He stepped further into the room, centering himself in the middle of the area rug. “I know it’s a lot to process. And I don’t expect you to come to terms with everything overnight, but there is work we have to do. Business that we must take care of.”
“Business?” Delani arched a perfectly plucked eyebrow.
“There are things we must discuss,” Archer reiterated.
“Such as?” I had a feeling that at least some of thisbusinesswas about what I had just asked Delani.
“To start, I would love to get to know my two daughters. That is the most important thing on my list at the moment. And after that, we need to talk about Caelestis and Beaumont.” Archer gestured at me. “Also your new powers, and those markings on your arms.”
The mattress bounced as Delani jolted upright. “Yeah, Maeve, tell us more about your magic? You can compel minds? And your friends were saying you destroyed a bunch of Draemornians withstarlight. How?”
I shrugged, not quite having an answer to that yet. “I dunno. Blythe transitioned her magic to me, and then she just…vanished. It was all so off-putting and happened so fast, that I didn’t really have time to think about what I was doing.” I forced myself to a stand. “Then my friends and the kingdom were in danger, and my body just…did it.”
“Do you think you could do it again?” Archer asked, a spark of hope glimmering in his eyes.
“Probably. I just don’t know how exactly. And to be honest, I don’t have the energy or strength to attempt it right now.”
Archer grinned apologetically. “Of course not. You need time to rest and adjust. We’ll worry about that when you're back to one-hundred percent.”
A snort of a laugh shot through my nostrils. “Sorry. But if you wait for me to be at full health, then you’ll be waiting forever.”
Delani’s lips downturned, her face tensing as her eyes raked over me from head to toe. “What does that mean?”
“How much time do you have?” I took a quick glance at the clock upon the desk. The hour hand swiftly approached two in the afternoon.
Woah. Time flies when you’re reevaluating your entire existence.
An hour later, I had given them the rundown of the past year of my life and granted Archer a brief explanation of my childhood.
I told him about how when I was eight, our village doctor evaluated me. My mother had brought me there after she noticed some repetitive behaviors of mine. Following some extensive testing, the physician told me that my brain was different. That it held on to things longer than it should. He said my thoughts may seem redundant and obsessive. He explained how the repetitive motions of my body were not my fault.
I've made a lot of growth since that diagnosis, but when life goes astray, it’s hard for me to not obsess over every fine detail. I didn't know why that was the topic I chose to bring up, but for some reason, I felt like my father deserved to know about it, seeing as I could feel a relapse in growth coming in response to recent events.
The hour after that was taken up by Delani filling us in on hers. Then we went back and forth for a while, reminiscing about our mother and describing our childhood to Archer in as much detail as we could supply. By the time the sun had set, I almost felt like I had known him for years.
The strained groan he released when pushing out of his seat showcased the deterioration of his aging body. For a moment, I grieved the version of him I never got to know. The young man who had married my mother, who had just become a father. The version who used to be a ruthless soldier, the form of him who could silently rise from a chair.
“I should let you get some rest.” He muffled a yawn with his roughened palm.
Delani slid off the bed while vigorously rubbing her eyes. “I’m going to go, too. I haven’t talked this much in a year.”
Sardonic laughter escaped me. “I find that incredibly hard to believe.”
We said our goodnights, and the moment I was alone with only my thoughts for company, dreaded anxiety regardingeverythingsunk in. The headboard hit my spine as I scooted back on the bed and drew my knees into my chest.
This was insane. Every single little piece of it. A hidden kingdom—created just for me. Talk about a lot of pressure. And Sebastian’s betrayal…which had burrowed so deeply into my skin that I swore I felt it tearing through the layers of my being. Aside from grieving my mother, the pain from what he did was the worst part of this all.
Although every part of my body was sore and my mind was exhausted, sleep never found me. Which was saying something, because I didn’t even know they made mattresses as soft as the one I laid upon.
After a couple hours of trying, I called it quits and crept out of the room. I tracked my way by the lanterns lining the walls, using their faded glow to escort myself down the hall. After a few misleading turns, I spanned a rounded corner and bounded down the stairs, following the lights until I found the common room from earlier.
The air surrounding me turned solid as I tried to force my lungs to inflate.
Sebastian sat in the same chair as earlier, although this time he lacked reading material. Instead, his muscular frame was motionless and relaxed, his jaw tilted towards the ceiling while he studied a revolving fan.
His body was so still that if his eyes weren’t open, I would have thought he had fallen asleep.
Though I contemplated leaving, my maturity got the best of me. Grasping the engraved molding of the doorway, I leaned my cheek against it. “Hey.”
