Chapter 19

Farley:

The bastard was persistent, I had to give him that. I had to dodge him for the rest of the day so he didn’t force me into a conversation I couldn’t be a part of. It seemed so obvious that we couldn’t have worked out. Even still, I sat in my room, wishing we could have.

I sighed, and rubbed my eyes when I realized that boy had somehow won me over. How did it happen so fast? We went from fighting to kissing in no time. Had that been normal? I had no one to ask.

I had to eat, and that meant leaving my room. I knew I could have used my magic to protect myself from Hollow and his stalking, but it didn’t seem fair. He only had his human abilities to be a creep, and I had all this magic on my side. He deserved an even playing field. That way, I could hold my head up high when I wo.

Hollow didn’t appear when I left the room, but he must have been lurking around somewhere. Though, he did give in when I told him the conversation was over. Not that I should take his word for it.

As I sat in the kitchen eating, I pouted a little bit too. Weird how much I wanted Hollow near me, when I didn’t want to see him. He was still my best friend, as much as he irritated me, and as much as I wanted to crawl on top of him and put his hand back under my dress. Ah, must not think those wonderful things. He was a prince, and I was… me. How could we ever convince the king to let us be together? It wouldn’t happen, and in all likelihood, I would be put to death. Then God only knew what Hollow would have done.

I watched the door, wishing Hollow would come in to see me. I could feel myself making mistakes already, like sitting a little too close to him, or instigating things I shouldn’t have. He’d roped me in somehow, and I couldn’t get out. Would this be my life now? Having to control myself around him, while he lived his life? I might have to watch him marry someone else. Then I would see the princess getting bigger when she got pregnant with his child. And the day would come where I had to see Hollow die. How could he have wanted to be with me, when he planned on letting himself die?

I dealt with the disappointment of him not showing up, and finished my breakfast. Hollow might have been too busy to come find me. Or busy with that princess I knew flitted about somewhere in the castle. For all I knew, that bitch rubbed up against him at that moment, staking her claim. Fine then, I didn’t care. I got to him first anyway.

I rolled my shoulders, and left the kitchen.

I pretended that I didn’t look around for Hollow. Mostly because I didn’t see him, and a little because I didn’t want to feel as pathetic. I could make it a day without seeing him. Sure, I felt a little vulnerable because I’d never kissed anyone before him, but what did that matter? So what if I felt a little off, and wanting to cuddle? I didn’t have to be lame about it.

Still, I looked in the throne room for Hollow, half afraid I would find him with Suzanna. Then I would have to walk in on them kissing and being all close. Would he have kissed her the way he kissed me? My cheeks heated with anger and embarrassment that I might have thought Hollow only kissed me like that.

Leaving my room had been a bad idea, so I decided it would have been best to lock myself away until further notice. Before I could turn around, arms came around me. I had a split second where I thought Hollow greeted me like a total ass, but I couldn’t have so lucky.

A hand went over my mouth, holding me so tightly that it hurt. The arm around my middle did the same thing, crushing my body to another’s. I couldn’t breathe out more than a gasp that went nowhere, and an inhale through my nose that didn’t matter, because the panic made me need more. They lifted me off of the ground, and I kicked at the air as I tried to scream against flesh.

Agony started from inside of me, from my stomach as it began to crawl up. I wanted to scream again, but I couldn’t breathe enough to get one out. I felt myself dying. Really and truly dying, like they destroyed me insides. How am I not bleeding all over the place? I should have been bleeding for all the pain I felt.

No, I couldn’t die like this. I couldn’t let this person kill me, and dump my body for it to be found. It would have hurt Hollow. Maybe worse than him finding my body, would have been if this person took me away, and Hollow never knew what happened to me. He might have thought I left him, and I couldn’t do that either. I just… I didn’t want to die.

I let the power build in my chest as I called for it to help me. My skin heated to a white-hot temperature that didn’t hurt me, and I told the magic what to do. It exploded out of me in a ring of fire, burning out and causing the person behind me to yell in pain as the fire touched them, and I dropped to the ground.

I couldn’t see anything, blinded by the agony in my stomach. I pressed my hand to my middle, biting my lip so that I wouldn’t scream. Magic soaked through my skin and back into my body as I willed it to heal me. It worked slowly, undoing the damage that had been done.

By the time I opened my eyes, the man had gone, but another came in. King Kakero had his sword drawn, searching the room with his eyes. “What was that sound?” he thundered.

I couldn’t get up, but I looked at him from the floor. “Magic,” I wheezed. “I had… I had to…”

A sword got pointed at my throat as I held myself up by my arms, sitting on my side. I stayed frozen, not wanting to feel the blade slice me open. “What did you do, witch?” the king hissed at me.

“I-I protected myself. A man tried to kill me. He used—”

“Don’t lie!” the man growled. “I can see evil in your eyes, so don’t make me cut them out of your head. Why were you doing magic in the castle without express permission from your king?”

I believed I was meant to lie. He didn’t want my truths, and I had nothing to say that he would have found worthy of my sin. No matter what I told him, he would have found a way to disagree with it. Kakero wanted an excuse to hurt me, just like everyone else.

“I walked into the room,” I said. “Looking for someone. A man came behind me, and I felt him hurting me with magic. I didn’t want to die, so I defended myself.”

He scoffed at me. “You’re using the murders as an excuse, you liar. Do you think anyone would believe you if you told them that story? You made it up so that you would look innocent. What are you planning? Have you set a trap for the king?”

I wished the king would have appeared, because he might have believed me. If he thought me evil, then he wouldn’t have let me into his home, or told me to spend so much time with his son. Surely he would have thought better of me than this. I really wanted to believe it.

The blade didn’t leave my throat as the king stood before me. “I should end you right now. You’re nothing more than danger waiting to happen, and this kingdom doesn’t deserve to be as afraid as you make everyone.” He tilted my head up with the tip of the sword, and I took a breath. “Do you have anything to confess before you die?”

I could have defended myself again. My body felt like it had taken a tumble down a mountain, but I could still use my magic if I needed to. A little burst, and this man would have been thrown across the room. But I couldn’t come back from that. I would die either way. This way, I could at least give everyone a speck of doubt that I had been nothing more than an evil witch. If I hurt the king, then I would have been put to death, and Hollow would have had to watch.

I had nothing to say, so I shut my eyes.

Another voice boomed, and I looked again. Hollow appeared, dagger in hand as he approached King Kakero. “What the hell are you doing? Get away from her.”

Kakero didn’t move his body or his blade. “Your witch was using magic in the castle. She claims she defended herself against an attacker.”

“Then she did,” Hollow said, sounding positive. “Step away from her.”

Kakero turned his gaze to Hollow. “Do not speak to me like that, boy.”

“This is my home you stand in, and my father’s witch you’re threatening. I’m not the one overstepping.” He held his dagger out at the man. “I won’t hesitate if you hurt her.”

I didn’t know what to do, so I stayed quiet. Who won out in something like this? This kingdom belonged to Hollow, but Kakero ruled his own. That might have outranked him. Whose blood would spill? That it mattered, because I wouldn’t have let anything happen to Hollow.

The king lowered his sword, still eyeing Hollow. “Your father will hear about this.”

“So be it.”

I got a glare from the man who wanted to kill me. “Come near my daughter, and I will end you before you have a chance to blink.”

“Try anything,” Hollow said. “And I promise you won’t live to carry out your threat.”

The man turned, and stormed out of the room to find the king. Hollow knelt down, and tried picking me up. I winced, and pushed him back. “No, it hurts.”

“What happened?”

I told him the whole story, unafraid to give him details like I had been with the king. Hollow would have believed anything I said, and we both knew that.

“I’ll kill him,” Hollow said. “The second I find out who did this, I’ll kill him.”

This threat didn’t make me angry, and maybe that seemed hypocritical. I could see the rage in Hollow this time, and how his hands trembled with anger against my sides. He wanted to destroy, because of me. Strange, I thought, how he wanted to kill for me, and I only wanted to comfort him.

“I felt it,” I said. “His magic. He was doing something to me from the inside.”

Hollow’s jaw tightened as he looked around the empty room. “There’s only one option I can see. Do you see it too?”

I nodded. “The killer? He was the one who murdered those guards before. It was him who attacked me, and he was turning me to glass.”

I hadn’t gotten to see the bodies, but I knew what they must have looked like. It horrified me to think that even for a few seconds, my body had started turning to glass. Another few seconds of magic, and maybe I wouldn’t have been able to undo it. I could have been a dead girl if I didn’t move quickly.

I tried to get up again, and Hollow helped me. My torso ached, but I could get past it. We walked to my room, and sat on my bed together. My dress hadn’t been burned with my magic, but I wished it had been. I could have checked out my stomach without having to get undressed.

“You should go,” I said. “I have to take my dress off.”

Hollow lifted an eyebrow at me. “You’re making me leave for that?”

“Yes, I need to get a look at myself.”

“Farley, we went at it on my bed yesterday. I think me seeing your stomach isn’t going to be crossing any lines.”

I didn’t actually want him to leave me alone when that man lurked out and around. I let him stay, and I lit the room when he closed the door.

Hollow carefully unbuttoned my corset for me, and I could breathe a million times easier than before. I used a blanket to cover my chest as I pulled my dress down to my hips. Then I saw my body, making sure that everything looked normal. I had no bruising, and I pushed my fingers against my flesh so that I knew it had all gone back to normal.

“Can you?” I asked Hollow, wanting a second opinion.

I winced when he touched me, but his fingers sank when he pressed down. “You feel squishy.”

I smiled. “That sounds normal.”

“It is. If you want to test it, I would be happy to get on top of you.”

I sighed, and told him to close his eyes while I fixed my clothes. He did, and I got dressed again. Everything still hurt, so I laid there in bed, waiting for it to pass.

“What do we do?” I asked Hollow. “That man tried to kill me, and I don’t know why.”

“I would guess because you have magic, and maybe he was afraid that you would feel it in him. Though if you could, you would have by now. This means that another magic wielder is close by, and I had to assume they’re still in the castle.”

“Right now, or all the time?”

“Either. Both.”

How could no one have noticed another person like me around? Considering the fact that everyone seemed to hate me for my magic, that might have been a good enough reason. If people knew, then they would have wanted him dead. It would ruin his life like it did mine, and there wouldn’t have been any going back. Though it would have been nice to have someone on my side. This person should have cared more about our situations.

“So he could be here any time?” I asked. “He could come and try to kill me again. Or he could kill you. Your father.”

Hollow shook his head. “If they’re here, then they could have done that already. You’re new, so maybe they just decided to kill you. Whoever they are, I don’t think that they want me or my father dead.”

“What about me then? Who’s to say he won’t try again?”

“I’m killing him, first of all. Second, you probably have some time. You hurt them today, and now they’ll have to wait a bit. They know you’re aware of them, and it wouldn’t be smart to try against a girl who knows how to use her magic.”

None of this made me feel much better, but at least being with Hollow made me feel safe. I couldn’t stay with him all the time, though I could be safe for now. I held his hand, and he didn’t comment on it.

“I don’t want to die,” I said.

Hollow kissed my palm. “You won’t. Nothing is going to hurt you. Not that man, not the other king. Nothing will ever harm you. I’m going to stay with you for a while. Is that okay?”

I nodded, and moved so he could get into bed with me. Hollow lied behind me, like he did the day before. And like the day before, I felt warm and wanted. Hollow carefully put his arm around me, and I felt his lips against my bare shoulder.

“He could have killed me,” I said. “I didn’t do anything to anyone, and he still wanted to kill me. Why does everyone hate me?”

Hollow kissed my shoulder. “It’s not hate, it’s fear. They’re afraid of what you can do, and it makes them react like animals backed into a corner. The fault is not with you.”

“It feels like it is. I don’t know how I’m supposed to have any kind of life if this is how people see me. What if it’s the same two hundred years from now?”

“The world won’t stay the same. Nothing ever does. Maybe it’s just this village, and these people.”

I turned around, lying on my back so I could look at Hollow. “Are you saying I should leave?”

“Maybe. I can go with you.”

I smiled, and brushed his cheek with my thumb. “No, you can’t. You have responsibilities here. You have a princess to marry.”

“I’m not marrying her. I don’t love her, and I won’t put up with my father pushing me into this. I want you, and literally nothing else.”

My smile grew. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Of course. I love secrets.”

I felt my face get warm. “That dream I told you about, we weren’t doing what I said we were doing.”

“Is that so?”

I nodded.

“Then what ever could we have been doing?”

When I didn’t answer, he dipped his head down, and pressed his lips to my neck. He didn’t take it farther than that, though I might have let him if he tried. Instead, I turned again, and Hollow held me until the world looked less terrifying.