18. Chapter Eighteen
The king doesn’t demand I meet him at breakfast for the second day in a row, and I worry that means he’s devising something else horrifying as his attempt at romance. I stroll to the apothecary building, and Aldric lets me in.
I shed my coat onto a table and check the door to the other room. “Has anyone disturbed anything?”
“No, it’s all been safe. We’re diligent.”
“I have no doubt.” There are cheaper ingredients that make simpler potions in the largest cabinet close to the fireplace.
Work where I don’t have to think is exactly what I need.
Keeping busy seems the best option for the day.
I lean over the top of the tall standing table and press clay around the lemongrass.
Aldric pecks the table in a way that seems a nervous habit. “You seem distracted today.”
“It’s the king. I’m sure you don’t want to hear all about my small trials.”
“I wouldn’t mind. It’s been ages since I’ve been privy to any kingdom gossip.”
“Do you think romance is too much to ask a man for? Not that you may even know being a bird. Human matters are probably not your expertise.”
“Back when I had feathers, I read a lot, so I know more than you might think. I am under the opinion that romance is the minimum a man could do for a woman he is interested in.”
“What else is there?”
“Devotion and love.” He turns in a circle around my little creation. “What did you make?”
“I was going to make potions, but I’d rather make pretty clay flower imprints for now.”
“They are pretty. It is not too much to ask the king to give you romance before he takes you to bed.”
“Maybe it is when all he wants is something he can quickly forget after I die on the mountain.”
“Then don’t go to his bed if that’s not what you want too. Not that you will die on the mountain, but when the snow melts.”
I go over to the flower box and pick out some dried lilacs.
“It’s just so strange and fast, and in other ways not.
We’ve been eating breakfast together for two months now, but it’s like one day something clicked, and I’m attracted to him in ways I don’t want to be.
The more I fight it, the harder it pulls me. ”
“Are you in love with him?”
“No, love takes time, but I’m starting to care for him in ways I didn’t expect. I’ve tried hard to hate him because of how he treats those in his kingdom, but then he does something charming. It’s like I lose all morals because my body very much likes how he looks and acts.”
“Maybe there are things about the king that you don’t know or understand. Things that make him not as bad as you think, and instinctively you know that.” He pecks one of my clay pieces. “This is fun.”
I slide him over several pieces of clay. “Have some fun.”
I make a dozen of the little clay flower prints and tell Morvin goodbye with a small pat to his head. Aldric waves and locks the door behind me. I bite my tongue as my shoulders jerk back.
“Did you not see the black paint?” Zyon leans against a bare oak tree.
“Clearly, I saw it on my way in.”
“And you decided to go through anyway.”
“Obviously.”
He pushes off the wall and stops a couple of feet in front of me. “Do you think because I let you beyond one black door, that you are welcome beyond all?”
“You let me through two, and maybe I did. Or maybe I like apothecary so much, I don’t care about your black paint.”
“What did you make this time?”
I reach into the small satchel on my hip and pull out the clay pieces. “Presents for my sisters.”
He eyes my bag like he doesn’t quite believe that’s all I made. “There’s something I want to show you.”
“Does it involve raising the dead as an unwanted present for me?”
“No, such lack of gratitude in your tone.”
“I don’t have to be grateful for that kind of gift,” I say.
“Yes, you want flowers and love notes.”
“That would be a start.”
He snickers and rolls his eyes. “A start. Maybe this afternoon will improve your dissatisfaction with me.”
“That is incredibly unlikely. You aren’t going to lock me up?”
His smirk stays on his lips, like he finds me the most amusing thing. “As tempting as that is, I’ve decided on a different approach.”
We walk between the bushes to reach the ice circle, and the dragon has red blankets swung over its back. Zyon uses a ladder to climb and holds onto my hand until I make it to the top.
He places his hand on the neck of the dragon. “You may want to sit.”
I sit down on the blanket and scramble to find an anchor when everything moves. The dragon stretches its neck and flaps its frosty wings. When it yawns, it reveals blue, pointed teeth.
Zyon leans against it and says something I can’t make out, then sits down next to me. “Is it alright if I help you stay on?”
“What does that involve?”
“I’ll sit behind you and hold on," he says.
“Is this an excuse to touch me?”
“That would be why I thought this would be a fun outing for me, but it is probably a good idea for safety.”
“Okay, but behave.”
“Not in my vocabulary.” He sits behind me and grabs my waist, speaking foreign words that cause the dragon to leap into the air.
Zyon holds onto my waist as we soar over the castle.
Snow falls at a steady pace around us, but the king and my clothes keep me warm.
Everything below is white, with only the occasional red of turret roofs.
I do my best to memorize the layout, but the impressive view of endless winter distracts my task.
“We can’t go beyond the base of the mountain. We’re locked inside the kingdom, and the mountain belongs to another.” He points over my shoulder at the three white peaks that tower into the sky.
“Too bad I can’t take this ice dragon up there for the final quest.”
“Unfortunately, it’ll only work with me close, and I’m not allowed to go with you.” He gives more commands to the dragon, and we fall and rise, tumbling and soaring.
Rolling midair should terrify me, but Zyon holding me eases any anxiety. Even when the dragon flips completely upside down, he keeps us tight on the blankets. We land at the base of the mountain, and the dragon lowers his wing for us to slide off in front of an opening in the rocky side.
I step forward and peer inside at only darkness. “I thought we couldn’t go to the mountain.”
“We can go this far. It’s a little way up we can’t.”
“Have you tested all the boundaries?”
“Yes, I tried all ways to escape the curse.” He pulls a small light from his pocket that fits in his palm but lights up a great deal of the path ahead.
“What would be the point in that? You would have left everything behind to not see the curse through?”
“Being trapped in my lands at all is unsettling, and if I can find the source of the curse, I can maybe stop it along with all the nonsense.” He holds my hand with his free one and leads me into the cavern.
The ground is damp and unsteady, and he keeps me from slipping. It’s easy to blame the boots, but it’s probably my coordination. At a slippery portion, he puts his hand on my waist and leads me through a narrow tunnel.
I cover my mouth when the tunnel opens up to a paradise of five waterfalls shimmering under a warm yellow glow overhead. The water is several shades of blue, gently swirling together into a whirlpool. The rock around the pool is purple and glitters.
He climbs up the side and stops several feet up. “Are you coming?”
“Up there?”
“Where else?”
“Why would we do that?”
“I have a surprise for you. If you can trust me.”
“It’s unclear if I do.”
“Coward.” He continues on his way.
I grumble but can’t let him say that and prove it, so I climb after him all the way to a ledge near the glowing yellow that appears to be luminescent stones.
He scoots along the ledge to give me room and points at the watery abyss below. “Do you think you can hit the middle?”
“No, are you suggesting I jump?” I take steps away from him. “If you push me, I will no longer go to breakfast with you.”
“If I wanted to push you, I would have done it already. However, if you want your surprise, you’re going to have to trust me enough to jump.”
“I didn’t like the last surprise you gave me.”
“That was one of the most romantic gestures I could possibly do, and you act insulted by it.” He dives off the side and into the swirling depths below.
I crouch down to wait for him to resurface.
My heart pounds against my rib cage, and I dig my thumbnail into my finger.
Why do I care if he drowns? If he never comes back, I’d have free rein of his castle.
My stomach squeezes at the thought, and I hate the feelings the king brings out in me more and more.
My feet push off the side before I can let my mind catch up with my emotions.
My head and shoulders are sucked downward, like a massive hand latches onto me.
I gasp for air to find any I can as I tumble end over end before plummeting into a second pool.
This one is clear and gives a perfect view of an ivory floor far below.
A hand grabs my wrist and yanks me onto green grass.
A bright sun and blue sky remind me colors other than grey exist above, but it makes no sense how we’ve found spring in a cave.
I always enjoyed the colors of the sky and keep my eyes pinned on it. “Did we travel through a portal?”
“We’re in another part of the mountain. This is an illusion, and we see whatever we want if we visualize enough. It’s a nice place to escape.”
“Do you come here often?”
“Almost every day. It’s fun to let my imagination take over and create worlds.” He waves his hand, and a red basket appears. “I thought we could have a picnic.”
“Why would you ever leave?”
“Because the castle always demands my return if I’m gone too long. It gets painful if I’m away from it too long.” He takes out two plates full of sandwiches, fruit, and vegetables.
“Is the castle really alive?”