My mother promptly pushed his arm off her shoulder and teleported away.
I looked to the king as I matched his content expression that held a bit of respect.
“Okay, class,” Talia announced, “pack up and get ready for your next class.”
The students hopped out of their desks, gathered their belongings, and headed into the building, snickering to each other and ogling at me.
The king rounded the desks and held out his elbow for me to take.
I kept my hands by my side, giving him a hard look.
He dropped his arm and scrunched his face. “Right. No physical contact.” He took a deep breath and gestured out to a long path that led from the school toward the mountains. “Right this way.”
The cobblestone path narrowed as it inclined into a beautiful, tapered passageway. Magenta bougainvillea and vines of fuchsia petals climbed up the smooth walls of stores and hung off the arches that crossedover top them. Rays of sunshine spilled between the arches as the path turned into wide steps.
“Thank you for giving me and your mother a chance to show you Elizy. It means a lot to us.”
The stairs were wide and flat, taking me three steps to get to the next one. I continued up the path, saying, “This isn’t a chance. It’s a bargain.”
He sighed. “I know.”
I turned to him, crossing my arms. “I will never see it any other way unless you help me get Fletcher’s magic back without strings attached.”
He pressed his thin lips together and huffed. “You are my daughter. I would fulfill any request you would have of me. And I would tell you if I knew how.”
I looked at him harshly, staring at his turned-up brows and sincere, brown eyes that were framed with graying, thick brows.
“Does the queen?”
He shrugged. “If she does, she would never tell me.”
“Well,” I turned away, “sounds like a troubling partnership,” I uttered loud enough for him to hear.
The next ten steps were silent before I heard the king say, “Fletcher is—”
I spun, shoulder facing the king, arm flinging out toward him with fanned fingers. Deep sapphire magic swirled down my arms and brightened at my fingertips. “Say one fucking word about him. I dare you.”
The few people surrounding us stopped midstride and widened their eyes at me.
I watched the king bring up his hand, zip his lips shut, and throw away the key.
When I dropped my hand, he gestured toward the path ahead that led to the castle.
The narrow alley opened up into a square, sand-colored brick courtyard where dozens of people sold products and food out of wooden kiosks. The king led me to a nearby stand where there was a trough of ocaberries. He flipped a golden coin to the seller and pointed at me with this thumb. The seller smiled then handed me a basket that fit in the palm of my hand.
“Go ahead,” the king instructed. “Fill it up.”
I held out the basket to him. “I don’t want any.”
He stuffed his hands into the pocket of his long, deep violet coat. “Then bring some to Fletcher.”
My heated gaze darted to his face. His eyes were averted to the seller and his face showed a sneaky smile that creased the laugh lines at the corner of hiseyes, like he was happy that he was able to say Fletcher’s name again without pissing me off.
Then, his comment settled. He wanted me to bring some to Fletcher. Berries that would make an Elizian’s magic stronger. I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes at him. Perhaps I shouldn’t have cut him off earlier when he wanted to bring Fletcher up; it may have provided more information to how he felt about Fletcher without the queen’s influence.
I huffed, trying not to think too much into it as I reached my hand to grab berries that glowed in blue rings around its navy skin. An important sustenance for Elizians to refuel their magic. Just as I closed my fingers around some, a tan male’s hand came into view and covered mine. He retracted when I hauled my hand away. Berries still in my grasp, I gently placed them in my basket and stepped away from the stranger.
I looked up to see a gentleman with ghostly white hair that fell in shiny lines to his skinny waist. His shadow covered me as he looked down his straight nose with a smirk. His eyes were extraordinarily turquoise, radiating its own light in the outline of his silhouette.
