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“Ready?” he asks.
I’m startled out of my wondrous stupor. “For what?”
He points to one of the islands. “I’ll have to hold you.”
I’m still unsure what he means.
“To cross the river,” he adds.
It’s only then I realize something’s missing. “Where’s my luggage?”
Shit, shit, shit, if I don’t have my hair color, I can’t imagine what’s going to happen.
“Nelsin’s bringing it. One of my knights.”
I hold back a relieved exhale and smile. “Oh. Right.”
He still eyes me, searching. What is it that he’s trying to find? I’m not the one hiding any fae treasure.
With his hands up, he asks, “Can I?”
There are no gloves now and he’s wearing a bunch of rings, except for the Shadow Ring. I will never know how he was wearing gloves.
“Wife?” he insists.
Right. He wants to hold me to cross the river. What a gentleman, after ripping me out of my tower. I smile. “Sure.”
Like that, he wraps his arms around me. My eyes are at his chest level, and I realize the height difference in my dream, when he rested his chin on top of my head, was correct. For a second, it’s as if I’m in a dream again, and he’s pulling me close in a loving embrace, but just a second.
In reality I sense wind under my feet, then we’re floating above the rocks and the water, and finally landing on one of the islands. He lets me go as soon as we set foot on the ground, as if I were made of hot coal. Now that we’re here, I can see a square, one-story building made of stones in the only clearing on the tiny island.
He points to the building. “It’s simple, but it’s safe.”
For a runaway, disgraced prince, this is not bad, actually. “I wasn’t exactly expecting a castle.”
“Well, you should.” He smiles. “I happen to own one.”
“Right.” I’m not going to argue with him or tell him that the crown of the Crystal Court will never sit on the head of the murderer of the previous king. He likely knows that much better than I do, which only means he’s delusional.
It was quite bold of him to walk into the Krastel castle and not expect to be arrested and given to his brother as a prize. Why wasn’t he arrested? I consider all his magic, and can only assume that they feared him, and maybe thought this would be a better long-term strategy than trying to deliver him to the king of the Crystal Court.
Indeed it is a better strategy, except that Otavio’s behavior makes no sense. No, he was trying to protect me, and protecting people can be illogical. I feel a pang of pain when thinking of his desperation trying to get me away from the castle, away from Marlak. Love makes people stupid. Did he ever love me like a daughter?
“Come.” Marlak gestures with his head, motioning towards the main door, an ugly thing made of bronze or some other metal.
I follow him. Inside, there’s a spacious kitchen with three long, rustic wooden tables and a counter, followed by a hallway with a window at the end, and small rooms on either side. Rough stone makes up the walls, while the floor is polished wood. Each room has a wooden bed and a small chest with drawers. Everything is simple and basic, as if this was a place for traveling soldiers, not for royalty.
He turns to me. “Choose which room you want, and let me know what you need.”
I pick one near the end of the hallway. It doesn’t have a mirror or a dressing table, which is a problem if I’m going to color my hair. There’s something else missing too. “Where do we…” Should I be ashamed to confess I need to pee?
“Outside. Usually.” He points to a door on the other side. “But I converted this room into a bathing chamber.” I follow him and see that it has a wooden tub, a pot, and even a mirror. “Let me know if it needs anything else.”
There’s something off about this. If this bathing chamber is for me, and he’s brought me because of my dream, which was last night, then how… “Did you set it all up this morning?”
He eyes me and smirks. Eyes me too much. Oh, damn it. This was as good as a confession that I’m well aware of the dream I had. And then again, was it because of the dream? At least I keep my face neutral, showing no reaction.
He still considers me, then says, “I can be quite efficient.”
