Page 41 of Prince of Blaze and Embers
“He is an ass…” My hands tightened on the shovel handle, and I felt my brow furrow.
“He’ll come around. He’s just got a lot going on, and he’s also halfway to treason, not taking you back to his stepmother. That’s a lot to take in. I mean, we’re burying evidence of the queen’s men right now. Who even knows if we’ll live to see tomorrow…”
Tomorrow… the thought ripped through my head like claws raking down granite. I told Cornelius I’d go with him tonight back into the forest. If Cade finds out… he’s going to do me in himself…
“We’re stuck in quite the situation.” I heaved another load of dirt in; my shoulders throbbing. I drove the shovel tip into the dirt, leaving it erect in the dirt and turning to Bella. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I got you into this mess.”
She tossed her shovel to the ground. Looking deep into her eyes as she faced me, the blue of her eyes reminding me of the far-off sea. Her sandy blond hair was still thick and gorgeous even after shoveling dirt.
“Ash. Look at where we are. Look all around us. We’re in the Faewood. Isn’t it incredible? It’s even better than the paintings and songs. We flew dragons to the top of a mountain! We flew through clouds like goddesses. I don’t want to die, but if it comes, then I’d rather die like this than back there with that fat bastard telling me what to do, selling us off to his friends. Don’t apologize for any of this. It’s like a dream. It’s all like a wonderful, marvelous, impossible dream… So, thank you. Thank you for bringing me.”
“I’m glad you’re here. I think I might be losing my mind if you weren’t here with me.”
She smiled a brilliant smile with her perfect teeth. “Now c’mon. There’s wine that deserves to be drunk!”
We left the shovels and all that metal beneath the ground. We sauntered back to the house, humming tunes and admiring the beauty of such a breathtaking forest just before the brink of twilight.
We slammed our wines before dinner, with Bella winning. I tried, but my mouth wasn’t big enough, leaving red streaks trickling down my chin. She swallowed with a mighty smack of her lips. I swallowed the last bit down, leaving Rosa with an irritated yet slightly amused look. She scratched her temple, turning backto the kitchen to finish the last of the wonderfully smelling buttery meal.
The food was placed on the table with Cade and Hunter nowhere to be found. They’d taken the dragons to Odiun knows where, doing who knows what. Hopefully, they were still trying to find a way to get out of the hunters' sights and figure out how to postpone the inevitable… my knee bobbed thunderously under the table, rattling the silverware before Bella and me.
“Dig in,” Rosa said with no hint of a smile.
“Rosa…” Her name squeaked out of my throat far more mousy than I intended. For some reason, I felt nervous, like a wet rag was being wrung out in my stomach as she turned to acknowledge me.
“Yes?”
“What do you think is going to happen? You seemed to have known Cade for a long time. Do you have an idea?”
“Enjoy your dinner.” She turned and walked back toward the stove. “Try not to worry about those things. The prince has everything in hand.”
“I hope so,” I muttered, taking the fork and prodding the tender beef coated in aromatic rosemary.
“She keeps things tightly sealed,” Bella whispered.
“As do the both of you,” Rosa responded quickly with her back still to us from the other room.
Bella’s face flushed like she’d been caught sneaking out of the forge at night. “How did she hear me?”
“I hear everything,” Rosa said, stirring a wooden bowl with a spoon.
We finished supper without any more talk that Rosa’s ears were eager to hear. And with all the digging, feeling like I’d shoveled a thousand pounds of dirt, I was eager to get some sleep before Cornelius arrived.
Bella and I both said our good nights, and I took a quick bath before slipping under the covers. The soft blanket and pillowwarmed my soul, sending waves of glee down from my tingling scalp to the tips of my toes.
My eyes closed, as heavy as they were, and I drifted off into a deep slumber.
Yet, I awoke after an impossible amount of time to decipher, only knowing my body required at least three more full days of sleep.
Rolling over, I found the two glassy orbs that were the tortoise’s eyes in the room’s corner. It was dark in my room, but I could clearly see the outline of his shell cast against the shadow of the room. The lights of his eyes glimmered like streaks of light reflecting off amber in a dark cave.
“Cornelius…” I sat up in bed and lit the candle on the side table. The room glowed in candlelight as his huge body strode over to the bedside.
“Are you ready, child? You have used your magic a second time, but more practice is needed, and time is running out…” The tone of his voice was far more dire and urgent than his normally slow drawl.
The backs of my hands wiped the sleep away from my eyes, and I threw the covers off, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I nodded eagerly. My body begged for sleep, but I knew he was right. There was no time. I needed to become something that could defend myself when trouble came next.
“Follow me, then.”
