Page 47 of Cages and Crowns
“Your eyes, before, they turned black. And your skin had this purplish glow to it. And I remember this beast breathing fire. Enzo said you were supposed to shift—I just assumed.”
“Well, assumptions are rarely correct.” He leans back and props his feet up on the seat next to me.
“Then what are you?” I press.
“Tired, little witch.” His voice trails off, disinterested as he stares at me. His eyes roam over me, assessing, before he smirks.
“Why are you calling me that?” I snap.
“You are a witch, and in case you weren’t aware of your body size, you are very little. Little. Witch. It’s really not that hard.”
“I don’t like it.”
“How about Rosie?”
“Excuse me?”
“Your last name is Rosenthal, is it not?” He says as if I’m stupid, as if I don’t know my own name.
“Well, yes—” I stammer.
“Do I need to explain this one too?” I clamp my mouth shut and wrap my arms around myself, shivers setting in from the wet clothes. I glare at him with the miniscule amount of energy I have left.
“No.” I whisper after a second of silence. He grabs a blanket and wraps it around me, his fingers brushing my shoulders, before returning to his chocolate. I look at him, at the furrow in his brow. The concentration as he sorts through the food. Something about him feels different.
Feels familiar.
I pull the blanket tighter around me as I look away from him.
My eyes trail back to my left, where the Chatisian ruins sit. I can almost picture what it looked like before.
Before Tobias.
I don’t even think I remember what before Tobias was like.
Chapter Thirty
The Caged
Ten Years Ago
“Your Grace! You were supposed to be up hours ago!” Blankets are ripped off of me and I groan. My eyes open to the bright light and stare at my ladies maid, or mynannyas my father calls her. Estelle is a plump, stout woman who has wrinkles permanently etched into her face from the frown that is always present.
“Leave me be, Estelle. There is nothing that demands my presence today.” I snap as I pull the blankets back over my face.
“That is where you are wrong, princess! You have guests that will be arriving any moment.” She rips the blankets back off of me and I sit up. My unruly curls falling in front of my face in a frizzy mane. I push it out of my eyes and glare at her.
Her gray dress is long, covering her from neck to feet. It’s of a thin cottonwith white lace detailing towards the hem. She dresses as if she’s a woman of the church. Her gray hair is pulled back in a bonnet, not a single hair out of place. I scowl and she glares at me.
“Wipe that look off your face or it will get stuck like that.” She snaps as she steps into my dressing room. I groan again and throw myself back onto the bed.
“Who is coming on such an awful day?” I yell after her. Today marks two years since my mother was murdered and Kassius was blamed. I hear the rumors that it wasn’t him, but no one knows for sure. The only person who should is me, but I don’t remember anything. I don’t remember any of that day.
“The Noterran King will be here any moment.” She yells back. I shoot up.
“Will the princes be joining him?” I call after her. I have known of my engagement to the crown prince of Noterra for years. Even at nine years of age, I know of my responsibility. I am terrified that I will be sent off to live in Noterra any day now. I swallow down my fear and slide off the bed, stepping into the dressing room.
“No, just the king.” She replies as she pushes past me, a mound of blue in her arms. She throws the dress on the bed and motions for me to walk over. I hold my arms up like normal as she rips my nightgown off. The puffy dress is slipped over my head, and I turn to face the chair, gripping onto the back. This has become a routine, one I despise, but one that is required of me.
