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He might be right, but that did not keep the warmth from my cheeks as I handed over the cloth.
When he returned, he placed one knee on the bed but did not return to my side.
“Do you wish to leave?” he asked, his expression neutral, though I sensed that he was working hard to remain in control of his emotions, unwilling to show disappointment if I said yes. But I had no intention of leaving. I was still cold, and I wanted his warmth.
“No,” I whispered.
Casamir released a breath and then pulled the blankets back so we could crawl beneath them. I waited for him to lie down before I rested beside him, curling against his warmth. I let my hand rest on his chest, and beneath my palm, I could feel his heart beating fast. I closed my eyes, and in the quiet, the steady thrum lulled me into a quiet sense of calm. But as my body relaxed, Casamir spoke.
“What happened to your family?” he asked.
I opened my eyes and stared into the dark. It was a question that made my heart clench, as if he had taken it into his hand and squeezed.
“They died,” I said.
Thinking about it made me sick and sad. I was the reason they were gone, the reason I was alone. My blood had killed my mother, I had wished for my sister’s death, and my father had died of heartbreak from her loss.
“Your sister died too? Or was she murdered?”
I curled my fingers on his chest, and he covered it with his.
“Tell me,” he said. “Please.”
It took me a moment to speak because I suddenly felt like my tongue was swollen.
“When I was younger, I would dance with the fairies on the edge of the forest. Small ones with butterfly wings. I loved them and they never harmed me. When my sister found out, she chased them away. I was so angry, I wished she were dead, and she transformed into a deer right before my eyes and raced into the forest.”
I paused and swallowed the thickness in my throat.
“I searched for her in the forest for years, and on the final day of the seventh year, I found her, resting beneath a tree, but when I started to go to her, an arrow flew from the trees and hit her.
I will never forget how her eyes widened, and as she fell, she became human again. There was so much blood, and I couldn’t stop it, so I just held her and told her how sorry I was…how much I wished I could undo what I had done. Then, as if the forest had not punished us enough, I noticed something slithering and saw that roots were shifting beneath us, wrapping around my sister. I screamed and clawed at the wood, but the tree took her.”
This time, I could not keep the tears from sliding down my cheeks. I took a shuddering breath and whispered, “I have never wished for anything since.”
There was a beat of silence as Casamir’s hands tightened around me.
“Your sister is not dead,” he said.
I pushed away from him and sat up. “Donot.”
Casamir rose with me and reached for my hands. I tried to pull away, but he kept them close to his chest.
“She is healing, not dead,” he said quickly. “Trustme.”
I stared at him, searching his eyes for the truth, but he looked so serious and so sincere, it took the breath out of me.
“What are you saying?”
“If the tree took her as you said, then she is healing. It is not quick. She could be within its roots for years, a hundred even, but it is likely that her heart still beats.”
I scrambled from the bed.
“Creature,” Casamir hissed. “Where are you going?”
“To my sister!” I said, searching for my clothes, but recalling I had come only in a robe, I ran for the door.
Casamir caught me about the waist.
