Page 36 of Hidden Kingdoms

Kaius’ body pressed against mine.

Kaius—

I looked around, searching for the man who had held me, making me feel safe in this strange place. I’d fallen asleep with his hands stroking my hair but didn’t need to look hard to know I was alone in this room. I hadn’t expected him to stay. A mess of crumpled blankets lay on the sofa against the wall, edging to the end of the bed I reached over to find the fabric still warm.

My stomach flipped as I realised Kaius must have stayed, laying on the sofa that was definitely too small for his frame as I slept soundly in the bed.

Slept free of nightmares.

There was still a faint scratch to my throat, and I looked at the empty cup remembering how Kaius had used his magik to make me something to ease my pain.

Pulling the blankets from the sofa I held them against me, breathing in the scent of cedarwood as something fluttered out from within the folds, drifting to the floor. It was a card, and as I reached down to pick it up, my finger brushed over it, breath hitching as a wave of magik rolled over my skin.

I knew then without the need to look what it was—a tarot card. Not any tarot card,mytarot card. I held it in front of me, the hand-painted design as familiar to me as my own face, and as I slowly flipped it over, tension coiling within my stomach, sure enough there it was—The Tower.

“This can’t be happening,” I said out loud as I stared at the card in disbelief, before my eyes whipped around the room despite how sure I was that I was alone.

I hadn’t had time to think about the cards’ warning from the other morning—had it been only yesterday?—but it hadn’t been lying when it foretold upheaval and crisis. Though I never would have thought that would come in the form of a kidnapping.

Maybe I just wasn’t being creative enough.

Turning the card over and over, I studied it obsessively, hoping for some sign that this wasn’t my card. Some smudge or flaw in the intricate brush strokes, but after the tenth rotation I couldn’t deny it had come from my deck, the one Briar had gifted me.

The one I used every day of my life.

Had Kaius brought this back with him? Had they taken more than me from my room? Even if they had, how would they have known this was the card I had pulled? I always placed them back in the deck at random. Why give it to me now?

A gentle knock on the door interrupted me and hastily tucking the card under my pillow, I made the few steps to the door. The room was warm, even the floors simmered with heat, the fire never dying though I was unsure who tended it because it sure as fuck wasn’t me. As I gripped the metal handle in my palm, a harsh laugh escaped me at how they were acting as if I had any choice but to open it.Their polite knocking may as well be the clanging of bars.

I’m not sure why we are all pretending I’m not a fucking prisoner.

The tall, smiling lady was back and this time she stepped into the room, skirts swishing and a fresh tray in her flame-wreathed hands. Her short blonde hair swung past her chin as she placed it down before gathering the others. I stood awkwardly watching her, the mystery of the card still playing on my mind, but there wasn’t much I could do about it as she straightened, hands now full again and turning to me.

“You have been summoned by the Prince. You have thirty minutes to eat and change before a guard will escort you to him,” she said, direct and to the point but again not unkindly.

“The Prince?” I frowned in confusion.

“Yes, the Prince.”

What did a prince want with me?

“What Prince?”

“Prince Fyr,” she said.

Never heard of him.

“And if I say no?” I asked, bristling at being told what to do.

“You don’t get a choice.”

Now that was more like how you treated a prisoner.

“Sounds about right.”

I doubted this was a fight I could win if I tried to refuse. My fingers absently twisted around the bracelets covering my wrist as I watched her leave without another word, the click of the latch closing echoing through my mind much louder than it was.

I looked down at the food she had brought, and another set of clothes were folded alongside it. Two thick slices of bread covered in a red jam sat next to a small bowl of cut fruit.

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