What they intend with hate and scorn
They’ll rule both worlds with blood and horn
We locked eyes when we finished reading. The chosen heirs had been mentioned again. Two spell books and six chosen souls… This left me with more questions than answers.
The prophecy appeared to cover more than just how to break the curse, but how the war between worlds might play out.Chosen heirs.My heart sank. Was I truly meant to be with Galen? My body seized up at the idea. Would the fates be so cruel? Was I supposed to blood-bond with a monster?
“What do you make of it?” I asked, shivering as I hugged myself.
Raf saw my crestfallen face and took my hands in his. “Don’t give up now. This is information that will only help us. It tells us exactly what we need to do, once we figure out what it means… This doesn’t mean you have to go back to Galen,” he assured me. “Don’t spend another moment worrying about him, about the chosen heirs. Let’s get to Erador before we try to decipher the prophecies. They’ll only distract us from what we have to accomplish in the next two weeks.”
“How can you say that? I can’t ignore such vital information. What if I’m meant to bring him to Erador?” Were Raf’s feelings for his brother preventing him from seeing the situation clearly?
“Maybe you misinterpreted it. Maybe there’s more information waiting for us in Aurelius. Please, don’t worry, all will be explained in time.” He was avoiding eye contact.
“There’s something you aren’t telling me,” I said skeptically.
“Let it be for now.Please.” His pleading eyes met mine and I dropped it, turning back to the book. The next several pages were ripped out and the rest were blank.
“I guess that’s all the information we’re getting.” I sighed, disappointed.
Rafael stayed silent as he closed the book, tucking it away. “I’m going to go get us some food. Any requests? The chef here is surprisingly talented.” He stood quickly, seeming eager to put distance between us.
“Everything on the menu,” I joked. Raf gave a tight smile before leaving, locking the door behind him.
What was he hiding? I wasn’t going to push him for information. After everything he’d done for me, I’d let him keep his secrets. For now.
While Raf was gone, I watched the window and the door, folding my knees to my chest and hugging them as I tried to self-sooth, rocking back and forth.
My partner—someone who I loved, who’d said he loved me—had violated me last night. I tried to block out the bits I remembered—that threatened to undo me. Just as I thought I might fall into a hole of despair so deep that I’d never be able to climb out, I heard the twist of the door knob.
I shielded myself, readying for a fight, before Raf appeared with several maids in tow, each of them carrying multiple trays of food. “Your wish is my command,” he said with an exaggerated bow. I let out a long sigh.
We laid out all the plated food on a thick rug that covered shabby hardwood floor, sitting in front of the fireplace as we ate. I was pulled into a dark, haunted corner of my mind as I watched the flickering amber flames.I heard Raf’s voice, but it felt far away, like I was underwater and trying to swim my way back to the surface. My lungs burned as I realized I’d been holding my breath.
“You’re safe,” he whispered, moving closer, wrapping an arm around me. I shied from his touch, before accepting his words and leaning into his warmth.
“I’m not sure I’ll ever recover,” I said quietly.
“Give yourself some time. You’ve been through a lot. It’ll take a while to realize that you’ve escaped.” One large hand was on my shoulder, while the other offered me a piece of warm bread. Tears formed and I let them fall in fat drops on Raf’s oversized shirt that I was currently wearing. How many of his shirts had I soaked in tears over the last few days?
“Eat. You’ll recuperate faster if you do,” he said gently.
I took the buttered toast from him and took a bite. “Do you… do you think he ever loved me? Or did he just want my magic?”
He scooted towards me, curling an arm around my back. It felt natural to settle against his chest. “You’re so much more than your magic. I’m sure Galen knew that. It doesn’t mean he deserved you.”
“I-I’m sorry,” I said, hoping he knew all that I was apologizing for.
“Don’t apologize to me, you’ve done nothing wrong.” He rested his cheek on the top of my head as we both stared at the fire.
“You aren’t the only one that made the mistake of trusting Galen,” Rafael said into the silent night. It took him a long time to speak again and I patiently waited.
“When I was a child, I looked up to him. He’s forty-five years older than me—he was an adult when I was born. I didn’t know why he didn’t like me, until I learned we had different mothers. Sylvia loved using him to torment me—to put me in my place.
“He ignored me when I was a child, but when I became a teenager and he saw that I could use magic without needing blood… he was jealous. Threatened. He’d challenge me to duels before I knew how to use my magic, under the guise of training. I thought it was a chance to bond with him, but he used it as a way to torture me. He’d kick my ass and then… he’d use his flames to show me that he was stronger than me. I still have nightmares of being held down and burned. I have scars, even with the healing powers granted to all faeries. You can imagine how deep some of the burns were.” He pointed to patches of shiny, uneven skin on his arms, under the tattoos. He lifted his shirt to show me the hard lines of his stomach with burn marks slashed across.
“That’s when I began staying here. He didn’t care about me enough to wonder where I went, he just wanted me to know that he had the power. Galen likes to control his environment; probably because Sylvia keeps him leashed and muzzled most of the time.
