Page 43 of The Crimson Princess (The Ravengale Chronicles #1)

Chapter thirty

T he next morning, I wake alone, and when I roll toward the window, the hint of light I find in the depth of the darkness outside tells me the three hours of sunrise is upon us.

For a few minutes, I just lay there, replaying all that happened last night, my mind seeking a path to anywhere but war.

The only solution is peace between my father and Toren.

I have to convince them to sit down and talk, and while I have no doubt Toren is willing, my father is another story.

I throw away the covers, and by the time I stand, I’m no longer naked.

I’m dressed, my hair fresh and clean, my clothes all black, my feet in sturdy boots.

With iron determination as my weapon, I blink to the kitchen, next to the island, out of view of the table, and just in time to hear Stefan say, “You can’t ask that of her, Toren. ”

Not about to lurk and listen, I step around the island and find Toren and Stefan standing in front of the table, facing each other, and when Toren’s eyes land on me, I sense his uneasiness at what I’ve heard.

“Ask me what?” I ask, my voice snapping like a band.

Stefan is quick to throw cover, quickly inserting himself to answer the question I’ve directed at Toren. “Not you,” he says. “Tabby.”

“What about Tabby?” I ask suspiciously, trying to pick up on his thoughts, but his mind is a steel cage. Either that or I’m simply not able to control my magic enough to pierce an ancient vampire such as Stefan’s will .

Stefan’s eyes seek out Toren’s and Toren lifts his chin at him.

Stefan disappears, clearly ordered to depart.

I close the space between me and Toren, and step in front of him.

I don’t know why I burn to touch him with the same fierceness as I want to yell at him but that’s where we are and it’s all kinds of confusing. “What about Tabby, Toren?”

“King Alister will be calling on me in my royal chambers today. He and Tabby have an ugly personal history she needs to mend.”

“Do you know what happened between them?”

“I know enough to know it’s not worthy of tearing apart the relations of two worlds with war on the horizon.”

War . I hate that word and all the death implied. “What is Stefan’s problem with this?”

“I have long suspected Stefan is in love with Tabby and he doesn’t want her anywhere near King Alister.” He waves off the topic and captures my hand, his touch fire on my skin, as he walks me to him. “Obviously I’m going to have to meet with Alister. I have no choice.”

I read between the lines and I don’t like the way they’re colored. “I get it. You’re going to court and you can’t take me with you.”

“It’s complicated. And dangerous.”

“Very,” I agree. “Of course, you can’t take the Ravengale princess to court with you. You didn’t show me your castle.” There’s a hint of accusation in my voice I don’t try to suppress.

“We can’t risk your presence here leaking and creating buzz among the vampires or gales.

The castle is too high profile to avoid that threat no matter the day or time.

And I don’t live there anyway. I spend as little time there as possible.

I dislike the message of superiority it sends to the vampire population.

They don’t need that from me. They know what happens if they break rules.

They know what is expected and they expect it of each other. ”

“Which is what?”

“Civility. Respect. Freedom from a lawless world. Things I’m willing to fight to protect. ”

My palm settles on his chest, the thunder of his heart defying the calmness of his demeanor. “I will, too. You know that, right? I will fight for what is right and I will find a way to talk my father off his ledge and toward a new direction. I’ll get him to sit down with you.”

He covers my hand with his and brings it to his mouth, kissing it.

“If anyone can, you can,” he says, but his statement is tinged with doubt and he doesn’t linger on the topic, moving on, “I’ll be back as soon as possible, but I want to show you something before I go.

” He blinks us out of the kitchen and a moment later we’re inside a massive workout facility, with black mats on the floor, and padding on the walls.

Swords, daggers, and other weapons decorate racks in each corner.

“Welcome to my personal workout space,” he explains, and indicates a door at the rear of the room.

“That’s a simulation center. You can tell it what training situation you wish it to create, and it will produce it.

That includes a forest with werewolves. It feels real, but you can’t be injured.

I spend hours in there every single week. ”

My eyes go wide. “Really? That’s incredible. We have nothing like that in Ravengale.”

“Ravengale lives and breathes by way of preparation for the Challenge without any advanced training tools. I’m of the opinion Killian believes the book is all the gales will ever need.

That’s an outdated mentality.” He lifts a hand as if irritated to even be talking about my father.

“Work on your shield. The longer you hold it, the better. I’ll test when I get back. ”

“I may be exhausted when you get back.”

His eyes twinkled with mischief. “Then we’ll go straight to bed.”

“Then you better hurry back. I already woke up alone once today. I don’t want to go to bed that way, too.”

“Not my choice,” he says, his tone turning serious. “Believe me, princess, I wanted to be with you.” He captures my hand and blinks us back to the kitchen where there’s now a huge spread of food, and of course, a goblet of blood. “You’re still healing. You need to eat and drink. ”

“Just not your blood, right?” It’s out before I can stop it and I kick myself. He doesn’t need this from me right now, but it’s clearly bothering me.

He catches me to him and caresses my hair from my face.

“There’s a reason for everything. I promise.

One day not so long from now, you’ll understand.

I’ll see you soon, princess.” He brushes his lips over mine and then he’s gone, leaving me wondering what that even means.

And as my eyes lift to the window, and I watch the sun fully break through the darkness of the night, the sky streaked with orange, yellow, and reds, I fear I am more in the dark than ever.

I drink the blood and skip the food, and I realize in that moment, that the only way I know how to get back to the gym is magic memory which is a thing.

It’s like the human saying of, “once you learn to ride a bike you never forget.” You just know how.

But at this point, I have no real destination.

Upstairs? Downstairs? Another building? And of course, Toren knew this.

He’s forcing me to flex my magic and lex my way out of this.

I shut my eyes and will myself to that destination, and when my lashes lift, I’m there.

I laugh with the joy of it, with my ability to blink.

It’s a part of me now.

And so is he , I think.

Anxious to try the simulator, I blink to the door and button on the wall. I push it and Toren’s voice asks me to choose my simulation. “Werewolves,” I say. “Rogues in Ravengale forest. Lots of them hiding in trees.”

A buzzer goes off and the door opens. I step inside to find myself in my forest back in Ravengale, or a simulation of it.

I step inside, and even my frostburns are present.

It’s wild how the simulator does this. It must reach in my mind and find my expectations.

There’s even a simulated version of Raven.

I take off running with her by my side, and I end up with two werewolves on top of me again and Raven screaming for help. In turn, I scream, but in utter frustration and blink back to the entrance .

“Shield,” I tell myself. “Hold the damn shield.”

I punch the button and ask for a redo on the same simulation.

It takes me fifteen times to get the shield right.

Fifteen . But I do it. And then, I dare the most challenging simulation of all.

I ask for Ruhn. And it’s terrifying how much he looks like Toren, and worse, how easily he destroys me in battle, every single time, over and over.

I never beat him, but in the process of trying, I discover a new skill; one Ruhn himself possesses.

I can now create a magic blade and cut my opponent with it, and that one skill actually hurts Ruhn.

Of course, he still kills me, just not as fast as the prior dozen times.

I’m in a vicious battle with Ruhn when Toren appears next to him across from me and the forest disappears.

“You chose the right enemy, princess. He’s the most lethal opponent you could ever face, but I won’t let that happen.”

A weird sense of dread fills me in that moment, almost a premonition that I will face Ruhn, and I think Toren feels it, too and I just need to set it aside right now. What will be is already set in motion. On some level, we both know this, too.

“How did it go in the palace?”

“Productive.”

That’s all he says, and I have a sense he doesn’t want to talk about it, but I still ask, “Did Tabby and Alister make peace?”

“They talked. That’s a start.” He catches my hip and walks me to him, firmly changing the subject. “I’m starving. Are you hungry?”

“Very. I actually didn’t eat, but before you yell at me, I did drink.”

“I’d scold you for not taking care of your healing body, but that’s not how I want to spend our last night together. Let’s stay in, just you and me.”

The last night , I think, and it’s a brutal reality I cannot escape. “I’d like that.”