Friends with the King of the Underworld | Book 1

Chapter Twenty-Four

Kymra apologized profusely for leaving me alone with the Magister after she found out what he told me.

"I've always thought he was a little out of it. But nothing like this."

I hugged my arms - still feeling the chill of his words. "He gives me the creeps. Does everyone trust him?"

She nodded as she led me back to my room. "He's the oldest of us all - knows the most magic. He protects the castle."

I still shivered. "I think I just really need a hot bath and I'm going straight to sleep. I think I've lost my appetite."

"Of course, Lady Emylin."

We said our goodbyes at my door and I was left alone for the rest of the night.

The bathroom had both a shower and a tub. The giant clawfoot tub was large enough for me to be fully submerged which I took advantage of. I took whatever scented oils were on the counter and poured them into the water until the steamy water mixed with them giving a heavenly scent.

I undressed and placed myself in the water turning it off when it was close to overflowing. I let the water work on my tired and tense muscles and before I knew it, I was crying.

For everything.

For placing my parents in danger, for putting myself in danger, for the semester I was about to fail, the job I was about to lose - and the girl who had been a bystander cut down too soon in her life.

Mostly, I cried for Mia.

The girl who had nothing to do with everything but paid for it with her life.

What kind of aspirations did she have? Did she get along with her parents? Did she want to get married eventually? Did she want to have children? Would she have been a good mother?

She probably saw herself growing older, getting a great paying job she would love, coming home to a wonderful husband. She would have met her husband at a coffee shop - a shy boy that would write her messages on his napkins, leaving them for her to find. They'd date for a while and find that they were perfect for each other.

They'd have a small intimate ceremony for just family, happy that they found each other.

She'd have two boys - twins. The light of her and her husband's eyes. They'd probably want to play soccer and she'd load them up in her minivan after school and drive them to practice.

Robert, the younger of the twins by two minutes would be the first one to make her a grandmother - one of the proudest moments of her life. Her other boy James would still be in law school-

A soft knock on the door followed by a loud splash snapped me back to reality. Water fell on me soaking my otherwise dry hair.

"Emmy?"

I recognized the voice as Oren's immediately. "Yes?"

"Are you all right?" His voice was full of concern.

I wiped the tears from my eyes. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Can you meet me in the hall at your convenience? Please dress warmly, there should be a coat in the closet."

"All right," I called out.

I splashed water on my face and started to drain the water, getting out of the tub carefully. My feet touched wet tile beneath the tub.

I frowned. How did I manage to get so much out water of the tub?

I gathered a couple of towels from the counter and cleaned up the mess after I wrapped one around myself. Once in the room, I dressed in a similar dress from earlier with a long coat over it. It wasn't like anything I would ever wear but I didn't have much of a choice.