched her ears again, but this time it was accompanied by a voice so faint she could barely make it out. A sound so melodic and pure, her heart raced in anticipation of every note.
“You two go on ahead. I’ll catch up with you. My mare needs a drink of water. There’s a stream just over here,” Adalia called to her companions. They turned and nodded, their conversation picking back up as they meandered along.
Adalia slipped from the horse’s back and tied her to a low-hanging branch. “I’ll be back in a moment,” she murmured.
Running her hand against the coldness of the curtain, she tried to feel for a section that might let her stumble through. A few moments later, she felt a weak point. Pushing against it, she slipped through the tear in the milky Veil.
Her mind screamed with a million thoughts. She was doing the very thing she hated Thorns did. A tendril of guilt laced across her chest like a ribbon and she swallowed it down.
Get in and get out, she told herself.
Adalia cautiously viewed her surroundings. The enemy kingdom was filled with densely packed trees, making it difficult for her to see far.
Black roses grew in clusters scattered across the forest floor. Their scent was a mix of sweet and sour. It was her first time seeing them, and Adalia found the roses to be quite pretty despite where they grew.
To her left was a small stone cabin in the distance. Smoke drifted out of the chimney, and the curtains on the windows were half drawn. The male voice carried through the air, mesmerising Adalia. Never had she heard a sound so beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.
“I walk the halls of my mind and, like my heart, I find them empty.
I’m wide awake in a world built for sleep and my body is ready.”
She neared closer to see if she could peer through the dusty glass window. One misstep snapped a twig in half and the song instantly stopped. Not wanting to be discovered, she dashed behind a tree and held her breath–glancing around the side of the thick tree trunk cautiously.
The door to the cabin eased open ever so slowly.
A large figure stepped from the shadows and into the dappled light—dagger in hand. Adalia’s body warmed at the sight of the prince. Relieved it wasn’t the king, Adalia watched as he studied the woods, looking for what she could only presume was her. His tousled brown hair fell across his forehead, and Adalia’s fingers itched to touch it.
She noticed markings on his skin, but his face wasn’t darkened by the shadows . . . It was bruised.
A jagged cut adorned his lip and the black circles beneath his eyes told her that he’d been hit more than once.
Had they punished him for letting her go?
The thought tugged at her and, feeling bold, she moved from her hiding place and stepped before him.
“Hello Prince,” Adalia crooned, trying to project confidence while her stomach fluttered.
The prince’s eyes widened, then travelled the length of her body. “Was your time here not torturous enough that you came back for more?” he asked dryly.
“I only willingly stepped into Oscuro this time because I heard your song. What are you doing so close to the Veil?”
“What does it matter to you what I am doing here? I’m still in my territory . . . I can’t say the same to you. You shouldn’t be here.” The prince sheathed his dagger and took a step towards Adalia.
He wore a black shirt tucked into his pants, and the first three buttons revealed the black tattoos mixed with what looked like purple and red bruises on his chest. Adalia pulled her focus from his upper body and met his gaze.
“Have you been sent here by your father, or mother for that matter, to send Thorns across the Veil into The Grey?” she asked as she placed her hands on her hips.
The prince chuckled and leant against the rough bark of a tree. “I never do my father’s dirty work. He has minions for that. Besides . . . I don’t have a mother.”
Adalia took a few steps towards him. The woman with the green eyes must not have been queen then. “So tell me, why are you here? You’re too close to the Veil for my liking.”
“I don’t care what you do or don’t like, little dove. I don’t answer to you . . . or to anyone, for that matter.” The prince arched his brow, his black feathered wings brushing across the forest floor each time he moved.
“Well, if you won’t tell me what you’re doing here, answer me this.” Adalia folded her arms across her chest. “Why did you let me go? And how did you get these bruises? Were you in a fight?”
The prince’s ice-blue eyes bore into hers as she waited for his reply. “That’s three questions.”
“Do you think you can handle three?” Adalia said in a too sweet tone.
“I can try,” the prince answered with a small grin. “The answer to your first question. I was bored. The second, that’s what happens when you get hit and thirdly . . . I’d hardly call it a fight.”
“You were bored?” Adalia’s brow pinched. “So out of nowhere, because you had nothing better to do, you let me go? What happened to freedom for a kiss?”
“Why do you care? You got your freedom back . . . and your clothing, I see. Although I did like seeing you in barely anything.” The prince smirked as his gaze dropped from her face to her lips.
Heat rose in Adalia’s cheeks. “You’re a beast.”
He chuckled out loud. “Yes . . . and this beast is tired of this conversation. Why don’t you go back to your insignificant life and we can pretend none of this ever happened?”
“I will go, but if I catch you sneaking through the Veil, I will not hesitate to attack,” Adalia said, squaring her shoulders.
“Fine by me.” The prince smirked.
“Goodbye, beast,” Adalia threw at him as she turned to leave.
“I have a name, you know . . .” he called after her.
Adalia turned to face the prince again. “You don’t like beast?”
The prince pushed off the tree and sauntered towards her. She tried to stop her body from behaving the way it was, but her pulse quickened, and her heart beat hard against her chest. By the time he stopped, she could feel the warmth radiating from his skin, and Adalia swallowed the fear that somehow made its way into her mouth, her eyes travelling over the details of his face.
A chiselled jawline and high cheekbones bore the gentle weight of day old scruff and Adalia fought the urge to delicately drag her fingers over it. Her eyes flicked to his lips and for a second she imagined what they would be like to touch with her own.
Was he too close, invading her personal space, or was he not close enough, leaving an unspoken longing? These thoughts left Adalia caught in indecision; to walk away and never look back, or to move towards him and hope she didn’t die.
This absurdly good looking man with black wings towering over his head and a lean, muscular body was a weapon telling her to be careful with her next move. Yet, his grey-blue eyes betrayed him and told Adalia of a different story.
A tale of a man who clung to sorrow and bore the scars of pain, yet chose to embrace life’s journey, even as it led him through the sombre stretches of shadows.
This was who she was taught to keep the innocent from, the very enemy that she trained to fight against. So why was it so hard to walk away?
“Beast is the perfect nickname for certain situations, but if we keep bumping into each other like this, you might want to learn who you are dealing with.” A smile tugged the corner of his mouth and Adalia froze, flicking her eyes between his lips and his intense stare.
“Well, are you going to keep me waiting all day, or shall I continue to call you beast, prince?” Adalia’s voice was low and calm.
The prince grinned, “I do love it when you call me either of those names, but if you ever get sick of them, you can call me Matthias.”
Adalia glared. “Well Matthias, I will leave you with your sad songs and your beastly presence and bid you farewell.”
She turned on her heel and stomped off towards the Veil shimmering in the distance, but just before she stepped through, she turned to glance at him one last time. He was grinning and sent her a wave with his ink covered hand. Adalia rolled her eyes and disappeared through the Veil.
She sighed with relief that their interaction had proceeded much better than she’d expected, not that she knew what to expect when she entered his kingdom.
The honey-coloured mare was still waiting patiently for her by the tree, and Adalia gave her nose a scratch as she reached her side. “Well, that was eventful. Though I’d best get a move on before someone reports me missing. We can keep this between us, right?”
She’d secretly hoped to find the blue-eyed prince on the other side of the milky curtain, but her mind remained in turmoil. If this was any other situation, she would report to the healers so they could mend the weak spot in the Veil–so why didn’t she want to?
The horse snorted in response and Adalia pulled herself into the saddle and took off towards where she knew her two companions would be waiting.
“Major! We were just beginning to worry that—”
“My horse needed a lot of water,” she said, waving away their concerns. The three of them finished their patrol and headed back to the Veil of Lucius.
Adalia couldn’t stop thinking about Matthias. He was the enemy. The Prince of Darkness. But there was something about him that drew her in, his eyes, his lips, his scent. She needed to see him one more time . . . if only to thank him. Because earlier she’d been so distracted, pulled into his magnetic atmosphere that when he’d started speaking with that voice of his, it made the knot in her stomach tighten and the warmth between her legs deepen, all sense left her body and she’d forgotten to offer her gratitude.
They reached the Gate to Lucius and Adalia thanked Blue for the horses before the three shot into the skies. Her two companions split off, heading to the compound. Adalia continued to the palace.
Keeping secrets from the King wouldn’t be right, he was just and kind, and he would have answers. There was nothing she kept from him. He needed to know that Matthias dwelt so close to the Veil, and even though she wanted to keep Matthias hidden, the king was the one person she could not hide the truth from.
Landing in the castle’s front grounds with ease, Adalia tucked her wings in and walked the rest of the way to the throne room. A few Lightners stopped her to ask if she was all healed from her unfortunate tumble in the enemy’s camp, curious about what it was really like in Oscuro. Not wanting to relive the memories that she kept at bay in the back of her mind, she kept her answers brief.
As she entered the palace greenhouse, she found the King attending to a beautiful display of orchids.
“My King,” Adalia greeted him as she knelt before him.
“Rise, my child,” came his warm reply. “How were your travels today?”
Adalia stood and smiled at the King. “The Veil is secure, and has been for the last few days. No Thorns have attempted to enter District Seven.”
“Well done, Major. I know The Grey is a safer place with you around.” He gave her a warm smile, his brown eyes crinkling at the corners.
“There is one matter I would like to discuss with you, though.” Adalia shifted and placed all her weight onto her right foot.
“Please, by all means,” the King answered.
“On patrol today, I stumbled across something unusual. I heard music playing and a voice singing. Upon further inspection, I came across the Oscuro King’s son, Prince Matthias. He is living in a cabin very close to the Veil. I tried to question what he was doing there, but he was very cunning with his answers and would not tell me. Should we do something about it, my king?” Adalia waited patiently for the king’s response.
“Is he dwelling in The Grey, or in Oscuro?” the king asked.
Adalia’s face warmed at his question. “He was in Oscuro.”
The King chuckled at Adalia. “So you stepped through the Veil?”
“I’m sorry, my King. I heard the beautiful sound and wanted to see what it was. I will not do it again if you wish it so.” Adalia bowed before him in respect.
“My child, you have free will, I cannot force you to stay within these walls, but know this, that if you choose to step into Oscuro willingly, I can not go with you.” the king placed a warm hand on her shoulder. “Be safe and make wise decisions.”
Adalia wondered what he meant by not being able to step into Oscuro, but she pushed the question from her mind.
“Thank you, my king . . .” Adalia asked as she rose, “But what of the prince? What should we do with him?”
The King smiled. “Nothing. Leave him be. Just be aware and monitor that part of the Veil.”
Adalia nodded.. “Yes, my King. As you wish.”
She bade him a good day and headed out of the palace; it was time to go home. Her body ached for a warm bath and a hot meal. Adalia put the blue-eyed prince from her mind.
But his song she could not.