AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jealousy. This was a new emotion for me.
Hanging up, I gnawed on the insides of my cheeks for a bit, looking down the endless hallways for something to do. There was no shortage of pastimes in the castle. I could go swimming in the indoor pool or to the sauna. There were racquetball courts and masseurs.
I had jewelry to work on, or I could take a nap. I wasn’t banned from the internet, either, but I found myself avoiding it as much as possible, the outside world too tempting through the computer screen. I could get lost in all the places I couldn’t visit, wasn’t allowed to see. It only served to depress me.
None of those things made up for the lack of interpersonal contact I got day-to-day.
The staff did treat me much better than they had before. I hadn’t caught a hint of a whisper about me—not that I didn’t believe they weren’t talking about me behind my back when they were outside the castle walls.
Whatever Nyx had said to them had stuck.
I hadn’t encountered Odette once since being back, however, and that unnerved me. Every so often, my nostrils would tickle, and I would get a whiff of her spicy, sweet scent, as if I’d just missed walking in her path by mere seconds.
It was as if the enchantress was purposely avoiding me. No one had that good a timing, not even the best enchantress in all of Steelshire.
I guess if she doesn’t have anything nice to say, she’s just going to stay out of my way.
That should have pleased me, not dealing with her snide remarks about my occupation or taking in her disdainfulexpressions as she looked me over. She had made it very clear that I didn’t belong in the castle—not that I needed reminding.
I had no one but Nyx here. The guards had always done their jobs, and only their jobs. They weren’t open to friendships, even if they were allowed to accept them, and frankly, I didn’t feel like becoming cozy with the faeries who scrutinized my every move. I wanted my old life back, my dancer friends from the cabaret, the freedom to visit my own botanist and window shop in the fashion district of South Havenmire.
On a whim, I headed toward the stairs, the shadows of my guards following closely.
“I need a car,” I announced as I arrived at the front of the castle. The Royal Guards stared at me as if I were speaking in a foreign language. I returned their gazes evenly when they didn’t move. “Who do I see about getting a car?”
The biggest guard stepped forward and offered me a patronizing smile.
“You’re not to leave the castle, miss,” the door guard informed me.
I almost rolled my eyes.
No kidding. I hadn’t noticed.
“I want to go to the Council of Ministers meeting and see the king,” I insisted. “He won’t object to that.”
Catching wind of my demand, one of the butlers hurried toward me. “Is there something I can get for you, miss? Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
Irked, I spun to face him. “No. I want to see the king. I want to go to the cabinet.”
The butler appeared as flustered as the guards with my command and faltered for a moment. Like the other faeries, he spoke in a condescending tone.
“He’ll be returning in a few hours, miss. Why don’t I escort you back to your rooms?—”
“Don’t patronize me!” I barked, backing away as the guards and butler stepped closer. “I’m not a prisoner here.”
“No, miss, of course not,” the Royal Guard agreed in a singsong tone that infuriated me. “But we have explicit instructions from the king?—”
“Oh, forget it,” I snapped, whirling away to storm up the stairs to the third floor. I should have known better than to ask to leave. Nyx had made it very clear that I couldn’t, at least not until we understood what was going on and why I had been entranced with the ebonleaf.
But to my knowledge, we were no closer to finding out now than we had been two weeks ago, and I wasn’t sure I could stand another two weeks like this, let alone a lifetime.
I spent the next few hours pacing the third floor of the castle, waiting for Nyx to return, and when he did, I almost attacked him with my words as I rushed toward him. He barely got the door closed as I lashed out.
“What took you so long? Where were you?”
He stepped back, his hands up as he shut the bedroom door behind him, his golden eyes darkening. “What’s wrong?” he demanded. “Did something happen?”
I threw up my hands in exasperation. “It’s the same thing that’s been happening since I got here,” I growled back, flopping onto the bed. “Nothing!”
