Page 23

Talysse

B ranches whip me and pull my hair as if that beautiful and cursed place is doing Aedias’s bidding.

Where was the way out of this unreal place? My flower wreath is lost somewhere, and his steps are getting closer.

I am sure that sometime during his life at the tyrannical Fae court, the prince has lost his mind. After gruesomely murdering two of his own people and putting their heads on spikes, he brings me to this secluded place, away from witnesses. He’d probably pin my disappearance on the old Dryad, who’s not clear in the head anymore.

I swiftly change directions like a mouse trying to outsmart the cat, but alas. In a blink, the prince is on me, straddling me, pinning me to the cold, damp grass. We’re both panting, our hot breaths mingling.

“Talysse,” he rasps, his eyes completely black now, a predator ready to carve out my heart, “why are you running?”

I try to free myself from his iron grasp, wiggling like a ferret. The weight of his hard, muscled body over mine stirs other very wrong sensations.

“You know very well why I’m running, you murdering monster—”

“I brought you here to make you see, Talysse.”

“Oh, and you couldn’t do that somewhere else? Was that Dryad digging my grave?” He closes his fingers around my wrists and pins them over my head while I still try to wiggle myself free, but every friction makes me crave more, and I whip my head to the side, so confused about this contradiction between body and mind.

“Don’t be silly, Talysse. Give me a chance to show you that I’m more than…a murdering monster.” He tightens his grip around my wrists and vulnerability flashes in his eyes. I cease my thrashing, searching for more of it. Searching for something that would prove him right.

There’s no denying the pull between us: it’s the dark, lethal curiosity that lures the traveler to get closer to the chasm and peek into it; the morbid fascination of the explorer making him venture deeper into the cavern maze, though he already knows that there’s no way back. My heart and my body betray me when he’s near, and when he’s so close that I feel his mad heartbeat, I cannot lie to myself.

“Are you really?”

“Elders damn you, woman.” His lips brush against my ear, sending a jolt of undeniable, guilt-loaded pleasure down my spine; a pleasure I try to fight by angling a knee and aiming at his—

“Why are you fighting? Just listen to me, Atos, take you!” he curses and, to my utter embarrassment, sees through my plan to kick him in the royal jewels and forces my legs open, settling at my center and robbing me of the possibility of hurting him. For a moment, we stay like that, staring at each other, searching our eyes.

“Will you listen?” His voice drops to a low, hoarse whisper.

“Mmmmhm—” is all that escapes my lips as I suddenly become hyper-aware of the thick hardness rubbing against my already painfully throbbing labia. He’s hard. The realization hits me like a visceral lightning bolt of need, and I arch my back into him.

“You are safe here with me, Talysse,” he murmurs, and his hot breath, combined with his scent, makes the hairs on my nape stand up.

“We’re enemies, Aeidas. Only one is to walk out of this alive.” His eyes linger on my lips when I say that. Closer. Maybe reminding us of the obvious will bring us both to our senses.

“We are. But I gave you my word that nothing would harm you under my roof. And I’ve brought you here to make you understand—” He looks away, eyes closed, and muscle trembles in his jaw as if he’s battling something. Something dark and primal.

His body tenses, and I’m trembling beneath him, reining all my willpower into not rubbing myself against his hard length. Elders, even Myrtle, would blush at this whole situation.

“Make me understand what?” I mumble, grateful I managed to form a question.

“Why I’m doing all this,” he says simply, and for a brief moment, he sounds nearly human. Lonely, tired, and misunderstood. He releases my wrists, dragging his knuckles down my forearm. His eyes have a soft, radiant glow I see for the first time.

“I will not hurt you, Talysse. Not now, not here. I swear it on my Mark.” He pushes himself up to his knees and looks at me, head tilted to the side, a faint smile on his face. Stupid must be my middle name because I believe him.

“Let’s go now before you destroy all my flowers.”

“You’ve planted these?!” Leaning on my elbows, I look around. The flowerbed we’ve landed in is stunning, even if we broke a few forget-me-nots.

“I’m spending a lot of time here, remember? Come on, Desmond must be wondering what’s going on.”

“Who is Desmond?” Instead of answering, Aeidas stretches his hand to help me up and guides me to the cottage. Someone drops a metal plate inside, and the sound of the dish rolling around is followed by soft curses.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

*

“Desmond, I’ve told you not to smuggle food here; we’ll get cockroaches,” Aeidas scolds his invisible friend when we enter. Carefully, I step over pieces of cheese strewn on the thick moss-green carpet, the silver plate lying on the floorboards.

“How’s that a bad thing? Cockroaches are delicious!” a tiny, disembodied voice announces, startling me.

The wide space is a definition of creative chaos. There are tables piled with books, maps and paintings on the walls, trapped light wisps hanging in garlands from the wooden beams, and dozens of flowers and plants in pots, but no sign of Desmond.

The scent of blooming trees and books hangs in the warm air. Fireflies dance in the thick cascades of leaves draping from the ceiling.

I approach the paintings hanging on the dark plank walls—lush green forests and crystal lakes shimmering in the sunlight, creatures big and small flying, swimming, running.

Aeidas slumps into a soft chair; his lips curled up in amusement.

“Where is your friend?”

“He’s probably watching you, making sure you’re not a threat—”

“Are you sure she won’t hurt me?” the tiny voice squeaks again, this time from a working table near me.

Elders, how bad did I hit my head?

A pink, hairless rat climbs a tall tower of books. He’s dressed in a dramatic red velvet vest and bows politely, his tail twitching nervously.

I rub my eyes, then open and shut my mouth.

The prince’s laughter spills into the room, a sound much merrier than I’d imagined.

“M’lady.” The rat faces me, studying me with sparkling beady eyes.

I slap my cheek not so gently and glare, unable to say a word.

“Is she mute? Or is it true that humans have no manners?” Desmond’s voice dripped with mock concern as he shuffles closer to the table and glares at me with his black eyes, nearly spilling an inkwell over the apparently priceless maps strewn around. “My name’s Desmond,” he tries again, drawling the words as if I’m slow.

“Apologies. It was unexpected—” I shuffle my weight from one foot to the other, making a conscious effort not to stare.

“That I speak? Oh, long-term exposure to magic when the prince was experimenting in his youth, but tell me about you! You’re the first lady he brings around—” The rat makes himself comfortable on top of the table, obviously enjoying the attention.

“Shut up, Desmond,” Aeidas cuts him off, obviously not keen on letting him rat out on his solitude. “Talysse, this is a dear friend of mine and a former pet—”

“Pet is a very diminishing way to call me, you know,” the rat squeaks, the fir on his tiny head bristling,

“The experiments with shadow magic gave him—” Aeidas starts. My eyes dart between them. Is this some kind of a trick?

“The ability to give wise advice and guidance to hollow heads like you,” Desmond adds, grooming his tail with fake indifference.

“The ability to think and talk—” Aeidas shuffles in his chair, his patience obviously tested.

“I was able to think perfectly before your experiments, too, thank you very much.” The rat lifts his snot haughtily.

“So a dear friend and a...” He opens his hands in a surrendering gesture.

“An advisor. And you are?” Tiny beady eyes lock with mine.

“I am Talysse.” This is probably a delirious and incredibly vivid dream. Hopefully, I made it to the safety of my room before passing out.

The rat glares at the prince, and the latter just shrugs.

“Do tell me, dear Talysse, is it true that the cats in the human towns are as big as lynxes?” Desmond asks politely. His posture and demeanor remind me of a miniature courtier, and I nearly burst into laughter.

“Lynxes? I have never heard of such a creature before.” I thoughtfully tap my lips with a finger.

“Lynxes. Majestic creatures, though Desmond might disagree. Gone, like many others.” His voice drops. “Which reminds me of why we’re here. Talysse. There is something I need to show you.”

“Look, this is a lynx, Talysse!” The squeaky voice calls me to another table he’s swiftly climbing. The rat points with his tiny, distressingly human-like paw to a book filled with colored pictures.

My eyes widen. A graceful creature with beautiful eyes stares at me from the colorful page. So many lives were wasted, and the whole world turned into a wasteland due to the Fae desire for more power.

“I brought you here to show you how it was, Talysse.” Aeidas is close behind me, the warmth of his body seeping through my shirt. “Take your time and look around; see all that’s been lost.” He gestures to the books and the paintings.

“All of this is lost because of the Fae, Aeidas,” I state the obvious.

“I do not deny my kind’s fault, nor do I reject the responsibility,” he states, his fingers brushing his Ancestral Mark, “yet some of us are missing…all this.”

Well, that’s news.

“Isn’t Unseelie profiting from the curse? Keeping us all on a leash, dependent on the magic you control?” A deep furrow appears between his dark brows, and, to my surprise, he nods in agreement.

“Some might call me a traitor to my kind, Talysse, but I would do anything in my power to bring it back. I will go down in history as the king who would break the Hex.”

Wait. What?

The silence stretches, thick and charged, between us. Even the birdsongs and the chirping of cicadas and crickets have ceased.

Now I understand why he brought me here to share this. He would lose his crown and his life if his family and this whole wretched court learned about his ambitious plan. All Unseelie and their allies are interested in keeping the status quo, controlling and milking the resources of all provinces while offering them meager protection against the dark.

This is far more dangerous than those cursed Trials.

“Why confide in me, Aeidas? Because I’ll be dead soon, and you need justification if it happens to be by your hand? Will you sleep better after if I join your cause now?”

“I cannot…stand when you look at me like I’m a power-starved maniac.” The prince drags a palm over his face. “I need the crown to bring all this—” he gestures around, “back.”

Desmond’s beady eyes study me, and he raises a furry brow. The rodent also seems conflicted with Aeidas’s choice to trust me.

“That’s why you brought me here? To convince me that it all is for a noble cause? That I should gladly sacrifice myself?” I bark a bitter laugh. “Fae or human, you men are all the same. Always chasing some noble cause without caring for the lives lost in the process. Good luck with getting your crown, Prince, but I’m also planning to win this. And I’m not doing it to chase some shadows on the wall, but for something very real: saving my little sister from marrying a monster and giving us both a dignified life.”

His eyes glitter like gems reflecting starlight. A smirk stretches his lips, and for some reason, it annoys me. His rat climbs up his shirt and settles on his shoulder.

“I’ve never expected you to surrender, Talysse. You might be an outlaw, but you’d never settle to be a pawn in someone’s grand plan.”

“Mock me as much as you want for having dreams that are…down to earth, but your plan has a fault.”

He crosses his arms and smiles with that royal confidence that I find maddening. “Oh. And what might it be?”

“As a crowned king, you might have all the resources to search for ways to reverse the Hex, but it is impossible. Many have tried.”

He brushes the rat off his shoulder and walks to one of the thick books lying on the table. It’s larger than the rest, its yellowish pages brittle. Overwhelmed by my cursed curiosity, I follow and take a peek.

“The Gospel of Seuta—” I gasp. He nods.

“A very damaged one, one of the few which still exist.” His long fingers brush the pages with fainted pictures and unreadable text.

“Seuta—the Elder of fate and relationships—” Desmond clears his throat and Aeidas rolls his eyes, preparing for a lecture, “—was so outraged by the fratricidal war between the Fae, that she convinced the other four Elders to unleash the Hex and doom this world.”

“And I will feed you to the kitchen cat if you interrupt us again. I found this in Seuta’s oldest temple, and it nearly cost me my life to retrieve it. The sanctum of this holy place is now overrun with shadows and foul things,” Aeidas whispers, gently flipping a brittle yellow page. “It’s written by Seuta devotees, probably in the first years of the Hex. Look at this, Talysse. The prophecy was much longer, but this is all I managed to recover before the page crumbled:

When shadow dances with the light,

The curse of old shall lose its might.

++++++

As moon and sun in silence blend,

Their union marks the curse’s end.

In darkest depths and highest skies,

The hidden path shall arise.

My finger follows the pale letters. Fascinating.

“Does your family know about this, Aeidas?”

He shakes his head and starts pacing around, tension locked in his shoulders.

“Imagine how many clues like this are out there, Talysse. Imagine what a king with an army devoted to this could achieve!”

“It was believed that there’s a spell hidden in our Ancestral Marks,” he says, back turned to me. “Yet all it contains is a fragment of a sentence that just doesn’t make sense. So there must be another way, another answer out there.”

I lean onto my knuckles over the book, re-reading that cryptic phrase again. By Seuta, how I hate riddles.

“There is more.” He stands before another thick book, his dark lashes casting shadows over his cheeks when he looks down. “The nights are getting longer, Talysse.”

My heart skips a beat.

So our fears are confirmed.

I peek behind him, looking down at the pages. It is some kind of journal, with dates and moon phases skillfully drawn on every page.

“We’ve been keeping records for ages. Soon, the sun will set forever.” His voice, usually so confident, now wavers with a rare vulnerability.

There’s no deception, no trickery in his eyes. I suck in a ragged breath.

Soon, the sun will set forever.

I break out in a cold sweat.

“Out there is more than Shadowfeeders and Taint, Talysse. You should see it! Life is out there, dormant and beautiful, waiting for the right time to wake up—”

He’s not a monster anymore. A different kind of monster, perhaps, but not the blood-thirsty, power-starved one I believed him to be.

“How much time do we have?” My voice trembles.

“Nobody knows for sure, but if we trust this simulation, no longer than three full moons.”

Elders!

Three full moons until eternal night settles over Phyllesia and the rest of the world.

And then there’ll be no escape. Even if Tayna and I make it to Free Cities, how long until the darkness and hordes of Tainted Ones breach the walls? How long until we starve?

“Do you see why I’m doing this now, Talysse?”

The lump in my throat doesn’t allow me to speak.

“Will walk you to your room,” the prince says simply, and we leave the safe coziness of the cottage, a stark contrast with the dark visions of the future.

Maybe he’s wrong? Maybe there’s a way. If I survive the Trials, I’ll find a way.

We walk the cold marble corridors of the palace and it feels like the door of my tomb is sealing shut, leaving all my hopes and dreams in shambles.