“I’m fine, really. I didn’t feel anything at all,” Faye replied.
“Nothing?”
“Only what one would expect to feel,” she smiled bashfully.
Raxx didn’t return her smile, just scowled with frustration.
They each sat in stunned and thoughtful silence until the first faint warbling of bird song could be heard through the cracks and seams in the roof. Raxx got to his feet.
“I need to take you back to the cell,” he muttered.
Faye nodded and quickly wrapped her cloak around her neck once more. No sooner had she buttoned it up, Raxx had appeared behind her. He placed a heavy hand on her shoulder.
Faye turned to look at him questioningly, but as she felt the earth shift beneath her feet, she squeezed her eyes shut. When the princess reopened them, she was stood in her cold prison cell once more and the shadow demon was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter Fifteen
“Goodness, you’re sunny today,” Tabitha teased.
Raxx looked up at the witch from the long seat he lay back on with a deep scowl.
“Hm, not even a smart reply. Things must not have gone too well with your princess last night.” The witch peeled elbow-length gloves from her arms and threw them haphazardly across her office with little regard to where they landed.
“That’s an understatement,” Raxx grumbled, swinging his legs around to sit up. He rested his head in his hands. “Where have you been? I’ve been waiting here for hours.”
“I’m a busy woman Raxx, yours is not the only lonely heart I am cradling beneath my wing.” Tabitha shot him a wide grin.
“I need your help, Tab.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you ask for my help explicitly before, Del’Raxxin. She’s really getting under your skin, isn’t she?” Tabitha tittered.
Raxx groaned into his hands, feeling his heart sinking anew. “I took her to my place yesterday. We spent the evening going through some of those tomes you suggested, looking for ways to explain what happened with her sister.”
Tabitha’s brows quirked. “To your home? You never take people there.”
“We don’t have the luxury of being picky about location, given her incarceration,” Raxx reasoned.
“I’venever been invited to your room.” The witch pouted.
“Tab, I think you’re focussing on the wrong thing here. Faye is beautiful, but not only that – she’s smart and irritatingly entertaining. I enjoy spending time with her.”
“Such a shame you can’t just grab her, throw her down and have your way—”
“Yes, yes – I get the gist, thank you.” Raxx interrupted.
“Did you find anything of interest in those books I suggested?”
“Nothing that will help Faye and I, but I have a few ideas to run by King Zelrus after his return regarding the other princess,” Raxx replied.
“Tell me, how long is the king absent from Banesteppe?” Tabitha asked curiously.
“I’m not sure, why?”
“I’d like to meet this princess of yours. Perhaps if I see the two of you together, I can get a better understanding of this strange pain barrier you’re both experiencing.”
Raxx averted his gaze, but felt the witch’s yellow eyes boring into him.
“What are you not telling me, Del’Raxxin?” she purred.
