The room reminds me of something I would find in a medieval movie. Walls made out of gray stones that don’t actually fit together, sticking out at awkward angles but somehow look right. The only lighting is from a three-lightbulb chandelier that somehow lights every corner in here. A small countertop with only a few cupboards fills the back space, which is where they keep an ungodly number of potions, herbs, and whatever else you need to DIY your own elixirs.
“You guys have been together this whole time?” Marcel asks, sitting at the white-oak table in the middle of the room.
“Not exactly. We ran into each other in—” I’m about to rat her out—by accident, of course—but I catch her very aggressively shaking her head, her hands rapidly gesturing across her neck. “The forest. I’m not really sure where anything is here.” Odeyssa makes a giant, silent slump of relief, but I feel like I just trampled over my words and stitched whatever ones sounded the most convincing together.
“Here it is!” Odeyssa announces, seemingly stopping Marcel from questioning it. “Alright, Dad, drink up.” He eyes us both before downing the serum.
“Ask away,” he insists, clapping his hands together and resting them on the table.
“What do you know about where I’ve been?”
“Absolutely nothing. That’s why I was so surprised to see you standing in my foyer.” That tracks.
“What do you know about the king of Astralis?” Instantly, he presses his lips together, seemingly trying to overpower the magic out of sheer will. But something I’ve learned in my time here is, magic always wins.
I watch as it turns his lips white, like the magic is physically trying to pry them apart. “I know that he’s a selfish prick thathas never put the best interests of the land over his own selfish desires.” His words sound angry, and once he starts, he can’t stop. “He’s done absolutely nothing for this realm.Nothing.Not only that, but his kingdom is suffering just as much. The flowers began to wilt, grass turning brown and dry rather than the lush green it’s supposed to be. Tragedy happens toallof us, but didIlock myself away when my wife died? No. I had responsibilities. I had to put all my feelings on hold, mylifeon hold, because that’s what you agree to when you take the bloody crown!” He slams his fist against the table, spit flying out from between his clenched teeth.
Dude could really use some therapy.
Odeyssa and I eye each other, not expecting that kind of response. Marcel breathes heavily, the serum clearly taking full effect as his anger rises to uncharted heights.
“That’s enough,” Odeyssa chimes softly. My head snaps in her direction, brows pulling together defiantly.
“I’m not finished.”
“Yes, you are.” And that’s that. In the blink of an eye, she gives him the antidote, apparently not trusting me enough to let the serum run its course.
I can’t blame her. I wouldn’t trust me either.
Clearly the antidote is working. Marcel’s demeanor changes, visibly relaxing with each breath, his eyes casting around the room like he wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction. Although his disdain for Ambroyss is obvious, it doesn’t discredit the fact that they could’ve seen eye to eye when it came to controlling their realm.
“I’m sorry about my temper. As much as I hate to admit it, that man gets the better of me sometimes,” he willfully admits. “Kallie, I want to be perfectly transparent with you. There has never been—and never will be—a time where Ambroyss and I agree when it comes to our people. Maybe you haven’t met himyet. But let me be clear: he will never choose Siderium. Not when it matters. He’ll watch it burn.” He doesn’t say it maliciously or like he’s trying to convince me. But like he believes with his full chest that it is the truth, and I think I believe him.
“There’s obviously something going on over there. Fae have gone missing, and some have been acting strange, but what I find the most jarring is the silence he’s kept since deciding to quit moping in his self-loathing.”
I take a seat in the chair across from him, not sure how to say what I need to—or if I want to say it at all. My eyes find Odeyssa’s icy blues, trying to ask her opinion without speaking a word. I wish we could forge other bonds, like sending a friend request subconsciously to be able to speak in private. But then again, that has the possibility of creating a world full of more secrets and lies than there already is.
Checking one last time, the tether between Voraxis and I still remains void, and I try to hide the concave in my chest growing deeper.
Before I begin, my request is directed at Odeyssa, “I need you to go get Donni.” Marcel’s body goes slightly rigid, just for a second, but I catch the shift. “I trust her, undoubtedly, and she deserves to know.” About Ambroyss, but also about Callum, what he’s going through, and that I believe he can be saved.
“Belladonna?” Marcel blanches. “Do you think that’s wise?”
“Yes. I can’t live in a world where I don’t trust her. And don’t take it personally”—my eyes pan between the two of them—“but other than Voraxis, she’s the only one that’s earned it. And I believe she has the knowledge to help.” Which is all true. She’s been mysterious yet open all at the same time. But I felt in that moment we shared, when I found her at the dragon’s hangout, when she told me about my mom, that no matter what, she was going to be on my side.
Odeyssa stands from the table, not looking to her dad forapproval. Moving her hands together, I’m amazed by the different shades of blue that emerge, twisting together until the portal forms, water sprouting on either end like a fountain but somehow not getting anything wet. I open my mouth to ask, but she beats me to it.
“It’s just for show, but it adds something a little extra, don’t you think?”
I laugh because it’s something so simple, something so inconsequential, but it brings her so much joy.
She steps through, and I thought it would stay open since she’s just grabbing Donni, but to my surprise, it closes behind her. And the one thing I didn’t want to do was be alone with Marcel.
“You still don’t trust me,” he says, breaking up the silence.
I snicker. “You’re observant.”
“Are you always so sarcastic?”
