Everly~
Talon's arm tightened around me as we made our descent, causing my stomach to drop as we plunged toward the ground. It wasn't until the beast beneath us had come to a complete stop that Talon removed the cloth from my eyes, stuffing it into the saddle bag.
He said very little to me which was not out of character, but for some reason it hurt my heart.
"I'm sure Ronan beat us here." Talon finally said as he took hold of my restraints and led me toward a large stone building that looked like a small castle.
I didn't say a word and simply followed Talon wherever he guided me as we entered the large dwelling.
Ronan sat on the stairs with his head in his hands, lifting it when we came into view.
"Is this your home?" I asked, looking around at the high ceilings.
"Yes." Ronan answered swiftly.
"Does it have a dungeon?"
Letting his eyes meet mine, Ronan pushed out a hard sigh before he answered me.
"Yes."
"Is that where I'll be staying?" My words were slow and cautious.
Ronan's expression was hard and stern, but he didn't seem to be as angry as he was in the clearing.
"No."
No? What happened to rotting in a cell for the rest of my days?
"Remove those restraints and take her upstairs." Ronan said to Talon who instantly moved, taking the chains from my wrists quickly.
"Kaes placed a barrier around the perimeter, if you run, we will know in a matter of seconds." Ronan warned me.
Giving him a nod of my head, I followed Talon up the stairs, watching Ronan sink back down with a thud once he thought he was out of sight.
"You'll sleep in here." Talon informed me, opening a door that revealed a small room with a large window and bed.
Expecting a dungeon or a cage of some sort, I leaned my head into the room before turning back to face Talon.
"This is a bedroom." I stated in surprise, pointing at the room in front of us.
"Very observant." Talon said flatly.
"I thought he wanted me locked up."
"I guess the barrier that Kaes placed around the house is enough." Talon said with a shrug.
Walking into the room, I surveyed the bed, running my hand across the soft fabric that covered it. Talon moved away from the door without saying a word, but I stopped him before he could leave me.
"Talon?"
He didn't respond verbally, but stalled beside the door where he was still visible.
"What did you mean when you said Thaddeus got what he deserved?"
Letting out a deep sigh, Talon internally wrestled with himself before speaking to me.
"It's not my place to say." He finally replied. An answer that I wasn't satisfied with, but accepted anyway.
Without another word, Talon was gone and I heard his footsteps going down the stairs. Left in the room with nothing except my own thoughts, I took a seat at the window, leaning against the large opening as I let one arm hang over the edge. The night air felt cool against my skin and I sat there staring into the night sky for what felt like an eternity before my eyes became heavy.
My head rested against the cool stone and I felt myself drift away, feeling a light breeze brush against my palm. It was soothing...until it wasn't. The longer my arm rested over the edge of the window the more the light breeze felt more like human flesh. Opening my eyes slowly, I looked at my outstretched hand only to find it resting against Thaddeus' cold lifeless face. His dead bloodshot stared right through my soul as blood poured from his gaping mouth, spilling onto the gray stone. Deep red blood covered the front of my dress forcing a loud scream from my lips as I scrambled backwards on the floor toward the door.
It wasn't until my body made contact with the wooden planks beneath me that my mind became lucid again and the dreamy fog that had consumed me had dissipated.
Within seconds I heard loud footsteps barreling up the stairs before the door swung open, nearly hitting me where I sat in a huddled mass on the floor.
"What's wrong?" Ronan asked, his voice drenched in concern as he crouched his large body in front of me.
"Nothing. I...It's nothing. It was a dream." I insisted, shaking my head to rid myself of the images.
Letting out a sigh with a hint of irritation, Ronan rose to his feet, rubbing the back of his neck as he huffed out a breath.
"I thought...well I don't know what I thought...You're sure you're okay?" He asked again as if he cared.
"Yes. I'm sorry for waking you."
"Go to bed, Everly."
Ronan didn't leave immediately and lingered there contemplating something as he towered over me before ultimately deciding to excuse himself.
After a few minutes of calming my jolted nerves, I climbed into the bed hoping to fall asleep soundly, but sleep evaded me. Staring at the ceiling was doing nothing for my sanity and I decided a drink of water might help. Opening the door I followed the dancing light from the candles that lined the hallway, hoping I could find my way into a kitchen.
As I reached the top of the stairs, I could hear hushed male voices beneath me, but couldn't make out what was being said. Controlling every single muscle in my small feet, I tip toed down the steps, praying the wood didn't creak or groan beneath my weight.
A room to the right of the stairs was illuminated and I could hear the voices clearly from where I stood at the bottom of the stairs.
"He'll weaponize her. No, it's out of the question." Ronan hissed at someone.
"It's the only way I could sell it Ronan. He would have made an example out of her. A nymph revolt in the camps? Could you imagine? Ragnar would have never allowed it."
That was Kaes. I'd know that voice anywhere.
"What of the men who remain?" Ronan asked.
"Depends on who you speak with. Half of them want to worship her and the other half fear her to the point of rooting for execution."
Talon's in the room as well.
"For now she's safe here. Is that not what you wanted?" Kaes asked.
"Safe for now, until Ragnar returns."
Letting out a scared breath, I found myself wishing I had stayed upstairs.
"I'm afraid this conversation is no longer private." Kaes hummed, causing the rest of the men to fall silent.
Slapping my hand over my mouth, I tried to become invisible and silent only to see a black plume of smoke snake around the corner toward me, wrapping tightly around my middle. Lifting me off the ground, the smoke carried me into the room, dropping me directly in front of Kaes who gave me a half smile that infuriated me.
"Do you ever do what you're told?" Ronan groaned at the sight of me.
"I was thirsty." It wasn't a lie.
Taking hold of his goblet, Ronan set it down harshly on the table in front of me.
"What is it?"
"Does it matter?" Ronan growled.
"It does if it's poison." It didn't really, because poison was no issue for me. It was more for the principle.
With his eyes locked onto mine, Ronan snatched the goblet from the table and took a large swig. I watched his adams apple bob as he swallowed the contents, holding my gaze with a scowl on his face the entire time.
"I guess it's okay." I said softly, taking the large cup in my hands and taking a sip.
Expecting water or wine, I took a large sip from the goblet only to feel a sharp burn in my throat followed by a deeply bitter taste. Sputtering the foul liquid back into the cup I quickly set it back onto the table, coughing into the crook of my arm.
"What is that?" I asked between coughing fits.
"It's yours now." Ronan grumbled, sliding the cup I'd just spit into back toward me.
Kaes tipped his head back with laughter and even Talon produced a small smile as I choked back the urge to vomit.
"This conversation doesn't concern you Everly. Go back to bed." It was a firm command from Ronan who had tired of my antics.
"Who is Ragnar? And why aren't I safe around him?"
Burning his face angrily in his palms, Ronan let out a furious groan at my question.
"By the Gods Everly." His muffled yell was stifled by his hands.
"It's a fair question." Kaes offered.
"Ragnar is king of Thoracia." Talon said, looking to Ronan for a reaction.
"And he's mad that I killed one of his officers?"
"It's more complex than that, little one." Kaes said while Ronan fumed.
Placing his palms firmly on the table, Ronan tensed his jaw in a desperate attempt to regain control of his temper.
"You are safe here. She is safe here in this house and that's all that matters at the moment." Ronan's words were sharp and short like his temper.
"But what if..."
Squeezing his eyes closed, Ronan rubbed at his temples as a vein started to become prominent on the side of his thick neck.
"But nothing Everly. Go to bed." Ronan bit out.
Huffing out a hard breath, I surveyed the other men in the room, hoping someone would defend me. While Kaes said nothing, Talon motioned with his head toward the door, a nonverbal signal that it was indeed time for me to leave.
Glaring at each one of them individually, I turned back toward the stairs stomping loudly as I ascended.
"I'm not a child."
"Could have fooled me." Ronan said beneath his breath.
"I heard that." I yelled over my shoulder once I reached the top of the stairs.
The loud metallic clunk of Ronan's goblet hitting the floor put a small smile on my face before I closed the bedroom door with a loud slam.
**************************
I fumed in the bedroom for what felt like hours as I reclaimed my seat by the window. Sleep was now out of the question for many reasons, most of which was pure anger.
They can speak about me, but not to me? About my own life and well being?
My anger bubbled and boiled too close to the surface for me to get any rest that evening.
Kaes would have told me. It's Ronan that wants me in the dark.
As if summoned by his name, a puff of black smoke stole my attention and Kaes appeared, sitting on the corner of the window's ledge.
Clutching at my own chest out of fear, I gave Kaes an irritated glare for scaring me.
"Bored?" He asked, sitting casually on the ledge.
"What do you care?" I hissed.
"I don't, I suppose. Just making conversation." Kaes said with a quick lift of his shoulders.
We sat in silence while Kaes picked at his nails, lost in his own thoughts as he lounged in the window.
"They're trying to protect you, you know." Kaes offered on behalf of Ronan and Talon.
"Why?"
Leaning forward, Kaes gave me a sinister grin.
"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to, little one." His tone was dark and ominous. Perhaps I didn't want to know that answer to that question yet.
The silence resumed and my mind started to recount the events of the last twenty four hours.
What else were they keeping from me? What else haven't I been told?
As my mind continued to twist and turn within my skull, I reached a sudden realization that had been lost on me until that very moment.
"You knew didn't you?" I said, sitting up slightly from my slouched position.
"Probably, but you'll have to be more specific." Kaes said without looking at me.
"Thaddeus. You knew he killed my mother."
My statement pulled Kaes' focus away from his cuticles and he repositioned himself on the ledge.
"I didn't know that exactly." He started.
"What did you know?"
"You were doing a phenomenal job of locking me out of your little mind last night, a game that I enjoyed playing with you whether you were aware of it or not. But when Thaddeus joined the table, I received no information other than your emotional shift. While the fortress you have created within your mind can keep out words and thoughts, emotions are much more difficult to harbor. Deep seeded hatred and unease flowed freely between us. That is what I knew. That Thaddeus elicited deeply unpleasant emotions within you."
Replaying the events of the night before, I recalled every emotion I felt when Thaddeus arrived.
"You sensed my emotional shift so...so you sent me comfort?" I asked in disbelief.
Kaes chuckled to himself before shaking his head and dismissing my question.
"I did nothing of the sort." He insisted without looking at me.
"Yes you did. I felt it. As soon as I registered who Thaddeus was, I felt a wave of comfort. It was soothing and calmed my anger almost instantly. That was you."
"I'm not saying you didn't feel it. I'm saying I didn't produce it."
Kaes stood from his seated position on the window ledge.
"I hate to disappoint you, but demons do not comfort garden nymphs." He sassed before sending me a wink and disappearing in a cloud of black smoke.
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