AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You two woke up at the same time. It seems strange, no?” she mumbled.
The hardness in Arkimedes’s features softened when he took her in. She could only commend him for remaining so unaffected by standing naked in front of everyone. He’d resembled a statue.
“It’s odd,” he agreed and walked to the bed. For a moment, he sat, breathing heavily and pressing his hand to his forehead. “I wonder if me being ill affected him somehow?”
So many mysteries. It felt equally odd to grow used to another overwhelming connection to something else besides her bees.
“Why are you naked?” she asked after a moment of silence.
Arkimedes met her gaze. “The guards just came to bring you to my father, there is a building talking in your head, and you are wondering why I’m naked?”
Nava shrugged, her cheeks growing warm as she traced every hard edge of his body with greedy eyes. “I’m just a simple girl.”
He huffed a laugh. “I suppose I’ve been secretly wondering the same thing. My guess is that the healer noticed there was a cut on my leg. He must have felt a remnant of Alera’s spell on my trousers and skin and decided to strip me so he could examine it properly.”
Ah. Well, that made sense and was a lot less nefarious than she’d feared.
“I don’t want to go and meet your father,” she said.
“I know, but now that we’re here and have no artifact to speak of, we should talk to him about the emissary. We still have no way to kill him, and while I don’t trust my father, we can’t fight him and the emissary at the same time.”
“Ari said that he might own an artifact we could use?” Hope seeped into her tone, but it was short-lived. No, that was stupid. How ridiculous of her to even dream that any good could originate from the king.
Arkimedes shook his head and lay down, covering his eyes with his forearm. “I doubt we’re that lucky, Bee.”
And while she preferred to be positive, she couldn’t help but agree with him.
35
ORION
Seven guards came into Orion’s chambers when the sun was setting. Perhaps the food they’d just eaten would be their last meal, although at least he had a strong feeling somewhere deep within that he didn’t have to worry about most of these fae.
“You are well aware that I know how to get to my father’s library,” he said, by way of greeting. “Did he command all of you to come and get us? Seven against two? It seems unnecessary.”
“No, sir,” the guard nearest to him said. His glowing eyes shifted from side to side as he blinked rapidly. “All of us came just in case you needed our help. We thought a group of us could assist you with your journey. If His Royal Highness were to be in need of help.”
“If it displeases you, sir, some of us can leave,” Eris added from behind Nava.
Orion mulled it over. Other than the ache in his wings where the arrow wounds were still healing, he felt like himself. Sure, he was sore, but he had more energy than he’d had in weeks.
Nava’s healing magic was working, though he wondered if, much like Devon, he would slowly deteriorate unless she helped him again. Poor Devon. Where was he right now? Had he left the kingdom? It weighed heavy on his heart to think of how he might be doing, as sick as he’d been when Orion had last seen him.
“No, it’s fine. You may stay,” Orion said, taking note of how carefully they examined him during his prolonged silence. Perhaps they expected him to collapse at any given moment, and that wasn’t ideal. They had to believe he was at full use of his power so they wouldn’t get any ideas about Nava.
Most of the group dipped their heads in a solemn bow, except for a couple near the front. The kingdom compelled them to obey the king, and yet Orion could sense some of their loyalties were slowly shifting. Like the castle and the city.
“Do you have any news about my brother?” He asked, as they began their trek to meet the King.
“No, sir,” Cyrus said.
The tower holding his father’s library was as grand as Orion remembered, but the closer they got to his room, the more trepidation Orion felt. His hands prickled with an unease that crawled over his skin, traveling up his arms and shoulders, all the way to his skull.
He spotted the ebony doors of his father’s library at the far end of the hallway. The warm shades of the sunset spilled through the windows and caught the gilded patterns carved into the wood.
No fae waited outside to guard this place, so when they entered, it surprised him to see it wasn’t empty.
Three wingback chairs stood in front of the marble fireplace. The king sat in one. Their eyes met, and Orion ground to a halt. This was the first time he’d seen his father ever since King Oberon had commanded his concubines to attack him.
