18. Chapter Eighteen #2
“Not in the same sense you and I are, but it’s almost as though it was cursed as well, and some of my necromancy ability went into it at some point. It’s almost like I am bound to it, and we can’t be parted long.” He takes out a teapot and two cups, pouring us both tea.
“Does it speak to you?”
“Yes, not really in words, but in impressions. Sort of like pictures. It’s one reason I come here a lot because it often drives me mad.”
“Is that why you neglect your people?”
“It’s difficult to do anything for my people when I’m never allowed to leave, and the castle keeps everyone from visiting me.” He adds cream to his tea and takes a sip.
“You left for the market and stalked me.”
“Yes, and I told you that was because of the curse, and with threads it combines all those that will play a role in trying to end it. Otherwise, the castle holds me too tightly. Except for here. I can be anything here. For a bit.”
I take a bite of my sandwich and think all of it over. “Why wouldn’t you fight harder for me to break the curse if this is true?”
“Because in all the centuries it has been happening, no generation has been able to stop it. It’s not such a bad thing to be here and have anything I want.”
“So selfish reasons.”
He sets his cup down and picks at the grass. “It was fine until you bothered my conscience by telling me everyone in my kingdom is unwell.”
“Such a pity your conscience has to suffer.”
He meets my eyes. “You’re such a strange one.”
“How would you know when you never go anywhere?”
“Just because I don’t go anywhere doesn’t mean I haven’t interacted with anyone. If you could wish to see anything, Neera, what would you pick?”
“I’d like to see my family again. All of them cured and well, including my baby brother. As for impossible things, I’d like to see my father and best friend again.”
“Have they traveled too far away?”
I push my plate back and lay back on the grass to enjoy the sky.
“They’re dead. My father had a gambling problem, and he was killed after a poker match.
He won, and the other player didn’t like that.
He was stabbed fifteen times and left for dead in a ditch.
” I bite my lip, not wanting him to see me cry.
He lies next to me and rolls onto his side. “Did they catch his murderer?”
“No, it was a crime lord. King of Thieves they called him.” A few tears slip out, and I curse their existence.
He reaches over and wipes them away. “I’m sorry. Is he why you have nightmares?”
“Why do you care so much about my nightmares?”
“You have them much too often.”
I turn my gaze back to the sky to escape his inviting touch. “Yes, I bother your castle.”
“You bother me.”
“I will try to suppress my unconscious fear for your sake in the future.”
“It bothers me because it brings you pain. It’s not something that is pleasant to think about. The spells I’ve tried to cast to bring you peaceful sleep don’t seem to help.”
“You’re casting spells on my sleep? Is that why you stare at me almost every morning?”
“It was at first, but then I couldn’t stop and don’t know why. It’s like something I want or need. I’m not sure which it is.”
I turn to look at him so I can see whatever reaction he’s going to have.
“My best friend, Ivelle, she blew herself up in front of me after she caught the madness. That’s what my nightmares are about.
Sometimes I dream about my family, but hers disturbed me more because even if I survive and break the curse, nothing will bring her back. ”
He intertwines our fingers and squeezes my hand. “I’m so sorry.”
“She was such a good person and helped so many people with her skills. Not just people, either. We had this cat colony, and no one cared about them. A lot of the villagers, including Ruax, would shoot arrows into them as target practice.” I clench my fists.
“Now that I think about it, Ruax got exactly what he deserved. He’d let them suffer, and Ivelle would care for them during their recovery. ”
“Ruax did get what he deserved, and as the king, I was well within my rights to exact judgment.”
“Such ego.” I smile and enjoy the way his thumb moves over the back of my hand.
He leans in closer, and I meet him the rest of the way until our lips find each other.
We lose ourselves in tangled tongues and pressed bodies.
My legs slip between his, and his fingers play with my hair.
It’s a simple and sweet kiss. The kind that transcends passion into something deeper.
The kiss seems endless, but probably only a few seconds pass when we finally break apart.
He helps me to my feet. “Do you want to see your father?”
“You’re not going to turn him into a skeletal animal, are you?”
“No, I’m sure his soul has long left, but you can imagine him here as he was. He won’t be real, but you’ll be able to see him. Like a living painting.”
“How?”
“Think about how you last remember him and wish for it to be real.”
I close my eyes, and when I open them again, my father stands in front of me. Zyon walks over to a tree, giving me space.
“Neera,” my father says.
I collapse against him, sobbing, but as quickly as he appeared, he’s gone. I fall to my knees and cry into my hands.
Zyon kneels in front of me. “How can I help?”
I drop my head into his lap and cry while he plays with my hair, which strangely comforts me.
When I regain composure, Zyon leads me back through the whirlpool by swimming to the ivory bottom of the second pool.
We return to the ice dragon and fly back to the castle.
Zyon helps me down from the dragon and hands me a wooden box.
I unlatch the golden shell lock and gasp. “Black pixie dust! How did you know?” I want to shove him when he only smirks.
“There’s something else. Reach into the dust. In the middle, I believe.”
Something metal brushes my fingers as I search through the dust, and I pull out a small key. At first, I think it might be the key I’ve been needing, but then I realize it has no pull and looks different.
“That is the key to the apothecary shop. It’s yours now.”
I squint and almost hand both back to him. My need to save my brother overrides my pride. “Have you been spying on me?”
“Always.” He winks and walks away.