23. Chapter Twenty-Three
I wake up with Zyon’s head next to me. We're in his room, so for some reason, he brought me to his bed instead of mine. Yet, he remains in the chair instead of under his personal blankets. He’s leaning over from where he's sitting and looks highly uncomfortable.
I run my fingers through his hair and massage his scalp the way he loves.
The hydration bands on my wrist pinch at my skin with the movements, but I keep touching him anyway.
He snaps up and throws his arms around me. “You’re awake.”
“Yes.”
“Neera.” His voice cracks like my name is a broken song. He climbs into bed and holds me. “I’m sorry. I thought you left.”
“What? Why?”
“Your note.”
“What note?” I slide back down, keeping hold of his hand to bring him with me.
“The one where you said you didn’t want to fix the curse. That you’d grown tired of waiting and of me. It made sense to me.”
“Me being tired of you made sense?”
“Yes, I’m not the easiest person to love.”
“A few weeks ago, I would have said it’s good you’re becoming self-aware, but I no longer feel that way. You’re not hard to love, Zyon.”
“No?” The disbelief and woe in his voice break my heart in a new way.
I bury my face in his chest to breathe him in. “The note wasn’t by me. Ruax probably wrote it.”
“What?”
“That’s why I was trapped in his cell.”
“Why did you go down there?”
“To talk to him.”
“And he overpowered you.” He goes rigid. “Did he hurt you?”
“No.” Reluctantly, I tell him the entire story but leave out Ruax being out for days before.
“That was dangerous! The dungeon was dangerous, and anything could have happened to you. Something did happen to you. Seven days, Neera! Seven days I looked for you all over the kingdom to beg for your return, and you were under my feet the entire time!”
“All over your kingdom? The curse is very important. I get it.”
“No.” He sits up and pulls me with him. “You’re important.
I didn’t chase you to convince you to break the curse.
I chased you to tell you that if all you wanted is to stay with me, then we would leave the curse to the next generation.
Because I will live my days content inside this hell because you are anything but. ”
I let my tears fall out, finally not caring if he sees me cry.
“There’s no way I could leave my family in this hell.
It seems too much to hope there will be an after this curse.
An after for us. It breaks my heart because I have loved living in this place with you, but there is more than you and me. ”
He kisses my forehead before letting me relax against his heartbeat as his arms keep their firm hold around me, like he needs to hold me together through the violent blizzard swirling outside the large window of his room.
I wake again to an empty bed and run my hand over the cold sheets. “Zyon?” I call his name a few more times with no luck and stumble out of bed.
A cat skull servant rushes over in her blue dress and apron. “Miss, I’m not supposed to let you out of this bed.”
“I need a bath. Please.”
She helps me into the bathroom and out of my clothes. “We must hurry before he returns.”
“He’s not that scary, is he?”
She grabs the soap and scrubs me down before tending to my hair. She gets me a fresh nightgown and dries me off while draining the tub.
When I exit the bathroom, Zyon rushes over to grab me from the servant who is doing her best to help me back to bed. “Why are you out of bed?” He glares at the servant. “You were to keep her in bed.” He snaps his fingers, and she falls into a pile of bones.
I shove away from him and stumble to the ground. “You brute! Bring her back!”
“No. She defied the one order I gave her.” He goes to help me up.
I smack him away. “Don’t touch me! You don’t touch me until you bring her back because I defied your orders, not her. I needed a bath. The grime was too much.”
“I could have bathed you.”
“No, thank you. You’re horrid! I will not forgive you if you don’t bring her back.”
He growls like the barbarian he is and snaps his fingers, then twirls them like he’s drawing something to himself. With a thrust of his hands, the bones spin in a small vortex, and the servant is pieced back together one bone at a time.
She trembles and curtsies. “I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“You will be on launder duty from now on. Start with my bedding and change it immediately.”
“Y-yes, Your Majesty.” She runs over and pulls all the sheets, blankets, and pillows onto the ground before fetching clean ones and two other servants that help her make it up quickly.
“I want her as my personal servant.”
He crosses his arms. “No!”
“Yes, it’s what I want, or you can sleep alone for the rest of my duration here.”
“You’re getting demanding in ways I don’t like.”
“Then lock me in my room again.”
“Don’t tempt me, woman," he snarls.
“I will if you are going to be a madman! Did you stare at Lazzus's eyes for too long? Because you sure are acting insane!"
"I'm immune to Lazzus."
"It's just you being a wicked king, then."
"I can show you wicked king if you'd like." He goes to pick me up.
I dodge him and swat his hands away. "Don't touch me while I'm mad at you! She gave me an excellent bath, and I want her as my personal servant. And to protect her from you!”
The servant stands by the door with the dirty laundry in her arms, shaking, which causes her bones to rattle.
“Fine!” He glowers at the servant. “You are to move to the servant’s room here and do whatever Lady Neera asks of you.” He points at the door as he says each word through gritted teeth. Once she leaves, he crouches next to me. “Can I carry you to bed now?”
I shrug and keep my head pointed away from him. “You need to be kinder.”
“And have the servants walk all over me.”
“They’re people too.”
“People who need to know their place.”
I purse my lips and crawl toward the bed, as the leg cramps are still too great to walk properly.
It takes some effort, but I climb under the blankets while Zyon watches me with a clenched jaw.
“Trust me, the servants know their place is anywhere you demand because with a flick of your finger they become nothing.”
“Can I get into bed with you?” He grumbles out a breath when I shake my head. "Please."
“The king is actually asking permission for something?”
"Yes, to climb into my own bed, I am asking your permission. Congratulations you have humbled a king." His jaw tightens more than it already was, and he looks away.
"Good. You may enter the bed now."
He scowls for several heart beats, so that it seems he's changed his mind. “I swear you have bewitched me with the loathsome spell of caring too much about your opinion.”
“What a complex way of saying you care about me.”
“Against my will, I have come to care for you.”
“Such a trial for you then. That’s something I can relate to.” I hold out my hand to him and pull him next to me when he accepts. “You’re forgiven.” I lean against him.
He kisses the top of my head and slides us down to rest beneath the blankets. “Ruax will not be a problem anymore. I did to him what I did to the servant but charred his bones after bathing them in fairy blood. He will stay gone against any spell. You are safe.”
“What did the poor fairy do?”
He tosses his hand up. “You are impossible! I am assuring you of security against your attacker, and your concern is for the fairy whose blood I used to keep you safe?”
“Yes, using the blood of a creature is sacred because they often give their lives, like your purpose for them is more needed than them breathing.”
“I don’t know anything about the fairy because it was ancient blood. Maybe they lived a long happy life, though it's doubtful with how much the vial held. It could have been several fairies, I guess.”
“Oh, that's sad, but I guess it’s good their sacrifice wasn’t in vain," I say.
“Exactly. The important thing is you’re safe, though your mouth sometimes...”
I kiss him and stop his words immediately.
Zyon insists I stay in bed a day for every day I went without water. It’s ridiculous, but I enjoy it for the first four. We eat in his bed, kiss, watch the stars, and talk more. There are moments when his beliefs make my heart clench with feelings that are too strong to acknowledge.
He could be such a wonderful king, but I fear Ruax’s words. Maybe Zyon is only Zyon because he can’t remember who he truly was. Otherwise, why would someone with such a good heart have neglected his people for so long? These are questions he’s incapable of answering with his fractured mind.
On the fifth day, I throw off the blankets after breakfast. “There is a curse to break, and I am fine. We need to talk to Lazzus and figure out the next steps. We need to see if the rose even has a single petal left.”
“It does. We have time.” He sits up on the side of the bed and grabs my wrist as I try to rush past him.
“How do you know?”
He kisses and sucks on my neck, tempting me back to bed. “I’ve seen it. You can see it whenever you want.”
“I thought Lazzus has to show it to us?”
“No.” He waves his hand, and the rose floats in front of us.
“There are only five petals left. Do we know how long it takes for one to fall? How many did it even start with? That’s something we don’t know.”
“Thirty.” He cups my cheek and pulls me back to bed as he kisses me.
I break the kiss. “There’s only five left.”
“It’s a problem that can wait until you spend the seven in bed with me. Only two more to go.” He kisses the firefly ring on my right hand. “You’re wearing the ring I gave you.”
“Yes, it came in handy.”
“You needed a simple light for...” His voice trails off for a few seconds, and he looks at the window. “The mountain. It’ll help in dark places. I should put another one on this hand. One much prettier.” He kisses my left ring finger.
I pull my hand back, like I’m protecting it from a proposal. “This one is all I need. The king is hilarious for suggesting I could step into the role of his queen.”