Page 27 of Blackwarden
After a long moment of nothing happening, I gave up. I dipped the pen tip in the inkwell and circled the word portrait in my last note. I’d come back to this as soon as I could.
––––––––
At lunch Keres hardly looked at me—it was better that way. I needed the distance. In fact, I pretended he wasn’t there at all. I conjured a delightful lunch of onion soup and warm bread, then before he’d finished his own strange meal of what he’d called a midnight apple with a few thick slices of cheese, I left.
I rushed back to my room thinking I could pull some details out of the Old Fae book with Keres’ family name on the front, but my brain was a jumbled mess. It was the gold ribcage collar that he’d still been wearing. He’d worn it in the dream, but I hadn’t seen it before today. How was that possible unless he’d put the dream in my mind?
I hated not knowing if he was able to manipulate such things. I hated even more that I knew he wouldn’t answer if I asked. Itried to make sense of my notes, but nothing was connecting. I’d circled the word portrait and now I wasn’t sure why. After an hour of getting nowhere, I decided I’d try some different scenery. It was still a couple hours before dinner. Surely it wouldn’t be suspicious if I went to the library at this time of day.
I didn’t bother sneaking because I wasn’t trying to hide. Instead, I walked with confidence. I was beyond thankful the halls were empty, the braziers burning cheerfully. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to deal with Keres and his shadows. I didn’t creep through the door, I opened it with gusto and waltzed in, only to find him sprawled out on a chaise with a book across his knees, all long limbs and darkness. He glanced in my direction, expression never changing, then went back to reading as if me being in his library was perfectly normal.
So, he was still ignoring me. Delightful. Because I didn’t have the patience for his non-answers anyway. I took a deep breath and went directly to the shelf I’d seen some other books in Old Fae and started pulling them down, flipping through until I found something that looked like a diagram of sorts. This wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but it was interesting enough that I plopped into a chair to take a closer look.
There was nothing but the sound of pages turning as I thumbed through the book. It was almost peaceful, and I’d nearly forgotten he was there with me on the other side of the library. I picked up another book, flipping until I came to strange drawings of the different High Fae. Captivated, I looked closer, noticing how detailed each illustration was. Beautiful linework twisted across the pages blending into the text with long twirling ligatures. I was mesmerized by the elegance. Tall, lean males and females with antlers and horns and pointed ears. Different colored flesh and some with very animalistic characteristics.
A shadow of a horned head crept across the open pages, and I glanced up into Keres’ curious dark eyes. He seemed just as intrigued as I was, and for a moment I was lost in the kindexpression on his face. I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming again.
“Interesting read for a human,” he said.
I let the snide remark roll away, trying my best not to be goaded as I went back to inspecting the pages.
“Can you even read Old Fae?”
“No, but you aren’t exactly forthcoming, so I’d say these books are about as helpful as you are.”
He chucked and I couldn’t help but glance up at the mirthful sound of it. He met my gaze with warm amusement which I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to see from him. Where was this Dark Fae when I’d been terrified or angry? I tried to snuff out the momentary flash of embarrassment at the sight of that damned gold collar and instead nodded to the book in his hand.
“What are you reading?”
He held it out to me.
“The Demise of the Blackwarden.” I read aloud. I’d never heard of it but that wasn’t significant. I grew up in a poor village with a small library.
“It’s interesting. If a bit dry and slightly inaccurate.”
Was he attempting humor? He must have noticed my confusion and took a step back glancing down at the cover as though he was reading it for the first time.
“I prefer fantastical stories if I’m honest,” he continued. “This one is more of the historical variety.”
“What’s the Blackwarden?”
His eyes didn’t leave the cover of the book as he blinked a few times in surprise.
“Another question you won’t answer?”
He turned away, letting the book hang at his side in defeat. I should have stopped there. I knew better. This was how I’d made him angry before.
“Do you know much about it?” I asked.
“Them.”
“Did you know them?” I corrected.
Keres turned back toward me, the muscles in his shoulders tense. He took a breath to speak, his lips parting, the words on the tip of his tongue. I’d seen this before. I knew this response. He was definitely trying to answer me. If I could break him now, perhaps I’d get an answer to the question I truly wanted to know.
“What’s going on? Is this whole thing because of a curse?”
He tightened, squeezing his eyes closed in pain.
