Page 19 of A Cursed Son

I shrug. “Nah. Too obvious. But the walls might have ears.”

He nods and whispers, “And eyes.”

This is the reason it’s me here, not Princess Driziely. And it should have been Quin. When I look back at my actions, I realize I was a complete lunatic, acting over something in my head only.

I don’t know how I came to that conclusion on my own, how I could have a love story crop up and die in my imagination.

It’s not like we would fall in love and get married. I knew that, and told myself I wanted some passing distraction, some passing joy, and yet it would leave me empty in the end—or brokenhearted.

Perhaps a part of me will always remain unfulfilled, and I’ll create imaginary stories in my mind. Well, I do have an imaginary lover. A very real imaginary lover who has seen what my mind can conceive.

“Are you all right?” Ziven startles me, but he sounds worried.

“Exhausted.” I chuckle. “You?”

He fists the air. “I can conquer the world!” He sighs and whispers, “Yeah. Not right now.”

A curtain conceals a corner of the room, and I step behind it to change into my nightgown, thankful that it covers me up to my neck and down to my calves. When I come out, I see Ziven lying on his bed, completely dressed.

“Aren’t you going to change?” I ask.

“I usually sleep naked, but I won’t. And I’d rather be… prepared. Just in case.”

“If assassins enter our room, I’m not sure they’ll check what we’re wearing.”

He shrugs. “I don’t want to run away naked. But please don’t become paranoid like me.”

“No.” And if something ever happened, I could escape in a nightgown. “I’ll shield the room.”

“You’ll what?” He frowns, confused.

“Shield. Against evil spirits.”

He stares at me for a moment as if I was completely gaga, then shrugs. “Sure.”

I touch each wall and say the incantation. “Only light here. Light shields us and protects us from evil. Light shields us, and nothing can pass through this wall.”

When I’m finished, he says, “You’re truly pious.”

He must have been thinking it was an act. “You saw it,” I mouth, then add, “It gives me strength. I don’t know, hope, courage.”

“That’s a good thing.” No judgment there, which I appreciate.

“It is.”

I lie down, ready to fall asleep despite being in this strange house, in this strange room, away from the castle for the first time in my life, or at least the first time in the life I remember.

My mind still bugs me with unanswered questions. What does Ziven want? What’s the deal between him and Sayanne?

And then, there are bigger questions. Why did Marlak attack us? What did he want with me? How did he know my name? Am I going to dream about him again? My spine chills with the thought, but it’s not as if I can forgo sleep, especially exhausted as I am.

I can’t imagine what’s going through his mind right now. Has he concocted a logical explanation, or is he as puzzled as I am?

The worst is that a small, thin voice in my head is wondering if he liked it. I’m going to smother that voice with this fluffy pillow, I swear I’m going to.

No, no, no. Not again.

I protest as I see myself in a dream, but gradually, the unease fades away.