“Be careful with King Ael, Seda. I’ll see you soon,” was the last thing she heard before she was swept away into oblivion.
Seda’s eyes flared open,and the room was cast in a pulsating purple glow. Suza stood over her, smacking at her cheeks and begging her to wake with tears forming in her eyes.
Seda jumped up from the floor and narrowed her eyes at the woman. “Who are you, Suza?”
The accusation caused Suza’s body to flicker, revealing a black snake beneath. Her body quickly shifted back into the form of a Fae, and she took a hesitant step back.
“You’re working with Kalon,” Seda said as her eyes widened.
“I…” Suza started, audibly gulping. “I am. Somnium is my master.”
Seda’s chest was violently vibrating within her, and there were sharp stabs of pain flaring through her nerves, tearing apart the fibers of her being.
“You need to cool down, Seda,” Suza said as she quickly turned and ran to the bathroom, returning with a cool washcloth and placing it on her forehead. “You have to cool down, or you will explode, and all of this will be for nothing.”
“What do you mean?” Seda asked as another painful flare tore through her.
“Deep breaths,please,” Suza begged.
Seda struggled to sit back down on the vanity stool with pain ripping through her body. She took deep breaths through each stab.
“In through your nose, and out through your mouth.” Suza kneeled before her, showing Seda how to breathe. Seda followed her instructions, wincing every time another round of pain flared through her chest.
The throbbing began to ease, and Seda stared at the woman before her. It all made sense who she was, what she was. But why was she here?
“Wh—” she began to ask, but Suza stopped her.
“Not right now. Someone’s coming.” Suza looked to the door, and Cahir flung it open.
He ran to her side and kneeled beside her, causing Suza to step back into the recesses of the room.
“Are you okay? I heard you scream from down the hall when I was coming back to check on you,” he asked as his eyes searched hers.
Seda smiled up at him, barely wincing as the last bit of pain flared through her.
“I’m fine,” she rasped. She reached up and cupped his cheekin her hand, gazing into the worry that filled his eyes and offering a small smile. “Let me finish getting ready with Suza, please. I’m close to making my way down. I’ll tell you with the others.”
Cahir’s eyes shifted between hers, and anger started to simmer beneath them, casting dark shadows. “It was Kalon, wasn’t it?”
She nodded, but she didn’t want to say more right now. She needed a few minutes alone to process the information Kalon had given her. “Almost ready. I’ll see you in a few.”
It was a dismissal, and she could see that he knew it for what it was. The muscles in his cheeks flexed with the grinding of his teeth, but he kissed the top of her head and walked out of the room, softly closing the door behind him.
She waited for a few moments before sighing and turning to Suza. “You can do my hair, but you need totalk.”
Suza bit her lip and hesitantly nodded, glancing down at Seda’s glowing chest before taking a step closer.
When she approached, she picked up the brush and began, once again, to pull it through Seda’s hair.
“Somnium teleported me to Umbrea, with the sole intention of assisting you as much as I could and also to try and lure King Ael away.” She shook her head. “Unfortunately, I’m not the prettiest of Fae women in my disguise, I suppose. I don’t have beautiful, shining hair and amethyst colored eyes, like you.”
Seda narrowed her eyes at the woman but allowed her to continue, remaining silent.
“With each passing day, I got better at my disguise, but I was too late anyway. King Ael only has his eyes set on you, Seda. I couldn’t lure him away, despite my attempts.” With gentle touches, she pulled the brush down her hair.
Seda’s hands were tightly wrapped around the edge of the stool, squeezing it firmly, but she took a deep breath. The woman was being truthful, and she wanted to hear more. “Why does Somnium want Cahir away from me?”
“Som—” she sighed. “Somnium knew youbefore,” she said quietly. “That part of the story is not mine to tell.”
