Chapter 14 -Caylix-
\-Caylix-
Distance, when done correctly, is convincing. It looks like I have understood my place and have chosen to remain within it. That is what Rhydon needs to believe.
I remain along the outer corridor beyond the gardens, positioned where I can move without being seen, close enough to intervene if necessary, but far enough that my absence is noticeable. To anyone watching, it appears as though I have yielded space. As though his words last night carried weight.
They did not.
The tether remains constant beneath everything, unaffected by distance or perception. Avi’s presence sits steady in my awareness, a quiet, unbroken thread that informs me of her state whether I focus on it or not.
Right now, she is irritated.
Her thoughts are coming through more clearly than usual, less filtered than they have ever been. She is doing exactly what I asked of her, allowing everything through the tether. Rhydon is speaking at length, his tone measured and deliberate, constructed carefully enough that it might pass as reasonable to anyone not listening closely.
“You will find, once we are married, that the responsibilities of the crown shift naturally,” he is saying. “Governance requires a particular kind of attention. It would be unnecessary for you to involve yourself in its daily execution.”
Avi does not respond aloud, but her thoughts sharpen with unmistakable clarity.
Of course, she thinks dryly. Why would I possibly want a say in how my own kingdom is run? That would be wildly unreasonable.
She recognizes what he is doing. He continues, speaking of balance, of legacy, of heirs, of the importance of presence within the family. He frames it as care, as protection, as foresight. She remains outwardly composed, but internally she is far less agreeable than he likely believes.
Invisible. He wants me invisible until it’s time to pop out another baby, she snaps.
Their path shifts gradually, and I feel the change in her surroundings before I see it. The ground beneath her steps alters, the space narrows, the movement of others fades away.
The stables.
My focus sharpens immediately. It is too secluded. I move without hesitation, adjusting my position along the outer wall, staying within the shadows while closing the distance. I move ahead of them, angling toward a position that allows me to see the stables clearly from a distance. Inside, her awareness shifts again as she takes in the space. The scent of hay, leather, and enclosed warmth filters through her perception. Rhydon speaks of riding, of the outer grounds, of the landscape beyond the palace walls.
She is only half listening. Something else draws her attention. A stable boy approaches, young and eager, carrying a saddle. His movements are careful, respectful, but slightly too quick. He steps closer to her, offering assistance without waiting to be asked.
“Here, Your Highness,” he says, reaching for her hand to guide the placement of the strap.
Their hands make contact. The moment is brief, unremarkable to anyone watching. But through the tether, I feel it. A subtle disturbance. Before I can fully isolate it, the boy pulls back abruptly. He turns and runs away. Avi notices the behavior, but only in passing. She registers it as strange, but not threatening.
I shift position again, moving along the shadowed edge of the stable structure. Then, a moment later, the boy turns a corner too quickly and collides directly into me. His hand catches mine. The same disturbance pulses through it. I do not hesitate. I catch him before he can move past me, my grip closing firmly around his arm. He resists, instinctively trying to pull free. Then his body goes completely slack. His muscles lose tension and his awareness disappears. For a fraction of a second, he is nothing more than a limp body. My grip tightens slightly as I study him. Guards are already moving toward us, alerted by the sudden change.
“Hold him,” I command, my voice low and controlled.
They take him from me carefully. The moment they do, his awareness returns. His eyes refocus. Confusion replaces whatever had been there before. He looks between us, disoriented.
“Why am I here?” he asks. “What happened?”
It is the same. Exactly the same as the man at the gates. The break in consciousness, the absence of memory. Something is controlling them, using them, discarding them once it is finished. The realization settles quickly, and then I refocus.
Avi.
For a brief moment, my attention had shifted away from her. That was a mistake. The moment I reconnect fully through the tether, everything else falls away.
I feel a sudden spike of heat bleed through our connection, subtle but unmistakable, followed by a sharp shift in her breathing. Her thoughts lose focus almost immediately, turning inward as confusion begins threading through them. The sensation builds quickly after that. I feel warmth spreading low through her body, a physical awareness that catches her completely off guard. Every thought that comes through the tether is fragmented by it, distracted by it. Then her body begins responding to it.
I feel the wave of sensitivity that makes her tense instinctively. The fabric against her skin suddenly feels abrasive, overstimulating, and the reaction that tears through the tether afterward is so immediate and physical that my entire body goes rigid in response.
And when I look at her, all I see is Rhydon behind her.
His arms bracket hers as he guides her hands along the saddle straps, his chest pressed against her back far closer than necessary, his head lowered near her neck as though proximity itself is something he’s already entitled to. Through the tether, I feel her growing awareness of him, his body against hers, the warmth of his breath near her skin, the weight of his hands over hers, and every sensation coming through our connection sharpens into something increasingly intimate.
And then it hits me, hard enough to steal the air from my lungs. I’m feeling Avi’s desire for Rhydon.
Logically, I know this will happen someday. She is promised to him. There will come a time when he touches her, when he stands this close to her, when he shares spaces beside her that no other man has the right to occupy.
But this…this feels cheap, calculated…cowardly, even.
Because this is not the behavior of a man worthy of her. It is the behavior of a man using the privacy of the stable and the excuse of instruction to satisfy his own physical curiosity while taking advantage of her innocence in the process. It makes something cold settle deeper in my opinion of him. Avi should never be made to feel cornered into intimacy. She deserves devotion before desire.
Then Rhydon’s hands begin to move, sliding down her arms as he helps her remove the outer robe from her shoulders.
I force myself to turn away immediately, because if I watch another second of him touching her like this in the goddamn stable, I am going to kill him.