AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Az frowns, because my name is an echo on someone else’s lips.
“Asha. Asha, come on. Kiran’s going to kill me when the servants tell him I let you scream like this without waking you.”
My eye flutters, the voice drawing me through the hazy reflection of Az’s distorted face.
Don’t trust him, Asha. Don’t trust anyone, whispers my magic, still lost in the haze of the nightmare.
When I blink, Fin comes into focus, where Az was just now leaning over me. Concern wrinkles the corners of Fin’s eyes, his light brown skin glowing in the candlelight.
Don’t trust him; you can’t… My magic’s stupor fades a bit as he too comes to his senses.
Carefully, Fin wriggles his hand under the satin sheets. When he finds my hand, he squeezes.
“I’m sorry I woke you again,” I say, wiping the sweat from my forehead with the back of my other hand.
Fin shrugs. “I don’t really sleep these days, anyway.”
I frown, but I don’t press Fin any further. It’s been a year since Fin’s wife, Ophelia, died at Kiran’s hand, her execution the collateral damage of a grab for the throne made by Azrael and his lover, Kiran’s first wife, Gwenyth.
Lately, Fin has settled into a grim silence as far as his late wife is concerned, unless the opportunity to scathe Kiran for her death presents itself. It puts me in a strange position—Fin loathing Kiran the way he does. Fin was a friend to me even before Kiran’s heart changed, before he and I fell in love. It’s been difficult for Fin—watching his friend forgive the brother he so detests—but his loyalty to me has never faltered.
Except that he doesn’t bother to keep his snide remarks about my husband to himself. Even around me.
“What’s going on with you, Asha?” Fin asks, scanning me intently.
I blink away the sleep from my eye, and as my body settles into the fact this is reality, not the drowning, not Az’s touch on my face, my heart rate slows. “Nothing. Well, nothing that I suppose isn’t normal after suffering the trauma of drowning. I wasn’t equipped for that, you know.”
Fin raises a brow.
“What with growing up in a desert, and all.”
“Ah,” Fin says, clearly not amused. “I drowned, too, you know. Unless you don’t remember my loyally holding your hand through our shared experience. Still. I’m not the one tormented by nightmares.”
A small smile grazes my lips, my eye stinging. “Of course I remember.”
Fin smiles, though faintly, and it quickly turns grim again. “Kiran told me the dreams didn’t start until the Old Magic learned of its sister.”
He mocks, but he doesn’t know the evil she is capable of, my magic grumbles within me.
I’m not sure what good it does you to worry, I tell it, though the comment is more for my benefit.
It’s not easy having a being tormented by anxiety living in one’s head.
And it’s not easy being confined to the body of a human who rests on the lower end of the spectrum when it comes to self-preservation instinct, my magic counters.
I sigh, pushing myself up in bed and leaning against the headboard. Fin’s lantern bathes the room in a warm glow, dancing off the silver-plated designs etched into the baby blue walls, causing my silver bedsheets to shimmer.
The quarters the King of Dwellen has provided during our stay in Othian are calming, pleasant. As is the style in Dwellen, most of the decor vacillates between various hues of blue, all lined with silver leaf. My room is no exception, with silver leaf depicting a mural of a lively forest on the wall, shimmering pine trees cutting across the pale blue backdrop.
The furniture is much the same, complete with a silver-plated dresser and vanity, while any cushion in the vicinity is encased in soft blue velvet.
The bed is comfortable, too. It just would be more comfortable with Kiran in it.
Months ago, when Ellie visited Blaise’s rooms only to find the girl had left without a trace, Evander and Kiran set out after her, assuming a realization of some sort had dawned on her during our conversations about how Queen Abra was the Mother from the Old Magic’s story. They left Ellie and me behind, figuring time was of the essence, and having two humans along would only slow them down.
It’s probably true, but I don’t have to like the truth, even if mentally I reluctantly agree.
Thankfully, Fin was already on his way to Othian to deliver a message from Lydia about her progress in hiding Piper from Azrael. Piper’s magic, like mine, makes her capable of manipulating the Rip. Kiran, aware of my recent nightmares, had left Fin instructions to sleep in the quarters adjacent to mine and to check on me should I burst into fits in the middle of the night. I think Fin and Ellie must have developed a system, because they often alternate who comes to check on me.
