Page 3 of The Coveted
Taryn’s snorting chuckle cut through the palpable tension. “She sure as hell doesn’t want to seeyou.”
“Clearly. But you can’t seem to do just the single task that was assigned to you, and Lucius couldn’t care less at this point if she starves to death, so who else is going to keep her alive?”
Taryn sighed. “If she gets hungry enough, she will eat,” she snapped. “If you would stop coming in here and provoking her and annoying the hell out of me, maybe we’d start making progress, yeah?”
There was a beat of silence, and I knew without my ability to read his energy that Daelon was seething. I could catch glimpses of his fiery aura as it reflected in Taryn’s, which was on the defensive and rising in temperature in response.
Good.I wanted him to feel desperate. I wasn’t quite sure why he cared whether I ate or not any more than Lucius, but I surmised it was probably guilt—the same reason he came into my room three nights ago to continue his web of lies.
Like the lie that he loved me.
I would not be absolving him from even an ounce of that guilt after he snaked his way inside my body and soul on orders from someone who embodied evil and death. I was starting to wonder ifanythingDaelon had said was true. Worse still, I wondered the same about all I’d felt in my vast ocean of magick. Maybe I’d only seen what I had wanted to see, and I’d been alone all along.
“Not sure what you expected after all I’ve heard,” Taryn said. “People are talking—”
“I’m sure they are,” he said curtly, cutting Taryn off. “You don’t know anything about it and neither do they. Make sure she eats.”
“You know you can’t ordermearound, mate.”
My eyes flew open, a sinking feeling plunging deep into my gut. Raw power rushed toward me like reignited flame, and soon the dresser within my line of sight began to shake against the wood panels. I closed my eyes again and took a breath, unsure if I had the will to control this magick like I once did.
The way Daelon had taught me.
After a long beat of silence, Taryn spoke. “I’d say that’s your cue to leave now. If she starts setting things on fire again, I’m not sure how we’ll be able to hide it from the King.”
After an exasperated sigh the floorboards creaked, and I heard Daelon walk away.
“She’s killing the gardens.” Lucius’s voice carried from the living area through my bedroom door. “I cannot fathom why anyone cares so much about some damned flowers, but the incessant yapping about it is truly starting to irritate me.”
“And what do you wantmeto do about it?” After a brief pause, Taryn gasped and choked, as if Lucius had cut off her air supply.
“Show her why no one who lives in the Kingdom of Aradia has any reason to be so grim. If that doesn’t work, maybe time in the dungeons would offer her some perspective,” Lucius said, raising his voice so I understood he was speaking to me directly now.
I’d moved to lying in the bed, my thoughts running in circles around each other, trying to make sense of where I was and how to escape without my ability to teleport. I waited in silence for the sound of the door slamming.
Taryn muttered to herself, the thudding of her footsteps indicating that she was pacing back and forth. “Okay. Okay.” The door flew open, letting in flickering light that made shapes on the ceiling above as she entered. “All right then. Sit up,” she said, her voice terse. Her energy was flaring and contracting, now tinged with red hues. It reminded me of a thorny rose bush: harmless unless its natural boundaries weren’t respected.
I was in no mood to follow orders, but I knew from her aura that she wasn’t commanding as an act of arrogance or control. Her intentions were purer than I’d expected from someone who seemed high in the pecking order in this dark kingdom.
I sat up begrudgingly, taking in the long, flowing, purple dress that hung off her sculpted shoulders. Most of her dark hair cascaded down her collarbones and chest, with some tied into loose braids.
“I don’t quite understand what happened with you and Daelon or, well, anything else, but I know you don’t want to be here.” She took a step closer, lifting her hands out toward me as if to express she wasn’t a threat. Then she said something under her breath, stretching out her arm and waving it in the air like she was drawing a shape I couldn’t see.
I cocked my head and quirked a brow.
“Making sure we’re truly alone,” she explained, speaking louder now. “I understand not wanting to be here, but it’s not something you can be vocal about, yeah? You have to find a way to survive. You don’t want to go to the dungeons, trust me.” She shuddered, grasping the bed frame and smoothing her fingers over the intricately carved wood detail. Her gaze was intense. “You need to keep your head down about the other stuff too. Like how you somehow have enough power to kill all the gardens on the castle grounds. That’s not something people can know. I think I’m the only one other than Daelon and the rest of the guard, and Lucius of course, who has any idea. In fact, I don’t see how you’re even alive right now, all things considered.”
“Not a problem. I don’t plan on speaking to anyone, anyway,” I muttered.
Taryn shook her head, looking up at the ceiling. “I don’t think you’re hearing me. The King should’ve killed you. But he didn’t. And while I can’t for the life of me figure out why, I just know that if I were you, I’d be doing anything in my power to remain in his good graces. That means to stop sulking, stop throwing fits, and start pretending to get along.”
I pursed my lips, feeling a flash of anger at her condescension. She had no idea what had been done to me—what had been done to my mothers, my people, and this world. Or did she know, but just didn’t care?
Like Daelon.
“Now stop that. I can tell you’re going somewhere in your mind. That’s not going to do you any good right now.”
I looked away, weighing her words. If Lucius and Daelon were convinced that I was truly so much weaker than Lucius, then why was my power such a big secret? It seemed as though this illegitimate king’s paranoia and narcissism knew no bounds.
