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Chapter Sixty-Five: Rhea

Dust motes float in front of my face in the light given off by my magic. While I hold one hand wreathed in glowing white out in front of me, the other is pressed against the damp cold of the stone wall. The staircase down to Nox’s hidden garden has been a small thorn in my side ever since he showed it to me.

I understand well enough that this staircase is different from the one that twisted away from my room at the top of the tower. There are no guards in shining golden armor waiting to take me back. There are no maniacal kings to surprise me when I reach the bottom. There is only a special place that Nox wants to share with me; one that he had only told me a small amount about because he insists it’s better that I see it.

And I wanted to. Gods, did I want to run down these stairs and burst out into a space that only he and I could access. Something that was special to me because it was special to him. Yet my feet remain frozen on the tenth step.

It’s progress. Healing isn’t linear. You’re doing great. I can hear Nox and even Cass’s encouragement in my mind, and if those were the only voices I heard, I might be able to continue down into the darkness until I reached its bottom. It’s the other voice—bitter and malicious—that roots me in place. You are mine. You always have been. I will always find you. It’s like an evil songbird’s trill stuck on repeat, his words drilling into me until they’re all that I can focus on. Come back home where you belong .

I inhale deeply, dust tickling my nose until I sneeze. My lack of concentration on my magic makes the light sputter, plunging me into darkness for a few seconds. My heart kicks up, soundly hitting against my ribcage as I blink my eyes rapidly and try to refocus my attention. Each inhale is a gasp followed by a hard swallow, my nails digging into the stone walls. I take a step backward, and though my magic finally glows brightly on my palm again, I’m already retreating up the stairs. The door closes softly before I lean my back against it, the light from the hallway calming my nerves as I draw in another breath.

“Damn it,” I whisper to no one before I push off the door and walk to Nox’s room.

He’s already left for the day, the council calling him to an early session. He expressed over dinner together the night before that there has been a disturbing increase in guards going missing in towns near the Fae Kingdom’s border. Even though it was on the opposite side of the kingdom from King Dolian, I couldn’t help but replay the final words he spoke through the Mirror. Enjoy the safety of your people while you have it, King Sadryn. One can never be too sure when such a thing might be ripped away. I wondered if this was my uncle somehow making good on his threat. Based on the look Nox gave me, somewhere between rage and concern, I think he felt the same.

“Honestly, you’re embarrassing yourself,” Cass shouts at Nox.

Sitting on the grassy field between Elora and Daje, I watch the two men spar. Heckling from Haylee and a man with a broad jaw and a deep voice I had just met named Max add to the sound of clashing metal.

Daje’s fingers twitch restlessly where his arm is draped over his knee, almost as if he is itching to spar as well. Nox had spoken with him a few days after our argument. It had been quick as I observed them from a distance, both men standing with their arms crossed and serious expressions on their faces until Daje’s softened imperceptibly at whatever Nox told him. They shook hands, and though I wouldn’t call their interactions overtly friendly since, neither one seems to be harboring ill-will towards the other.

Cass unsheathes one of the daggers from what I learned is called a bandolier, a row of shining hilts still waiting for their turn. I’ve watched him and Nox spar in the past, and it never ceases to make my heart leap into my throat. He twirls the dagger over his knuckles in the blink of an eye and flings it at Nox. Somehow, the latter spins out of its path, obtaining nothing more than a small cut in the fabric of his black training clothes.

“See? Embarrassing .”

Nox’s brows draw low as he adjusts his grip on the hilt of his sword. “Do you just like the sound of your own voice?”

“Who wouldn’t?”

Elora and I laugh, Nox shooting an incredulous look my way. “You’re not supposed to encourage him.”

I shrug as I lean back on my hands, my braid sliding over my shoulder and down my back. Nox tracks its movement and somehow still blocks an advance from Cass. “I thought that you were the strongest mage the kingdom had seen in over two hundred years,” I tease. Elora chokes on her next breath, her cheeks turning red from her silent laughter.

“Blondie makes a good point, Your Highness,” Cass says, flipping a different dagger hilt over tip in the air and catching it without even looking.

The rest of the group begins to jokingly taunt Nox, but his eyes stay focused on mine. “How long?”

My head tilts to the side, the sunlight pouring over us on the open field and warming my cheek. “What?”

He rotates his sword in his hand as his lips curl to the right. “Let’s make a bet. How long do I have to take him down?”

I roll my lips together as I look over to Elora, who grins like this is the best thing to ever happen while she bumps her shoulder into mine. “Five minutes?”

He shakes his head and reaches back behind him to the second hilt peeking up over his shoulder. “Make it difficult, Sunshine.” Metal sliding against leather rings out into the air as he draws his second sword, the silver blade shining brightly in contrast to its midnight-black hilt.

“Three minutes.”

Cass clicks his tongue this time.

“Okay, one minute!” I shout in exasperation, drawing a few chuckles from the people around me. “Take Cass down in one minute.”

Nox’s smile is cunning as he takes a small step towards me. “And when I win? What do I get?”

“What do you want?” I should have seen the trap for what it was because, as soon as the question is out of my mouth, Nox’s eyes darken, and my cheeks begin to burn. He doesn’t answer out loud, but based on the way Elora squeals and Daje groans, he might as well have.

“Now that I have the proper motivation,” Nox starts, turning back to face his friend, “I’m sorry for what’s about to happen.” The two circle each other for a full rotation, Cass drawing his second sword, before Nox attacks. I watch how gracefully Nox pivots and counters around his best friend, his movements fluid though I know the swords in his hands must weigh a ton. I hadn’t really studied his fighting skills when we were running for our lives from the tower, but out here in the open space of the training grounds, I can truly appreciate how magnificent he is. Cass fights similarly, seeming to block Nox’s attacks while the latter is still forming them. A product of their training together since childhood, I’m sure.

“Do you think King Sadryn can fight with a sword like this?” Elora asks. My head snaps towards her. She chews on her lower lip, pushing her glasses farther up her nose as she stares at the two dueling men in front of us. Though I know she isn’t really looking at Nox, my magic flares in my chest, forcing me to close my hands into tight fists. It draws Elora’s attention, her gray eyes flicking over to mine in question.

“My stupid magic thinks you’re looking at Nox like…” I’m too embarrassed to even finish the statement.

Elora smiles, looping her arm through mine as the sound of metal clashing draws both of our attention back to the fight. Cass spins, kicking his leg out low in an attempt to sweep Nox off of his feet. But his effort is in vain when Nox leaps over it, landing with agile skill and then swinging his blades down over Cass’s head.

“Twenty seconds!” someone calls out, marking the time that has passed.

“Have you ever heard of fated souls?” Elora asks in a low voice meant for only me to hear.

I shake my head—my stomach plummeting when Cass fakes moving right only to go left, his sword swooping down on Nox who blocks it at the last second.

“I read about them in a very old book I found shoved to the back of a shelf in the palace library. It is written more like a journal—the account one of a personal nature for some parts. But the author writes about how they were fated to be with their partner. How they knew it was destined .”

“Forty seconds!”

“And they also write about how their magic reacted to perceived threats to their partner. How it wasn’t a conscious act but one that seemed to be driven by the magic itself. In an effort to protect the bond between the two.”

“I don’t perceive you as a threat at all.”

Elora nods, squeezing my arm more tightly. “ I know that, and you know that, but your magic… Mage magic is raw, and very little of its complex nature has been mapped out. Millennia have passed, and our knowledge of the power that flows through us is much the same as it was at the beginning of that time. Actually, there is probably less known about it now; something to do with being too content to seek out more information, I’m sure. It is interesting—this thought that perhaps you might be fated to be with someone. Maybe it’s just your magic acting out because you’re still learning to control it, or maybe it’s something more . Maybe you and Prince Nox are fated souls.”

A shout of frustration that isn’t Nox’s draws claps and cheers from those around us. Cass lies on his back, his hands lifted in surrender as Nox’s swords hover crossed above his neck. “Official time?” Nox asks, Cass giving him the middle finger.

“Fifty-five seconds,” Haylee answers. Nox removes his swords and slides them back into their sheaths before he holds his hand out to Cass.

“Do you think it could be possible?” I ask Elora as we both stand up, brushing the grass from the backs of our legs.

She nods, running her fingers through her hair—its red hue brighter under the sun. “Honestly, I didn’t believe it was a real thing until I saw the two of you. What you guys have is different .”

I smile at her as I feel Nox near. I like the idea that perhaps there is a reason my magic acts so defensive around him, beyond being unable to fully control it yet.

“I’ve come to claim my prize,” he says, wrapping his arms around me as he lifts me up until our faces are level, my feet dangling above the ground. My laugh turns into a scream as he spins us, and I squeeze my arms tightly around his neck, burying my face in the juncture where it meets his shoulder as I pepper quick kisses over the warm skin there.

“Seems like a waste of a prize. You can have me whenever you want,” I say when we come to a standstill, the movement of dark blonde hair catching my eye over his shoulder.

Haylee walks over to where Elora and Daje are talking. Elora glares at Haylee, murmuring something too quiet for me to hear before abruptly leaving the group. Haylee watches her retreat, her lips flattening before her gaze moves to me. The rest of the world quiets as we stare at each other, her face indecipherable. I had told her today, as Nox and Cass had readied to spar, that I was declining her offer. That Nox was mine and mine alone. Her brows had drawn down slightly, but similar to the look gracing her face now, I couldn’t make sense of what she was feeling.

“Rhea.” I’m jolted back by the sound of Nox’s voice as he slowly lowers me back down to the ground. “Are you alright?”

“Yes. I— What were you saying?”

“It was something wildly romantic. Poetic even,” he teases, playing with the end of my braid. “Are you ready for lunch?”

Nodding, I tuck myself into Nox’s side as he waves goodbye to Haylee, Max, and the others. They wave back, while Elora, Daje, and Cass join us, though Haylee avoids my gaze.

Elora walks beside me, and I can’t help but ask her what she said to Haylee. She turns to look at me, the corners of her mouth set in assurance. “I told her to leave you and Nox the fuck alone.”