“Slaide!” she hissed. “This is serious.”
“What makes you think I’m not?” His smile faded.
Hazel sighed and continued. “Since I’ve been in the castle, these nightmares have been fewer… less frequent. There were several days this week when I didn’t have any at all. But back home, every night was plagued with similar nightmares. One where I was walking through a dark corridor, hearing screams. Another where there was a dark, winged man stalking me through the halls, reaching out to touch me. And last night… last night he grabbed my hand.Yougrabbed my hand. All this time I thought I was being chased, but then you took my hand, and we were running.Together.”
THE GIFT
Slaide stared into Hazel’s eyes, as if he were searching the depths of her soul.
“Yes,” he spoke quietly.
“Yes,what?” She frowned.
Inside, the music built in its intensity and dancers moved with fervor. It was the same dance they’d practiced with Pimley, the one when Slaide had interrupted her training.
To her dismay, Slaide grabbed her hand and tugged her toward him, forcing her into a spin that brought her back flush with his body.
“The nightmares,” he whispered into her ear. Slaide nudged her away, and Hazel danced in a circle around him, her eyes growing wide.
He pulled her to a bench beside the stone railing and helped her adjust her dress so she could sit. Slaide sat down beside her, running a hand down his face with closed eyes, and exhaled. His annoyingly self-assured demeanor fractured, replaced by something uncertain. His face was unreadable.
He cleared his throat. “So, tell me more about these nightmares.”
And Hazel did. Slaide never interrupted, just nodded and asked the appropriate questions at the appropriate times. No snide remarks, no snark, no attitude. When she finished, he sat quietly, thoughtfully, as though mulling it all over.
“I have a few thoughts on this,” he began, “and I’m not sure I like any of it, nor am I sure what it all means. One thing is for certain, though. We are somehow connected by these dreams.”
Her breath hitched.
“There’s something else I need to tell you.” He looked down at his feet. “I don’t exactly know how to explain it in a way it makes sense while also keeping you out of trouble.”
Hazel arched a brow at that.
“I have some… personal work… that draws me away from here some nights. I have found that on those nights, when I’m away from the castle—away fromyou—the nightmares are relentless.”
“So, I suppose that would explain why I’ve had a few horrible nights this week, and others I slept soundly. It was a difference of whether you were close or if you’d gone… wherever.”
Slaide nodded. “It was the same for me. I found it strange, how one day it was like the nightmares just… disappeared. It was the same day you were brought here. I slept as well as I have in ages. Then, on my first night away since you were here, I woke up in a pool of sweat.” He was fiddling with his fingers, a nervous habit. What was he so afraid to tell her? “It’s part of the reason I fought against Gammen and his spineless pet Oriss. There was something about you I needed to figure out, and the only way I was going to do that was if I kept you out of their clutches.”
“What was the other reason?” she inquired.
“Hmm?” He raised a brow.
“You said it waspartof the reason you fought to keep me from the mages. Was there more to it than that?”
Slaide swallowed hard. “Yes. But I didn’t realize what it was until I’d gotten to know you a little better. I had a strange feeling, call it intuition, instinct, whatever… but something was screaming at me not to let you go.”
“And what was it that you discovered after we spent some time together?” She was treading dangerous water, her heart a war drum in her chest.
“That you were Aisling’s daughter.” He looked as though he wanted to shrink down to the size of an ant so he could scurry away and hide.
She started to pull away, but Slaide held her hands in his.
“Hazel, there’s more to your mother’s story. It didn’t end with me.”
She glared at him, her eyes glassy and steeped in hatred.
“Listen to me. I can’t tell you whether or not she is still alive, but I can tell you she made it out of this castle that way.”
