Could Neoma not see that she was hurting them? Anger surged back through Seda as she glared at the saddened florals in Neoma’s hand.
“You’re hurting them!” Seda yelled, her heart sinking as she watched the flowers struggle to escape Neoma, their roots deep in the soil, holding them back.
“Stop trying to escape from me! You were planted here just for this, you foolish things!” Neoma snapped as she tussled with the plants. She glanced at Seda. “These aremonsters, Seda. Don’t tell me you feel sympathy for beastly creatures, do you?” She raised her eyebrows.
This woman was ignoring the room—or the garden—and Seda’s patience was already paper-thin. She took a deep breath to steady herself. No, she didn’t have sympathy formonsters. She remembered the Gnashing Flora from her journey and swallowed down her pity toward the flowers. That plant had tried to eat her and killed one of her friends. She thought back to the blistered body of Seren and pursed her lips.
Her anger finally shattered, and she looked away from the pitiful plants, clenching her sparking fists.
She shifted the topic and blurted, “What do you want from the king?”
Neoma paused mid-way through picking another rose. She glanced at Seda and roughly snagged the stem without looking at it. “I wantnothingfrom him.”
“It seems otherwise, Neoma.”
Neoma fluttered her eyelashes and sighed. “I mean, heisincredibly handsome, and I heard he’s amazing in bed. Have youseenthose muscles? I bet his cock is just as intimidating.”
Seda ground her teeth together and looked away. She wanted to strangle this woman, but she refrained and chose not to respond. At least Neoma was being honest for once.
“Do you love him, Seda?” Neoma asked as she aggressively yanked another scared flower from the bush.
“He’s just my friend,” she replied matter-of-factly.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” Her voice was thick with fermented honey. Neoma placed the flower next to the others in her pile and grabbed another just as forcefully.
Seda allowed the silence to surround them before muttering, “I do have love for him.”
Neoma looked at her with lips pressed in a bloodless line before smiling sweetly, a hint of cruelty flashing through. She reached down, picked a small purple rose, and placed it above Seda’s ear. She could feel the red sap oozing into her hair, and tensed when Neoma’s finger grazed along her ear. “This one matches your eyes. You’re so beautiful, Seda. You shouldn’t fall for that stupid man’s charms. I’m sure there’s someone better for you out there.”
This woman was utterly confusing. If she didn’t want anything from Cahir, then what was her goal? She followed her as they continued along the path. Neoma finished gathering her large bouquet and pulled a red ribbon from her pocket, tying it around the flowers. “Perfect,” she said as she held out the bouquet to Seda, the blood red sap slowly dripping from the bottom.
Seda reached for the flowers, and before her fingers touched the bouquet, her vision blurred.
The sky darkened as thick fog enveloped her. The cool, sandalwood-scented mist brushed against her skin, and her breath billowed around her in small clouds.
All she could see were the roses that had fallen on the floor and were bleeding dark blood, with a large crimson pool spreading around them.
The distant sound of violent screams echoed as footsteps crunched on the gravel nearby. Seda instantly activated her magic and looked around, sparks dancing along her fingertips.
The setting felt oddly familiar.
“Who’s there?” she called into the fog. “Neoma?”
“There you are,” a deep, male voice echoed with silk through the fog. Where had she heard that voice before?
“Who are you? What do you want?” she asked, raising her hands in preparation in case someone suddenly rushed at her.
“The better question is,do you know who you are?Do you remember yet?” he asked in response.
Seda felt something slither across her ankle, and she lookeddown. Black, wet snakes began writhing all around her, just like all of her dreams from before.
This time, she jumped back and screamed as the creatures tightly coiled around her calves. She heard the deep, chuckling voice as it said, “You usually love them. Don’t move too quickly… They have an intriguing bite. You may never want to leave if they do.”
“What do you want?” she asked once more, scanning her surroundings, but the fog was so dense she couldn’t see anything.
“I have somethingyouwant,” he replied with a deep, rumbling laugh, ignoring her question.
Seda’s eyes widened as a large man emerged from the mist. He was clad in black snakeskin armor and wore a cracked skull mask with vibrant eyes that peered through it, as if looking into her soul. She felt her heartbeat quicken when she stared into his familiar eyes.
