Chapter 51
Ashley
One glorious day, she arose from the flames,
a sword and shield in hand,
He hasn’t let go of my hand. He knows he scared me.
Terrified me, actually. I know that side of him too well, it’s violent and harsh.
Though mostly, I forget he’s a warrior, trained to punish without blinking.
I try to pull my hand from his, but he only grips my fingers tighter, showing me he’s on my side now.
And always will be. I insist we give Eira and Nyk some privacy.
Now with Aiden’s command, they have to be extra careful, so who knows when they’ll see each other again.
Kaed suggests we leave altogether, but I ask him to open Nyk’s cell, and now we must wait until they’re done so he can lock it.
“Since we’re stuck… let’s sit with the creepy truth monster. ” He groans but follows anyway.
“Hey,” I whisper to the weird, shivering creature. “What’s your name?” Its black button eyes widen. “My name. No one has ever asked me that.”
“No one gets the chance,” Kaed mutters. “You talk too much.”
“My name is Amedeo.”
“You’re hurt, Amedeo. Are you going to die?” I ask.
“Alas, I cannot die,” he says through a grunt. “But the wards here stop healing. So, I shall remain depleted.” My chest tightens; it’s like staring into an old mirror.
“I want to help you.”
Amedeo lets out a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a sigh. “I know. I would like that. But your beloved will do what he can to keep me imprisoned eternally. It is better you save your cunning for a worthier cause.”
“Apparently, you always speak the truth?”
“And apparently, I am broken,” He muses, shooting a horrific smile towards Kaed full of endless rows of needle-like teeth.
“Are you?”
“No.”
“Will Nyk be set free?”
His head tilts, “I am not an oracle, young Princess. I know truths about whoever is before me... about you, about your yearning, bonded mate.”
Heat creeps up my neck, and I pretend not to notice the slight flare of Kaed’s wings and the clamminess creeping into his palm.
Amedeo chuckles. “How happy I am I was not made to reproduce,” he muses.
“It is all so complicated. You have some affections for the one who was down here. The cook. But your soul and body burn for the Captain.”
“I see why you agitate people now,” I laugh, wondering what mayhem is pulsing through Kaed’s mind. The creature’s mouth curls into a wide, horrible grin, “I agitate those who wish to hide.”
“Makes sense,” I admit. I like this little guy. “Do you think we should go to Cinder Cliffs?”
“I told you, I am not an—”
“Oracle, yeah, I know, I’m asking your opinion.”
“My opinion?” Amedeo says the words like he’s learning them for the first time. His stare is so piercing, I swear I can feel him sifting through my mind, my truths. Eventually, he takes a labored breath.
“You are set in your patterns, but your mind wants something different. Brimming with empathy and self-preservation. Bold and scared. You envy those with purpose, whilst struggling to fully face your own. My opinion, my Princess, is that you need to decide who and what you want to be and then decide to take control once and for all. Does that suffice for an opinion?”
I open and close my mouth, trying to find the words.
He is right. I know what I need to do. But I dodge and avoid and ignore, push everything down and mask it, distract myself.
Cursing the things that make me, me. I want my mind to be my own.
I do not want to die, and I do not want to leave my fate up to someone else.
I want to take responsibility. To run towards and not away.
But how do I break out of the behavior that has always brought me comfort?
“Thank you, you’ve given me a lot to think about. What do you need in order to get better?”
The little creature drags himself backwards, eyes narrowing, likely at Kaed’s twitching jaw. “I need a tea brewed from the petals of a blue Calendular,” he says. “One cup, and I am restored. You know your uncle will not like this.”
“Don’t mind him. You will drink it, that’s an order.” I smile. My first time using my power, my influence for something outside of myself. And it feels good. If I had help when I needed it, maybe it would have taken me less time to heal.
He blinks slowly. “I will be indebted to you.”
I offer him a smile, which he returns with a spiky one of his own. Kaed’s stony face tells me that there is a slim chance he will forget those comments about Cook any time soon. “Yearning?” I smirk, looking up at him.
“Burning body?”