Safira all but flies into Cain’s arms when we descend the stairs and enter the living room of the manor.I think I hear her sob a bit, but Cain hugs her back and whatever sound she’s about to make dies as she buries her face into his chest.Priam clears his throat as he lounges in the seat he’s in and Safira separates from Cain to shoot him a glare.I realize that I still haven’t spoken to her.The last time we met, we didn’t part ways too pleasantly. Of course, I did get royally messed up by Lyros afterward.“Oh.”Safira’s jasmine floral scent wafts into my nose and her body radiates a beautiful kind of warmth. She hugs me, and my surprise abates fast enough that I hug her back before we separate.We don’t say anything to each other, but this hug feels like we have reached a mutual understanding and I find myself feeling grateful for that.She pulls back from our hug and I feel a twinge of regret. I almost forgot how good a hug feels.Alizadeh walks into the room and I look at Cain i
“Please, let me know if you find him.” Alizadeh nods at Cain’s words and I can feel the surprise that spreads through the room. It’s not like Cain to ask for anything, or anyone. “Come Adelaide.” My brows go up in surprise but Cain doesn’t seem to notice or care. He walks away from the group and after exchanging a brief glance with Safira, I follow him. Cain walks through this place like he knows where everything is. His steps are sure and purposeful and soon we walk through an archway that leads into a garden I didn't know existed. My words are half surprised, half amused as I ask. “You’ve been here before haven’t you?” Cain turns his head and nods. “Just once, when I attempted to run away from Lyros.” What?“You did that?” The surprise in my tone must be heavily evident because Cain chuckles and nods. “I was sixteen at the time. I felt Alizadeh was a better option than Lyros. Rafie didn’t pay me any attention then so I didn’t consider him. I escaped here for a while and tri
Cain grills me on what I've learned about Ashryn so far and I almost feel bad that I am not able to offer more than I do.I tell him the little I have learned, that Ashryn was a stellar prince but he wasn’t the only prince. He was the only child and son of his werewolf mother, but Aquinas had another wife, one who had four sons.Four totally unremarkable sons.Cain half frowns and half smiles when I lay emphasis on that part.“You believe something is up with that number don’t you?”At this, I shrug and struggle to keep my face and reaction neutral but I can tell Cain sees right through it.He huffs in amusement and I can't help the smile that creeps up my face. There’s no need for me not to smile, and hey, no one ever said I couldn't speculate.How often does it happen that some super-powerful prince who eventually went on to rule this land, had four totally powerless brothers who unlike him had a complete Lycan parentage?Not so often, and it’s too coincidental for me not to read an
The first thing that gives away the magic surrounding me is the fact that Lyros melts away. I can always feel the heat from his body when we rest together and more often than not, his presence is always a tangible feeling at the base of my neck. It isn’t now. I slip into the trance the way I would slip into new pants, with ease. The beach appears once more. The wind caresses my face. She stands there, just at the shore, and she waits for me. Diane, wife of Ashryn the great and once queen of the city of light, extends her hand to me and I take it. When she leads me into the water, panic threatens to make me back out. But this is a dream, right? Physical pain doesn’t exist in dreams. The water chokes my lungs regardless ***********************************************************Diane’s pov “This is madness Ashryn!” My husband turns away from me and something shatters in my heart. His features are twisted in rage and the face I adore refuses to look at me now. It’s enough t
Queen Diane listens to me narrate the events I saw just now. I tell her of the love I saw in the Queen’s eyes. The first memory had her hazel hair in an upraised style and her crown firmly on her head. The Queen was beautiful beyond compare. I tell her of how I noticed the shine of her skin and the softness of her eyes. She could have stood her ground against the King. She looked angry at first, like she would rather see her King stopped no matter what. She called it madness, but maybe she wasn’t referring to him. Sometimes people say more than they want to without having to. I tell Diane I saw the King’s body swell with power. The air around him thickened in the presence of his magic and he looked at the Queen with love and longing. I saw the Queen’s eyes gleam too. That gleam gave away the power she carried. One less pronounced, but far more potent than any present. “The first story is incomplete Queen Diane, but in it, another story unfolds.” I hear the Queen’s sobs and I r
She gets up with a start.Adelaide lurches from the bed like someone who’s been spooked beyond measure and it takes her some time to hear Cain’s screams. I raise a hand when she realizes it. The guard pressing the branding iron onto Cain’s back takes it off and he stops screaming, he whimpers instead. His brows lined with sweat and the pain making his body tremble.The guard is a fireworker. He’s been using his power to heat the iron continuously as he holds it in place on Cain’s skin. You see, I know him.I know placing it and taking it off just to place it back again won’t be as effective as heating the iron to higher degrees as it rests on his skin.Two of Rafie’s guards have vomited and the smell of burnt flesh has permeated the air for an hour now.Cain lands on the floor with a thud as he’s released and Adelaide’s eyes finally focus, or rather her brain does.She pukes.The reaction is instantaneous and it hurts me to know she’s vomiting because of the smell I'm responsible fo
Cain can barely stand on his feet.He visibly trembles with how much pain he’s in but the guards help me lift him despite my tears and when I see how much Cain is enduring the pain, how much he glances at me from time to time, telling me to be strong and to not cry so much because maybe my tears also hurt him the way his injuries hurt me, I pull myself together and try to be brave.I cry silently instead.I feel like I went on a trip just to come back and find a wild animal maiming something that means so much to me, and then that animal looks me straight in the eye and tells me it’s my fault.“You refused to wake up.”I glance at Lyros and at the look of slight remorse on his face, I scoff.My scoff betrays all the hurt I feel right now and the expression on his face falls even faster. He clenches his jaw and he clenches his hands into fists, but apart from that he says nothing and does nothing.I look away because he’s not worth the time and the effort. If he hates us so much why do
Adelaide stares at me with eyes full of anger and disappointment and I can't help the way my body responds. I go slack in her arms. I want to say something. I want to do something, but I don't think it’s worth it. I can see her anger in the way she heaves while speaking. It’s potent in the way her eyes lock onto mine with fury. I want to feel disappointed at her reaction. She isn’t the one who has a sear permanently on their back. She isn’t the one who will forever remember the burning smell of their own flesh. I was branded like a slave, and at some point, that is what we both are. Adelaide seems to have lost sight of the fact that I was with Lyros before her. I was the one who took his beatings and impossible tasks. He can be violent without stopping when he wants to be. The only difference with her is that he doesn’t seek to hurt her directly, he wants to preserve her beauty, he doesn’t want her marked. A chuckle escapes my lips as I look at Adelaide and the fury in her eyes