Rosalind - Amby Awards 2023 TOP PICK

50-Destined To Destroy Each Other Beyond Repair

Bellua was carried gingerly under Rosalind's arm. The black cover was nearly invisible in the grim darkness of the hall. Only the letters of the title stood out, red as blood, and threateningly close to her skin.

Rosalind had hurriedly headed to her room and had given the poetry book a longer glance than she had planned before picking it up. When she rushed out of her chamber and blindly made her way to the lord's study, she did not even notice the faintest sound of the violin being strummed.

The study was too far away for the little sad notes to follow her. As she stood outside Caspian's library, she pulled the book out in front of her and dusted it off.

"Eden has fallen," a voice uttered from behind her. "The once holy have been banished from Paradise. The serpents now reign supreme."

Startled, Rosalind clutched the book to her chest and spun around only to see she was alone. "Who is there?" she called but got no reply. Nervously, she licked her lips. Upon them, she tasted strawberries.

Rosalind pivot and took hold of the knob. She did not want to remain out in the hall longer than she had to. Without knocking, she opened the door and entered.

Lord Caspian was waiting for her yet his back was to the door. He was leaning against the desk and looking out of the window as a blizzard began. "Do you like the snow, my lady?"

He had shed his cape allowing his black wings to trail down his sides in all their glory. They glistened in the candle-light, like the mysterious candy which tasted wonderful then horrible. In his black trousers and ruffled top, he could have been a prince, a king, a true lord. But circumstances had turned him into a beast. Though he was monstrous with his reptilian skin and the thorns protruding from his head, Rosalind could not take her eyes off him.

"Do you?" he asked again causing Rosalind to be pulled out of her thoughts.

Her gaze shifted to the window and she saw what he was seeing. "It is all I have ever known."

Caspian pushed himself off the desk and turned to face her. When he stood against the backdrop of falling snow, Rosalind thought he looked exquisite.

"That is not what I asked." Caspian moved to her. Every stride was fluid, mesmerizing, as though he were made of oceans and serpents.

Rosalind held into the book as though it would protect her from whatever he had in mind. "Yes," she replied in all honesty. "I find the snow to be breathtaking. I always have."

Caspian came closer. "Even the cold?" he asked and placed a hand on top of the book.

"I do not fear the cold," Rosalind replied as her gaze trickled to the buttons of his ruffled shirt. Though custom to have it fastened to the top, the first two buttons had been undone. In a flash of insanity, she saw herself reach for the buttons and stroke them. They were like dainty pearls, smooth and hard.

Caspian reached for her wandering hand and brought it up to greet a sliver of skin on his throat. "Do I feel like a monster or a man?"

His skin was smooth, the way Stefan's and Troy's had been. It did not remind her of the flesh of an abomination. It felt like a man's warm skin. Words caught in her throat and she struggled to release them.

When Caspian noticed her uncomfortableness he let go and walked back to his desk. "Your touch is warm, like spring-times of my youth."

"I should not have done that," Rosalind said weakly.

"No. What you do is not the problem. The problem is that I enjoy it too much."

When silence came over them like a thick blanket of snow, Rosalind's gaze darted to where Caspian placed his hands on the desk, right by the familiar wooden box.