Page 50 of Beneath the Flames
“But if you spend time with her…help her with these tasks, maybe—”
“Enough, Nico.”I sighed.“She’s not the one.The cursebreaker doesn’t exist.We’ve been fools all these years.Let it go.”
I hated the shine in his eyes as he bit his lip to hold back tears.I didn’t often scold him, but ever since I brought Maren here, I’d been having a difficult time controlling myself.
His head hung low as he wordlessly nodded and left the room.I’d apologize to him later.He didn’t deserve my ire.He’d done nothing wrong unless hoping in vain was a bad thing.
A long, tired breath worked its way out between my lips.The whiplash of hoping and forcing myself to stop was too much.My entire body was fatigued and I wanted to throw myself onto the bed and lie there until the curse finally ran its course.
But I didn’t have that luxury.
***
“Tell me about the other kingdoms,” Maren said the next morning when I was forced to endure her presence at moon rise feast.
It had been a long night of researching in my library, for the umpteenth time, if there was some other way to break the curse.Some other way that I might have missed, even though I had searched nearly every day since it was set.In a brief moment of desperation in the middle of the night, Ialmostconsidered going back tothem,begging for my life, but I knew it was no use.
They wanted me to suffer.
They wanted me dead.Gone.Forever.
And with Maren here…I would suffer even more before meeting my end.
Part of me wanted to feel bad about bringing her here, about the fact that she was an innocent who would meet the same end as me for no reason other than that I was selfish.
But then I was forced to be in her presence, with those piercing eyes and the defiant upturn of her chin, and the quiet way she often challenged me.Then I didn’t really feel bad anymore.
Once again, I caught my internal critic scolding myself.What was I thinking bringing her here?
“What do you want to know?”I replied after taking my time chewing a piece of bread slathered in honey butter.
“Well, I know that Eroth is a land of freeze-your-butt-off-darkness, and there are three other kingdoms.Are they all cold and dark too?”
I forced my lips to stay neutral and not smile at her description of Eroth, even if it was slightly charming.
No, she’s not charming, Rhydian.Get a hold ofyourself.
“No, they’re not like here.”
She blinked at me, waiting.
“Nefaroth is the other kingdom of the Dark Fae,” I explained.“Carrow, the Fae you had the displeasure of meeting, is the ruler.There are similarities, but it’s different from here.While it mostly stays dark there, they have a few hours each day of something akin to daylight in your world, but it’s not quite the same.And instead of freezing temperatures, it’s dreadfully hot all the time.It’s quite uncomfortable.”
A shiver shuddered through her.“I’d take it over this cold,” she muttered.
I bristled at her words, muttering under my breath.“No, you wouldn’t.”Carrow’s remark about the others preferring him replayed in my mind.The bread in my mouth suddenly tasted like dirt, and I struggled to swallow it.Nico was right, Maren did seem different than the others.She was braver, maybe even smarter.I had to get Carrow—and the past—out of my mind.
Just because it happened before didn’t mean it was going to happen again.
“What about the other two?”
“Aeros is the Land of Air and Stone, ruled by Queen Elonara.Siris is the Land of Water and Light and is ruled by Queen Valianna.They are Pure Fae lands.They have day and night cycles like your world does.In your world, Aeros would be considered in perpetual autumn while Siris is in perpetual spring.”
“So then if Nefaroth is hot, and Eroth is frigid, would this be perpetual winter and his perpetual summer?”
“I suppose you could say that.”
Maren was quiet for a few moments as she absorbed thisinformation.
