Mortal Enchantment (11 page)

Rowan stood behind me with a swirling ball of hazy blue fire floating above his open palm. The flickering light bounced off the tight muscles of his bare chest. A pair of drawstring black cotton pants hung loosely around his hips. He ran his other hand through his scruffy hair giving him a just-rolled-out-of-bed look. I would have classified him as smexy if it weren’t for his pissed off expression.

‟How did you know I was out here?” I asked, squinting. Forget about the whole passing out mess. I was annoyed by his second almost-kiss during our last training. He was the king of mixed signals.

He clenched his fist, diminishing the ball of fire into nothing. ‟Sometimes, I wonder if you have a death wish.”

Naturally, he didn’t answer my question. Big surprise. ‟I have no idea what you're talking about.” Chilled air whipped between us. I wrapped my arms around my mid-section. I couldn’t help noticing the lack of goosebumps on his skin. I guess being born into the fire court meant never being cold.

Rowan let out a growl, pressing his fists into the tree at my shoulders. I was locked into an immovable position. There was no squeezing out of this one. With my arms pressing against my sides, he leaned in. Our faces were so close, his breath tickled my cheek. ‟Have you forgotten I've saved you once already? There are dangerous creatures out here. What was so important that you came here alone
and
in the middle of the night?”

Suddenly, the stupidly of what I’d done registered in my head. This was exactly how Dad was captured. And his power surpassed mine a thousand times over. I would be defenseless.

My cheeks burned from embarrassment. Luckily, the shadows hid my reaction. Rowan was right, of course, but I couldn’t let him know. ‟I can handle myself or have
you
forgotten
you
have been training me?”

His stare poured into me as if he was searching for the right words. Somehow, in the silence, I sensed there was something he was trying to hide. It wasn’t until he pulled away, I realized I’d stopped breathing.

‟You still haven't answered my question,” he said.

I raised my eyebrows. ‟Neither have you.”

Rowan paced like a caged animal. ‟You're infuriating.”

‟Oh. My. God.” I threw my hands up in the air. ‟You've got to be kidding me. You're the king of avoidance.”

After several awkward moments without a response, he relaxed his shoulders. ‟I couldn't sleep. I was walking down the hall when I saw you slip outside and I followed you to see where you were going.” He raised his pierced eyebrow. ‟Happy now?”

Not really. I was too shocked that he answered one of my questions to enjoy the small victory. ‟I came out here looking for clues that the knights might've missed.” I rubbed my hand across the bark, swallowing hard. ‟This is where I believe Dad disappeared.”

‟Oh, I get it.” He leaned against the tree trunk. ‟Still, come get me the next time you decide to play investigator.”

Smartass
. ‟Whatevs.”

‟It's pretty spectacular up here,” he announced, totally out of nowhere. Then, he sat down and crossed his legs in front of him as he leaned back on his hands. ‟I can see why Taron likes it so much.”

Was Rowan initiating a casual conversation? After my initial shock settled in, I took the cue and sat beside him. ‟This place feels the most familiar to me. I mean, I guess I feel like this is where I'm meant to be, you know?”

‟Don't you miss your Mom?” His voice was soft, almost comforting.

I pulled my knees up into my chest. ‟I miss her a lot, but it's complicated.” I missed my friends and the life I’d built there. I missed Mom most of all. But with everything going on, I was glad she wasn’t here. Avalon was not the peaceful place I had imagined it to be. And since she was mortal, she was safer where she was. ‟What about you? Where are your parents?”

He picked up a rock, casually throwing it into the cloudy abyss. ‟Dead.”

Great call, Kalin. He's sure to go running any minute now.
I was about to put my hand on his shoulder, but I pulled it back at the last second. ‟I'm sorry.”

Instead of making eye contact, he continued tossing rocks. ‟It's fine. I’ve made peace with it.”

I had to keep going while he was being so open. ‟What were they like? Your parents.”

‟I never knew my Dad. He died around the time I was born.”

Rowan’s jaw clenched and unclenched before he answered each question. He was obviously uncomfortable, but this could be my only opportunity to get to know him. I had to keep pushing. ‟What about your Mom?”

He looked at me, surprised. ‟You really don't know, do you?”

My lack of knowledge seemed boundless at this point. ‟I guess not.”

‟My mother was powerful and feared. She wasn't much of a parent to us.” He took a long pause. ‟It's not something I like to talk about.”

‟By us, you must mean—?”

The corner of his mouth twitched. ‟I had two adopted siblings, but both are dead.”

His whole family was dead? Okay, he had some serious family drama. It certainly explained why he was a solitary, but not why he turned down Dad’s offer to be part of the air court. What was his deal? ‟How did they die?”

He turned to face me, smirking. ‟It's complicated.”

I couldn't rebut after I had said the same thing. ‟Aren't all families?”

‟Some more than others.”

I didn’t sleep much that night. Instead, I leaned against the windowsill watching the sun rise with my bed comforter wrapped around my shoulders. My body was exhausted from the power surge, yet each time I closed my eyes, I saw one image; Dad lying bloody and beaten on a cold floor. An icy chink settled in my chest. I tightened my grip of the blanket.

His warning echoed in my head. Who were the people he mentioned? He said they weren’t as they seemed, so I must have already met them. At least one of them had to be in the air court. There was no way he could have been captured without help from someone on the inside. Someone who would pretend to be my ally. I rested my head on top of my folded arms. Dad could have also meant Rowan. As much as I didn’t want to consider it, I had to. He had secrets, was a former member of the fire court, and all of his family was mysteriously dead. No matter what Liana said at the council meeting, a member of the fire court had attacked me the day Dad was kidnapped.

No, it couldn’t be Rowan.

He was the one who saved me, bringing me to Avalon safely. He offered to train me—and even though I was sucking at it—I would be lost without him. But why was he so guarded? And, who gave him the scars on his back? Why did Liana seem to hate him so much? Too many questions left unanswered. The guy was the definition of complicated and secretive.

I rubbed the crusties from the corners of my eyes, longing to stay in my room all day. A hard knock shook me from my thoughts. I turned my head as Ariel entered my room carrying a cup of orange juice and some kind of pastry. Her white-blond curls bounced as she made her way to me.

She gave me the once over, then her smile dropped. ‟What happened? You look like death. Not that death is a person, but if it was, it would be you right now.”

I wanted to tell her the truth, but what could I say? She didn’t believe my vision was real. And, as much as I hated to admit it, she was also a suspect. Dad said someone I knew couldn’t be trusted. I trusted Ariel, but I would be a fool if I didn’t at least consider the possibility. “Nothing happened. I didn't sleep, that's all.” I yawned.

‟Sleep later.” She sat the food down on the nearby table. Next thing I knew, she’d tucked her forearms inside mine and was helping me stand. ‟We've got to be to the seamstress in ten minutes.”

Oh, no.
I’d forgotten all about the dress fitting. With everything going on, this was the last thing I wanted to do. I may have let out a little whimper. However, Ariel wasn’t having any of it. She meant business this morning, dragging me around the room like a ragdoll. I didn’t fight her when she scooted me into the bathroom to brush my teeth or when she tugged me toward my closet to pick out clothes, but I reached my limit when she tried to get me undressed. Finally, I shooed her away, and she gave me some space.

Yup, I was going with her whether I wanted to or not.

Ariel led us to a room with walls lined with spools of fabric piled on top of one another. A large rectangular table sat in the middle of the room filled with sewing machines, needles, threads of every color, and multiple pairs of scissors.

Five seamstresses greeted us. I had to blink twice before I could believe what I was seeing. Their skin appeared to be made of tree bark with hair made of thin green vines hanging wavy down their backs like dreadlocks. All wore matching white silky tops and skirts made of long woven flower stems. Like soldiers, they stood silent in a straight line, staring forward. Each held a sewing kit and spare pieces of cloth tucked under their arms.

Ariel stepped onto one of the two tree stumps in the corner of the room, instructing the glam squad. ‟I expect something exceptional. For the princess, a one shoulder or strapless gown would be best. Something with an A-line shape would look nice on her.” She played with a loose curl in her hair. ‟My gown should be strapless and have a matching shawl. I prefer an empire waist. Has the fabric arrived?”

They bowed in unison while the one standing the farthest away reached down, picking up an enormous amount of cloth wrapped around a long spool. I made my way over to her, running my fingers across the material. It was the softest silk I’d ever touched. Never had I seen the shade of shimmering yellow that Ariel had chosen for me. The small piece of ‘girlie’ I had inside of me giggled.

‟It's amazing, isn't it? It took the manufacturers in Paris six months to make. It's one-of-a-kind.” Ariel sighed, filled with pleasure. ‟It's perfect for the Ball.” She held out her hand, helping me onto the stump next to the one she stood on.

“What about your dress?” I asked.

Ariel pointed to a spool of sparkly lavender fabric. “Purple is my favorite color.”

I smiled. “It’s gorgeous.”

She kept her eyes on the material as one of the seamstresses carried it over. “I know, right?”

Two creatures appeared in front of each of us. They measured, poked, and prodded while Ariel stood quietly humming to herself. I tried not to stare, although I desperately wanted to run my hand over their skin. They were a different breed of elemental. Something I’d never seen in the books or during my dream visits with Dad.

The questions I had about their surface texture were answered as their fingers grazed against my bare skin—definitely tree bark. They had to be fae from the woodland court. Each time they nicked me, tiny bloody scratches appeared. I winced. My subtle complaints did not seem to matter since they continued to work without any acknowledgment. The one taking my measurements called out to the others in a language I didn’t understand. Whatever she said sent them over to the spool of material. They started cutting.

‟What are they?” I whispered to Ariel.

She glanced at the seamstresses then smiled at me. ‟I'm so sorry, Kalin. Sometimes I forget you're still new to Avalon. We call their species of fae, brownies. They're the best dressmakers in all of Avalon.”

The one standing closest to me smiled proudly. For a brief moment our gazes locked and I admired her bright moss colored eyes. ‟Do you understand their language?”

Ariel adjusted the top of her dress material so less cleavage showed. ‟No, only the faerie king and queen of the woodland court can translate. They never speak our language, but I have no doubt they could if they wanted to.”

I watched to see if anyone would respond, but none did. It was clear they weren’t revealing anything to us today.

After hours of standing silently, I could barely keep my eyes open. My mostly sleepless night had caught up with me. All I could think about was passing out. I actually fell asleep a few times. Startled by the sharp pain of a sewing needle in my ribs was not cool. These brownies were ruthless.

When I finally looked down to check out their progress, I nearly went into shock.

The spool of fabric I had admired only a few short hours ago had been cut and sewn into a full-length yellow silk gown. I swayed from one side to the other, still not believing what I was seeing. To be sure, I ran my fingers down the asymmetrical one shoulder strap, then across the glittering diamond star-burst accentuating my bust. The gown was amazing. The most beautiful I had ever seen.

‟I would guess by the look on your face that you're pleased,” Ariel said.

I couldn’t take my eyes off my new hotness. ‟This dress is insane. I can't believe how quickly they put this together.”

I glanced over at Ariel as she admired her own strapless gown with matching shawl. It was exactly as she’d requested. ‟I told you. They are the best in all of Avalon.” She winked at the brownie, who smiled back, proudly.

I yawned. “I’m sorry. I’m just so exhausted.”

‟I know what you need.” Ariel clapped her hands. One of the guards stepped inside the room. ‟Please bring the princess a glass of sunrise wine.”