Page 96 of Of Realms and Chaos

Eoforhild was gorgeous.

The sun shone down upon the luscious greenery through little tufts of white clouds, the closest thing to perfection I’d seen since coming to Alemthian. I briefly wondered if I was going to have an even harder time leaving here than I had Betovere.

Though there I had my creature.

When had I taken to calling him that? That thought stopped me dead in my tracks, throwing my mind off course. I couldn’t seem to recall when that shift had happened, but I knew that my time visiting him in his cell had resulted in a sort of obsession. I was infatuated with the male, his easy going jokes and odd habit of spewing facts I didn’t ask for were charming. Though nothing was as intriguing as the way he seemed to shrink away from violence.

Not once since meeting him had I felt even an ounce of that sin. It was like he had been born without bloodlust, which was new to me, as I had yet to meet anyone without it. Similar to how he seemed unwilling to fear me.

“Hello, lovely, can I help you find anything?”

The female behind the desk was warm in every sense of the word. From her dark skin to her kind smile to her yellow skirts, she was what I imagined this world’s sun would look like if it suddenly became sentient. I returned the smile, trying to remember what it was like to be so kind and not recalling a time I had been.

“Yes, actually. I’m looking for something to wear to meet a male. Do you have anything you think would suit me?” My voice was made of honey and my heart of acid—what a contrast, to be both virtuous and sinful. A startling balance that I had maintained for so long. It seemed that the more time I spent here, the more the scales tipped.

“Oh, yes! I believe I have something that will go perfectly with that stunning hair of yours!” Then she was off, running to the back end of her large clothing stall. In fact, the sheer size reminded me more of a building than a stall, but that was what all of the vendors in this market were calling their quaint stores.

Allowing myself another moment to look around, I silently thought of all the things I would need to get done today. The hardest would be finding the prince, as it seemed he was just as quick to disappear as the darling princess. We would need to break her of that when we secured her. Perhaps watching him die would make that abundantly clear.

Yes, that was likely the best route.

“What about this?” The female was back, her fingers gripping fabric that was the color of melted caramel. The dress was made for someone taller, but otherwise, I imagined she was right about how well it would work with my hair. Trading her a gold coin for the dress, I placed a soft kiss on her cheek and quickly left.

I quite liked the stunned expression she wore as I did so.

***

What sort of land had snow in the summer?

Stupid, disgusting mountains. Why would they choose this place? Were their soldiers not depressed? Sick? Cold? Miserable?

Maybe it was just the dress I wore, which stopped at my knees and exposed most of my back, the bunched and layered fabric wrapping around my neck the only thing keeping it up. I was freezing, which was saying something for my kind. A cloak, I should’ve purchased an Eternity-forsaken cloak. No matter. I’d get this done quickly.

In fact, I could hear my new little friend making his way to this very room. The padding of his footsteps was loud, an angry strut that told me I was probably about to incense him even more than I thought—which was exciting to say the least. I needed some fury to combat my boredom.

Just as he came close enough for me to hear his racing heartbeat, I felt the pull. A beacon to my magic, as if my creature were ripping on a cord secured to my chest.

I’ve never before had to make such a choice. This was my chance to find out once and for all where Asher was, but by the way my creature’s screams seemed to echo inside of my head as he repeatedly pulled on that line of connection we now had, I would never see him alive again if I didn’t leave now.

I was about to get myself into an unfortunate amount of trouble.

Before Prince Bellamy Ayad opened the door to his office, I was gone, the combination of wood and rock being replaced with the gloom of the dungeons within the golden palace. The last time I was here, the male and I talked until exhaustion stole his consciousness. Being healed by that fae had clearly been no replacement for actual rest, seeing as every time she did so he grew more and more weak. So I left him be, opting to instead search Asher’s chambers for anything I could bring to him.

What I had found was a bare room that looked as if no one lived there at all. That, and the absolutely wicked little mortal boy who seemed to enjoy torturing the male in the cell. Not long after I had come into her rooms, the mortal arrived, taking his time to lay in her bed and smell the pillow. I nearly snapped his neck so he could pay for making me witness such a strange thing, but I’d chosen to simply leave instead.

Now, as he sat on top of my creature, I almost regretted not flaying him then.

His fists were slamming into the imprisoned male’s face, beating down on him as he shouted. Hating how much it bothered me to listen, I ground my teeth and planted my feet.

“You pathetic excuse of a male! How dare you?” His voice sounded odd, those golden curls bouncing with each swing. My creature was even dirtier than usual, covered in enough blood that I could barely see his gaunt face. In fact, he looked somehow thinner than he had just days ago. “I will kill you! Do you think we need you? We do not! You are a waste of space, unloved and unwanted and unworthy of life!”

One of my feet moved forward of its own volition, my willpower crumbling before me. My magic flared, responding to the increasingly potent sin that poured from the mortal prince in the same way blood spilled when an artery was sliced through. In fact, he was about to know just how much blood he could lose.

I creeped around the corner, slowly and silently approaching the cell. I would skin him. I would tear out every little blonde eyelash one by one. I would toss him in the snow of Eoforhild then dunk him into a tub of boiling water. I would—

“Get off of him!” A burst of shadows appeared within the cell, from it walking a male wearing a tunic in a stunning shade of blue. His brown hair had a slight red tint, his face not dark per say but a hue that made me think he once had glowing brown skin. A prisoner roaming free. Interesting.

He grabbed the mortal boy by his curls, ripping him up and throwing him back into the bars. The scream that split the air nearly lit me up, the magic flooding me coming dangerously close to exposing my hiding place in the shadows. I darted back on silent feet, hoping that I wouldn’t get exposed now when it was too soon for me to claim my prize.

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