Page 44 of The Other Side of the Mirror

“For you, anything,” he murmured, those pale eyes gleaming. “Come. Let’s walk to the greenhouse, and I’ll see if I can answer any more of your questions. And tell you anything you want to know about myself.”

I noticed again that he wasn’t really asking. For a second, I wondered if being a prince had gotten him too used to getting his own way all the time, then immediately felt awful when I remembered how long he had spent imprisoned against his will. Trapped in a dungeon somewhere in this castle by his own father. I gripped his hand a little more tightly as he pulled me forward, leading me through the perfectly manicured garden.

There was a chill in the air, and I pulled my cloak firmly around me. Raindrops still dusted the lush green lawns, bordered by winding paths of pure white stone. The flower beds were overflowing with snowy gardenias and lilies, trumpeting foxglove, swaying snapdragons, and a hundred others I didn’t recognize. All were arranged in intricate patterns, the floral scent almost overpowering.

A glass dome shone in the late afternoon light. Wrought-iron vortices cradled its crystal walls before coming to a point at the top. I wondered how I missed it while staring out the library window. Perhaps it had been enveloped by the mist.

Aviel led me through two tall glass doors, and I took off my cloak as the heat of the greenhouse enveloped me. His eyes darted to the cleavage pressing above my neckline, the narrow of my waist, the curve of my hips—settling back on my mouth before he looked away. Something dropped low in my stomach, the flush I felt on my cheeks not only from the sudden heat.

“Your turn,” I reminded him. He took my cloak from me, and our fingers brushed together before he turned to hang it, and his own, on a nearby coat rack.

“I suppose it is,” Aviel replied in his aristocratic drawl. “What do you want to know?”

I didn’t bother mincing words. “All of it.”

Taking my arm, he led me toward the abundant greenery ahead. I couldn’t suppress a quiver as he grazed the bare skin of my wrist, just below my scar.

He stopped by a row of giant burgundy dahlias, so dark they were almost black. “I’ve always known you were meant to be mine.” My swallow was too loud in my ears, my stomach knotting as he added, “And I suppose it’s time I tell you everything.”

Past time,I thought.

Looking him in the eye, I said, “I’m listening.”

“When my father stole this kingdom, the land soon began to rot, for he was not the true king. The curse many claim he enacted was really the magic of the realm itself denying his rule. He sought answers for it, as there were those who tied the festering to his legitimacy, but they were brutally silenced, as were any who tried to deny his right to the crown.” He sighed and ran a finger along one of the dark dahlias. It unfurled gently under his touch. “The old High Queen had told him that ouranimabond would be the key to fixing it but would also be the source of his destruction. She was a seer along with her Celestial power and had always known the truth of things.”

My voice lowered to a whisper, as though the fates themselves were listening. “How did he know it was us?”

Aviel laughed darkly. “He tortured Queen Amerie, caging her deep below her own castle, and forced her to explain every detail before he killed her. He was never one for games.”

I reeled away in horror at the thought of her painfully prolonged end.

“Did you meet her?” He, too, had been held by the False King, likely in the same dungeon deep below this castle. We hadn’t gone inside it during his expansive tour, but Aviel had walked us down the long white hallway that passed it, warning me to never open the barred and guarded iron doors.

Perhaps that was all he meant when he told me not to explore too far at night. Just worried about danger, not what I might find…

He shrugged nonchalantly, but a hint of something dark crossed his face. “I did. I assume she was kept alive for a time in case he had more questions. But mostly, I heard her screams.”

I shuddered and something flickered in his eyes before his careful mask went back up.

“You know,” I said slowly, “you don’t have to do that with me.”

Aviel’s eyes narrowed. “Do what, exactly?”

“Hide.”

Aviel looked startled, but I refused to back down. If this was going to work, we needed to trust each other. And I obviously wasn’t the only one with scars.

“I may not have the same understanding of theanimabondwithout a regular fae upbringing, but if this bond snapping into place will literally save the world, I’m not going to run if you show me your true feelings.”

It felt strange offering that when I was usually the one to run from any form of relationship. But somehow, I wasn’t as scared anymore.

Aviel was silent for so long, I thought I must have offended him. When he finally spoke, he was so detached it was unsettling. “When my mother realized what my father truly was, she tried to take me away just as your parents did with you. But she failed, and he killed her for it. Because he loved her, and she ended up hating him. Or maybe she always did. So you’ll have to forgive me if I’ve grown used to not letting myfeelings,”he spat the word like a curse, “show on my face.”

My heart broke for him, and my hands found his before I could stop myself. I could feel him balk, as though he wasn’t used to being touched so intimately.

Of course he wasn’t. Not with family like that.

Though I could only assume he had lovers over the years. Had he let himself get close to any of them with ouranimabond fated as the only way to save his kingdom?

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