He interrupted her by speaking a series of words in that same, guttural language, and she felt something come loose deep within her soul. Like something solid had stretched until it collapsed in on itself. Every muscle in her body went taut and then loosened all at once.
Suddenly, she fell to the ground, twitching and gasping for air.
Thathurt.
The world turned sideways, and she tasted copper. She clutched her chest, her breathing coming in ragged gasps. She glared at the angel.
He seemed unsurprised by her reaction.
“Ambriel. What did you do to me? Whatwasthat?”
Ambriel stepped away from her. “A gift. For a mortal woman surrounded by demons. Do not trust them. They are all creatures born of darkness. Leave as soon as you can.”
The angel inclined his head towards her, and, with several great beats of his wings, he was gone.
She was completely mystified.
What in the Seven Hells had happened to her? Had she just been blessed?
Trudging back to the castle, she was unusually exhausted. She nearly nodded off in the saddle twice. When she returned to her chambers, she collapsed on her bed and slept the rest of the day, not even bothering to change out of her riding clothes.
***
“Are you feeling quite alright, Lady Elizabeth?” Fiza asked with a concerned smile. “You’re looking a little peaky.”
“Yes, sorry.”
Elizabeth breathed deeply and tried to act normal.
Fiza returned to curling Elizabeth’s hair for dinner, leaving it cascading down her back in soft waves. She applied rouge to her cheeks and a little face paint to make her eyes look darker, and more mysterious.
Tonight, she was dressed in a dark forest green gown. Elizabeth had wrinkled her nose in distaste when she had seen it. This kingdom seemed to hate colour and anything that looked remotely cheerful. The gown had a plunging neckline, one more daring than she’d typically wear. Her cleavage threatened to burst free from her corset.
As she entered the great hall, Caspian was speaking in Common with Finnigan and Asmodeus.
Finnigan caught sight of her and snapped,“Schtédja.”Jerking his head in her direction, he added,“Hvísar níhaudth, drómadthr est enthída.”
She took her usual seat at the table and did not need to speak their language to know that Finnigan had just told them to stop talking. As if she cared for their affairs.
A flash of annoyance radiating off Caspian made her blink, staring around the room like a halfwit.
Nervously, she rested her hand on the table, and Caspian brushed her fingertips with his. “Is everything alright?” he asked, a look of concern crossing his face.
The moment his skin touched hers, Elizabeth’s vision blurred, and she looked away. The candlelit hall wavered like a heat mirage, and then suddenly, she wasn’t looking into his eyes anymore.
The image of his face was the last thing she saw clearly as she felt the strangest sensation, as if the ground were sliding out from under her.
When she blinked, she sawher.She was looking at a profile of herself, as if seeing herself through Caspian’s eyes.
This usurper is nothing more than a mite who has tried to take more than he is owed. Few should listen to the mutterings of a madman. He’s only been in the Underworld for a year, a blink in the life of an immortal. Surely, not enough time to amass an army.
Elizabeth caught a flash of her face, seen from his perspective. She was watching herself sit at the table with her hands folded in her lap.
Then, there’s the girl. How she vexes me.
She turns her nose up at nearly everything, choosing to stay mute unless addressed and spends all her time alone. Doesn’t seem to care for me at all, which complicates things. So very busy, she keeps.
Pretty as she is, I doubt there’s anything to worry about. It’s not like she could possibly figure out the truth of what is hiding within these walls. Pretty and extraordinarily simple, like all noblewomen.
