I truly was.
‘You’re so different. Tell me, why are you being nice to me?’ I needed to know why the man that sat beside me, trying to comfort me as he held my hand, was nothing like the boy I had known. I couldn’t reconcile it in my mind, least of all why Ienjoyed his touch or why my skin didn’t currently crawl with disgust.
‘I’m not being nice, Princess. Trust me, this is me at my cruellest.’ Seeing the confusion on my features, he lifted his free hand and tucked one of my loose dark curls behind my ear. ‘I have never put myself through anything so cruel in my life.’
‘I suppose forcing yourself to be nice to someone you hate so much would be its own special kind of hell.’ I laughed.
His hand dropped as his eyes changed to something unreadable. He shook his head as he glanced at our clasped hands, his brown, messy hair falling over his eyes. I had no energy to separate them as a lightness brushed over me at his touch, which I was in desperate need of. ‘Why are you here, Princess?’
‘At the Academy? To make a statement, to show you and everyone else who I am now, not who I was. In the Observatory? Running.’ I had no reason for why I was being so honest. Maybe it was the cover of night that made me feel as though this wasn’t reality, or something primal that called to me like it had on that dance floor. That comforting warmth in his presence lulling me into a false sense of security.
‘I know it means less than nothing coming from me, of all people, but I hope you find peace, Princess.’ He gripped my hand tighter, running his fingers in circles over my skin, soothing me. I lost myself in the sensation and fell asleep.
When I woke up, I was on a mattress with a blanket wrapped around me. I felt colder than I ever had, and it wasn’t the crisp morning air.
Fifteen
Imet Jade in the forest just beyond the Academy grounds at dawn. The morning dew and a layer of frost still blanketed the greenery. I was drained from the previous day’s events and the episode of panic I had endured, leaving me with no remaining energy to speak. Jade read the expression on my face and walked with me in silence. We reached the edge of the wards after some time, and as I crossed over into my lands, she hesitated. Of course she did, but I still flared with anger at the insinuation of it.
‘If it makes you feel better, I will leave my weapons on this side of the wards, and the person we are to meet carries none.’ I did not explain that the reason Cain carried none was that he was far deadlier with his bare hands.
She followed me as I walked to the same spot where I had met Cain the morning before. A black crow landed before us; Jade stepped forward to marvel at the bird.
‘I love crows; they are magnificent creatures. It takes much to win their trust, but once you do, they will be a loyal friend,’ she said, taking a delicate step towards it and holding out her hand as if to invite it to come closer. The crow looked at hercuriously, tilting its head. I had to stifle a smile at just how right she was about the loyalty of this particular crow.
Black smoke seeped from beneath his feathers. Jade’s eyes widened in panic thinking something had gone terribly wrong until Cain appeared. Black hair, honey-dipped skin and piercing green eyes. The only indicator that he was a mix of Forest Fae blood.
Jade stepped back. ‘I had heard the stories of the rare ones with Skin Seeper abilities that would allow them to transform into other creatures, but I had never seen it myself. It’s… beautiful,’ she said, awe soaking her voice.
Cain stared at her in disbelief. Throughout his entire childhood with the Forest Fae, he was shunned for his gift and regarded as a plague. In my court, he was feared because of it. I doubted anyone had ever called him beautiful for something that the world had told him made him wrong and less than.
‘Cain, this is Jade, Queen of Voldina, and this is Cain, my Master of Secrets. I wanted you both to meet, as he will be the one infiltrating your court and helping you regain your power while ridding your council of those with ill intent. Only then will your pledge to allyship be worth something. When we leave these Academy grounds tomorrow, he will leave with you, and for the next month, until the Ascension of the Souls, he will work in the shadows alongside you. He will be your ally in that den of snakes.
‘Cain, by the time the Ascension comes, I expect Jade’s current council to be gone, replaced by her trusted few, with her power back in her hands. One month—that is all you have. Understood?’
He nodded, hiding his shock at these new orders. He likely thought it was another excuse for me to keep him out of Demir’s lands.
Jade was shocked, but hope lit her eyes. ‘Thank you, thank you both.’
He looked at her with a cursory glance before handing me a note.
Turning to Jade, I explained, ‘Cain does not speak. But the parchment in his hands lends him the ability to convey his thoughts without having to write them down.’
Before she could stop herself she asked, ‘What happened? Have you been to a healer?’
A dark cloud of shame clouded Cain’s face.
‘That is a story for another time and yes, he has,’ I replied.
‘Have you tried someone like me, someone with royal blood healing him?’ she asked. I looked at her in shock. Now I understood why they had sought to strip her of any power; she could easily be taken advantage of. Cain silently chuckled, shaking his head.
‘There aren’t many with royal blood who would seek to help me, and healers with your abilities are even rarer; however, even the best healer cannot regrow a person’s tongue,’ I said, stifling a laugh at Jade’s horrified face.
She involuntarily took a step towards Cain but held herself back. Jade was just like her sister and couldn’t help but ask the one question that many never dared to ask. ‘Who did that to you?’
Cain grinned at her and nodded in my direction, wanting me to tell her the story. It was rare that he let others speak for him, but judging by his expression, he wanted to watch her absorb every bit of his story.
‘Cain is half Skin Seeper and half Forest Fae, a mix that was not tolerated at the time he was born. The Forest Fae are elitist pricks who believe in the purity of their people’s blood. His being mixed with ours was a stain on his family. Growing up, he was an inquisitive and talkative child, but his parents, filled with shame seethed every time he spoke in public because it drew people’s attention back to him, making it difficult for them to ignore his existence. One day his parents had enough and in a fitof rage, at the age of ten, they held him down and cut out his tongue so that he could no longer speak and just fade into the background to be forgotten.’
