Chapter 22

Hollow:

I started getting really sick of people trying to murder my girl. Was it so much to ask that nothing ever touch her? No, I didn’t think so. Yet things kept trying to kill her, and I would have to go hunt them down and murder them. Not that I minded killing, but I would have rather spent my time wooing Farley into accepting my affections. She nearly let me go down on her, so it felt like I made progress.

Farley might have wanted to hit me, because I wouldn’t let her do anything. I insisted on carrying her up to my room, and she glared at me when I started trying to change her clothes.

“I think I can take my own dress off,” she said.

I smiled at her. “What fun is that?”

“Just hand me the shirt.”

I did, and she winced as she undid her corset. This time, she didn’t put up a fight when I helped her. To be fair, I’d already seen her mostly naked at this point, and there wasn’t anything inappropriate happening here. I pulled the dress over her head, and set it aside. The front had been covered in blood, but we could worry about that later.

“Do you want something to eat?” I asked.

Farley smiled as she put my shirt on, and then rolled up the too big sleeves. “This kind of stuff is why people think I abuse my power. I’ve managed to get the prince to be my servant.”

“And gladly. But are you hungry?”

“No,” she said with her cute little smile. “Thank you.”

I bent to her, and she let me place a quick kiss on her lips. See, she cared about me plenty. That meant I wouldn’t have long to wait, and maybe I had a chance at this humanity thing.

“I should check on my father,” I said. “Will you be all right alone? How’s your magic?”

She answered by levitating herself on my bed. I pushed her back down, and she laughed or smiled the whole time. I pinned her down to keep her from floating.

“What are you doing?” I asked, struggling to keep her still.

“You’re worrying too much, and I’m demonstrating that I’m fine.” Farley snapped her fingers, and dropped back to the mattress. “See?”

I rolled my eyes. “You’ll be the death of me. Shout if you need it, and know that if you let yourself die, your punishment will be me murdering thousands of people.”

“Hollow!” she scolded.

“It is what it is. Goodbye, love.”

I left her alone, with worry in the back of my mind that the advisor hadn’t been the one behind this. It wasn’t that I had faith in the woman I had known all my life, but something about the look in her eyes. She wasn’t a stupid person, and I doubted she would have attacked anyone with so many witnesses. She would have had to lose her mind. I might have believed she did, but I thought she seemed perfectly sane when I saw her. She had been chatting with one of the guards about her dog. Didn’t seem crazy to me.

I found my father in his chambers, with the princess taking up the whole couch with her dress, and her own father pacing. They all looked quite worried, which made sense. I didn’t bother putting on a frightened face.

“Anything?” I asked.

Father looked up from his desk. “Nothing helpful. I have no proof that Caitlyn did anything wrong. Killing her would be pointless if I cannot prove she did anything.”

“I agree. Good help is hard to find.”

The princess rolled her eyes. “You have another advisor. Why does it matter if one dies?”

Her father looked to her. “Sweetheart, it’s more complicated than that. We have to find people who we can trust, and that takes time. I’ve known my advisors since before I even married your mother.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Money can buy loyalty.”

“No it can’t,” the rest of us said in unison.

The pink thing snorted.

“I wouldn’t rule out the witch,” her father said. “She knows that we’re onto her, and it would be clever to hurt herself to make us think she’s innocent. That guard who pointed out your advisor could have been mistaken.”

I walked around the man, my hands on my sides. “I’ll say this once, because I think my skull might explode if I have to say it more than that. Farley did nothing wrong. She’s a kind girl, who everyone assumes is a monster. There were a lot of people in that room, and much worse than her. Your daughter is more likely to be a killer than Farley.”

“How dare you!” the king shouted at the same time my father sighed my name. I knew how to make people hate me. “Are you accusing my daughter of being a witch?”

“I’m not, Papa!” the thing shrieked.

Again I rolled my eyes. “No, I’m only making a statement. Other than your child, we’re all killers in this room. The witch never took a life, and never wanted to. She’s let herself almost die so that she can maintain that. Give her a little credit. Father? Have you no opinion?”

He sat down, and combed his hand through his hair. “You know the girl better than we do, but she seems… all right. That doesn’t mean I trust her, and it doesn’t mean she isn’t capable of terrible things. I think that if she was to harm someone, it would have been more than a guard.”

“She’s biding her time,” King Stupid said. “Next time, it’ll be an attack on you, or on your son.”

I laughed. “She wouldn’t hurt me.”

“What makes you think that?”

I smiled at him. “I have a little thing called trust. It comes along with affection and friendship. Have you heard of it?”

The princess appeared behind me, and her shrill voice made me shudder. “He’s sleeping with her, Papa. That’s why he cares.”

“Ah,” the man said. “Of course. I should have expected this. Morec, you allow your son to consort with girls like that? Do you not keep an eye on him?”

“I warned him,” Father said. “He will never listen to a word I say.”

“At least I get it from someone,” I said. “Can we humor the idea that one of the other people in the room were responsible? Maybe make a handy little list we can go through.”

Father actually did it, scribbling out names I didn’t recognize. I probably knew the people, but who cared about names? He scanned it with his eyes, studying. “I’ve known most of them for years. I would know if they had magic.”

“Apparently not,” I said. “Someone hid it from you, so we have to assume they’re not completely stupid.”

He nodded. “True. Have you seen anyone acting off lately?”

“They’re all terrible people. The guards bully the villagers, the maids steal, the cooks are the same. Everyone in this castle is capable of doing something harmful.”

The princess decided to shuffle over, sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. “You should just kill everyone and start over. Surely you aren’t as worried about picking new guards.”

Father had to hold himself back, and I could tell. “I can’t pick anyone from the village, and that means I would have to ship out new people. They might not come so willingly if they found out the last bunch was slaughtered.”

“So? Make them.”

Her father put a hand on her shoulder. “While I like your enthusiasm, this is a complicated situation.”

Why did everyone favor the princess over me? I didn’t care about people, but at least I wasn’t so blasé about slaughtering random guards. She seemed bloodthirsty about it, and it made me glad I dodged the bullet of marrying her.

“They need to be interrogated,” Father said. “Perhaps a little torture could get them to talk. The innocent ones won’t hesitate to talk, and the guilty, well let’s hope we get to hurt them a little.”

My father and the king went off, discussing how they would hurt the staffers, most of which were not responsible for any of this. Farley would be very upset when she heard, and no doubt, would try to come up with a plan to figure it out without any blood spilled. Honestly, she probably could. But no one would listen to her, or trust whatever answers she might have found.

While the men went back and forth, I sat on the couch. The little princess followed me as if I welcomed her, but I wasn’t allowed to shove her off of the couch. Someone would have gotten mad at me, despite the fact that the dress would have broken her fall.

“How is your little witch doing?” the princess asked.

“She’s fine,” I said with a smile. “In my bed resting, actually.”

She looked at me with disgust. “You let her sleep in your bed?”

“Yes, I thought it would have been rude to bend her over a table and then send her packing. I have manners.”

It appeared that I offended the princess’ sensitive soul, but still not enough to shut her up. “I suppose that’s good of you.”

“Yes, it is. Plus she’s so damn good in bed that she earned a nice nap.”

The girl smoothed out her dress, and composed herself.

We sat there for an hour, and I only wanted to go back to Farley. I expected she had fallen asleep, but I wouldn’t have minded sitting up with her. I could read while she rested. I didn’t need more than that.

“This is so boring, Papa,” the royal moron said as she sighed. “Can’t you make Bartholomew take me horseback riding?”

I snorted. “But how will I know which of you is the horse?”

Her father heard that, and the man looked at me like he tried to set me on fire. Good, at least that entertained. “What did you just say?”

“Nothing,” I told him. “Just wondering how I’m supposed to tell which is the mindless beast.”

“Bartholomew!” Father barked. “Apologize right now!”

“No,” I said simply, and I crossed my ankle over my knee.

The girl sat demurely at my side, clearing her throat and pretending like nothing happened. She should have hit me. I deserved to be hit several times, but she didn’t do that for some reason. It made me wonder what kind of abuse she normally took, or how badly she wanted to marry me.

Her father charged me, and his hand came around my throat. “Who the hell do you think you are? You disrespectful little bastard, if I ever hear you say another word like that to my daughter, I will kill you.”

I didn’t react, because I doubted he would have killed me in front of my father. He didn’t even hold me hard enough to completely constrict my throat. Even if he did, I didn’t care much.

My father came around, standing beside the king. “Let him go.”

“Why should I? He disrespects me and my child every chance he gets. I have never met such an unpleasant person in my life. I don’t want him marrying my daughter.”

“Kakero,” my father said. “Please. We can talk this out.”

The other king let go of me, throwing me back on the couch. “We cannot talk this out. I don’t want him anywhere near my girl. You’re on your own with your killer. That little witch is responsible, and if you’re too stupid to kill her, then you deserve to lose your life. Suzanna, we’re going.”

Was it that easy? I rubbed my throat, wondering why this didn’t cross the line days ago. Surely I had done worse than call this girl a horse. Why did having sex with another person seem more acceptable than some verbal abuse? Farley would have murdered me if I did either of those things, and we weren’t together officially. Hell, I wanted to hurt myself a little.

The princess rose from her seat, still not saying anything. Really? Not even slapping me on her way out? How boring. God be with whatever man she married, because she would be a boring one. She marched off before her father, keeping her head up high.

“Please,” Father said. “He’s stressed over the killer, and he’s acting out.”

“I can speak for myself,” I said. “And I’m not acting out. I told you I would rather die than marry that girl, and you were still trying to force it. You’re the only one that wants this, so let it go.”

“I will not let it go!” my father screamed at me. “We need an heir.”

The other king laughed. “Oh, I see. You only want my daughter for what she can give your son. Well tell your little brat that he got his way, and there is nothing you can say that would allow our families to join.”

I raised my hand. “I can actually hear you.”

My father hit my ear, hard enough to make my head buzz as it rang. The stinging didn’t fade, but he could have done worse to me. And he tried, with another hit to the back of my head as he called me several names. Nothing I hadn’t heard before.

The other man started to leave, and my father chased after him, so desperate. Why did he fight so hard for this thing I opposed with my whole being? I had a perfectly acceptable girl upstairs, and she would have been willing to try with me if not for people like my father. People telling her she was evil, or after something. Farley only wanted a normal life, and I wanted to try to give that to her. I could keep her safe, and take care of her like no one else had been willing to. Farley deserved a little bit of someone caring for her.

I didn’t want to be in the room anymore when I had something better waiting for me upstairs. I left the chambers behind, hearing my father screaming at a man who wanted nothing more than to leave. He could be upset, but I would enjoy my happiness for as long as I could have.

I hurried up the stairs, eager and gleeful to what I would be seeing soon. I had been right when I assumed Farley fell asleep. She’d huddled up on her side, and wiggled in her sleep. I loved seeing her in my shirt, comfortable and claimed. Interesting that she didn’t fight the subject.

When I saw the bloody dress I had left on the chair, it reminded me that someone tried to take her away. Just as I got a reason to breathe, something decided I didn’t deserve that. Of course I didn’t, but that wouldn’t keep me from taking it.

I removed my boots, and dressed in my sleep clothes. I wasn’t hungry, and the sun had already gone down. I might as well have gone to sleep. If I stayed awake, Father would have wanted to come talk to me, and he wasn’t welcomed. My ears still rang.

I got into my bed, lifting the blanket so that I could be close to Farley. The moment I settled against her, she turned around and grumbled. She looked lovely while half awake, and I could never find a way to put it into words. Her hair looked a mess, and she wrinkled her nose a lot. If I could have had a painting of her just waking up, I would have hung it over my bed.

“Go back to sleep,” I told her.

Farley opened her eyes into slits. “What time is it?”

“Not too late. We have the whole night.”

She smiled up at me. “Can I stay?”

“Please.”

She kissed my throat, and then crawled on top of me. I moved onto my back to make her more comfortable, and then I had a little harlequin all cuddled up to me like I was her personal pillow. Life could not get better than that.

“Is everything okay?” she mumbled. “Did you find anything?”

I rubbed her back, hoping it would soothe her to sleep. “Nothing. It was mostly a lot of yelling between people who didn’t know what was going on. And I said the princess looked like a horse.”

Farley giggled. “You did not.”

“Oh but I did.”

“And they think I’m the bad one. Shame.”

I kissed the top of her head. “Sleep, and we can talk more about it in the morning.”

I waited for her to pass out again, hearing perfectly even breaths as she slipped into a dream that had her smiling. I hoped I had a role in it, and acted kind to her. For all I knew, the me in her head wasn’t a nice one. I tried to be better for her, but I knew it would be a battle. You didn’t stop being an ass overnight, even for the girl you loved. She knew better than that, thankfully.

I started getting sleepy, and decided that I would have the rest of my life to watch Farley sleep. As long as she didn’t find out, of course. No way would she have approved of such a creepy thing. Though she let me get away with a lot. Even so, I needed my rest. I had to make sure that she stayed safe, and I intended on finding out who this killer was. So I closed my eyes, and wished for a dream.