Page 37 of Heir Of Sun And Moon
Before my mind even registers what I’m doing, my feet eat up the space between us.
“Call your magic off!” I yell to Daje, who is still staring in shock at me. “Now, Daje!” Standing in front of Gosston, I watch the yellow bindings holding him down disappear. I wait until his head slowly lifts and his eyes meet mine in a vengeful glare. My voice is low, so that he is the only one who can hear me, when I say, “I may be magicless, but only one of us is weak.”
His lips lift in a snarl as I wind my arm back. And when my bloody hand connects with his temple for the final time, his body keeling over into the grass, I remind myself that I may be a princess, but I am nobody’s fucking damsel. Turning, I pick up my spear—ignoring Daje’s attempts to talk with me—and walk away from the whispering voices on the training grounds.
Chapter Twenty: Rhea
Theguardcomesagainthe next night, and the next, until a week has passed of him visiting. I want to be embarrassed that I’m just now learning how to play what appear to be children’s games, but instead I find myselfconfused. Why does this guard want to spend time with me? The question gets louder in my mind each time we sit across from each other, and as a result, I find it difficult to speak at all around him. He isn’t bothered by it though, and the same is true for right now.
I nervously chew on my lip, a move his eyes get drawn to briefly before he turns his attention back to our game. Today, we are playing something called checkers. The board is a pattern of alternating black and white squares, and the pieces are circular and of the same colors. He contemplates his next move, elbow resting on the bent knee in front of him—no armor in sight.
Feeling awkward about the silence, I blurt out the only thing that comes to mind. “Why aren’t you wearing any armor?” My cheeks heat, but I keep my gaze on his and hope that the light of the torches behind him aren’t bright enough to reveal how flushed I am. “I just mean that if you’re the new night guard, shouldn’t you be wearing your armor?”
“Actually, I am not the new night guard,” he answers with a shake of his head. “I’m the new day guard. The old one got moved to the overnight position.”
I frown slightly in confusion. “If you aren’t working right now, then why are you here?” He chuckles as he watches me, making my confusion only grow as I wonder what he might find funny about what I said.
“I’m here because I want to be,” he replies, a broad smile gleaming back at me. My eyes narrow suspiciously, and his chuckle grows into a rich laugh. Annoyingly, I find that I like the sound. I should interrogate him again on why he’s here, or how he is even gettinginthe tower if it’s currently being guarded. But that isn’t what I ask.
“And are you— Have you been told what happened to the former night guard?” My voice is shaky—not from nerves this time, but from the mention of Alexi. The always-lingering sadness within me rushes to the forefront, mixing with my guilt until I’m overwhelmed and working my lower lip between my teeth once again.
His gaze drops down to my mouth, a slight frown forming the longer he looks. “Yes,” he answers hesitantly. “I know he was punished for stealing from the king.”
Sharp anger floods my veins as my teeth absentmindedly bite down harder on my lip.Lies.Just thinking about how the king painted the false story, that Alexi was the kind of man that would take from others, makes me feel sick to my stomach.
“You might want to stop chewing so harshly on your lip,” the guard says with a grimace, cutting into my thoughts.
“What?” I snap, my mind still reeling at the idea that everyone believes Alexi was the type of man who deserved to be punished by death.
“Your lip is bleeding.” A concerned look crosses his face as I bring my fingertips to my mouth, wincing when I see the small amount of blood coating them. In my anger, I hadn’t felt the tooth break through. “Do you have a cloth and warm water inside?” My brows knit together in confusion, and his mouth twists into a smirk before he answers my unspoken question, “So I can clean up your lip.”
“I can do it myself.”
“Let me help you,” he urges, lithely coming up to stand and extending a hand out to me.
Those four words widen the small fissure in the cold fortress around my heart, turning my breaths sharp as I stare at him.Let me help you.Has anyone ever offered that to me before? In any context?
My hesitancy doesn’t go unnoticed, and he quips, “Something tells me you don’t like having others help you.”
I snort at his assumption and reply, “My circumstances haven’t really led to many offerings of help to begin with.” I gesture around me like he’s forgotten that I’m no more than a woman imprisoned.
“I can stay out here and clean it if I make you uncomfortable.” His words are excruciatingly gentle, like how you would speak to an injured animal so as not to spook it. I wonder if that’s what I am to him.
“You don’t make me uncomfortable,” I respond, rolling my shoulders back as I tilt my face up. His lips widen into an almost-full smile, and gods help me, my heart lurches at the sight of it. The magic inside me responds as well, curling and coiling in what feels like excitement. I take his hand, allowing him to pull me up and trying to ignore the way his skin feels against mine. I let my hand linger a moment too long in his, or maybe he holds on to it a moment longer than he should, before we let go and I walk through the doorway. He doesn’t move to follow, and when I turn back to look at him, I realize he is waiting for permission to. “You can come in,” I say quietly. It’s an interesting thing, to invite someone into my space for the first time. Alexi was always welcome, but in the beginning, he showed up without me asking him to.
The guard looks around slowly. At what, I’m not sure since the room is mostly empty with the exception of a few plants and pieces of furniture. I leave him there to make my way up the stairs and grab some washcloths. I note Bella on the bed, mostly tucked under the covers with her head just barely peeking out.
“It’s okay,” I whisper to her as I grab two cloths before I head back down the steps, my bare feet nearly silent on the metal. When I step off the stairs, I bump into the guard, whose dark figure blends almost entirely into the shadows. Only the small amount of moonlight coming in through the balcony doors glints off of his face.
“Whoa,” he says, hands coming to grip my elbows gently. “Are you okay?”
My hands grab onto his forearms to steady myself. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you in the dark,” I rasp out. It’s his touch under my fingers, rather than stumbling into him, that squeezes the air from my lungs.
“Do you not have flame gems?” he inquires.
I cock my head to the side, my hair sliding across my back with the movement.
“What is a flame gem?” Though I can’t really see it, I can sense the guard’s eyes on me, even in the scant light.
