@blue_topaz
I stared down at my feet, still not daring to speak. Andreas, growing increasingly concerned, nodded hastily. “Yeah. Um.”
I stared down at my feet, still not daring to speak. Andreas, growing increasingly concerned, nodded hastily. “Yeah. Um.”
I looked at Elle before sighing.
“Go,” I said to her. “Talk it out.”
(Bump.)
(Sorry, I went to sleep last night)
I shook my head. “It’s fine. It’s nothing.” It wasn’t nothing, but it wasn’t anything worth mentioning, either. I’d get over it.
I bent down to give her a small kiss on the forehead.
“You three need to talk it out,” I insisted, rubbing her cheek softly. “Come back to me once you’re done, okay?”
After a pause, I gave a small nod. “Alright. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”
Andreas cleared his throat awkwardly and headed for the door, looking over his shoulder to ensure that I was following.
Kaden’s POV:
In all reality, I didn’t know what we needed to talk about. It was awkward, and though we’ve known Elli—Elle for a long time… it felt like she was a totally different person.
“So…” I looked over at Andreas, hoping he had a way to start this conversation.
I spoke before my red-haired roommate could. “I don’t want you two to think of me as… different. I’m the same person. I didn’t… I didn’t make up a whole personality coming here, so…”
“It’s uh… it’s going to be a bit difficult thinking of you as more of a girl than a boy…” I stammered, rubbing the back of my head. “Sorry, this is awkward… I just want to say that we still think of you as our best friend and nothing will change that.”
I allowed my voice to slip up into its natural range, letting it sweeten and lose its fabricated roughness. “And I’m grateful for that. Thank you. I just—I don’t want you to think that I value the Prince more than you. You’re my best friends, and I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”
When she responded with her normal voice, I decided I liked it.
“We wouldn’t—we wouldn’t think that,” I answered. “Besides, Andreas and I are no better. You found out about the two of us by accident, too…”
“That’s different,” I protested, shaking my head. “I never expressed my feelings or acceptance of similar relationships. You couldn’t have gaged my reaction. And your lives were on the line, you were only being careful.”
I snorted.
“So was yours,” I pointed out. “More so than ours. They would have burned you had they found out. All of us were trying to be careful, and I don’t want any more secrets between us…”
“Colton would have had to watch…” I whispered under my breath, more to myself than to either of my roommates. “And I agree. No more secrets, I promise.”
I didn’t catch what Elle said under her breath, but I didn’t pay much attention after her promise. “C’mon, lets hug it out.”
Andreas enclosed us all in an enormous bear hug, which I gratefully sank into, sniffling a little. “Thanks, guys.”
I wrapped my arms around her, sighing due to Andreas’s hug and Elle’s frame. “Don’t mention it, Elle. We’re friends and we’ll always have your back.”
“This means a lot…” I murmured, exhaling through my nose. Warmth seeped through my chest. “So, you’re not upset with Colton anymore?”
I scowled.
“I definitely am,” I answered with a huff. “How dare he try to make us think he’s the bad guy when he’s a victim? Who does he think he is?”
“The Prince,” Andreas muttered, earning a quiet laugh from my direction. “He wanted to keep me away from him, so there were no… repeats of this morning.”
“Smartass…” I grumbled in Andreas’s direction. “What exactly… is going on with him? What happened this morning?”
I detached myself from the tangle of limbs, inhaling sharply. “Something happened to him… remember when he left for a week? Someone got a hold of him. Infected him with dark magic. She can take control of him when he’s weakened…. the first time it happened, it was my fault. The second time was this morning. He woke up and she was trying to take over, and he only managed to fight her off after he’d… half-strangled me.”
That was not good. That was seriously not good. “Why hasn’t he told the Healers? They could purify him. He could be free from whoever’s controlling him.”
“He can’t tell anyone. That’s part of the curse.” I swallowed. “And what do you think the King would do if the found out?”
I paled. “He wouldn’t kill his own son, would he?” I shook my head. “He may be a terrible king, but he’s a father first, isn’t he? And how did you know if he can’t tell anyone?”
"I didn't say kill," I amended, clearing my throat a little. "And he made me guess. But I already had clues, from what I'd seen before."
I sighed in relief and chewed on my bottom lip thoughtfully. "So… he'd basically disown his own flesh and blood because of something like this instead of helping…" the king was terrible–as if that hadn't been proven on numerous occasions. "So the only person who knows of this is you. And now it's Andreas and me. To be honest, I don't know how to feel about this…"
My hands balled themselves into fists, which I pushed into my pockets. "Everything will be fine. Colton and I will figure something out. We'll get the dark magic out of his system. You're not in danger from him."
I shook my head heatedly, knowing I worded my thoughts wrong. "That's not what I meant. I just mean… the only people who know how to help him are the ones that we need to keep this a secret from. And… I don't want you both doing this on your own. Andreas and I will learn ways on how to battle the magic. Maybe there's some sort of a technique that can neutralize the dark substance…" by now, I had become lost in my own thoughts. Maybe if I asked the Prince, he'd give us a pass to the Royal library. We could find so much information from there…
I merely nodded and shuffled my feet, clearly anxious. "Alright… thank you. Both of you. This means a lot."
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