Page 32 of Ocean of Silver

“What do you want, Dovelyn?”

Her feet thumped on the floor as she sat up straighter on the sofa, her nose wrinkling. “Do I need a reason to check up on you? You haven’t been around much lately, and I wanted to know why.”

I sighed. “I’m fine, Dove. I’ve been training the girl. You know that.”

“Yes, I was made aware, but what I don’t know is why you are spendingallyour time with her. Last I checked, a getaway beach trip wasn’t in your job description.”

A low growl escaped my lips. “It was not some getaway trip. I took her to the hut to train. That’s all.”

She rose now but still managed to glower at me even though I towered over her. “Tez, I know you. I just want to make sure that you don’t get invested. You know whatever the King has planned for her won’t be good. It’s better if you don’t get attached. Plus…” She paused as she surveyed me. “She still has something to do with the prophecy, and we don’t know what that means yet. We can’t lose focus on what’s important.”

My abilities lashed out toward her without meaning to. I found worry and concern lingering through her scent. She did a good job masking her outward emotions, making it seem to the world that she was the spitting image of her father. She cared for me, I knew that, and she didn’t want me getting hurt. But I was fine. I was only training Scotlind. I wasn’t about to fall in love with her. Dovelyn was too overprotective.

“Dove, I’m fine. You need to leave. Your father is expected to pay a visit today, and you shouldn’t be here when he does.”

She scuffed. “Right.” She started to make her way toward my door but halted with her small fingers curled around the wood. “You are coming tonight, right, Tez?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it. But you know Brock is going to hate every second of it.”

Her smile was serpentine. “That’s exactly the point.” Then she was gone, disappearing before my eyes.

A knock sounded on my door seconds after Dove vanished. The Lux King sauntered in without waiting for me to respond.

“Well, let me see it,” he snapped in greeting, his hand outstretched, gesturing toward her files on my desk. He tsked as he skimmed the pages. “Well, it looks like our feisty prisoner gets to live for now. How is her training coming along? What are her other abilities?”

“Her training is going well,” I said cautiously, careful of my words. I longed to reach my senses out to him, but every time I did, they came back blank, probably from some object of Alluse he kept with him to protect himself. “So far only her water ability is present. I do not know if she possesses anything else. I may need more time to figure it out.”

“You have until the Dark Prince’s Coronation. I want to know what her abilities are.” He paused as he regarded me with cold eyes. “I expect you understand what will happen if you don’t deliver and you disappoint me.”

I nodded my head. I fucking did.

TWELVE

SCOTLIND

I wasin my room for all of five minutes before a knock sounded on my door. Without thinking, I opened it immediately, expecting to find my maid. But a tall brunette male stood before me. Tall wasn’t the right word for him. He was a giant.

“Hello,” he said. His voice was deep but not as rough as I would have expected. I stared back at him, blinking, not able to do much else. I didn’t think anyone else knew I was here. They told me not to mention who I was. I didn’t know what to do or how to act.

“Can I come in?” he pressed gently.

“No.” I attempted to shut the door, but he caught the frame immediately.

“I’m a friend of Tezya’s. My name is Brock,” he said slowly. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m a healer.”

“I think you have the wrong room,” I said back, attempting to shut the door again. “I don’t need a healer.”

“I don’t have the wrong room,” he smiled softly. “Tezya’s been training you. He said you have open wounds still all over your body, the worst being on your back.”

I halted, confused that Tezya noticed or cared enough to send for a healer. He didn’t say anything when he scanned my back this morning. He was deathly quiet for what seemed like minutes before he finally told me that we were heading back to the castle. Then he stormed out of the rushing waves, leaving me with a new insecurity about my back. I honestly hadn’t seen it for myself. I tried not to look too closely at anything on my body since I came to Lux. But it did ache, causing me to sleep on my side because of it.

“You can trust me,” the male urged. This time his voice was even softer, lighter, and I found all my worries floating away until I was left with nothing but trust for the brute, and I couldn’t understand why, but I found myself opening the door wider, allowing him to pass.

He nodded thanks as he stepped inside my chambers and closed the door behind him.

“Let me see your back, please.”

“I…” I started, having no idea why I was listening to him. Not an inch of his skin was turning golden, and even though he had brownish eyes, the coloring suggesting that it could be Tennebrisian, I knew he was from this city, that he possessed Light abilities. I looked closer at him, inspecting his eyes more closely like I’d find all the answers I wanted there.

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