Page 112 of Frost and Death
The bastard is fucking taunting me.
I bristle through my annoyance, hating the blood rising to the surface of my skin.
Choosing to pick my battles rather than goad him on, I lean back and sever the lust building in the air. Reacting to his every touch has me wondering how often he has used his gifts on me.
Could he have used his powers on me without me knowing? Sweet Makers, how oftendoeshe use his gifts for his own advantage?
I avert my gaze from Jerrick, not wanting to think about him any further. Opening my book to the first page, I wipe away some collected dust.
Jerrick takes religious texts featuring priests that specialize in documentation on Anwir, the Deity of Illusion.
Leaning back, I read the title before glancing up to see Jerrick mimicking my actions. I incline my head, and he returns it in kind prior to returning to his text.
And so we read.
Betina falls back against my bed, and Niko’s eyeswiden when I tell them about Jerrick’s curse.
But their jaws slacken at my last update. “He can also manipulate blood.”
The news is disheartening, especially because it darkens the bright day Niko and Betina were having before I reached out. I pinch my features, regretful, as Niko runs a hand through his hair, his visible muscles flexing.
The chandelier is lit in my room rather than the hearth, Aiyana’s spring finally peeking through winter back home. The dressing down of blankets on my old bed clue me in, as does Betina’s coiled locks, which is frizzier than normal. The humidity in the air when warmer weather comes has her styling tight plaits along her scalp versus wearing her hair unbound and voluminous during the colder seasons.
Here, in Palaena, the staff have already removed blankets and stacks of firewood from the hearths in every room in the castle, as well as near Jerrick’s and my claimed area of the library.
Tunics and trousers are a new constant for me, noting how much cooler it is to be in them with the temperatures rising versus stuck in a comfortable lounge chair in regal attire, pinching and tugging at the seams.
I thank the Makers Niko and Betina have still only seen me in my day gowns and dressing robes. If their reaction to the news about Jerrick is anything, I don’t even want to imagine how they’d react if they saw me in a tunic and trousers.
“H-How did you come to find this out?” Betina asks.
Niko focuses on me, envy and rage replacing his shock.
I remind myself his anger is not directed at me, just the situation. But it still does not make being underneath his scornful gaze any easier.
“He told me and then proceeded to use his powers on me.”
Niko steps up to the vanity, lethal calm forming his own line of questioning. “What did he make you do?”
“The king did not make me do anything,” I reassure him.
His eyes soften, but I can still see the fury and violence he wants to extract on Palaena and their king. It is evident in his demeanor.
I convey as much love as possible to Niko. “All I felt him doing was awakening my powers while also dissolving them.”
Betina stands and approaches. “But how do you know that was him and not you? He has already kept information from you. Who is to say this isn’t just another lie?”
Niko nods in agreement, but I turn down her logic. “I have always been able to tell when my magic awakens and when it quiets. So, I know he is not lying about that, at least.”
“But what about your parents? The curse?” Niko asks.
I look away from his frustrated gaze, my mind reeling over everything Jerrick and I have already read so far about glamour magic, curses, and letters exchanged between my mother and his father. They validated Jerrick’s story of their past involvement. Not to mention the ledger of Axidoria’s cursed criminals proved that my mother could cast a curse.
That and Jerrick’s dedication to our research has me believing even more truth in his tale.
He’s the first to arrive and the last to leave each day. Deities, he might actuallylivein the library.
I toss aside Niko’s question, putting my trust in Jerrick’s actions and the proof of what I’ve read so far. “There is truth and evidence behind his statements. But I still do not believe that my mother killed herself and that Palaena was not involved with my father’s death. Something still feels like it is missing.”
