26. Chapter Twenty-Six
Evelia is restless as though the ocean is no longer enough. She’s lessened her attempts on my life as well, and I worry she has grown depressed.
“You could free her.” Basim waters his prized violets and looks up only when I turn them to ashes. “Was that necessary?”
“It is when you keep saying foolish things, and you’re lucky it’s not your body ablaze.” Red embers crackle across my palm in warning.
“You have me as your advisor and don’t wish me to give you honest advice?”
“Maybe it’s time I chose a new advisor!” Fire erupts in my hands, and I send it into all his pretty blooms.
“My apologies. I will tell you only what you want to hear from now on so my only happiness doesn’t keep turning to cinders.”
I charge from the room and leap off the side of my castle, letting the wind spirits carry me to the village.
The witch’s shop has a new blue sign that glows, and I push open the red door to be accosted by a loud bell melody.
The narrow, long aisles are full of new trinkets after I destroyed all the previous with my outrage over the mirror.
Colored bottles with potions and powders, as well as an excellent collection of blood samples, make up the first part of the store. Large items like crystals and animal parts are set between barrels of expensive dust. The dangling lights are tied to pieces of bone and fur.
After an extensive journey to the counter, I find the witch knitting a garment with glimmering purple thread. “I need more mirrors.”
Her youthful face and ancient eyes remain on her work. “Did you not learn your lesson the last time?”
“Don’t trick me with a mirror I’d never want, and you won’t have to restock your store.”
“The beast can’t get anything without force. Not even the heart of his wife. Only hearts can’t be stolen, or can they?” Her startling eyes that appear like a thousand stars finally look up at me.
“I don’t wish to force Evelia into anything.”
“Except for living in your castle.”
“She’s my wife! She belongs in my castle!”
“Yet she does not wish to be there.”
I slam my palm into her glass counter and light all the contents below on fire. “Mind your trade, witch! I’m here to buy more mirrors with no tricks attached, not hear your ideal morals.”
“You should mind how you disturb a witch, or you’re likely to be cursed by one.”
“No curses can touch me, for I am far above any magic of this world! Portal mirrors are what I wish. Portals to places that are fixed, like the ocean one you gave me.”
“You think opening rooms for her will help your caged bird feel free?”
“Do you have the mirrors or not?” I set six bags of gold on her charred counter. “You can retire if you wish.”
“Then where will you go to throw your tantrums?”
“Do you have more portal mirrors or not?”
She waves her hand and four appear. “These have some pretty nice destinations.”
“They are contained within the mirrors?”
“Yes, your living trinket will not be able to leave you by going inside these.”
I grit my teeth and barely resist shattering all the glass in her shop for the second time. “She is my wife! Not a trinket or simple object.”
“That is a surprise to me. You keep her locked away as you would any possession.”
“What I do with my wife is none of your concern!”
She smiles like my rage doesn’t terrify her as it does everyone else. “It should be more your concern than it is, or you may pay with what you saw in the mirror last time.”
I throw my power into her with enough strength to slam her into the wall, but she stays put in her chair, grinning eerily with the smooth skin of youth but ancient, piercing eyes. “Who are you? Or what are you?”
“Someone who I’d be very careful thinking you could overpower.” She spreads her hands toward the mirrors. “Do you want these or not?”
“Yes, I want them.”
“Should I pack them up for you? Maybe a pretty bow in her favorite color.”
I nod and open my mouth to tell her Evelia’s favorite color is blue like the ocean glimmering in the sun, but bows in that color appear above purple fabric that she instantly wraps them in.
I toss another bag onto the counter. “Tell me what you are?”
She doesn’t even look at the coins, and they disappear. My pocket becomes heavy with the bag moved there. “Enjoy your mirrors, beast.”
Evelia has cleared most of the furniture from her room, and the rugs are even stored somewhere to prevent her from tripping as she dances.
She’s limited herself to her large bed and a wardrobe, and between them is the ocean mirror.
The furnishings are all pushed into the corner like they are of little importance in her space.
Evelia stares at her presents with pursed lips. “More places to be trapped.”
My fire sizzles against my palm. “You could appreciate the effort it took to obtain these.”
“Did I ask you for them, Lazzus?”
“No, but all you do is try to kill me or sulk.”
“The sulking is because I fail to kill you! If someone locked you up, you can’t tell me you’d be content.”
“That’s why I gave you these mirrors that I’ve thoroughly tested, and they are safe. They work the same way as the other mirror. Any time you want to come back here, you simply will it.”
“There is never a time I want to come back here.”
“Then why do you? Why not stay at the ocean forever?”
“Because I haven’t fulfilled my mission of assassinating you yet. If you could give me a hint on how to stop your heart, I could speed things along.” She smiles sweetly and bats her eyelashes.
“Losing you. That would turn my heart to stone, for you are the only thing in all existence that keeps this world from ashes.”
Tears trickle down her cheeks, and she turns away from me. “How dare you put that kind of pressure on me.”
“I speak only truth.”
“Keep your truth to yourself!”
I line the new mirrors against her wall and remove the coverings. “Do you wish to know where each leads, or do you want it to be a surprise?”
“I may break them, the way you try to break me. To bend me to your will, like a pretty doll for you to display at parties.”
“You’re not. You are the most valuable person in this entire realm. I cherish you above all things.”
“All I’ve ever been is a transaction for you. Merchandise you stole after negotiations fell through.” She presses her lips and walks toward her bathroom. “Yes, I know about the deal you made with my father.”
“What deal is that?”
“You supply him with weapons powered by blood, and he would let you marry me.”
“Yes, I would have given anything for that!”
“And I would have married you willingly if you had never taken a step toward a violent path! Do you have any idea, Lazzus?” She turns to face me and closes her eyes.
“Do you have any idea what it’s like to grieve for someone who is still alive?
You were my best friend. The only person who ever understood me on a soul level.
My heart sang when I saw you, and when I danced, I danced for you to watch.
For you to tell me how much you loved it, and that it was your favorite thing. ”
“I know what it’s like to grieve a living person, as I have mourned my life without you all the years we were apart. I would have given your father anything to have you.”
“That’s my point. You would have given my father anything. All you had to do was be kind for me and not hurt and kill anyone. You could do anything but that.” She shoves a tear from her cheek and locks herself in the bathroom.
It would be a simple thing to break through and continue our conversation.
She pops her head back out of the bathroom. “I don’t want your mirrors! Get rid of them!” She slams the door, and it clicks again.
“Fine!” I shatter them all with the wave of my hand and storm out of the room.
Her words burrow into my head like a parasite ready to devour me from within.
I stop in front of three of her maids who are waiting in the hall and nod my chin toward her room.
“Make sure all the glass is cleaned up from the shattered mirrors. If the queen is injured, I will hold you personally responsible for even the smallest scratch.”
They curtsy, holding out their blue dresses. “Yes, Your Majesty!” they say in unison.
I pace my room in front of the large window that looks out on my realm.
In all my power and wealth, I can’t get Evelia to love me.
It’s driving me mad because the one thing Basim keeps insisting might do that is to let her go, but I can’t do that.
To do that is to risk losing her. The worst thing that ever happened to me was losing her the first time.
No, a grander gesture is needed. That’s all.
As I’m contemplating what to do, Evelia swings my door open so hard it smacks against the wall.
She charges straight for me and stabs a dagger right into my heart. “You broke the ocean one! My only escape.”
I leave the dagger in my chest to keep her from being disappointed by my survival too quickly. “You told me to get rid of them all.”
“All the new ones, you idiot! It’s my only place to dance.” Her tears fall so rapidly I worry her fragile human body will dehydrate.
“You shouldn’t have told me to get rid of them all!
I did exactly what you asked, and you’re still mad.
” I step closer to her until she’s trapped against the door, rip out the dagger, and stab it into the wall next to her.
My chest turns to black smoke, and I turn it solid to fix the wound.
"There isn’t anything I can do that makes you happy! "
She swallows and glances at the knife. “You took away the one thing that gave me happiness.”
I grab a strand of her hair and twist it gently in my fingers as I stare at her pouty lips. “Let me be your happiness.”
Her heartbeat picks up speed. It’s something I can easily hear that humans can only do when pressed against someone. Her breathing turns heavy, and she closes her eyes. “There was a time you were exactly that, but you stole my music. All I have are memories of what used to bring me to life.”
“You don’t even need music! I watched you dance at the ocean.”