Flames of Green and Gold: Book I in The Final Prophecy Series, page 23
Satisfied that I conjured jealousy from Lars, I rest my hand atop Odious’ and tip my head back as well, releasing the most guttural laugh I can muster.
Then suddenly, a hard body presses against my back, and I know who it is before I can even look back in the mirror. His musky scent flows through the underside of my mask, and my eyes almost roll into the back of my head. Abruptly, I begin to feel…happier. The nonexistent joke I told strikes a chord with me, and I double over in laughter.
What is happening?
Tears begin to flow from my eyes, and my stomach muscles begin to cramp from laughing so hard. I earn a few glances from attendees, but as quickly as the feeling came, it’s gone, replaced with anger and jealousy. I turn around, ripping off my mask, and stare up at the matching one on his face as I see the faint glow from behind his hair slowly fade. He made me do that.
“Laughter sounds heavenly coming from your lips, Little Flame.”
Even in my mind, I can hear the smirk on his mouth as he sends his message in the eather.
He’d told me not to shut him out, and I couldn’t find it in myself to disobey him. He looked so broken, so defeated. As much as I wanted to wipe his existence from this planet, I could not shut him out. But that did not mean he could enter it whenever he pleases.
“Out. Of. My. Head,” I grit at him through my teeth, trying to keep my voice as low as possible. The last thing I want to do is cause a scene and get any one of us into trouble. I don’t know what Diana has planned, but I won’t ruin it by starting a fight in the middle of her birthday ball.
Lars holds out his hand to me and angles his head towards the dance floor. “Would you grace this fool with a dance?”
As I put my mask back on to hide the blush threatening to appear on my cheeks, a familiar tune begins to sound from the orchestra stationed on the stage, and couples flood the floor. The sweet notes of the ensemble almost bring me to my knees. It’s the same song Lars had hummed to me that night in the library. It’s a slow, sober song, but beautiful all the same. I had asked him once what the song was, and he told me it was a long-forgotten ballad of the Gods, written by Gennos after the kidnapping of Hecate. It tells the story of the love she and Zothos shared, then the betrayal and catastrophic downfall of their relationship after her kidnapping. Little had I known that he was already confessing his sins to me without even realizing it.
I almost laugh at how on-the-nose it is, but the notes are comforting. Something about the composition of the melody beckons me to listen more and more deeply.
Without second-guessing myself or wanting to cause a scene, I take his hand and follow him to the sea of bodies. Couples all around us begin to move in unison, spinning and gliding around the polished wooden floors as if they were floating.
We’re moving too, my body already familiar with the steps to this dance without my mind ever knowing it. Lars’s hand snakes around my waist, pulling me flush with his chest as his right hand gently cradles my left. Our masks are mere inches apart, and I watch as his mouth hardens to a fine line through the mesh sewn to the mouth of his. He fumbles with my raised hand, rubbing his finger across the ring snuggly attached to mine under the glove. I can feel the wave of relief waft from him, and his lips twitch up and his gaze turns a hazy black.
“I take it you liked my gift?”
“No. I just can’t get the fucking thing off.”
His smirk wavers for a second, but then returns to its previously smug state. He seems confused by my confession.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night. But you are mine, Silia, and I want everyone to know.”
Without looking away, he rips off the glove from my hand and tucks in the belt of his doublet. The possessiveness in his tone sends a wave of heat through my body, and I almost melt into his touch.
It’s hard to be angry at him in moments like this. His need to claim me in front of the whole realm makes my heart double its pace, and my mind floats into a dreamlike state. He wants me just as much as I want him. He loves me.
We glide across the dance floor, staring at each other like we are the only two people in the room. My feet somehow find their way on top of his, and he guides me through the rest of the dance. The storytelling of the sweet notes brings a tear to my eye—a goddess in love, then a goddess betrayed. As the music reaches its climax, couples all around us become blurry swirls of bodies as we pick up speed. Ear-pinching screeches blast from the string instruments as the woodwinds begin to quicken their pace.
Then almost too soon, the music abruptly stops, signaling the end of the dance. We break from each other and Lars gives a curt bow while I curtsey, realizing it’s the first time I've ever done that to anyone but my father. Lars takes my gloved hand and removes my remaining glove to kiss my bare knuckles, raising his mask just so his mouth is exposed. When his mouth connects with my skin, my brand tingles in delight and my traitorous heart swells.
I am angry with him. He’s a liar, and he is nothing to me, I repeat in my head as I quickly pull my hand back, cradling it to my chest. The sweet and minty scent of his breath lingers on my skin as I try to settle my rising need.
I allow myself just a moment to gaze at Lars’s body. His black and gold doublet hugs his lean waist and broad shoulders, and his hair has returned to its normal raven-black shade. The long strands are slicked back and tucked behind his ears. His whole ensemble ignites a spark deep in my core.
Lars lets out a low groan, no doubt sensing my arousal. An image of us naked, tangled in my bedsheets, materializes in my vision, then quickly vanishes. Then, a new memory he’s never shown me before appears from his perspective. My mind is thrown into the memory as if I were Lars himself.
He walks through the palace doors alongside Rein, bag in hand. His gaze flicks up from the foyer floor to me. Surprise, confusion, and astonishment take over my senses as I realize these are the actual feelings Lars had the first night he saw me.
This was a memory from the night he’d first arrived in Eza, after my father hired him.
The memory is gone in a flash and replaced by the same man standing in the middle of the ballroom, watching me with anticipation.
No. It’s a lie. He’s manipulating me, and I am an idiot for falling for it again.
“Silia, I—" Lars begins to speak, but is cut off by the clinking of a glass.
I turn my head to the noise and find Erebus standing at the center of the stage, champagne glass raised high in the air. I look back to Lars, but he’s already gone. Thankfully, I don’t have to entertain him anymore. I don’t know how long I could have held myself back from him.
I turn my attention back to the stage. All the guests begin to congregate toward Erebus, and I feel a squeeze on my arm as Diana joins me at my side.
“You two looked like a handsome couple out there,” she leans in and whispers, her mouth curving up in a smile. Her mask only covers the top half of her face, and it looks like it’s supposed to be some sort of bird. White, long feathers cover every inch of the mask, fanning out at the edges. Her dress is the brightest shade of white I've ever seen. Layers of tulle and beaded strings of pearls flow through the breeze as if she were standing on a cliff's edge. The ends of her beautiful orange hair are neatly curled, and the top half of her hair is fastened into a swirl of braids at the back of her head.
I roll my eyes and whisper back, “It was either that or knee him in the balls. Be grateful I didn’t start a fight at your party.”
She playfully slaps my shoulder and links her arm with mine.
“Esteemed guests, thank you from the bottom of my heart for traveling from far and wide to celebrate the birthday of my dear niece.” Erebus starts his speech, and it’s so obviously fake to anyone who really knows him. But all the guests are none the wiser, and a loud applause sounds after his words.
Odious and Lars walk up the back steps of the stage and appear on either side of Erebus. Lars’s gaze immediately finds mine, and I look away before I defy my own wishes and rush up to the stage, rip his mask off, and take him right in front of everyone.
“Simmer down, Little Flame, or else I'll explore this voyeurism kink of yours in front of every kingdom in the realm.”
I glare back up at him and groan to myself as I rub my thumb against the piece of permanent jewelry on my finger.
Fighting the constant battle in my mind to either see him for the liar he is or throw it all out the window and forgive him is exhausting.
Tonight could not get any worse.
“With that, I would like to invite my precious Diana to the stage.” Erebus gestures down to us. Every head in the room turns to face Diana as she sheepishly tips her head in greeting and removes her arm from mine. I squeeze her hand before her arm can fully slip away, and she gives me a weak smile.
My gaze follows her as she takes to the stairs and steps in front of Erebus, giving a low curtsey to him and the pair of brothers standing behind him.
With how wretched Erebus is, I sometimes forget he’s an actual king. Even though we are family, as princesses, we must show our respect to any leader of a kingdom, even our grimy uncle and his stepsons.
Erebus grabs Diana by the shoulders and kisses her on each cheek before spinning her around to face the crowd. The gesture makes me sick to my stomach as I remember all the vile things he’s said with those lips and all the awful things he’s done with those hands.
“I have a very special gift for you, my dear—for everyone, in fact!” Erebus slams his cane on the marble floor of the stage twice, and two goblin men emerge from the main entryway and stride to the wall covered with a sheet.
The sheet is almost as large as the entire wall, neatly pinned up by two small bronze stakes in the top corners. In the middle, a long golden rope hangs low enough for one of the men to reach it. This is an unveiling, I realize. With how vain Erebus is, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a portrait of himself commissioned for his niece's birthday.
“We have a special guest joining us tonight. Unfortunately, he expired at his own hand, but his spirit lives on and is here to give his birthday wishes to the princess.” He waves his cane in the air, and one of the men gives the long cord a yank. The corners of the sheet are pulled free from the stakes, and the white sheet slowly drifts to the ground.
The wind is knocked from me, and horrified screams flood the ballroom.
33
SILIA
Staring down at us is the lifeless body of Rein.
Dried blood cakes the poorly sewn-up gash across his neck, and his arms are pinned up on either side of his head as if he’s being crucified. My throat constricts, and tears escape my eyes at the sight of my lifelong best friend dangling by his hands, on display in front of the whole realm.
A couple next to me lets out a loud gasp as their hands move to cover their mouths. I cover my own mouth as I look between them and Rein. The resemblance is uncanny, but his parents are dead. This could not be them.
“My boy… Talia, that’s our boy,” the older man manages to say through his sobs.
His parents are alive and gazing upon their dead son’s body nailed to the wall. This can’t be happening.
Chaos floods the ballroom as the guests scream in horror and make to run for the doors. But as if on cue, the ceiling-tall wooden doors slam shut. People furiously pull on the handles, begging the guards to open them.
“Silence!” Erebus’ voice sounds high above the commotion, and the entire room falls quiet. “Unless you want to end up like this man here, I suggest you all stop your wailing.”
The guards standing next to the door leave their posts and fly up to the stage, grabbing hold of Diana and Odious. Everything is happening too fast. The room begins to spin as my mind tries to catch up with the scene unfolding in front of me. My gaze falls to Lars, only to find him motionless, staring at Rein’s body. It occurs to me that he was the only one who did not know Rein was dead.
“Lars, do something!” I silently plead with him in the eather. I don’t even know if there’s anything he can do to stop this, but my mind subconsciously reaches out to him in this dire time of need.
“He’s dead. He— It’s all my fault.”
I rip my eyes from him and snake my way through the crowd, towards the door. Erebus and his guards are distracted enough by Diana and Odious, and I know this is my only chance to escape.
Against my better judgment, I stop with my hand hovering just above the door handle and turn back to face Lars across the room.
I suck in a breath and send one last message to him. “Come with me. Come home to Eza.”
His head snaps to me, and he stumbles back a bit.
One moment goes by.
Another.
Then another.
I come to my senses as his silence flows through the eather. He has no intention of leaving with me. He wants to stay.
For the second time tonight, I almost tricked myself into believing he truly does care for me.
“Goodbye, Lars.”
He reaches his hand out for me just as I turn back to the door and push it open.
“Silia, wait!”
But it’s too late. I’m through the door and running at a lung-crushing pace for the back entrance of the palace. I need to get to the stables and find a horse to ride home.
All the guards are busy with the ball, so the hallways are empty as I stumble through them, finally reaching the exit. The doors fly open, then slam shut behind me as I make my way through the palace gardens and find the stables. I rush to the first horse I can find and quickly untie him from his post. I don’t bother with saddling him as I jump up and swing my leg over his back.
In the distance, I can see Lars—no longer masked—come to a skittering halt at the exit doors. He doesn’t make a move to stop me. He just stands still as a statue as his disheveled hair flows through the night air. “Please, don’t leave me.”
The same words I once said to him echo back at me through the eather.
With a heavy conscience and a broken heart, I give him one last glance, then back to the palace where my sister is currently being taken prisoner, and then I whip the reins.
“Forget me, Lars.”
The horse takes off as I watch the palace fade from view in the foggy night, like a bad dream slowly dissipating.
34
ODIOUS
Diana and I are ambushed by guards and taken to the below as Erebus spits something ridiculous at the crowd about the kingdoms joining his ranks. Memories of the same thing happening to me almost five years ago fog my vision. My father had done the same thing when Nasir and I had attempted to kill Lars. But being tortured and beaten by my father held no flame to Erebus locking me in solitude after telling Lars I was dead.
Year after year had floated by, having no human interaction with anyone other than Erebus when he would come into my room once a month to gloat about how well Lars had been carrying out his plans. There had been no sunlight, no moonlight, no fresh air. I became a mindless possession he kept hidden away until I was useful.
Just before he sent Lars to Eza, I’d convinced Erebus to let me aid him. I hadn’t intended to carry through with his wild fantasies, but I would have done anything to get out of that room.
My gaze finds Diana, her beautiful swan mask ripped from her face, and her swollen, red eyes meet mine. I try to reach for her chained hand as we are dragged through the halls of the palace, but they never find hers. Defeat stabs its way into my chest, a feeling I have felt more times than I can count, slowly plucking each strand of hope I have left.
The halls are eerily quiet as the sounds of commotion from the ballroom slowly fade away. We arrive in the below and are thrown into cells opposite each other. Horror materializes on Diana’s face as she’s thrown into the same cell we had found Rein in. I can’t even hold my angel and comfort her as we await our fate. These stupid fucks are getting in between me and Diana, and they will pay for it.
This night had not gone according to plan. We had intended on killing Erebus tonight. We’d hoped to poison his drink as he was giving his grand speech and distracted by the sound of his own voice, but the fucker had gone off-script and gifted Diana with the corpse of her ex-lover. The man is cruel beyond sense. He should expect his payment returned in full the next time I can get my hands on him.
We wait for almost a full hour before Erebus walks down the stairs of the prison and stops in front of my cell. “Well, if it isn’t the secret lovers. Expected a different outcome tonight, did you?”
He drags the end of my father’s cane along the bars, taunting me with each clink. I grit my teeth as he makes his way to Diana’s cell and crouches down to her level. She’s lying on the floor, head resting in the crook of her arm. We didn’t dare speak while waiting for what came next, in case the guards had loose lips and relayed our conversations back to Erebus. But it seems he had already known what we planned to do.
“I’m so sorry, my sweet girl, for imprisoning you on your birthday. Had I not known you planned to kill me tonight, you’d be sleeping snuggly in your bed.” I can only see his back from this angle, but I know a shit-eating grin is plastered on his wretched face as he speaks to her.
Erebus rises to his feet and stands between both of our cells so we can see him plain as day. “Well, don’t you want to know my plan? I’m feeling a bit left out, knowing all your secrets when you don’t know mine.” He paces up and down the line of cells, peering into each of them before returning to his previous spot.
“Spit it out, freak,” I seethe at Erebus, I’m tired of playing his games. He acts as if he has all the time in the world to toy with us, keeping us at the edge of our seats only to prolong it further. It’s psychological torture.
He whips his head in my direction, and the metal of my cuffs begins to heat, causing my wrists to burn at an ungodly temperature. “Watch your tongue, boy, before you find yourself without one.” Erebus is not one to hand out empty threats, so I choose to fight my battles carefully and shut my mouth.
