Page 72 of Haunted

Niawen shoves past the guard into my study on the second floor. I hunch over parchment and scrawl signatures with a quill. My attendant takes the sheet and places another one in front of me.

I don’t take the time to look up but steel myself for her outburst. I crave it. I set her up on the parapet, and she’s been simmering for hours.

The blush on her face is worth it.

“Did I insult you?” she blurts.

I’m not winning her over with my evasive nature, but I can’t help myself. “To insult me, you’d have to do something disrespectful.” I wave my attendant away.

She rolls her green eyes as the man leaves. “Why do you want me here?”

My lips curl into a crafty smile.

“You seem keen to have me consider this my home,” she says.

I tickle my face thoughtfully with the end of my feathered quill. My hesitation to answer has the effect I intend.

She brushes up to the table and braces her arms on the surface. “You were practically begging me to stay.”

“I’m not begging you to stay, but think about it. I offer you a life of freedom. A life without boundaries. Limitless. No rules. No fear of ever being exiled. Living beside the humans, but with the blessing of having an immortal stand by you. Someone who knows the ways and customs of your people. Someone who carries light and understands its glory.”

She straightens. “You offer me this. A fresh start?”

“Yes!” I stand and lean across my desk as she was. “That’s what you want, Niawen. No darkness in your heart. A blank slate.”

“You can’t erase my past.”

“Maybe not. Your past has shaped you, but it’s up to you to decide which parts you allow to haunt you and which parts you allow to grow you.”

“Why should you care so much?” she asks.

“I don’t care.”

“You do! You act as though my decision, should it be in your favor, would give you the utmost satisfaction.”

I angle away from her but keep my eyes on her tart expression. Since I’m going for shock, I don’t soften my words. “It’s not in me to be satisfied.”

She presses her lips together before responding. “You’re arrogant!”

“Arrogance is not my worst fault.”

“I don’t know how this started.” She turns on her heel and stalks to the door.

“What’s your answer, Niawen?”

When she snaps around, I know I’ve snared her. “You know my answer. How could I pass on such a generous offer? You set no rules or boundaries. A great enticement. But freedom doesn’t break a wild horse. You might regret your kindness when you realize I cannot be tamed.”

As she reaches the door and her tapered fingers brush the frame, I murmur one final jab. “I cannot be tamed either.”

51

I sweep up behind Niawen. The gray, brooding sky hasn’t changed since morning, since she watched Seren fly into it. They decided Seren was to return to Gorlassar. She left behind her dragon stone so Niawen would have a link to her and to her homeland, but that doesn’t make the separation any easier.

“So she’s gone?” I ask.

“Yes. Seren left at daybreak.”

“Are you going to stand in the middle of the courtyard all day?”

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