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“Ugh!” I whined as he kicked me in my shin and forced me to kneel, twirling a strand of my hair in between his thumb and pointer finger, his scissors ricocheting on the floor.
“You’ve cut your hair quite short this time, so I’ll allow it to grow until it can scrap the forest floor once more. About a week should do. Tomorrow night, fill a tiny pouch and throw it down when I call. I’ll leave them behind for you. Again and again, complete the task until your hair is healthy and strong for me to climb again.”
I nodded, on my knees, holding back tears. I did as I was told, though I hated every moment. I needed the medicine, so I took the pain and didn’t refuse Gotham as he forced my mouth open. He poured the powder down my throat. It settled in my gut, burning my throat, sharp and acidic.
Then, he reached for my bowl, kneeled to kiss my forehead, and whispered, “Good boy, Reimund.”
I wanted to vomit but drank it all without a word as he tipped the bowl to my lips. The soup would help wash down the pure prism root powder that used to cause me to seize and cry all night as a baby and even into my childhood.
When he was finished, Gotham took the sack filled with my hair and fled down my rainbow stairs. My hair ended halfway down the tower, so he had to leap and flee into the woods. Once he was gone, I massaged my scalp, thankful for the tonic Gotham left behind, as I rested on my bed.
Now that I knew my invisibility spell was all but useless, all the fight had left my body. I raised my arm into the air, flipping my palm over to block the ceiling, the only thing in my line of vision. With a heavy sigh, I gazed up at the symbol of my freedom, the faded mark on my palm nearly invisible. I suppose we needed it to be close for it to be present.
Can I trust that powerful alpha to slay Gotham and save the day? Or, blinded by this false, heat-induced love, will listening to Ziran’s promises of freedom be a fatal mistake?
Only time would tell, revealing the answers to my silent questions. I allowed my hand to rest on my chest, getting under the covers as I was now freezing.
I waited, watching and listening for a sign of the fae prince’s return every day. Most nights, a small black songbird perched above my window, providing some comfort in Ziran’s long absence.
But otherwise, I found myself hoping for a miracle, even as the source of that fleeting hope remained missing in action.
CHAPTER FOUR
ZIRAN
“Iguess I’ll die a fool before I’m crowned a hero, my king.”
A gentle wind weaved through the trees in my tiny pocket of the mighty Yurel forest as I took shelter above ground perched on a branch. It had been almost a month of constant vigilance over Rei and Gotham, learning the madman’s daily routines while I stalked my mate at night.
It sounded pretty insane on the surface, but it was more or less accurate. I watched the process by which Rei was fed a diet of almost pure prism root powder mixed with water, broth, and a little meat when he grew weak and weary. Gotham’s use for his hair was still unknown, but I suspected it was for some sort of spell.
It was cruel, torturous barbarity, honestly, as the essence of the root could be as much a poison as it could be a cure. But it seemed Rei had long since grown used to the routine. And, as he realized I was watching over him, he almost seemed pleased when the time came, eyeing me with a sweet, knowing smile at midnight.
Jealously was going to poison me quicker than the root could kill him. I felt jealous whenever Gotham became too friendly with my mate, manhandling him in a way that was neither affectionate nor cold indifference. It was a mockery of a loving relationship between a father and son sometimes, forehead kisses paired with light slaps and sharp verbal rebukes.
But I had to remind myself that it was better he laid a gentler hand on Rei than force him cruelly to do his bidding. And as much as I wanted to transform and tear his head off, my omega always eyed me sharply when my anger spiked as if warning me against it.
It was shameful and pitiful that I could not defend Reimund against the doddering old bastard. But we both knew salvation could only come when I found a way to free him from his codependency on the root.
Otherwise, Reimund would perish before we could get far from the tower. I knew this, but it didn’t make me any less enraged. It took me twenty-five years to find his hideout. It was a blink of an eye for a pureblood like me but a lifetime for many others, Reimund included.
Even if it took me less than a year to make it back to the capital and return to siege the tower, Rei could be dead by then. I couldn’t let him out of my sight, yet I couldn’t free him, and it was driving me into the pits of madness to be so helpless to save him.
I was insane, contemplating returning to the belly of the beast as the sun set over Celeste Bay.
I would be a fool to return to that accursed tower in search of a lie since no magical being lived there. Only a naive, bratty boy with the face of a prince, the voice of a god, and a nasty mouth befitting a scoundrel. It would be better to report back to the king, summon an army if need be, and return only then.
And yet, like a fool, I found myself flying towards Gotham’s stronghold under the veil of twilight, eager to free my little hellfire Reimund Gardiner once and for all.
“You wound me, Reimund,” I said as I reached his windowsill around noon, landing as a man in his bedroom. “You tend to greet me with a smile. Why the nasty expression today? Has Gotham harmed you when I wasn’t watching?”
“A smile? Why greet you with a smile when you’ve made me wait so long for your plan, outlaw?” he asked as I bristled. “No, Gotham comes at midnight on the dot, so I haven’t had to gaze at his ugly face today. I don’t know why he was early that night. And call me Rei for the last time, Ziran.”
I didn’t know why he always got a rise out of me, accusing me of being some lawless barbarian when I knew the truth of my royal blood. But it didn’t change the fact that it sent heat rushing to my cheeks, causing me to clench my fists, maybe because it was more embarrassing to be a useless prince than a useless outlaw before my mate.
“You were so feisty during our first meeting. Is my appearance so commonplace now you can barely spare me a glance?” I asked as he tossed things into an open chest near his bed, ignoring me.
“Maybe. You’re not much to look at since I see you every day. I prefer you as a bird, anyway,” Rei said, and this time, I cracked a smile because he was trying to hide a tiny smile behind his long hair.
