“Writing your daily letter?” she inquires, finding an open surface to place the tray on.
“Umm… yes.” I lie, not wanting to explain that I think I might have actually been daydreaming about Braxton. This whole ‘be nice to him’ plan is already messing with my head, clearly.
“So, what’s the plan for getting close to Braxton?” I ask.
“What do you mean?” One of Rhoden’s perfectly plucked eyebrows rises.
“I mean don’t you think he’ll find it suspicious if I’m suddenly nice to him after how I’ve been treating him for…” My voice trails off as I once again come face to face with the fact that I have no idea how long I’ve been here. “Actually, Rho, I have a strange question.”
“I love when you get strange with me,” she coos.
I begin wringing my hands together, and I see her playfulness wane.
“What is it, Zel?”
I give her a reassuring smile at the affectionate nickname. “This is going to sound crazy, but I can’t remember how long I’ve been here. Do you know?”
Rhoden releases a sigh of relief. “I thought something was really wrong.” She smiles broadly before answering, “It has to have been a few weeks possibly even a month by now.”
“A month?” I exclaim, my spine straightening. “How could I not be able to remember that I’ve been here for a entire month?”
Rhoden shrugs, still not seeming the slightest bit concerned. “I’m sure it’s part of the curse, Azalea. It’s not uncommon for time to become jumbled in one’s memory when they’re cursed,especially with one like this that has you eternally bound to this castle. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“Right…” My thoughts and words float away from me as I turn my attention back to the list I was making, my bottom lip becoming snagged between my teeth.
“So anyway, back to you being nice to Braxton,” Rhoden continues. “I kind of have an idea.”
“I hate it already.”
Rhoden gives me a gentle shove. “I was thinking maybe you don’t try to befriend him…but instead you try to do more.”
“More as in…?”
“What if you were to court him?”
I blanch. “Have you actually lost your mind? I barely believe in myself enough to be civil with him. Now, you expect me to fake as if I’m falling in love with him?” I hiss out the words in a whisper, fearful that someone might walk by and hear our plan.
“Just think about how much more you would be able to get out of him? And what if the curse contract isn’t in his study but in his bedchambers?”
“Now I’m seducing him?”
“Sky’s Divine, no!” Rhoden recoils from my suggestion, and I feel better knowing she hasn’t gone completely mad.
“I’m only suggesting that the closer you get to him, the more you can find out. Everyone knows a man in love can be easily tricked.”
“How romantic,” I mutter under my breath.
“Or you can stay cursed here forever and keep getting yourself locked out of the library?” Rhoden hops off my bed, and I can tell by the squaring of her shoulders that she’s frustrated with me.
Letting out a deep sigh, I quickly weigh my options in my head. In truth, there can’t be too much harm in at least trying.
“Wait!” I call as her fingers encase my bedroom doorknob. “Who’s to say he would want to court me?”
Rhoden looks at me unamused. “Are you trying to be funny?”
“I’m being serious,” I grit out, my frustration rising.
Rhoden’s mossy eyes roam my face before looking me up and down. “Trust me, he wants to.”
