Page 28 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

My eyes flashed to her as Cedaar finally took his seat. “Sometimes. Well, only when they talk to me. They usually avoid me most of the time.”

“Why?” she asked, leaning forward on her arms. “What did you do? Steal a boyfriend? Girlfriend?”

Cedaar made a noise in the back of his throat, both of them speaking in that foreign language. Then she gave him one of those dashing smiles across the stacks of books before turning back to me.

My fingers twisted in the edge of my dress as I shook my head. “No, the boys here hate me, too. No one liked my mother. She questioned our queen too much, which got us kicked out in the first place. But when she died, I had nowhere else to go, so I came back.”

Xio turned those striking eyes toward him as he spoke once more in her language before sipping more of the tea. I didn’t know what was said, but she responded with a crooked smile that changed all her features. It softened them, and a part of me softened too. The tension in my shoulders left as she leaned toward him, and I saw it then.

If he was the sun, by the old gods, she was the moon. Powerful, dark, and overbearing at times. She never left him, nor he her, as if they danced around each other for eternity. He didn’t respond but smiled and shook his head before turning to me.

Cedaar set the teacup back on the tray. “This is quite lovely, Miska. Thank you for that. You said it has healing properties, yes? Enlighten me on which ones.”

I stayed in that study with them far past the time the moon crested in the sky. He asked me about ingredients from my world and how they were used. He asked me about my mother and then about the things I liked. We spoke of how I was rescued and came to be here. In return, they told me where they had come from.

Xio told me of treats so sweet it would make your face tingle, and she smiled about it. They both did. Against my better judgment, I did too. She didn’t seem like the beast they whispered about, the one they feared. She seemed so normal, especially when she looked at him. I didn’t know why I was ever afraid to be around them, and now I felt silly for ever thinking that way.

The moon drifted toward the horizon as I helped them both with more words from my world. We studied and even made somewhat of a game of it. I realized I was having fun, and I was not used to having fun. They seemed so focused on me, as if I was the one who needed healing and not him. It wasn’t until Cedaar yawned and Xio soon followed that I realized we had stayed up the entire night.

TEN

DIANNA

“You know, this whole sneaking-in thing really does something for me.”

Samkiel chuckled under his breath as he half turned, peering over my head. I wore the skin of one of the healers, using it to check if the coast was clear before he followed. Luckily, the hall on the lowest level of Jade City was empty. It seemed the healers stayed on schedule. Lights out meant lights out here. A wink and a snap followed as he sent a tendril of his power into the locked door. A flow of silver crept over the square metallic lock, and then the door opened.

My hands snaked around his waist, connecting as I rested my head against his shoulder.

He patted my hand, snickering. “Don’t get too excited. This is merely recon. We are simply gathering information about why a city full of healers would keep secrets from their own.”

I smiled and stepped in behind him, tracing a lazy path up his back. “Still turned on.” I walked past him, glancing into the room. It was a lot smaller than I would have thought, given the massive spelled lock on the outside. A staircase covered in vines and flowers of every color led to a balcony that wrapped around the room. Two tables, with an array of empty vials and worn pages, took up most of the space.

The room was dark, without a single candle lit. Shelves took up the furthest walls with a mix of small leafy plants to colorful large shrubbery with thorns growing from the side. I moved closer, taking a look as I heard Samkiel’s footsteps head toward my right. He was doing the same.

My hand reached out, ghosting over some of the clear, smooth jars. A bioluminescent plant in one seemed to follow my fingers, pressing against the glass.

“Pretty.”

Samkiel’s hand grasped my wrist with a smack, pulling me back.

“And dangerous.”

I glanced at him. “What?”

He nodded at the jar. Sickly yellow shimmering lights replaced the previous beautiful colors. The plant, or I suppose not plant, let out a small, high-pitched screech. It opened its circular mouth, exposing its serrated teeth, and suctioned itself to the glass.

“What the fuck is that?”

He slid his thumb over my pulse before letting go of my wrist. “A shurvuae. They are often used in ancient magics. The old ones said they could suck out the most lethal poisons, but if left too long, they could be fatal. Although poison seems to be their favorite meal.”

Samkiel stepped forward, and the small creature in the jar seemed to vibrate. It turned from me and focused on him, latching on to the jar closest to him. The sound it made had my skin crawling.

I stepped closer to him. “Does it think we are poisoned?”

“No, I believe it senses power as well. Most creatures above a certain rank or order can.”

“Well, then, you must be a buffet to him.” I playfully smacked him on the ass before turning away to look around the room. “Why keep that? Why all of this? I know I am new to this world, but why lock it up? Are they afraid of their own people?”

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