Page 28 of War of Her Heart

All I wanted to do was look through the stack of books, but the ache in my stomach told me I needed to eat first.

There was an assortment of fruits and cheeses on the plate. It wasn’t a mealtime, so I’m sure the kitchen staff threw something together as quickly as they could at Bronwen’s request. I didn’t care. I was starving.

I opened the first book to see a piece of paper tucked between the first few pages.

Strengthen your power.

The friendship I had formed with Bronwen in the short time I had been here was something I had always wanted. I hoped somehow we would be able to stay in touch once I returned home.

The first book was calledBook of Healers. It told the history of the healers, their findings, and the methods of curing things from curses to deadly bites from nymphs. I had no doubt that Bronwen sent this book for a reason.

I flipped through the pages to see if there was anything on heart conditions. I trusted my father, and there had never been a reason to doubt him about my condition. I wasn’t looking to find answers. If anything, I was looking to prove that it was possible just to stop the remarks.

There was nothing in the book about heart conditions, but it was only the first volume. Maybe I could find information in a later volume.

I had told myself that I wouldn’t go to the library without explicit permission, but Bronwen bringing me these books was too tempting. I had read every book in the library in our castle and yet the three books Bronwen brought me were ones I had never seen. I had to see what else they had.

I didn’t want to see anyone else today. My visit with Bronwen was enough, but the curiosity about what other books I could find was eating me alive.

The halls were empty, other than a few servants busy carrying boxes. I’m not sure if they were bringing things in or taking things out, but it wasn’t any of my business.

Even though I found the library the other day, I somehow got turned around in the winding halls, and eventually I stopped a servant to ask them to point me in the right direction. He looked at me as if I was stupid before quickly changing his expression and motioning me to follow him. I understood why when we walked to the end of the hall, turned left, and were standing at the large double doors that opened into the two-story library.

Warmth rose on my cheeks as I thanked him before he left me to return to the large painting he had been trying to remove from the wall—the task I had interrupted.

Luckily, the library was empty, so I started on the left wall to see how the books were organized.

After seeing the first few sections were maps, biographies of the first seven Sovereigns, and spell books, I knew finding the next volume of theBook of Healerswasn’t going to be easy. Clearly whoever organized this library didn’t create a system that made sense. If only I could fix this mess.

A small section tucked in the corner of the left and back walls had me stop and take a closer look. The book were of varioussizes, all terribly taken care of. Some had water stains, some looked like they were thrown in the dirt and stepped on, and some were so faded that you couldn’t read the title. But the part that had me unable to move on: they were books from a human kingdom.

I had only seen a few in my lifetime because Alentara had little contact with other kingdoms. The one way to travel to human kingdoms was through the Sea of Mavrola, which was nearly impossible between the waves, wind, and creatures that lurked below the surface. Human items were rare in the Mountain Realm but because Calum knew how much I loved to read, he was able to find a few human books on his travels throughout the years and brought them back to me.

I could recognize those colorful book covers anywhere. Even though I wanted to look through every one of those human books, I needed to find what I was looking for first.

“Violet.”

12

Chapter 12

Violet

I didn’t have to turn around to know that it was Sebastian. I could see the shadows lingering out of the corner of my eye.

“I was just leaving,” I said as I tried to walk around him without having to look at him.

“Violet, stop,” he said and grabbed my wrist. I froze at the realization of how close he was behind me. I had forgotten how cool his touch was, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand.

I knew by the tone in his voice that he was serious. I stood there facing the door. I didn’t want to look into his eyes. I didn’t want any reason to forgive what happened yesterday. To get pulled back into the trance his dusty-blue eyes seemed to put me in.

“Turn around,please,” Sebastian pleaded with a strain in his voice. Like he needed so badly for me to turn around.

I turned around but kept my eyes on the ground.

“You’re going to make this difficult, aren’t you?” he said, letting out a sigh.

“You were going to kill me,” I said quietly.

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