Page 51 of Contested Crown
“Larissa, I should have known you’d have the prince,” Elizabeth said from the doorway. She’d teleported in, shards of her blue tattoos shattering on the ground before flowing up her legs. “You’ll have to catch up later. It’s time for him to meet his future wife.”
ChapterSeventeen
Cade blinked, standing stiffly. “I haven’t made any decisions yet.”
Elizabeth smiled thinly, her eyes flicking back to me. She gestured with an open palm, the message clear. Cade might not have made any decisions, but House Morrison wasn’t going to let its winning lottery ticket go.
Larissa stood, dusting off her skirt and walking out into the hall. The two initiates scurried behind her, and I stared at Jayna’s wrist, but I didn’t see any hint of the magic. Had my mind been playing tricks on me? Maybe her magic was magenta, and the light had made it look like two separate colors.
Cade looked at me once, the slightest question in his gaze. I shrugged. I didn’t know if it was a good idea, but I didn’t see what other choices we had.
He raised his chin, shoulders going back, spine as straight as an arrow. Once we were in the hallway, Larissa locked the door, and Elizabeth led us up another set of stairs. The scent of food wafted up from the first floor, and I heard people talking together in that massive cafeteria.
Jayna and Fred left us at the bottom of the stairs, and even Larissa had a moment of hesitation before following Elizabeth.
“What? We don’t eat with the plebes?” I tried to keep my tone light, but some of my feelings must’ve seeped through because Elizabeth turned, her gaze sharp.
“The king and queen eat regularly with the rest of the house. However, this is Prince Bartlett’s first night under our roof. It is important that he is educated in matters of the house before he begins interacting with the rest of the members.” She leaned forward. If she had been a wolf, it would have been a challenge I couldn’t ignore, the promise of a fight that I wanted to have. “We’ll be eating in Princess Morrison’s private rooms.”
I wanted a second go at her. But I couldn’t, not without risking Cade’s life unnecessarily. There was nothing here protecting us from harm except that House Morrison apparently wanted Cade willing rather than forced.
When I said nothing, Elizabeth turned and continued up the stairs. We passed a third floor, and Elizabeth walked over to a blank wall, pressing her palm against it. Blue tattoos crawled down her wrist and over her fingers, landing on the wall and forming a complicated circle with multiple points and symbols. It twisted, turning counterclockwise until there was an audible click.
A doorway slid open, revealing a new set of stairs. She gave a half bow, gesturing us ahead of her. Larissa stepped forward first, walking up the stairs, Cade following. The walls were decorated with strange art.
I paused, squinting at one of the pieces. A dark-haired woman stared out at us, her mouth open in a scream. Instead of eyes, she had spellwork spilling out from her eye sockets.
Elizabeth cleared her throat behind me, and I continued walking.
The room upstairs was immense, and I looked up and saw the roof beams of the house. This must be part of the attic, and it stretched at least the length of two or three apartments in the house below.
Skylights had been cut in the roof, letting in orange, setting sun. Small windows gave a view of the ocean, the tinting helping diffuse the direct sunlight. The room had been divided into sections by furniture rather than walls. Two couches and a couple of sitting chairs formed the living room. A refrigerator and a kitchen table sat nestled in one of the corners. No stove, I noticed.
A king-size bed was positioned next to one of the windows, a dresser and bookshelf on the wall behind it. Then there was the art studio. Canvases sat stacked on floor-to-ceiling shelves like books in a library. Easels were neatly put away, and a shelving unit was full of every color of paint I could imagine. A large sink and workbench took up a swathe of the interior wall.
The room was empty.
Elizabeth frowned, pulling out her phone and tapping something into it. A moment later, Caroline’s green tattoos swirled through the air, each one as delicate and curved as the waves on the beach in the distance. When the tattoos returned to her, a large dining table took up most of the free space in the living area.
Caroline and Howard were dressed in formal mage clothes. The teal color made their graying hair look silver.
Caroline smiled, reaching out her hands for Cade. “Prince Bartlett, I trust you settled?”
“The accommodations were very generous,” Cade said, clasping her hands in his but refusing to be drawn into the cheek kiss she was clearly aiming for.
“Good, good.” She squeezed his hands and released him. Her eyes trailed over me, and she seemed to force herself to speak. “And you? Consort Bartlett?”
“Everything was fine. Hot shower, soft bed, and Lizzie here tells us we’re about to get good food. Couldn’t ask for more.”From the people who kidnapped us, but I managed to keep that unsaid.
Caroline’s lips twisted, and she seemed to hear the critique anyway.
Howard and Elizabeth were having a sharp conversation, and his voice rose just enough that I could hear what he was saying. “So where is she?”
“The wards haven’t been breached. She’s here somewhere.” Elizabeth didn’t seem cowed by his anger, her own gaze flinty. “If you had allowed her to keep her companion…”
Howard waved a hand, dismissing her.
Caroline caught on to the tension, and when Howard looked at her, something passed between them that I didn’t understand. She turned to Cade, drawing him to one of the sitting chairs and taking the couch adjacent. I stood behind him, watching as Larissa sat on the couch on the other side of Cade, both women leaning forward and talking brightly.