Author's Note: This chapter was a bit of writing roller coaster. It was incredibly hard to continue writing after what I ended the last chapter with, and it wasn't until I was halfway through this one that I finally got into the writing groove. I don't know how good the writing quality is in this chapter - my guess is not that good, since that seems to be the trend for the last updates - but I promise the conversation that follows in next week's update will make up for the slow pacing.
Words: 1,475
Last Line(s): “I...I
wanted to know if you could tell me more about Ikach,” he
asked.
Now it was Kartiel who grew tense—Cass felt just as
uneasy at the mention of his name. “Why?”
“Because
I…” He took a deep breath. “I like his daughter.”
Chapter
18
Orpheus
loved Lira.
That was something that Kartiel knew, and something
that Cass should have known. As she laid in her bed and stared at
the ceiling above her – the diary now upside down on the ground –
Cass wondered how she hadn't noticed it sooner. She had barely known
Orpheus for even a day, but Kartiel's memories made her feel like she
had known him for an eternity. The way he had talked about Lira in
the library that morning had been far too personal.
But she
couldn't understand why he would fall in love with her.
She was
the daughter of the adviser who had killed Kartiel's father, and was
from a kingdom that had a tense relationship with Telorum. Orpheus
liking Lira and wanting to know more about her just didn't make sense
– wouldn't it have been better to fall in love with someone who
wouldn't turn him away?
She let out a sigh and sat up , memories
of laughter and smiles that made her heart melt flickering in and out
of her mind. She knew that love didn't work like that; it was stupid
to think that Orpheus could choose to fall in love with someone who
wouldn't cause so much heartache.
Her thoughts were interrupted
by the sound of someone knocking on her door.
She fumbled for the
diary, struggling to get a good grip on its spine in her panic. After
several failed attempts – and continued knocking – she finally
managed to pick it up. Her eyes scanned the room for the perfect
hiding place. When the knocking ceased, Cass impulsively shoved it
underneath her pile of pillows. She could only hope that no one would
find it there.
Cass hurried to her feet and opened the
door.
Orpheus was standing there.
“Hi,” she awkwardly
said.
“Hi,” he replied.
There was an uncomfortable
silence.
“They finished preparing dinner,” he finally said.
Though his face was hidden underneath his hood, she could tell he was
staring at her. “...Do you have a brush?”
She instinctively
raised a hand to her hair.
“...Do I have bedhead?” she
hesitantly asked.
He nodded.
Heat rose to her cheeks. “I
have a brush,” she managed to get out, retreating back into the
depths of her room. As she retrieved her brush from her backpack, she
caught a glimpse of herself in the nearby reflection. The sight made
her pause. Though her hair was the obvious flaw, it wasn't the only
thing that came to her attention. The way her red hair framed her
face made it look paler than it usually did, and there were thick
bags underneath her eyes. How long had those been there?
She tore
her gaze away from the mirror.
“Thank you for letting me
know,” she said.
“You're welcome.”
They fell into
another awkward silence as she carefully ran the brush through her
hair. It thankfully wasn't as wild as it could have been; she didn't
want to think about how long it could have taken to brush. But the
time it took was too long as it was, and Cass found herself filling
the silence with a hesitant confession.
“I saw you in my
dream,” she quietly admitted.
Orpheus stiffened in the doorway.
“What did you see?”
She placed her brush down on her bed.
“A
graveyard,” she said. “I don't know where. You were there with
Kartiel. I...I wouldn't have brought it up, but you mentioned
something and it feels wrong not to talk about it with you...”
e
took a deep breath.
“You were about to talk about Lira.”
His
posture relaxed, and he let out a tense sigh of defeat. “Then you
know?”
She nodded. “You like her.”
He didn't say
anything for the minute that followed; he just continued to stare at
her from the shadows cast by his hood. When he finally did speak, his
voice was much quieter than before. “What do you think?”
“I
don't think I can judge you,” she said. “I don't know why you
fell in love with her, but I..I know that love is unpredictable. I
won't ask you about Lira unless you want me to.”
“...Thanks.”
xXx
When
they stepped inside of the dining hall, the first thing that she
noticed was how expansive the room was. It was even bigger than the
throne room. Two tables ran parallel to each other down the length of
the hall; she couldn't count all of the chairs that lined each of
their sides. To the back of the room was an impressive throne that
mirrored the one in the throne room, but it looked far older than the
other one.
She scanned the tables for food and people, but found
none.
Both of the tables were completely empty.
“I don't
understand,” she said.
“Kartiel doesn't like to use this
room,” Orpheus said. He pulled in front of Cass, leading her
towards a small door off to the side. She followed, uncertain and
intrigued. Her hunger grew stronger as they approached. But Cass
couldn't help but glance back at the empty tables as they passed.
There was just something so sad about seeing them like that,
though she couldn't put her finger on why.
“Telorum hasn't had
good diplomatic relationships with the neighboring kingdoms in
years,” Orpheus continued, his voice quiet. “We rarely get
visitors here, and I don't think he likes how empty the room is with
just the two of us.”
He placed his hand on the doorknob and
opened the door.
The room that greeted her looked foreign yet
familiar. It could have been mistaken for her family's dining room –
a small table took up the majority of the relatively little room,
surrounded by just six plain chairs. There was nothing extravagant
about any of the furniture. Each piece was made of plain wood. The
table was covered in a simple white tablecloth with a golden trim,
and the most notable part of each chair was their dark purple seat
cushions.
And, unlike the other tables, this one was
occupied.
Kartiel was sitting at the head of the table, a book
carefully propped against the glass candle holder in front of him. He
didn't even notice that they were there – he just continued to read
and finger his locket. She let go of a breath she didn't know she had
been holding when she noticed how familiar the scene was; she had
done the same thing countless times when waiting for her family at
the dining room table.
Orpheus cleared his throat.
Kartiel
looked up.
Noticing the two, he abruptly closed the book and
placed it on the seat beside him.
Orpheus sat down in the empty
seat beside Kartiel. Cass started to head towards the seat at the
other end of the table, but then Orpheus grabbed onto the arm of the
chair beside him and pulled it out for her.
Casting a glance in
Kartiel's direction, she reluctantly sat down next to Orpheus.
She
was immediately hit by another wave of nostalgia. The cushion felt
just as soft as the ones back home, and the chair was roughly the
same size. She rested her arms on the smooth wood and pulled herself
in. Even though no one was talking, she felt more at ease than she
had felt the entire time she had been in Telorum. The illusion was
momentarily broken when plates full of steaming, delicious-looking
food suddenly appeared in the center of the table with a burst of
warmth.
“Does it always do that?” she asked,
incredulous.
Orpheus started to say something, but Kartiel
surprisingly beat him to it.
“It does,” he answered, a ghost
of a smile flickering across his lips. “One of our cooks is a
skilled general magic user – they always deliver the food to us
with a spell.”
Cass nodded; she was glad that the food wasn't
brought directly to them. She had only seen the cooks once when
Orpheus and her were raiding the kitchen for their makeshift
breakfast, and the thought of being served on like she had been in
Rey made her feel deeply uncomfortable.
Her gaze traveled to the
food.
After picking foods that her soul told her Kartiel liked –
unsure of what any of the others were – she waited for the other
two to pick their food as well. She only started eating once they
had. No one said anything for the first few minutes of the meal, but
Cass was alright with that. If she thought hard enough, she could
imagine that she was back home, seated at the dining room table on a
rare night where both of her parents were home in time for dinner.
And with them both an entire world away, she would gladly take
that opportunity.
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