looked at him.
“You make me want to kill everything and everyone in this world. You make me want to destroy it all,” He admitted.
The confession took me by surprise. I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or something I should be worried about.
“You will be the end of me, Ornella. I know it. But for now, I believe you will need to be trained to fight like the Obsidian
Queen you are, and only then, will we see what happens next.”
“And will you kill me if I fail?”
“No. Because you will not fail.”
With his final word, he finally let go of me, I nodded and left him alone with his thoughts, heading towards my wing. I
would not be sleeping in the royal bedchamber this evening and possibly not for a while.
The last thing I had expected was to wake and find Nic lying next to me a few days later. I’d been avoiding him like the
plague, but in fact he’d been avoiding me, too. Morgana did her best to avoid asking me any questions as did Vanessa.
Whereas April had no problems calling me out as a terrible wife and that I should be sleeping in bed with him and not on my
own.
His warmth next to me filled my heart with flutters. I shifted slightly, trying to get out of the covers without waking him. He
moved, turning towards me, his arm tucking under the pillow and the other lazily over my waist.
My breath caught.
He sighed, relaxing.
How long had he been there? All night? Surely not.
Since sleeping in my own bed, I had found it uncomfortable and miserable. It would take me hours, usually until the sun
rose, and only then would my eyes finally close. He came to bed in only his comfortable cotton trousers. With his chest
exposed, I had to fight the urge to run my fingers down his muscled torso.
I had things to do. Morgana promised to take me riding today. Afterwards we would head into a small village just outside
the castle walls, for a spot of shopping and tea. It wasn’t quite the city I wanted to visit, but it was the best she could do with
Nicholas barking orders at her.
I would need to be extra quiet if I were to slip away without waking him. He’d escaped me many times before, so it was
high time I did it to him. Staring at him now, I felt a pinch in my chest. He seemed at peace, sleeping soundly and I wondered if
this was the only time he truly rested.
Since the blood and bonding ritual, I’d found my mind almost constantly infected with darkness. Shadows that crept around
the corners of my mind, trying to snuff out any light it saw. Was this his mind invading my space while I slept? Is this what he
dreamt of most nights?
