I growled at the annoying, self-righteous woman beside me. “Have I done anything at all since she rescued me to show that I am trying to win her heart? I haven’t done a damn thing since I’ve been back but be a supportive friend. What phoenix flew up your ass and burned your attitude? Fuck, what else am I supposed to do, oh one who knows everything? Tie them to the bed together until they make up? I feel like they both might kill me for it, but if it gets you off my back, then fine!”
Nyx turned white and became as silent and still as a statue.
“I am trying hard. I don’t remember everything, you jackass!” Sapphira yelled at Rune and threw her sword at him.
“You won’t last a day in the coming war. Now pick up that sword and do it again.” Rune bared his pointed Fae canines and came at her with blinding speed. She grabbed the sword on the ground and blocked him just in time.
I glanced toward the purple-haired woman beside me and decided it was time to go. I needed to fight someone and release the guilt and anger battling inside me. The handmaiden watched me carefully, her eyes narrowing. She probably believed the fun, flirty, and easygoing Prince Torin would be on to the next beautiful woman in seconds without any emotions.
“Let me know if she needs me.” A few pity-filled eyes glanced my way as I departed. Great, now the gossip mill would spread all the details of my outburst. This day was not my day.
Chapter Eight
Sapphira
“Just rub this on the cut and you’ll be good as new in a few hours.” Rista, the lead healer, handed me a salve to assist my speedy Fae healing to close the slice in my arm quicker. I looked over the wooden container and sniffed the contents. All of the Fae’s senses were heightened, and I was still getting used to everything again. It was like I forgot how to be a Fae after living like a human for so long.
“Thanks for patching me up again.” I grimaced as the wound on my shoulder shot pain up and down my arm.
“That’s what I’m here for.” She smiled as I walked out of her healer’s hut for a bath and then to meet Dris in the library. We had studying to do. Nyx was quick to join my side as I entered the stone and wooden halls and remained silent as we walked up the stairs to my room.
“I heard Tor yell at you earlier. Is he OK?” I nodded to the guards at the end of the hall and I reached my door.
“I might have antagonized him a bit, but honestly he needs to move on. It’s sad watching him pine after you like he does.” Nyx headed straight for the bath that I desperately needed. I, however, stopped moving.
“What did you say? Tell me everything!” I loved Nyx, but she had issues with Tor that I never understood. She finished pouring some oils in the bath, then stood in the doorway. My head ached with every word as she explained what had happened.
“I appreciate what you were trying to do, but right now, Nyx, I don’t need a champion. I’ll figure out my love life on my own. And as much as I want to sort it all this second, I’ve got bigger things on my shoulders. War with the Dramens, war with Verin, and hopefully finding a damn cure to the sickness he poured into the realms.” I stomped to the bath and disrobed quickly. Water touched the cut on my right arm, burning like someone had poured lava on it. I cursed and Nyx was there with an antiseptic oil for me to rub it with.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause you more stress.” Nyx sat next to the tub and gently released her calming powers into the hot water with the swirl of her finger. I needed extra help to soothe everything from my muscles to my mind.
“I just need the people closest to me to get along. One less thing I have to worry about.” I closed my eyes and sank under the water. The world disappeared, and I focused again. I felt shame and anger from talking with my people earlier.
“You abandoned us. You’ll do it again.”
“You and your mother betrayed our trust. We won’t stand for this kind of manipulation.”
The angry voices echoed in my head and drowned out those who understood and spoke with kindness. Then Rune had to show up to my session with Najen and once again showed me how shitty of a fighter I was. He raged at me, and I wished we could talk about it. However, he turned back into asshole Rune who loved making my training a living hell. He taught me a new move then showed me how to turn a defensive play into an offensive one. I tried the move and ended up slicing my arm with my own sword. Embarrassed and in pain, I immediately stomped toward Rista’s hut. Rune didn’t chase after me which made my sour mood rot further.
I breathed deeply once my head rose from the water. I’d hoped to relax and enjoy the quietness in the room, but the chatter in my head wasn’t done with me.
“I need to get out of here.” Panic overcame me, and I needed to be free of these walls, even for a moment.
Nyx covered me with a towel, and I quickly scrubbed my body clean and dried off. I dressed in a long-sleeved tunic, tight pants, and boots, and I did what I used to do in my youth—climbed out the large window of my room. There were never guards in the gardens below, and no one would see as I hoisted myself up the wooden ledge toward the point of the palace roof. My fingers dug into the wood and stone as the wind hit me from the east. My wounded arm throbbed with every flex of my muscles to reach the next delicately carved arched beam. Fae with essences of the earth used their powers to become architects and thousands of years later, it still stood strong.
I jumped over a banister and smiled. There was a small section of space between the large peaks of the palace that I used to get away. It was shaded from the setting sun, and no one would find me here. Only two people knew I hid up here when the palace life became too excessive for me—my mother and Nyx. Both had their own little hideouts around the palace as well, so they never bothered me in mine.
A small box sat hidden in the shadows. I’d left this box here twenty years ago for when I returned. I remember putting important items to me in here but couldn’t remember what those items were. I hadn’t locked the box, since no one ever came up here but me. However, the seal had damage from the passing years and weather. I pried and dug with my fingernails to open the box but it wouldn’t budge.
“Great. Another thing giving me a hard time in my life.” I growled and set the box down. I’d really hoped to have one thing go easy for me but that appeared to be a hard request. I sat on the roof of the palace in my hiding spot until the sun set and the moon rose over the mountains surrounding our city. Once the night coated the palace, I snuck down the side facing the woods and made a run for it.
Chapter Nine
Nyx
I sighed as I shaded in the dark swirls on the dress I’d drawn in my sketchbook. I glanced at the ovens to see if my bread was finished rising. The situation with Prince Torin and Sapphira left me perturbed.
“This is what happens when you stay asleep for twenty years, Nyx. You miss all the fun.” I teased myself and darkened the sketched line on the figure’s hair. Whenever I got stressed as a kid, my eldest sister Clarista would make me cook with her. She loved to create fun meals and bake delicious treats. She claimed food could solve any problem. I missed her and my family. Coming here to be of assistance to the princess brought me great joy, but I worried about my family. I had sent a messenger hawk to them yesterday, hoping they were OK.