Page 105 of Beneath the Flames
“I understand why you did it, but please promise me you’ll never do anything like that again.If Maren doesn’t break the curse, then I deserve my fate.There’s nothing more to be done.You’re like a brother to me, Nico.You’re the only family I have.I’ve lived a long enough life.When that petal falls, you need to do as you promised me and leave Eroth.You have too much life ahead of you to sacrifice it for someone like me.”
Nico looked like he wanted to argue, but I silenced him with a look.
“Besides, all is not completely lost yet.Maren still has to make her choice.The last petal hangs on, and until it falls, she has time to break the curse.”
“Are you telling me to hope?”Nico said sadly, sniffles punctuating his words.
“Yes, Nico.”I pulled him back into my arms.“Never stop hoping.”
"Well, wasn’t that sweet?It appears old Rhydian is capable of feeling in his dark heart after all.”
The words were cold and bitter, like razor-sharp ice slicing through the silence left behind by Rhydian’s departure.
My stomach dropped, my hands clenching into fists as I slowly turned around, finding Prince Carrow standing next to my pot of dirt.How did he even get inside the castle?The jagged, brutal scar on his face stood out thanks to the combination of shadows and moonlight.
“What are you doing here?”I asked, automatically taking a step back.I didn’t know where Rhydian was, but with how quickly he’d left, I doubted he was still close enough to hear my call for help if Carrow tried something.
My heart pounded in my ears.I was just a human.I had no magic, no strength against this Fae.If Carrow attacked me, there was nothing I could do.My impending death wasreflected in his silver eyes.
“I thought I told you to fail these tasks.”The words were soft, almost a caress, but violence coated each word as they slipped through his clenched teeth.“I thought I told you that it was too dangerous for you to break the curse.To free Rhydian.”
I swallowed the lump of fear rising in my throat, bracing myself like I always did with my father.“I never agreed to anything.”
Carrow tsked, shaking his head.“I thought you were smarter than that, pet.Do humans no longer have self-preservation instincts?”He lowered his gaze to the pot next to him, and my heart ratcheted in my chest.
I fought the urge to lunge for it, not wanting to give away my desperation for him to stay away from it.I couldn’t risk him destroying it.If that seed had any hope of germinating, it had to stay undisturbed.I forced my feet to stay glued to the floor, trying to mask the terror flooding my veins.
“I’m smart enough to know what’s right and wrong,” I replied, hoping to distract him.
Carrow’s silver eyes narrowed.“Clearly you’re not, or you would have listened to me.”
“Why are you so fixated on keeping the curse intact?”
“Why are you so fixated on letting Avalea be destroyed?”he spat in return.
“You don’t know that Rhydian would destroy Avalea,” I said, unsure if I was trying to convince Carrow or reassure myself.
“And I thinkyoudon’t know Rhydian at all.”
The words hit their mark, and I flinched.As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point.No matter how much I had opened up about myself, he had yet to reciprocate.He didn’t seem willing to tell me anything but surface level things.It made it hard to believe that he felt anything for me, that hemight share my feelings too.
It was then I realized it.
I was somehow falling for a stranger.
The Prince of Eroth, a once-powerful Dark Fae…I had somehow developed feelings for him, but even after a few weeks here, he was still a stranger to me.
He was a kidnapper and a murderer, yes, but he was also kind—when he wanted to be—and he cared for Nico.There was some good in there if he had taken Nico in, cared for him.If he had saved me from the Lavawraith at the top of the volcano, cared whether I lived or died, and admitted he couldn’t get me out of his mind.He had shown kindness and tenderness toward me in the last few days while we waited for the seed to sprout.
That proved he wasn’tallbad, didn’t it?Carrow couldn’t be right.Maybe he was the one who didn’t know Rhydian.
“It was quite comical,” Carrow continued, oblivious to the inner turmoil that he had caused.“Watching Rhydian give you a task that was impossible.All the Fae in Avalea know that the soil here in Eroth is barren.Dead.It has been since the day the curse was laid.And yet some foolish human managed to figure out a magic combination and change itjustenough to let something grow.”He shook his head in disbelief, anger flaring in those icy silver eyes.“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t felt it myself.”He took a menacing step toward me.
I cocked my head to the side.“Felt what?”
He ignored me.“Rhydian would have felt it too if his magic wasn’t soweak.”Disgust twisted his features into a hideous mask.
“What are you talking about?”
