“I’m not asking you to live, Sigmond.” I hold his gaze, my own fierce “Find me a way home and I’ll gladly shove you off a cliff.” Distantly, I’m surprised to find how much I mean the words. I’m tired of this barbaric place where they hit first and ask questions later. I’d do anything to go back hom
The Bishop looks annoyed, but says nothing about my tone. I’d like to imagine it’s because I look more pissed then him, but its probably because of Zen. God, I hate this place. “Your manner of speaking is… different,” The Bishop says, likely because their accent is different from mine “State your
By the time Fredrik knocks on the door again, I’m ready. It’s significantly colder outside the church, and moonlights cuts through fog. I look around for Zen, and don’t have look long because he’s walking straight towards us. “Are you ready to go?” He asks, taking me in in a single swiping glance
At our side is a building as big as SeraphFall. For one blurry moment, I think it might be the royal palace, with its marble white façade. “It’s snowing, My Lady.” Zen says, getting down from the horse “We're lucky to have reached the stop where we will stay for the rest of the night.” That really
Well, that means with assets in the front and back. Ones you cant ignore if you try. To them, my petite frame must look malnourished and underweight as hell. As one woman very articulately put it, I look like a beansprout in their comparison. Its warmer inside, but I refuse the maid who offers to
You know what? He must be asleep. I’ll come by in the morning. The door clicks open just as I turn around. “Are you going back without even knocking?” Why, universe? I look skywards, let out a breath. Why do you hate me so? I turn back to look at Zen, standing in the open door, and give an awkwa
Silence stretches out between us, cold with tension. I’m suddenly reminded of Edda at the Seer’s house, asking me if I’m afraid of the witch hunter. Just the one. So it’s true, what rumors says. He really did kill them all. “What about the curse?” My voice comes out quiet “That must be because of
I watch snow gather in piles over the earth. We can’t possibly continue in carriage tomorrow, I think distantly. We will have to go on horseback. It’s nearly the end of winter and snowfall would not be too heavy. We should reach the twenty fifth district after a day. The Royal Palace. Word must’ve
I barely manage to find a waste bucket before everything I had for breakfast retches out. My throat burns. My vision is blurry. I dry heave every single thing in my stomach, warmth seeps out of the corners of my eyes. I can’t breathe. The smell of blood is everywhere. I sit there, holding the edges
The smell of rotting flesh is disgusting. Its muscle memory to pull the gloves over my hands, pick a scalpel off the medical tray. The body on the metal table in front of me has no head. ‘You have to take a sample of flesh, a sample of blood and take a look at the internal organs.’ Aunt Cynthia’s
How adorable. Apparently, I’m the only one who thinks so, since when I turn back around, everyone from the fourth prince and the first order to passing strangers and our coachman is looking on in disbelief. Is it so difficult to imagine Zen would get along with children? “Don’t leave your mouth ha
“My Lady, am I mistaken or is the fourth prince avoiding me?” I look up from knotting the satchel to my belt to face Zen. There’s a slight furrow in his brows, and he looks at Lukas, standing far, far from us and talking with the first order soldiers. The fourth prince has indeed, been avoiding Ze
I need to move. But even as I think that, I cant bring myself to move. He’s holding me too firmly, I think, entirely reasonable. I won’t be able to slip away like this. Even the most critical part of me can’t find that to be entirely an excuse. After last night, I doubt there’s anyone who would lik
I wake up to the sound of a door knock. My sleep hazed brain registers the sound, recognizes it, and promptly ignores it in favor of cuddling into the warmth of my bed once more. I don’t want to wake up just yet, since last night I fell asleep so late— Last night? My eyes open, blurry with sleep,
But he’s looking at me now, as if the answer might crush him, as if he’s bracing himself for it. I reach out to drape my arms over his shoulders gently, they hang down in front of his chest lightly. “Why? Because you did your job?” I ask quietly, hold his gaze “Or because you didn’t hesitate to do
“Lift your arm, please.” I say, and my voice comes out soft If we weren’t sitting so close to each other, I would’ve missed it. His shoulders tense up, the even breathing stilled into nothing. “You don’t have to do that, Dinah.” Zen finally says My brows furrow. Zen might be a warrior among warri
On the second floor hallway of the hotel, my eyes drift to the room where Zen is supposed to be. My room is just at its side. I wonder if I knock on his door right now, would he be annoyed? He did ask not to be disturbed. The image of his bloodied arm flashes in my mind. Just a moment. I just want