Page 137 of Hidden Kingdoms

And it did—almost instantly.

50

CHAPTER FIFTY

ELODIE

Ididn’t know—nor did I care to acknowledge—how long I’d been sat up staring around the room in disbelief. Silk sheets pulled around me and fingers twisting in the gold bangles on my wrists.

I did know that I had spent the entire time after I’d fallen into this outrageously-sized bed trapped in a relentless cycle of deep, heavy sleep and sudden bursts of awareness. My conscious swimming to the surface for a few moments at a time before it sank back, unable to claw its way clear.

I could remember the sound of doors opening, of water being held against my mouth. A slight sweet aftertaste coating my tongue. I could remember hushed familiar voices whispered to my sleeping mind.

Hands tucking the blankets in closer.

Louder voices, angry voices.

Doors slamming.

More doors opening.

More sips of water.

Untilfinallythe haze had cleared, and I’d woken. Alone in this room, unsure how much time had passed. The hollow achein my stomach enough to tell me I’d missed more than a few meals.

But now, my body was well-rested and free of pain. The slight tight edge to my muscles the only indication that my body had been ripped open, bleeding in the mud. I urged magik to tease under the scars I knew still marked where The Darkness had struck. Energy kneading at the tense knots that ran deep, relieving the pull on the twisted flesh.

My mind was full of more than I felt capable of processing. Flashes of the previous day cutting through my thoughts until I blocked it all out, deciding to put my focus on this new place I found myself.

Never in my life had I seen such a display of wealth, and whilst I knew I was in an actual palace, it was still foreign to me. It was bigger than I guessed last night given the limited light, but calling it a room seemed a little insulting to the place that I was now supposed to be staying in.

Not for much longer remember, you want to leave.

Not right this minute, I don’t.

I was nestled in the centre of a bed that would easily fit another four people with grey sheets so soft, I could barely feel them against my skin. Pillows stuffed full of feathers cushioning my back. A thick fur blanket covered the bottom half, but I hadn’t been brave enough yet to touch it. I had no doubt it was real despite the fact it was black with streaks of red slashed through it, and wickedly sharp claws still attached to the leg sections. I tried not to think about what animal it had come from.

Black wooden posts jutted from each corner, and thick fabric slightly darker than the bedding was tied to each one. Flame lights flickered either side of the carved black headboard, black sconces matching the handle of the chests that sat below them.

In front of me—and something that had caused my heart rate to skyrocket when I’d first woken—was a floor-to-ceiling mirror framed by twisting black metal. The mirror itself was old, spots of age dotting its surface making it feel more decorative than functional, yet still beautiful. A white dressing table stood against it, gilded and painted with intricate patterns, a wide bench covered in black velvet tucked beneath.

While it was much nicer than the little grey room with the fruit painting, it felt altogether too much. Too big, too expensive. What cost would come with being given somewhere like this to stay?

Alouette had said my room had been destroyed, but the palace was huge; surely there was somewhere a little less...this, they could of put me.

Had anything survived whatever disaster had displaced me? Were the few things I had been able to call mine even still there? The flowers from Kaius, the book I had scribbled my pathetic escape notes in. The encyclopaedia that had been its own form of magik in the knowledge it had afforded me. Was it all gone now?

I hadn’t even finished it. I’d only got to the letter T.

They had been a connection, a tiny piece of control I had managed to claw back under the nose of my captors. I felt the loss of them keenly.

Gods, I’d even be grateful to see that fruit painting once more if given the chance.

This one room was probably bigger than the entirety of my first cage, and there were more out there, through the open door.

I didn’t move, mind warring over which event of the previous day to taunt me with. Settling on the not–so–unsatisfactory image of Kaius’ head between my legs, and the echo of my moans of pleasure reverberating through the cavern. I let myself fall into the memory of our bodies moving together, felt the ghost of his magik twining with mine. It was dangerous, allowing myselfback there in his arms, but I couldn’t deny how right it had felt. I just didn’t know what it meant going forward.

He was one half of the reason I was here; ripped from everything I had known and forced into a world I knew nothing about. In a place I felt totally out of my depth.

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