“Eliane,” he whispers my name. I wouldn’t dare to say it, but it almost sounds like a moan. Me falling down has woken him up, because he blinks his eyes. Noticing me, he sits straight up.
“You’re up,” he breathes, like it is an announcement.
“Yes, I was, until you moaned my name and I fell down in shock,” I hiss, my eyes meeting his. I scan him as the blanket falls down, showing me his naked chest. He turns around, but I would swear I saw the blush rise on his face.
I hate that I feel a blush appear on my face as well.
I hate that my heart is thundering out of my chest at the sight of his naked upper body.
His tattooed naked chest.
I straighten my spine, fighting the goosebumps as I try to find the words.
He hates me.
“What are you doing here anyway? All you want is to win, right? It is not like you care?” I ask, stumbling over my words, reminding him, as he puts a shirt over his head. Before the shirt covers his chest, I notice something. A new tattoo of a small sun on top of the butterfly that was already there. It is on the same line as his heart. He must see my confusion because he speaks up.
“I am not only here for the win anymore. And what are you looking at?” He sighs. I point my finger at his not so bare chest anymore.
“That. When did you get a new tattoo?” I ask, scrunching my nose up. He narrows his eyes as he lifts his head to the side. I am still in his mind and feel him thinking. He is confused.
“What? What do you mean? You have seen this one before and you know about it,” he answers, his voice low and growling.
“No, I don’t? It is the first time I see it?” My hands start to scan the room, throwing stuff away as I try to find Hazel’s plan. He must be reading my thoughts, because he speaks up immediately.
“If you are looking for our thefts, I have them locked away in our room,” he explains.
“Thank you, and don’t read my thoughts, please.” I give him a curt nod, shame filling me up. God, if he knows I think he is hot I am going to turn crazy. I wiggle my toes, trying to get away from this feeling.
“Your walls are still down. So it is hard not to when your mind is begging me to come in,” he breathes out, smirking a bit. “And thank you for the compliment.”
I blush harder before turning around. I close my eyes and find my wall. It is down, he is right, and his presence is everywhere. Something inside my mind feels empty as I build my wall up again, brick by brick. He steps closer as he takes his jacket off the peg and turns to leave. Something inside me tingles, not my magic but something inside my stomach.
“Wait!” I turn to him. “I haven’t slept through the speech and announcement of the second trial results, right?” My eyes wide. I haven’t even thought about that.
“No, we’re fine. Don’t worry about that. You used a lot of magic yesterday. Are you okay?” he asks, his voice worried. I spin around shrugging my shoulders. Something happened yesterday indeed. The sun and the light. It was overwhelming. Something clicks together.
“Is that why I am here? I was on the edge of burning out, weren’t I? Did you drag me all the way here?” I rattle out in one breath.
“Don’t worry about that, worry about healing. They aren’t sure when your magic will be back,” he explains. So he knows about that too. He lays his hand on my shoulders and it feels like he is burning on my skin. Like there will be a mark when he lifts his hand. Shivers roll over me. His mouth comes close to my ear, way too close, his words leaving me shivering.
“The king will speak in four hours. If you are feeling fine, you can come. Annie will help you. I will send her here after I amgone. And stop thinking I want to kill you, haven’t I proven to you I don’t like killing?” he growls in my ear. His warm breath makes goosebumps appear and my arm hair is standing up straight, begging for his touch. Something about this feels weird. He never comes this close to me. It is not that I don’t like it, but he hates me, right? The door behind me opens and slaps close fast again, and being shocked as I am, I am still being left alone in the healer’s room, looking for answers I am not sure I will find.
As Braxton promised, Annie opens the door thirty minutes later. I have showered in here and am ready to go. My body feels tired, but somehow adrenaline rushes through me. Annie’s arms wrap me tightly. I feel only comfort as I hug her back.
“Hi,” I whisper. She takes a step back.
“Eliane. Are you okay? Braxton told me what happened, so you don’t have to explain everything.” She looks down at her blue ballerinas. “Do you want to get ready, or do you want to relax? Braxton told me that if I suspected you weren’t well, I shouldn’t let you go. But I believe you also have an opinion about that yourself,” she explains, giving me the perfect example of why I like her so much. Her eyes dart off towards the ground.
“I would love to go. Can you help me dress up?” I tell her, smiling to comfort her. She grabs my hand and so that is what we do.
I am not the last person to walk in this time. Braxton opens the door for me, holding a box with our stolen stuff inside. He is wearing a dark colored suit again, while I am wearing some sort of colorful gown. His tuxedo isn’t the same shade as last time. Then it was black but now it looks more like onyx. I wonder if he gets to pick those himself. I don’t believe so, because why would you only want to wear black? My dress is nothing like his outfit.It isn’t as enormous and stunning as the one I wore to the ball, but is something I wouldn’t wear on a daily basis. My looks don’t show the damage that was done last night. My dress is this sage green with a V neck, off to shoulders sleeve and a high split so I can show my daggers, naturally. I grin at the thought of the daggers sticking to my leg. I follow Braxton inside the speaking room where some candidates and a lot of bystanders are already sitting. I sit down in the middle next to Hazel. Braxton sits down on my right. I give her a smiling nod since Da advised me to only speak in here if I am asked to. She is wearing a stunning emerald dress covered in leaves and moss on the top. It has straps and also a V neck. Her red curls are in and updo, showing off her beautiful freckles.
“My parents lied. I am sure. This is my sister, Braxton. How can she be dead if she is sitting here?”I whimper through our bond. I feel him swallow his answer back. He narrows his eyes, giving me a side eye.“Say what you think? Please. I need honesty.”His Adam’s apple moves visibly as he swallows.
“I think she is your sister too, but she is as good a stranger to you as are your parents. She could be lying, but we have been in her room and it looked like she wasn’t dead for three years. I am just not sure why they would lie.”He shrugs his shoulders, trying to get out the tension, his eyes moving towards the king walking on stage. I don’t know why they would lie too, but I can feel it in my blood that she is relevant to me. I decided to hold that for myself because I don’t want to sound like an idiot. My eyes follow Braxon’s gaze and land on the king. Prince Zephron is nowhere to be found this time. Weird, huh? I tap my foot nervously. I need to distract myself somehow. I am scared of how Hazel and the others will react. I burned her house. I could say it was an accident, but I am not that sure it was. I close my eyes for a second and try to find a good memory. I stroll through my mind and open every door of memories, but as I enter theone that used to be filled with good ones, I find none. I open my eyes in surprise and nausea fills me up. No good memories are there to be found, and I have no other option than to let this feeling take over and listen to the king.
“Welcome to the representation of the finds from the second trial!” he cheers. The crowd goes wild, but my mind seems empty, and I can’t seem to find any good memories to keep my heartbeat from thundering out of my chest.
