15. Chapter Fifteen
The king has decided after seven days in bed, I am well enough to join him in the dining hall again. Getting out of bed is necessary, and I’ve delayed finding the objects much too long. My mind is off and feels as though it will never return, like a veil that kept truth from me dissolved.
There is a continual ache that everything in the realm is pitifully finite, that it’s all so absurd.
All I can muster is defiance to exist despite the absurdity, and to force meaning into the things that mattered before.
There's a need for returned focus that I'm greatly struggling with. The black rose won’t last forever, and I wonder how grim its wilting has become.
That's where my thoughts need to stay despite the difficulty.
Zyon’s servants get me ready while I stare at nothing.
The maids take Gulzar for me any time I need to venture from my room, but I always take him back at night for cuddles.
I hug him goodbye and set out to be more productive with my day.
Not even the paintings occupy my attention on the way to the dining hall.
I take my usual spot to the king's left.
Zyon presses his lips as he stares at me as though he’s searching for some transgression I’ve made. “Why do you cover your freckles? I would have thought you had none, but I notice them when you sleep or just wake up.”
“It’s even creepier when you admit to watching me sleep.”
“Do you always avoid questions?”
“When they are asked by someone I don’t care for, yes.”
He returns to looking at the large window and looks grumpier, like I may have wounded his feelings. “Your freckles are pretty. You shouldn’t cover them.”
“Tell your servants that.”
“I will.”
“Okay, then.” I scoop several strawberries onto my plate and slice them with my fork. “What do you do when you’re not having breakfast with me? Like what are you so eager to get back to after I break this curse and return life to normal?”
He blinks slowly and takes several seconds to open his mouth. “You mean when you die on the mountain and make the curse dormant again?”
“Fine. Yes, what will you do when I’m horrifically killed by a monster?”
“I will go back to having breakfast alone.”
“I can see why the alone part.”
He pours his tea and adds honey, stirring it and sipping. “I wish to show you something today.”
I nearly spit out my strawberry. “You want me to spend extra time with you?” I scrunch my nose and try my best to straighten it, but it’s too appalled. “Isn’t breakfast the only requirement?”
“Yes, but I’d like to show you something.”
“Will it take long?”
“Maybe.”
I chew on more strawberries to ease the pain of having to be closer to him for longer, but if I act friendly, maybe he’ll let his guard down.
The less he watches, the easier it is for me to access the cloak.
It’s been my main concern, but part of me is excited I have a reason to defy him about the forbidden doors.
We finish the rest of the meal with him watching the snow and me overindulging in strawberries.
“Put on your winter clothes and meet me by the main doors.” He rises from the table before me and exits by the fireplace.
With him gone, I steal three buttered rolls and a small bowl of strawberries that I’ll dry out to plant the seeds when I get home.
I have much more faith in my monster fighting abilities than the royal ass.
I skim the selections and grab tiny red potatoes, a cucumber, and two different apples.
Back in my room, I hide them in a drawer and get ready to head outside.
He’s waiting for me at the door, tapping his foot like I’ve made him wait a hundred years. “Those are the boots they gave you?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong with them? They’re the nicest boots I’ve ever worn.”
“Poverty.” He spits the word out and holds the door open for me.
“Yes, poverty because, you see, our kingdom has an issue with a greedy and selfish king.”
“Must be terrible not to be able to solve your own problems.”
“Why do you even exist? I could do a better job as queen in one week compared to all the years you’ve had on that oversized rock you call a throne.” I step outside and launch a snowball at him.
It hits him across the face. After he clears it, he gapes and looks like he might summon his guards to take me to the dungeon, so I make good use of my time left and hurl another at him.
My aim proves true the third and fourth times as well.
Instead of yelling for guards, he takes off running after me.
I shriek when I see him picking up a gigantic pile of ice fluff and shaping it like he’s actually experienced this game before.
He hits me in the neck, and I keep going until I find a pillar to rethink my strategy.
I scoop a ton of snow toward myself and pack the snowballs like I did as a child at school.
As soon as I finish five more, snow is shoved down my coat.
I roll over onto my back and squish as many as I can into his head.
It almost blends in with his hair, except the snow has opal particles shimmering in it that most people don’t notice.
I smash more snow in his face and wiggle out of his hold, but he knocks me into a big drift. My clothes are doing well to repel the damp chill, but my face is burning.
I leap out, grab his wrist, and pull him in with me. “If I go down, so do you!”
He blinks, and I internally call myself the victor for shocking him into silence. “Your cheeks match your hair now,” he says.
“Excuse me!”
He almost cracks a smile before rolling out and helping me up. “Are you going to cause more nonsense, or are you ready to see what I want to show you now?”
“It’s only nonsense because you have no idea how to be anything but grumpy. Yes, I am ready to get this over with.”
“I may extend it.”
I roll my eyes and follow him down the path, and we stroll along the edge of his castle grounds.
The guards bow and step out of our way, and I get a very nice tour of endless snow and the grey stone wall.
As I walk, I try to concentrate on any type of pull that might draw me to the dagger, but not even the slightest twinge strikes me.
He stops in front of a hill and digs into the snow, pulling out a large broom that he uses to sweep all the snow off a large opening that appears natural, like it might be the entrance to a cave.
I cautiously follow him into the darkness and glance back at the natural light behind us. “Are you taking me somewhere private to murder me?”
“If I wanted to do that, I could strangle you while you sleep.”
“That’s oddly specific so quickly. Have you thought about it often?”
“About my hands on your throat?” He stops walking and looks me straight in the eye. “Yes.” He turns away and continues leading me through the darkening cavern.
A light breaks through the darkness and lights up his face. He carries a lantern deeper into the underground, which is sloping downward to an almost concerning degree. I slide into him and try to push myself away.
“Maintain your footing.” He shines the lantern in my face.
“Even you agreed my boots were poor.”
“It has more to do with your feet.”
“My feet are agile. Thank you very much.” I try to dig my heels into the ground, but the rock is so smooth it’s impossible.
“If they were agile, you wouldn’t be smashing into my back.”
“Are you so weak that nudging your back wounds you?”
He spins halfway around and grabs my hand, hooking my arm under his and steadying my descent. “Voicing a minor annoyance is not the flaw of weakness, but it’s too much to hope for that you will listen to it.”
“I would have loved to listen to it because I don’t like touching you anymore than you want me to touch you. Your insane sloping ground is the issue here.”
“Yet I have no issues walking like a normal person,” he says.
“There is nothing normal person about you.”
“The only accurate thing you have ever said.”
“It wasn’t meant as a compliment.”
“Well, I took it as one.” He tightens his hold on my arm as we are almost walking down a straight drop instead of a slope.
“Because you’re an idiot with your head up your ass.”
“You use that word too much.”
“What? Ass? Only when it comes to you because it’s an incredibly correct usage to describe you.”
“There are many that could be used for you.”
“Like what? Hit me with them. I doubt your creativity could extend beyond what I have already heard my entire life.”
He freezes, like it’s an easy thing to do on the side of the cliff. “What have people called you?”
“Think of anything offensive, and it would be one.”
He goes silent but mumbles under his breath every so often, like he’s suddenly annoyed more than usual. He’s able to keep us both from sliding no matter how steep it gets, and it’s a relief when we make to the bottom onto level ground.
We turn sideways to push through a narrow passage until we reach a musty open area. Water drips from three stalactites, creating small puddles on the ground. A red door is on the far side of the room, and he waves his hand to open it.
I gasp as we step inside, and colors overwhelm my vision. The walls shimmer with thousands of hues, like every precious stone imaginable creates a cavern with no ceiling. The gems are stacked on top of each other so no bit of cave can be seen.
Shimmering tiny people fly around the room using glittery dragonfly wings as they place more stones that they bring from small holes near the floor.
Little lights float through the room, giving everything a soft glow.
It seems like the best surprise, but it doesn’t end as he leads me to a tunnel where the gemstones continue until we make it to another cavern, but this one has transparent ground.
Massive fish swim beneath the surface. Their scales appear made of gold, and the smooth walls in the watery home are like opals, similar to the snow outside.
He steps onto the transparent ground, and I hesitate.