Page 4 of A Touch of Gold and Madness (Celestials of Arcadia #1)

Chapter 3

Gray

“ N obody else knows about this, Forest.” An exasperated sigh followed. “I mean, did you expect anything different from her?”

I awoke in my bed. Anxiety seized control of my chest with a vicious hold. Amethyst Freyr’s refined tone rang throughout the King’s Quarters—my father’s personal suite that made up the entire top floor. The luxury hotel housed the Kinetics in this region, or what we called a domain. He gifted me my own suite within the King’s Quarters once I’d turned twenty-one. It was just enough space to afford me privacy, but close enough for him to keep a watchful eye on me.

So many questions raced through my mind.

How did I end up here? How am I alive?

I cringed, remembering the burning pain that had seared my insides. How I’d healed was beyond me. My body shouldn’t have reacted the way it did to the Kinetic blade. As a Kinetic, our bodies didn’t respond to the black-crystal infused in the blades that were meant to harm Elementals—it should’ve been just a typical stab wound for me.

The innate healing abilities of both races should’ve healed the injury within seconds of the knife’s removal. That left me with even more questions: who’d healed me? And how? Maybe Hazel or Scarlett knew something.

I expected a brutal punishment. It would be long and tortuous, as always. Most likely, my father would take liberties to create his own form of art on my body with different types of blades, but I knew I’d be getting off easy if that were the case. My father’s previous warning promised the worst if I failed my mission.

The weaker part of me wished I was already dead.

I needed my sketchpad and pencils to draw Griffin’s face, wanting to commit to memory the details of the man I’d failed to kill—a reminder to keep the fuel alive regardless of the outcome of my father’s retribution.

Their voices grew louder outside my bedroom door, halting me from grabbing the pad from my nightstand. Drawing was the one thing I had my father couldn’t control, so I’d kept it to myself. I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled in a deep breath to brace for the inevitable. There was no escaping the impending confrontation.

I eyed the cream-colored double doors as they swung open and banged into the wainscoting, rattling the walls. I fought the urge to flinch as King Forest stalked into the room with an energy dipped in malice. Amethyst sauntered close behind him with her dark grace and deceptive beauty.

My father appeared aged in his late thirties. He was much older, but Kinetics and Elementals could slow their aging process at whatever age they chose. We had much longer lifespans than humans–extending for almost two centuries–so most of us looked forever youthful.

The rich green of my father’s beard flinched with a tick of his jaw. His immaculate dark suit was pressed to perfection as he glared at me from the doorway. My stomach roiled. That look was murderous.

I cocked an eyebrow at the verdant-haired king before tilting my head to take in Amethyst, my father’s Hand and mother of the late-Chrome Freyr. Her face held a bored expression. Pulled into a pin-straight ponytail, her deep violet hair stood in stark contrast to my father’s forest-green coif.

“You failed.” The king’s authoritative baritone sunk into my chest .

“I’m alive, aren’t I?” I remarked with a shrug, followed by a smirk, refusing to show the inner turmoil within me. “You’re welcome.”

Depthless brown eyes zeroed in on me. “It appears you don’t seem to think consequences apply to you, daughter.” He turned his gaze to his hand as he rotated the thick silver on his ring finger. “I should’ve known you were incapable of following simple instructions. You prove time and again how inept you are.” Spinning the ring on his finger with a casual twist, he went on, “ Kill him, child. That was the order. Or did you miss that part?” He looked up from his ring to pin me to the bed with the weight of his disgust. “I suppose being Slate’s murderer wasn’t enough motivation?”

I sighed. “If you had such little confidence in me, then why even bother sending me on that mission in the first place?” I leveled him with a flat expression while my palms ached from the sharp sting of my nails.

Amethyst stepped forward to join his side and cleared her throat. Her dark plum lips pursed in thought as she arched a single, sharp eyebrow. She snatched her gaze from my closet door, appraising my weakened state with the tilt of her lip and a smug grin. “We had hoped you’d be able to step up this time with the right motivation, but I suppose no one will ever be able to live up to my Chrome’s accomplishments.” She sniffled and cast her head to the side in feigned sadness.

I rolled my eyes at her display. Her son’s death had always been her trump card, helping her garner sympathy from our people to mask her wicked personality. The low-cut, A-line plum dress exposed her shoulders and arms, showcasing her wild, red currents . She tapped a claw-like nail against her crossed arm as she pretended to gather her emotions.

Despite living in the same space for fourteen years before his death, I’d never met Chrome—much to my dismay. He was a legend and the best warrior in recent history. I had wanted to learn from him. I’d suggested to my father once that it would be a great idea for us to train together. His response was prolonged agony, ensuring I never questioned that he knew what was best for me again .

Opulent earrings dangled from Amethyst’s ears while she absentmindedly fiddled with the inlaid ruby. “But it’s quite all right,” she added, her tone perking up. “Tonight is your birthday revel. The least we can do is publicly honor our heir to the throne just this one night.” Casting a sideways glance at the king, she elaborated, “Before she must deal with the repercussions for her failure at a later date.” Her tone, dipped in poisoned honey, made my stomach churn. So fake.

Internally, I groaned at the prospect of the upcoming “celebration” for my twenty-fourth birthday.

My father angled his head to narrow his eyes at Amethyst. She smirked, dropping her hands to rest on her hips as the two Kinetic leaders fell into a silent form of communication. The dark suit the king wore accentuated his strong physical prowess while hiding his white currents.

Every Kinetic bore currents that glowed a different luminescent color. Each color represented the form of external energy based on the electromagnetic spectrum that their magic controlled. White—in the king’s case—represented gamma rays, which he wielded as poisonous radiation, while Amethyst’s red currents represented the power over the ultraviolet. My blue ones, however, meant I was supposed to wield the power of sound waves, but my magic didn’t behave accordingly in the slightest. It was an enigma that just made me stand out more from my kind in ways I didn’t want.

Women flocked to the charming looks and charisma of King Forest Monroe. They came and went from the King’s Quarters multiple times a week, but Amethyst was never one of them. Her husband, Grim—as depraved as he was—seemed to satisfy her needs. I didn’t care to find out what that entailed.

King Forest broke the silence and trained his attention on me. “Fine. But don’t think for a second that this is settled, Gray. You have three hours to get ready for this evening. Don’t fucking embarrass me.”

Amethyst’s stormy-blue eyes landed on me next. A devious grin pulled at the edges of her plum lips, a sinister promise hidden behind her sharp beauty. “Happy Birthday, Princess,” she said with false admiration. “Let’s hope it’s a night you won’t forget. You never know when it could be your last in your line of work.”

I held her stare, challenging her to do her worst. “Oh, I assure you, Amethyst. I don’t need your well wishes to enjoy myself.”

Amethyst smirked once again before turning a knowing smile on my father. The sounds of her lethal stilettos trailed from my bedroom suite, easing the tension in my chest just a fraction.

King Forest remained behind, his hands shoved into the front pockets of his trousers in a casual display, exuding his overbearing energy. I held his stare, waiting for him to excuse himself from my presence. “Hazel will bring your dress. At least try to look like royalty and not a wild heathen. That includes fixing your hair,” he said, crinkling his nose as he appraised my rugged state. “It looks like a pair of pterodactyls copulated and then fought to the death in there.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” My voice was flat as I fought the urge to give him the middle finger…or a dagger to his chest.

“Wait!” I called out as he reached for the door. He paused, glancing over his shoulder. “What happened to me?”

The king’s upper lip curled back as he directed his gaze on the spot where my knife had stabbed me. The silence threatened to crush me under the weight of his stare.

His voice held no emotion as he said, “You’re weak. A defect.”

Not giving me a chance to respond, he swept from the suite, leaving me feeling like the broken little girl I’d left behind years ago.

“Ugh, Hazel. I hate this thing. This is such horseshit,” I said. “Leave it to heels to be the death trap that’ll take my life.” The stilettos were vicious, my feet and ankles already aching from the steep arch.

Hazel giggled as she pinned another strand of hair back from my face before taking a step back to observe my updo in its entirety .

I eyed my reflection in the floor-length mirror, noting the haltered gold dress that shimmered from the glinting light. All my curves were defined, and the olive beneath my tan complexion glowed in perfect contrast. The halter revealed my toned physique and the royal crest branded on the nape of my neck—a crescent moon fitted within a sun, the mark of the Monroe line—the ruling family of Kinetics dating back centuries.

“Oh, hush, Gray. It’d take much more than a stiletto to kill you,” Hazel Helair said, chiding me as we readied for the revel .

Twenty-four small kill marks—a diagonal number two with a slash through its center—were branded vertically from my shoulder to elbow, marking the number of Elemental kills I’d made. Because our currents rejected tattoos, we used brands to showcase our body art. Whenever our currents passed through them, the raised skin lit up, creating a colorful display on our bodies.

The royalty brand lit up blue with my passing currents on my right biceps—a thick band lined with diamonds on the top and bottom encircling my arm, allowing every Kinetic to know my rank and power within our hierarchy. I wanted to cut it off.

Every Kinetic branded their family’s crest to their body part of choice. They branded their position or rank on the right biceps while their accomplishments were on the left, such as my kill marks.

With a sigh, she slid a lock of her bronze, metallic hair behind her ear. “You know…if Slate was here, he wouldn’t be able to resist you. He’d purposefully grope you in front of me just to make me want to vomit in the corner.” A bemused eye-roll revealed she missed her brother’s ridiculous antics.

I chuckled, turning my head to look out the window to peer at the decrepit Atlanta skyline, allowing those fond memories to taunt me.

When Slate Helair was alive, he made it his life’s mission to build me up when everyone else tore me down. I was fourteen when he’d won my heart and instilled a sense of confidence that I had never been allowed to have. I could still hear his firm, but loving voice say, “ Princesses don’t cower. Others cower at you. Never forget that, beautiful.”

“You know he’s still here with you, right?” Hazel asked as her reassuring hand stroked my bare arm in a comforting gesture, sliding over my brands and currents. “He’d never leave your side, Gray. Not even death could pull him away from you. Let that give you the strength to get you through the revel, yeah?” Hazel rested her hand on my marked biceps, imparting a mixed expression of hope and despair. No doubt she still grieved his loss as well.

I nodded and studied the white carpet. The emotional void would engulf me if I stayed with my thoughts about Slate too long.

Shaking away the longing in my heart, I returned my gaze to my reflection. Hazel was right. No matter how most Kinetics showed me their disdain, her older brother would have stuck by my side and showed me off to the world with pride.

I double-checked my appearance one last time. The loose knot that held my hair displayed the marbled black and white strands. Shimmering gold eyeshadow painted my lids, enhanced by a smoky effect.

“You look dangerously beautiful. Now, let’s go before you’re late,” Hazel said with a pointed look, knowing I would purposefully be late to my own revel to spite my father. It was her job to ensure that I wasn’t.

I sagged my shoulders, poking out my bottom lip in the mirror at Hazel’s reflection. “But that’s boring, Hazel. Scarlett would agree with me.”

Hazel rolled her eyes and shook her head, likely wondering why she had to be the responsible one between the three of us.

I turned away from the mirror to face her. “Oh!” My face lit up, remembering I had questions. “I meant to ask you—have you overheard anything from Amethyst about how I ended up back here?”

Hazel raised her brows and tilted her head. Soft green eyes peered at me in concern. “Not really. Amethyst has kept me on a short leash these past few weeks, only letting me in her office to deliver her daily schedules or to send me on errands.” Irritation laced her tone toward her boss—who was also her aunt .

I found her disclosure odd. Amethyst always kept Hazel glued to her side, using her as a tape recorder and information manager. “Well, that’s disturbingly out of the ordinary,” I said, puzzled.

Hazel nodded, worry painting her soft porcelain features. She averted her gaze to the analogue clock with Roman numerals. “We should go before your father adds to your punishment.”

I released an exasperated sigh, knowing she was right. A heavy weight sank to the bottom of my gut at the fast-approaching event. “Right,” I said, conceding to my fate. “Let’s get this over with.”

Hazel trailed behind me as I walked to the double doors, adhering to royal protocol. Her calming presence was always welcome, and I basked in it as we cut through the sitting area. Reaching the threshold, I paused, hesitant to turn the handle, attempting to garner enough fortitude to face the night ahead of me.

“He’s right here with you, Gray. Draw on your strength from knowing that,” Hazel whispered over my shoulder.

I sucked in a deep breath, my nails digging into my palms, allowing the oxygen to wash away my fear. Large crowds gave me crippling anxiety. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that they typically ostracized me. But these people would never see that side of me.