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“Where are you going?” I demanded, stopping in my tracks again. All my previous reservations came flooding back.
She glanced over her shoulder and offered me a tired smile. “My bedroom is this way.”
Confused, I shook my head. “No. It’s upstairs. I’ve passed it.”
“Not anymore,” she mumbled, continuing on.
What happened between her and Nyx?
I couldn’t wait to talk to the king and get the details on Odette’s full makeover. So far, I hadn’t caught a whiff of animosity from her—which was unnerving in itself.
My feet started to follow again, and I took comfort in the guards surrounding us.
Odette didn’t say another word as we made the long trek across the east wing toward the west and through the much draftier area of the castle where barely anyone went. I shivered at the cold and the eerie feeling of neglect that it held.
“Does anyone else sleep over here?” I found myself asking.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Odette sighed wistfully. I made a commiserating sound, and she glanced over her shoulder at me again. “It’s all right. I don’t mind it.”
Biting on my lower lip, I continued after her, thinking she might never stop walking. Darkness engulfed the entire corridor, not even track lighting illuminating our steps by this point, until she came to a stop before a simple wood door.
My frown returned. It looked nothing like the double-doored suite she’d held on the second floor.
She’s definitely being punished down here. Because of me?
That didn’t seem possible. I hadn’t seen her in weeks, but I couldn’t shake the nagging suspicion in the pit of my gut that I was somehow responsible for her new plight.
Is this why? Because she’s been in exile for some reason?
As much as I didn’t like Odette, no one deserved to live so isolated. It wouldn’t serve to make her act nicer.
The door swung inward without the touch of the enchantress’ hand, magic lighting the naked bulb overhead. I gasped in shock to take in the sparsely decorated room. There was no doubt that this was a downgrade for the stylish enchantress.
A twin bed sat against the wall in the middle of the moderately sized room. The only other pieces of furniture were a dresser and a rickety looking kitchen chair without any arms. Asmall closet sat to the left of the entrance, and there was another door beside that one, presumably leading to a bathroom.
One of the guards tried to enter the room with us, and I whirled around, shaking my head vehemently. “No. You can’t come in here!” I barked firmly. “You’re not invited.”
He paled at my command. “I have orders, Miss Maren,” he answered in typical fashion.
They always had their orders.
“You have orders to enter the private quarters of the enchantress?” I demanded, enraged for Odette, who simply seemed beaten.
She said nothing in her own defense.
“We’re not to let Odette out of our sights,” he conceded.
My cheeks flamed with sympathy for the enchantress who had never been nice to me, but I knew exactly how it felt to have my privacy invaded like this.
“You were told to follow her into her room?” I challenged, refusing to believe that Nyx could be that cruel.
Uncomfortably, the guard looked at his partner, and I stomped back out to look for Drakias. My personal guard remained by the far wall, staring straight ahead.
“Would the king ever put a male guard in a female’s room unattended?” I asked him. Drakias appeared shocked by the direct question, but to my relief, he answered without hesitation.
“No,” he replied. “He wouldn’t.”
“I have my orders,” the guard insisted as I started back into the room.
