Smoke and Mirrors (48)

Forty-Eight

She Could Have Tried

---

If I had known then what I know now, I never would have left him.

But Adrian was safe. I just knew he was—after all, I’d rescued him myself.

I had been so tired after coming back to life that I’d all but forgotten that he was still recovering from everything he’d suffered as well.

I guess I should explain what happened before I dive deeper into this. Most stories make more sense when you know what’s going on. You see, I had been so caught up with the Fates—especially after learning that I was one of them—that I had completely forgotten about Adrian. I didn’t check on him for days—and I regretted that terribly now.

He fought his own monsters too.

It wasn't until a hesitant knock came from my bedroom door that I started paying attention.

I was still laying in bed. My head ached, my eyes were heavy, and I felt as if I'd been hit by a truck.

But I guess that's what dying does to a person.

"Hello?" I croaked, pushing myself up against the mound of pillows behind me.

The ivory door eased open, revealing Seraphina. Everything about her seemed quiet. Her eyes, her posture, her steps.

Very quiet.

She slipped past the door and ghosted towards the bed. "I need to talk to you," she whispered.

I blinked slowly and patted the space at the side of my bed. "Go for it."

She sat on the edge of my bed and didn't say anything for a moment—just traced the designs on my blanket with a finger. Then, "Adrian. You saw what he was like in those cells. How bad was it really?" She fisted the blanket.

I swallowed. “Horrible. They practically had to drag him out of his cell. He was so weak—almost lifeless.”

“I know that,” she said. “I mean—his mental state. He won’t talk to me—or anyone. I suppose you didn’t have time to talk about anything like that though.” She sighed. “I don’t know what to do. No one tells me anything anymore—not even my own son.”

I frowned and patted her shoulder. “I’m sure he’s okay, but I’ll try to go see him today. I’ll let you know if he tells me anything important.”

She caught my hand in hers and squeezed it gently. “Thanks, kiddo.” I nodded and she stood. “I should go back before someone notices I’m bothering you.”

I exhaled a breathy laugh. “You’re always bothering me. If they haven’t noticed by now, someone’s blind.”

She snorted and shook her head, then paused at the door. “Get better soon.” Then she closed the door behind her.

I laid there for a little while longer before dropping my legs over the side of the bed and standing. SInce I like to fancy myself an organized and productive person, I replaced my nightgown with some actual clothes. Even doing that was a chore, but I managed.

I crept out of my room and asked a few people that I passed along the way if they knew where the prince of Fire was staying. One man directed me a few doors down from my own room, so I followed his directions and knocked.

There was a period of silence, then a, “Come in.”

I wrapped my fingers around the doorknob. It was warm. I turned it.

Adrian was laid out on his bed and seemed to be in worse shape than I was—and that’s saying something. He was dressed in black, and the only skin I could see from under his sleeve was wrapped in bandages. The bandages reappeared from beneath his collar, where they ended just under his chin. Scars and burn marks marred his face, but one thing that really caught my attention was the black webbing under his skin that crept out of the bandaging and crawled up his face.

I gasped.

He had been carving away at a piece of wood. Shavings had gathered around his stomach. He stopped and looked up at me slowly.

His eyes were black.

I almost stepped back, but then caught myself and moved forward.

“Adrian,” I said quietly. Breathlessly. “You look. . .”

“Incredibly attractive? I know.” He sliced off another chunk of wood. It tumbled to the pile gathering on his bed.

I rolled my eyes. “Not the words I would use, but sure.” I took a step and then felt my leg give out. I stumbled forward and Adrian leaned forward to catch me, but grunted with the effort. I managed to catch myself on the foot of the bed.

“You good?!” he exclaimed, eyes wide.

I exhaled and sat on the edge of the bed. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.” I looked at his face. “What about you? What’s up—with the black veins and everything?”

He sighed and dropped his chunk of wood. “Shadow dart. They brought in a lot of Talented people to get me to give them information.” He shivered.

I clasped a hand over my mouth. “Oh—oh you poor thing. What did they do to you?”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Dressed me in a sparkly dress and let me ride a pony.” He shook his head. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

My lips thinned. “Okay. Well—I’m here if you want to.” I hesitated. “It’s good to talk. . . or write these things out. It helps get it out of our brain.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” He sighed and looked up. “My mother sent you, didn’t she?”

I looked away. “Kind of. I meant to visit you—she just made sure I did it sooner.” He didn’t reply, so I continued, “She’s worried about you. She said you won’t talk to her.”

He shrugged, then grimaced in pain. “There’s nothing I have to say to her. She’s insane. I don’t know what she thinks she can accomplish by stealing the unicorn horn and disrupting everything our ancestors worked to build, but it won’t work.”

I debated telling him what Seraphina had told me, but pushed the idea away. If Seraphina hadn’t told him what was happening by now, she had a reason.

Looking back, everything would have gone so differently if I had only told him the truth.

“But what if she’s right?” I asked softly. “What if we were never meant to live under the horn’s control?”

He snorted. “They call mom the Rebel Queen for a reason. She’s not right, she’s power-hungry. She’s not satisfied with her own kingdom, so she wants to take down the rulers so she can have those kingdoms as well.”

I sighed. “But obviously there’s something going on with the whole wicked-ruler-thing. I’m not saying all rulers are evil, but my mom is. She was one of your captors after all. If Seraphina was right about her, maybe she’s right about the others.”

He shook his head. “No. You don’t know what my mom has done to weave this story of hers. She’s hurt a lot of people to get what she wants—even her own son. Do you really think she cares about what’s right and wrong?” His voice broke and he clenched his eyes shut. “She left me there with those people. She could have tried to help me. All she had to do was return the unicorn horn and she could have rescued me, but no, she cared more about that stupid horn than me.” His dark eyes swirled with anger as they latched onto mine. “Does that sound like something a good individual would do?”

I inhaled and held my breath, my thoughts whirling. There was so much he didn’t know. So much that people didn’t know. Seraphina had sacrificed so much, and no one saw it but me.

Not even her own son.

“She’s not so bad,” I whispered. “She’s. . . misunderstood. And she’s not good about letting people know what she’s planning, which sometimes makes her look worse. She has a good heart and she’s trying to do what’s best—not just for her own kingdom, but for all of the kingdoms. Even the Outside.”

He closed his eyes. “I don’t think leaving me there to rot was a misunderstanding. She knew what she was doing.” His eyes fluttered for a moment and he gestured towards the door. “I need to rest. Leave, please.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but something about the lines in his forehead, the stiffness of his posture, made me close it. “Okay,” I replied. I stood and left the room without another word.

-------

*gasp* what's this, Daisy???!! An UPDATE???

Yes! I haven't forgotten about this book, believe it or not XD Sorry it's taken me like 3 months to update :))) I'm trying, I really am. I have had horrible writer's block the last 5-6 months and it's only just busted.

So sorry, love you guys!!!