Chapter 25

Chapter

Twenty-Five

CALLISTO

Waking up next to Silas in the castle feels significantly different than waking up next to him in some barn surrounded by hay and beast-shifting men who will haunt me for the rest of my life.

It feels more… intimate or something.

So when the first hints of morning light inch their way through the window and right into my eyeballs, I snap wide awake.

My eyes latch on to Silas, who is still asleep like any normal being would be at this time of day after a trip like we've just had. But no, not me. I am fully awake and staring right into the face of the man I did those… things with last night.

Now I'm really awake with a face that is on fire.

Who knew the man I'd decided to steal shit from as a child would become the very man I'd fall head over heels in love with… in a very short time.

I mean… it's not love love, right? It's far too soon for that. And while we've known each other for a bit now, I was a bleeding, half-conscious mess for like half of it. Maybe it's because I've never had feelings for anyone before that I've fallen so hard and fast. I'm not a romantic, and honestly… I never really thought I'd fall in love or have someone to love. Of course I had Markson and Ainsley, but they both had their own families. I've never really had a family. I was kind of like this outsider who floated around, spending a bit of time here and there with those who would have me. It was just enough to make me feel loved and cared for… but not the type of love or sense of belonging that I tried to pretend I didn't crave.

That's not to say that I didn't love them like family and that they didn't love me in return, but there's something different about having your own family. So am I falling so damn hard because I've never had someone whose eyes have only ever been on me?

I'm going to scare him off with this attitude. I have to play it cool. Look suave and sexy. Not needy. Curb back the whole "Let's make a family!" thing and fast.

What is cool and sexy? Some kind of sweet gesture…

Flowers, right? Markson's wife adores it when he brings her flowers, so I will bring flowers to Silas. That's simple and not at all like "Ooh, look at me. I adore you and let's go buy a house together." Flowers are just… normal. Sweet, even. Super sweet. He'll wake up and there will be like a vase of fresh-cut flowers… although I kind of hate cutting flowers because they wilt so quickly…

So maybe a pot of live flowers. That's normal. Not at all weird.

But then like… do I sneak out of bed, find a shovel, dig up a plant, find a pot, put it next to him and climb back into bed before he wakes? Wouldn't that make me seem desperate? A little strange, even?

I have an idea… what if I simply called a flower to me? And then when he wakes up, I will pluck a single flower off as I look him right in the eyes and give him a husky, "Good morning, handsome. Your face is as beautiful as this flower."

Yeah, that's not at all weird… right? There are vines growing up the side of the castle; I'll simply ask them to open the window and come on in. So I look over at the window behind me and coerce the plant to open it enough it can slip inside.

The vine trails across the floor and up onto the bed where a beautiful red flower blooms when I touch it.

Perfect…

Or does just one vine look weird? Will he be like "Oh… one flower? Is that how much you like me? One flower's worth?"

I mean… the more you like someone, the more flowers you give them, right? Otherwise it's so lackluster! It's so pathetic to be like "Here, my love. I had the option of giving you all the flowers in the world, and instead, I chose to give you one." And is this one even perfect enough? It looks a little small. It'd be like, "Here, have this teeny-tiny flower. No, no, please don't squint to look at it."

I call another vine in that merrily wraps around me as another blossom unveils itself. But now I kind of want to shower him in flowers. I just want to give him all the flowers he could ever ask for.

I'm overthinking this far too much. Why am I overthinking it? Wait… what if he doesn't even like flowers? No, no, he can't dislike flowers. Flowers are my thing. It's what I'm good at, and what I'm really good at is making flowers grow. But that's not even that awesome, is it? It's not even manly. Like "Oh wow, look at Madden over there speaking to animals and watch me… bring this blade of grass back to life."

Fucking hell… I'm overthinking this!

I'm overthinking it so much that the vines are now trying to comfort me. I really don't need their comfort, although being wrapped up in a vine cocoon does feel oddly nice and very pleasant. But now I feel like I'm being consumed by the vines… and why are there so many of them? I didn't need to be comforted this much! Why the hell do my emotions always make everything so difficult?

It's fine. It's all fine. I'll just make them go away before Silas opens his eyes.

And that's the moment Silas opens his eyes.

"Hey, babe," I say, whipping out the husky voice because that, for some reason , is all that my brain can remember from any of my prior planning.

Silas jerks back in horror as my body is being consumed by vines, making me look like something out of a nightmare. He's so startled and horrified that he flings himself off the bed and slams down onto the floor as I watch in dread. How is any of this sexy or sweet?! He literally flung himself from me, not at me!

"Fucking hell, Callisto. You scared the shit out of me," Silas says as he kneels before the bed to look at me where I'm still too horrified to even move.

"I just… wanted… to give you a flower," I whisper as I urge the vines to finish their cocoon. At this point I'm going to commit to the cocoon where I will live out my remaining days so I never have to face anyone again. "I will stay in here and will never emerge again."

Silas starts laughing as he climbs up onto the bed and plucks a single flower off. "Please don't. I want to see your beautiful face," he says, and as the vines retract, he tucks the flower into my hair in the most swoon-worthy gesture.

I wave the rest of the vines away as my heart beats out of my chest. "That was so sexy."

"Yeah? I don't know if it was as sexy as you wrapped up in vines like a monster from the swamp depths waiting for me to wake up… but it might have been close."

"I see you appreciated my effort to be sexy," I say.

"It was highly appreciated," he responds as he lies back down and drags me on top of him.

"Did you get hurt… falling off the bed?"

"Laying my eyes on your beautiful face fixed everything."

"Fuck, you're good."

He grins at me. "Thank you."

"I was trying to be good like that, but I think I'm going to stick to not, alright? Like I'm really good at being a petty thief. Is that sexy?"

"It'd be real sexy if the next thing you stole was my undergarments off my body."

"Kind of looks like you're not wearing any already."

Silas reaches down and cups my bare ass cheek. "Kind of looks like you aren't either." He gives me the sexiest smile as my heart beats wildly in my chest.

The door slams open, making me jump so hard I smash my head into Silas's and knock out my pretty flower.

"What the hell?" I cry as I look over at Dandelion standing in the nude.

"I'm hungry," he announces.

"Fucking hell," I grumble. "Go get some clothes on!"

"Neither of you have clothes on."

Madden sticks his head in. "They sure don't… ew."

"Dandelion, get clothes on or I'm not taking you down to eat," I order as I try to cover myself as best I can.

Dandelion huffs like a teenager and storms off, but it takes Silas throwing something at Madden to get him to leave.

"I'm going, I'm going. I was just trying to figure out what the fuck was happening in the window," Madden says as he points before leaving.

I glance over at the window where all of my vines haven't fully retreated yet. I sigh and sit up as Silas picks up the flower and tucks it back into place.

"I guess we should face the day," he says before his lips brush against mine. It leaves me feeling like I'm floating and helps me forget all the nonsense I'm being faced with.

Once we're dressed, we meet a very displeased—but clothed—Dandelion out in the hallway.

"What was the weird screaming going on in your room this morning?" Madden asks. "Did you see Callisto's naked body or something?"

"Funny," I say sarcastically.

"No, Callisto just wanted to make sure my heart was in working condition. It is," Silas says as we reach the first floor.

Markson sees us and wanders over with a smile. "Her Majesty is gathering everyone right now to meet. Silas, I took it upon myself to personally see that your mule was hayed, and I gave your wyvern some meat from our kitchen. I also informed the guard about her and have asked them to meet her before you set her loose… she won't eat our livestock, will she?"

"She won't," Silas assures him. "Thank you."

"Of course," he says. "She's such a fascinating beast. I've always wanted to meet one close up. The only time I ever came close is when one grabbed me and whipped me into the side of a building, cracking my skull open. I just love them."

I stare at the man and wonder if maybe he's still suffering from his skull being cracked open… but she is rather cute, so maybe I'd do the same thing.

"Don't even act like you wouldn't go crawling back to it if the same thing happened to you," Silas says, like he could read my mind!

"I would never," I protest until he jabs a finger at Dandelion, who is avoiding our eyes.

"He only gave me a gentle caress."

"That you have scars from."

"Hmm…"

"I was told I was getting fed," Dandelion says.

"Of course, we'll have food brought right into the meeting room," Markson assures him. "Callisto, will you take them?"

"Sure," I say as I lead them off to the room where the general of the army is already standing.

She smiles the moment she sees me. "Callisto, you've returned!"

"I have."

"Markson was in such a fuss while you were gone," she says.

I eye the man who is over there playing it cool, like he didn't just send me messages with lots of "ha has" on them while I was off in danger! It's weird that everyone else got vastly different experiences than I did!

"Iris, this is Silas, Madden, and… uh… Dan."

"Dandelion," the hulking man corrects.

Sorry for trying to make it sound more… masculine.

"I hope they have beef and chicken and literally anything. I could eat anything right now," Dandelion says as he snatches me up from where I'd been standing next to Madden and plops me on his lap as he eagerly waits.

"Oh!" Iris says in surprise. "I didn't know you found someone on your adventures. How sweet."

A servant sets down a basket of bread as I realize what she's saying, but when I open my mouth to be like, "Ha, you're funny. No, I'm not interested in the man who turns into a beast, I've only just scarred him for life. It's actually Silas who I like," I get a mouthful of bread instead as Dandelion stuffs it in.

"It's good, eh?" he asks, nodding wildly as he readies another piece for when I'm done choking down this one.

"You two are so cute together," Iris says while I struggle to get off his lap as the queen and a group of people come in and eye us.

"You can have all the food," Dandelion decides as he smacks Madden's hand away from the basket and gives it to me, like I could possibly eat my weight in bread.

"Thank you, but I think we should share," I say as I try to push it into the middle of the table until Dandelion's mighty grip keeps me from doing so.

"I think you should share too," Madden comments as he waggles his eyebrows at Dandelion, making me realize he's talking about the man's lap and not the basket of bread.

"Heh…" I squeeze out of Dandelion's grasp and guide Silas into the seat next to him before sitting down myself.

"You made this bed," Silas says.

"By accident!" I protest as Titus lands on my bread. "You're so cute." I pat him before freezing. "Silas, what if he's also a hulking man? What if everything I touch turns into a hulking man with no boundaries and a distaste for clothes?"

He leans in so only I can hear him. "I mean… the moment you touch me, I also have a distaste for clothes… on you."

My blush is going out of control now as I think back to what we did last night.

"But stop fretting. It's a wisp. Not a man. You're fine," Silas assures me as I cup Titus and examine him, but he just bounces around my hand, absolutely oblivious to my scrutiny and blushing face.

"Why don't we all eat before we get deep into things?" Ainsley suggests as she looks at Dandelion who is hoarding the basket. He seems to realize, and with a sigh, he pushes it to the middle.

Honestly, I'm quite surprised by the act of generosity he's displaying until I realize that it's only because he saw the servants bringing plates of better food out. There's a wide variety of options, including ones with no meat for Madden after he'd asked to not be served it last night.

"While we eat, I'd love to do introductions," Ainsley says. "As I shared yesterday, I'm Ainsley. Markson is my advisor both in and outside of the military. From there is Iris, the head of my military. And then we have Robert, my husband and a military general. And this is Anthony, my seer."

Of course I know all of them, but Silas has his full attention on them. He's hard to read when he's like this, but so is Madden who is acting like he's not paying any attention, yet I have a feeling he's scrutinizing them as much as Silas is.

"I'm Silas," he simply says. "This is Madden and Dandelion."

"Eh," Dandelion says like we're not currently in the presence of the queen's court.

The queen grins, clearly amused by Dandelion.

"Can we start by discussing some details those of us from Vermillion aren't knowledgeable about?" Silas asks. "Like why send Callisto over to Vermillion?"

"It was my idea," I respond. "I… don't exactly have a title in court, but I've worked for Markson for quite a while. During the war it was extremely easy for me to slip in and out of things as a fae, and I was kind of an… informant, you'd say. I'd gather information and relay it. I was good at it. I didn't trust Markson in the slightest, but he said he'd pay me in food to do this or that and off I'd run. As I got older, I was often still able to do the same kind of thing. So this time, when I heard that he needed eyes inside the Vermillion court, I knew that I was the best candidate because I was fae and because I was good at weaseling my way into places I didn't belong."

"Why would you want eyes in the court? What's happening now that set things off? The war has been over for years," Silas says.

"It has. We have kept to our side and Vermillion has kept to theirs. And while the cruelty we once saw over there isn't as bad as it once was, we can still see it," Ainsley answers. "I believe the citizens of Vermillion have been manipulated for so long, they believe that life is fine even when they face hardships. We are well aware of the horror stories told about Langsten. Isn't your crew still fighting for more rights? I know they treat those of you who once fought against them before fighting for them like enemies of the kingdom, but is your faction still not fighting for your freedom?"

Silas hesitates before shaking his head. "I'm not… I pulled out after the war, even if they still want me to fight. Madden is slightly more involved, but I think even his involvement wanes as time goes on." He takes a deep breath. "But so why now? What made you want to spy on the court right this moment?"

"Because my seer had a premonition of another war. He was unable to discern who the war was with or if it even involved us, but with our southern and eastern borders flush against Vermillion, it was definitely something to look into."

"Callisto, what did you find?" Silas asks.

I shrug. "Well… weirdly little. Even sneaking around and listening in on meetings with King Samuel's advisor, he said so little about anything, and nothing relating to a prospective war. The advisor commonly wanted him to expand help and support the smaller failing cities or ports that had adequate trade, and the king seemed open-minded about it. It was things that you really wouldn't talk about or focus on if you were planning war. Like you would spread your army out or you'd be tightening your military hold, and instead they were focusing on yield and transport. And it wasn't even that they weren't willing to talk in front of me since I tailed them and snuck into meetings more than once. The only strange thing that went on is when he'd go into a trance and walk into this room that was way in the back where that mist-like stuff would appear. Then he'd go back to normal afterward."

"No one here recognizes the magic?" Ainsley asks. "Do you, Silas?"

Silas shakes his head. "No. The magic had a dark feeling to it, and it seems like he's somehow become connected to a necromancer… which has likely led many to believe that you are the one attacking Vermillion as a necromancer yourself, Your Majesty."

"So I feared." She's quiet for a moment. "I just can't wrap my mind around it. The magic to turn people to stone with mist… and the way the mist controlled him…"

"The stone thing could be the king's power, right?" Silas asks. "His magic deals with the element of earth. Whatever's happening to him could have increased that ability."He shifts in his seat, his eyes focused on the queen. "I'd gone back to the palace to see if I could find Callisto when I came across him. I didn't remain behind to fight him because my magic can do nothing against something that doesn't feel fear. Because of this, I can't fight against the mist or the king or those who seem affected by it."

"The king doesn't feel fear? Doesn't everyone feel fear?" I ask.

"I've never met a person who doesn't fear me when I use my magic unless they're dead," Silas says. "Either whatever is possessing him or whatever he's doing has made him basically untouchable to me. Seer, what exactly was your premonition?"

Anthony fiddles with the bread he'd taken. "It was… strange. Not as clear as my past premonitions. But in it, the sky was filled with a dark shadow… maybe this mist you two speak of. All around me were the dead, but it was impossible to see which side. It was pure slaughter as it seemed like the world itself was being torn apart."

"The world?" Silas asks with a raised eyebrow.

Anthony gives him a shake of his head. "I know. Strange, isn't it? It doesn't make sense to me either. But like… the ground itself was falling away, and the mist in the sky was crashing down. It truly felt like everything was falling apart."

"Everyone was dead?"

"Yes. Both sides. But the weirdest thing was that I couldn't focus on any aspect of it. It's why I can't give you clear details, but the one thing that I could focus on was a coin at my feet… this coin."

He holds out the coin that Ainsley had taken from me the previous night and sets it on its edge on the table. He holds it up with a finger, twirling it slowly so the dragon and then the raven can be seen.

"You're positive it's the same coin?" Silas asks.

"One hundred percent," he says as he slides it across the table to me, but before I can stop it, Silas sets his hand on it and pulls it over to himself.

"What is it?" I ask.

Anthony shakes his head. "I don't know. I can't tell what it is, and neither can anyone else in the court. But I know I'm not mistaken. There's something about this coin and it plays a role… just like every one of us at this table does."

"Who exactly gave you this coin?" Ainsley asks me.

I try to think back, but at the time my attention had been so fixated on Silas that I'd paid little attention to much else. It isn't like me to do that, and I know I shouldn't have, but it's too late now. "I… don't know. I'd never seen him before. He was an older man," I say as I look toward Silas for some help, not sure if there's possibly something more he knows about him that I'd missed.

"I was in line a few behind him. Beyond him taking a while to reach you, little else about him stood out to me," Silas says. "I should have paid more attention to him but… I'll admit, I was only paying attention… to you."

I don't know why that makes me feel so ridiculously good… but our fixation on each other has done nothing but leave us with more questions.

Dandelion looks up from where he's been stuffing his face. "Old fucker, eh? Cane, all wobbly and grotesquely irritating?"

"I… guess?" I say, not quite sure I had the same impression as him, but it does seem like Dandelion might not share our same feelings on people in general.

"He stopped by my crate before he went in."

"He did?" I ask in surprise. "You weren't exactly where the guests could see you. Did he say anything to you?"

"He sure did. He was all, ‘You look like you drew the short stick.'"

"Wait, did he realize you were a man?" I ask.

"Hell if I know. He wouldn't shut up. I threatened to tear his head off and he just laughed. Then he had the balls to try to give me a fucking pat. I tried ripping his hand off, but he was irritatingly nimble for a rickety old man," Dandelion says as he tears into some meat like he's trying to demonstrate how he'd been trying to tear into the old man. Needless to say, it makes me minorly concerned that my new pet is beyond evil.

"He didn't happen to, you know, give you his name?" Silas asks.

"Aye, we were having such a jolly good time while I was trying to kill him through the bars that he gave me his name, town, house location, and the names of every broad he'd slept with in the past hundred years. Sheesh! Of course he didn't! Papa, this man is a fool. Oh wait. Silas is evil. I probably shouldn't get on his bad side. I retract all former statements and switch them to a ‘no.'"

Silas is now glowering at Dandelion, who is giving him a smug look as he feasts. Then Dandelion takes some bread off Madden's plate, who looks at him in shock and yanks it back from him. They are now in a tug-of-war while the queen's court watches with fascination.

I hand him the bread off my plate; really, it's the least I can do after all the trauma I put him through.

"We have plenty more in the kitchen if you'd like another helping," Ainsley tells him with a sweet smile.

"Good, maybe it'll help me forget about having to wear clothes. We should all just be naked," Dandelion says as he scratches at the shirt with a look of discomfort.

I decide that maybe we should get back to the task at hand. "Silas… before, when we were talking about… what happened between you and the real prince, we didn't get into many details. Can you tell me more about that?"

"About why I killed him?"

"Yeah."

"Our seer saw it. It was destiny," Madden says. "Which is why I was so confused that he wanted to get close to you when I thought you were the prince. Like way to make life harder by being all sweet with someone before assassinating them."

"So you killed him because a seer saw it?" I ask.

Silas shakes his head as he watches me closely. "Not because of that, no. I killed him because he attacked me with the clear plan to kill me. I told you his soldiers were dead when I arrived, right?"

I nod. "Yeah."

Silas continues, "Obviously, I didn't know who he was as I walked up, but I saw someone wearing the royal crest surrounded by thirty or forty dead men and started to piece things together. Half of their mounts were dead, their guard dogs were dead, it was excessive slaughter. There were so many dead… and… I thought someone killed them and left him behind. Foolishly, I went up to him, thinking I was helping him… before I realized he was the one who'd killed them all."

"The prince did?" I ask in disbelief. The prince wasn't exactly known for his magic or his swordsmanship, so how exactly did he kill forty in such a short period of time?

"I… guess. I mean, I didn't see it myself, but when I went to ask if I could help him, he started laughing and came at me with a sword. When I saw the royal sigil on the hilt, I realized who he was. He left me no choice but to kill him. What did the king say about it? I didn't linger so I never got to examine the bodies, but I just struggled to understand how he killed them all. Even though the royal guard would never kill the prince, wouldn't they have had time to run? Did something make them stand there?"

I'd also been greeted with some of these questions when I showed up at the palace gate riding the prince's horse and wielding his weapon and family crest. "The king's tactician was also quite confused. He had similar thoughts and questioned me endlessly, but I played it off like I'd lost consciousness and couldn't tell what happened," I admit.

"Were they able to pin down what type of weapon killed them?" Ainsley asks.

"It seemed like a sword, but the whole situation appeared off. It was all quite confusing. What if someone did to the prince what has been done to the king?" I ask. "Taken over him or whatever has happened?"

"Do you firmly believe the king didn't do it to himself?" Ainsley asks.

I think about it for a moment, but I really feel like he didn't. "He's not a fantastic man, but he's not as cruel as the former king. He appears to be slowly making changes for the better… but I can't guarantee that he isn't the one who did this. I knew him such a short period of time."

Ainsley turns to Madden and Silas. "This seer you two know. Can we speak to her?"

"She'd never come over here," Silas says.

"You could speak to her through Markson's bird," Ainsley suggests. "I have some questions for her."

"I can try, but I have my doubts she'll respond," Silas says. "She's not overly… open to things."

Anthony turns to Silas with a hopeful look on his face. "If she agrees, I have a way of visually communicating with her, but it would require her to open up to us from her side."

Silas shrugs. "All we can do is try."

"Then let's call the meeting here for now and pick back up once we receive her answer," Ainsley says.

I notice her staring at something and glance over at Dandelion trying to nonchalantly stuff the remaining bread into his shirt.

I give her a little smile and usher Dandelion out as he tries to look indifferent while his shirt bulges in all these different places.