Possession

by Samantha Britt

  “So, you officially serve a member of the royal family now?” Jasper gestured to my identifying uniform. “What happened to working as a castle healer? Did you lose the position after the fire?”

  I read the real question from his clever eyes. Jasper wanted to know if Prince Brion had somehow forced me to give up my healer work after his outburst in the barracks.

  I shook my head. “No. I was sick, and my healer spot was given to someone else.” The statement was half true. I had been sick before Jona’s companion ceremony; it’d been a result of smoke inhalation from the barrack’s fire. Lin’s rebel involvement simply sealed my fate as the princes’ new secretary.

  “Who do you work for?” Qwell asked. “Is it Princess Cienna? I’ve heard you are close with her.”

  My brow lifted, but Jasper anticipated my question. “I’ve already told you, Lissa. People talk about you.”

  But not about my new position, I supposed. That seemed strange.

  “I’m the princes’ secretary,” I said evenly. “At present, I’m here working for Prince Brion.”

  “Really? I would have guessed Prince Finn. I’ve heard how he stares at you everywhere you—Ouch! What was that for?” Jasper rubbed his bicep where I’d pinched his skin.

  “Can you not spread rumors?” I hissed. I nodded at the several pairs of eyes watching our interaction with interest.

  Jasper continued to rub his arm like a wounded animal while Qwell chuckled at his expense.

  “Nothing is going on between me and either of the princes.” I drove my point home. “I’m their secretary. That’s all.”

  “Well, that’s good to hear.”

  I removed my reproachful gaze from Jasper. “Why?”

  Qwell grinned, but a bashful blush bloomed over his rugged features. “Nothing. Never mind.”

  There was no way I’d drop the subject.

  “Please tell me.”

  I was stunned when Qwell replied, “You know.” Nervous, he ran a hand over his short hair. “You’ve always been pretty. I remember how the younger guys talked about you in Caldiri.”

  “In Caldiri?” Jasper interrupted. “You mean here, too. Right?”

  Still blushing, Qwell said, “Sure. Yeah. Point is, I was just joking when I said it was good to hear nothing is going on with the prince.”

  I still didn’t get it. How was it funny?

  Seeing my continued confusion, Jasper exaggerated, “All Caldirian men prayed to the gods that you wouldn’t be recruited.”

  I frowned. “Why?”

  The look Jasper gave me could only be described as one a mother gave a naïve child. “Because they wanted to marry you, of course,” he said without hesitation. “Though, all of us thought Jem would snatch you up before any of us had a chance.”

  I sucked in a breath and choked on my saliva. Coughing, I said, “Y-you have got to… b-be kidding.”

  Qwell joined in and laughed with Jasper. “It’s true,” he confirmed. “But don’t worry, you weren’t the only one. Lorie was a favorite, too.”

  That I believed. My younger sister was the prettier of the two of us, and I’d witnessed several boys her age fawning over her, trying to get her attention.

  But aside from Hyde, none of the young men in Caldiri had showed me even the slightest attention. I said as much to the men beside me.

  “That’s because you and Jem were inseparable. No one thought they had a chance,” Jasper told me. He and Jem were friends. Didn’t he know there was nothing going on between us?

  My feelings shifted from embarrassed to flattered and back to embarrassed. I didn’t know what to say to deflect the attention away from me

  “What is going on here?”

  I spun around to face Prince Brion. He stood with his feet apart and arms crossed, morphing back into his dark and ominous persona.

  But I wasn’t afraid like I used to be. “Prince Brion. These are Caldirian recruits. You’ve met Jasper, and this is Qwell.” Both men bowed to the prince.

  Prince Brion kept his posture rigid as he said, “My afternoon meetings are about to begin. Your services are needed.”

  “Of course.” I aimed to sound polite. Without thinking twice, I stepped forward and hugged Jasper. “It was good to see you.” Releasing him, I embraced Qwell next. “I’ll be in touch.”

  I stepped towards the prince and eyed his stiff shoulders. He stared at my friends behind me, eyes full of menace. “Prince Brion?”

  The flaming onyx eyes swung to me.

  I frowned and turned my head away, unsure of what could have caused his anger. “Should we go?”

  He grunted and then ambled out of the mess hall. With one final wave to my fellow recruits, I hurried after him, struggling more than usual to keep up with his quick pace.

  I thought about asking what bothered him, but I bit my tongue. The prince may have given me permission to call him by his first name, but that hardly made us friends. Things were going well enough between us, and I didn’t want to risk ruining our tense peace by asking unwanted questions. I followed the irritated draekon in silence.

  I acted as his secretary for the rest of the afternoon, and when we returned to the castle and he still hadn’t spoken to me, I contented myself to spend the rest of the evening in my room. There was no way I’d be the one to address the unusual tension that had developed between us since the prince found me in the mess hall.

  Why should I? It wasn’t like I had done anything wrong.

  My stubbornness could rival Lorie’s on my worst day.

  10

  My familiarity with Jasper and Qwell costs me.

  I was back to working in the library the next day, deciphering the tedious history book. Prince Finn told me his brother had been called to check on the state of the soldiers within the Royal Forest, but I doubted it. I hadn’t set eyes on the draekon since the previous evening, and I suspected he was avoiding me.

  I could only speculate why.

  Sensing my irritation, Prince Finn tried to cajole me into polite conversation. He even offered to eat breakfast with me, but I politely refused. I wouldn’t have been able to conceal the subject of my frustration.

  If Prince Brion’s actions had something to do with me speaking with Jasper and Qwell, he needed to get over it. Just because I worked for him didn’t mean I couldn’t have friends. I’d been lonely since Lorie left, and I made the mistake of abandoning my kitchen friends. Now, I feared their friendship lost.

  I wouldn’t let Brion’s grumpy behavior dictate my actions. I was still my own person, recruit, or no recruit.

  I’d snatched up my notes and history book and stomped into the library, hoping work would distract me from my anger.

  Unfortunately, the plan failed.

  Irritated by the confusing wording of the section in the book titled “Shen Fadeyrs,” I let my forehead fall onto the page, sighing.

  “Can I be of assistance?”

  The page tried to stick to my forehead as I looked up, but I detached myself before the delicate paper tore. A human male stood across from me, observing the text on the table. His black robe matched the master librarian’s, but he didn’t have any of the gold embellishments the draekon had. His robe was cinched in with an ordinary brown rope.

  “Are you a librarian?” I asked. I’d thought only draekon were librarians. Most of the literary works were written in draekonian.

  “An assistant,” he revealed. He held out a hand to greet me in human fashion. “My name is Cris.”

  I shook his hand and tried to determine his age. He looked no older than mid-thirties. “I’m Amelissa.”

  “I know.” My notoriety had reached every corner of the castle. He returned his attention to the book. “Do you need help?”

  I sighed. “Yes, but it’s written in draekonian.”

  “I read draekonian.”

  My eyes widened. “Oh. I’m sorry. I just thought…” I realized my assumption that no humans read draekonian was wrong—just like everything
else I’d grown up thinking. “Never mind. Yes, I need help.”

  His robe swayed as he moved to sit beside me. “May I?”

  I slid the book towards him.

  Cris started reading the page I’d stopped on. I waited patiently, picking up my quill to be ready to write down anything he told me. I stared at the side of his face, wondering at the length of his dark hair. It was twisted into a thick knot at the back of his head.

  He flipped the page and stopped when he reached the end of a paragraph. “You are studying draekon prophecies?”

  I shrugged. “I suppose. Prince Brion asked me to take notes on the text. I think he wants me to learn more about draekon history.”

  Cris nodded. “This is a very good book for that. It highlights all of the major events, but you do not speak draekonian, correct?”

  “Correct,” I repeated.

  “Well, that certainly makes things more difficult,” he said lightly.

  I chuckled. “Just a little bit.”

  “Hold on.” Cris stood. “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the sea of aisles. I moved the book back towards me and stared at the fancy calligraphy on the page. Three lines caught my attention.

  Ny Mooer Fadeyrs.

  Cur Jerrey er nish.

  Custey gliminee.

  How had I not noticed them before?

  There were more lines written beneath the familiar text, but I was unable to translate them before Cris returned.

  I looked up and saw he held a book. When he drew closer, I saw the title was written in the common tongue, Fundamentals of Draekonian Grammar and Pronunciation.

  Cris held the book out. “This should help you master draekonian.”

  I accepted the offer. “Thank you.” I pointed to the three lines I’d seen when I snooped in Prince Brion’s office. “Do you know what this is?”

  He turned his head to look. “Yes. That’s the cursed lovers prophecy.”

  “That sounds… ominous.”

  Cris sat down. “In some ways, it is.”

  When he didn’t elaborate, I asked, “What does the prophecy say?”

  He scanned the page before. “Roughly, it translates to, ‘Hear this great prophecy. Evil comes to an end at the hands of the cursed lovers. One brings darkness, the other brings light. Fated souls create those with ancient gifts, the perfect balance to restore the days of old.’”

  I waited for him to continue. “That’s it?”

  “Yes.” He leaned away from the book.

  “That doesn’t exactly sound like cursed lovers,” I pointed out. Surely, ending evil wasn’t considered a bad thing. “It sounds like they are actually blessed.”

  Cris shrugged. “Prophecies have many interpretations. What you see as a blessing, others view as a curse.”

  Begrudgingly, I acknowledged the wisdom of his words. “Who makes the prophecies?”

  “No one anymore. But before the draekon were forced to leave their home continent, Seers used to exist. They guided draekon society and advised kings and queens on their rule. Their prophecies and insight were revered in the old draekon world.”

  “What happened to them?”

  “Elves infiltrated their sanctuary during the last draeko-elven war. They were all killed.”

  “Gods.” I shivered, chilled to hear of such violence. No wonder relations between the two races were still strained after so many years. It was hard to forget that level of bad blood. “That’s terrible.”

  “Yes,” Cris agreed. “Fortunately, King Roderick and the elves are in peace negotiations. Let us pray to the gods that there will never be such violence between them again.”

  I was surprised he knew of the peace negotiations. I’d heard about Lord Erwin’s reasons for being at Court from him directly, but how did Cris, a librarian’s assistant, learn of the plans?

  “How do you know all of this?”

  “I serve Master Olek,” he named the master librarian, “and he serves on the king’s council. The Council has spent the last two years working with the elves, but huge progress was made when the elves agreed to send an ambassador. Many are hopeful the negotiations will be ending soon with favorable results for both parties.”

  “What, exactly, are they negotiating?” I’d learned from Lord Erwin that he wasn’t in Draek to negotiate lifting the curses on the draekon, so what else could King Roderick want? Cris seemed open to sharing information, and I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to learn more without needing to ask a mischievous elf or a mysterious draekon.

  “Trade, mostly. The two lands can benefit from opening their ports to one another, but there are many things to figure out. King Roderick and King Aquin are proceeding with caution to ensure their people benefit from whatever deals are struck.”

  I shook my head, mystified. “It’s hard to believe King Roderick is willing to move forward peacefully. How can draekon forgive the elves for trying to make their people extinct?” The second of the two curses laid on the draekon prevented them from having children with one another. Now, only half-draekon could be brought into the world. I wouldn’t be able to overlook such a crime.

  Cris cast me a sideways glance. “Well, it’s not like the draekon were completely innocent.”

  He’d peaked my interest. “What do you mean?”

  “The elven princess.” His tone was leading, like he expected me to know what he was talking.

  “I’ve never heard of her.”

  “Really?” His lips turned down. “She’s pretty famous. Princess Lassandra was the reason the elves bestowed the second curse.”

  I’d always believed the second curse was levied because elves hated the draekon and were upset they thrived on their new continent. It was eye opening to hear the draekon might have done something to warrant their enemies’ cruelty.

  “What happened to her?”

  “No one knows for sure, but the elves are convinced draekon kidnapped her.”

  That was a huge accusation. “Why would they think that? Do they have proof?”

  Cris shook his head. “Rumors say King Aquin received a ransom request, but he’s never verified it so far as I know. And since the elves only enemies are the draekon… it seems pretty obvious they would be the ones responsible.”

  I understood why the elves would assume the draekon were responsible for their princess’s abduction, but unless there was absolute proof, not just alleged rumors, the elves were wrong to retaliate in such a drastic and destructive way.

  “Why would draekon abduct the princess?”

  “My guess would be to try and leverage the elves to lift the curse on the draekon’s homeland,” said Cris.

  The answer seemed reasonable enough, even if it was shortsighted. The moment the princess was returned, the elves could go back on their deal and enact an even more debilitating curse.

  Before I could ask another question, a voice interrupted, “Amelissa?”

  Without realizing it, I’d leaned closer to Cris, enthralled by the information he’d shared. Hearing my name, I sat back and looked towards the newcomer.

  “Prince Finn?” I glanced around me, trying to see what would have brought the prince to the library. I pushed back the chair and got to my feet. “Is something wrong?”

  Beside me, Cris scrambled to his feet and bent over in a deep bow. “Your Highness.”

  The prince waved a hand at the assistant librarian, but his eyes were focused on me. “Nothing is wrong. I just wanted to check on you.”

  “Check on me?”

  “Yes.” He cleared his throat, flicking his eyes to Cris before they returned to me. “You seemed out of sorts this morning. I wanted to make sure you are all right.”

  “Oh.” I wanted to kick myself for questioning him so casually. I knew better than to act familiar in public. There were already enough rumors flying around. “I’m fine.”

  “Good.” He nodded. “Very good.”

  The three of us stood there awkwardly.

  “I should
return to my work,” Cris said quickly. “If you need assistance in the future, I will be more than happy to help.” He lowered his head to me, then the prince, and disappeared into the depths of the library.

  I watched him go, planning on taking him up on his offer as soon as I had the chance. I wanted to learn more about the mysterious abduction of the elven princess.

  “Did I interrupt your work?” Finn asked, drawing my attention.

  “Not at all,” I lied. “It is kind of you to come see me. I’m sure you’re busy with… whatever kingdom business you do all day.”

  Prince Finn laughed. “It’s not a bother. Besides, I wanted to ask if you’d like to have dinner with me this evening. Before you decide to run into your room and vanish for the night.”

  I grinned, lowering my face to try and hide my embarrassment. “I didn’t vanish.” Even though I definitely did.

  He laughed again. “If you say so. Would you like to have dinner with me? It’s been some time since we’ve had the chance to really talk.”

  I couldn’t think of one time where we really “had the chance to talk,” but I kept that thought to myself. The request caught me off guard, but I didn’t consider it odd. Prince Finn had always been friendly and more prone to kindness than his brother. I didn’t doubt my earlier behavior had concerned him.

  “That would be nice,” I responded politely, convincing myself he was simply worried about my wellbeing.

  Prince Finn smiled, revealing straight, white teeth. I forced myself not to compare the feature to his father and the eerie smile I’d seen him use while I was in his study. “Wonderful. We can eat in our apartments. What time works for you?”

  “Uh.” I glanced around us, wondering why he was asking me about my availability. I wasn’t the one who helped rule a kingdom, after all. “Seven?” That was when dinner was served in the Court dining hall.

  “Seven it is.” He didn’t drop his smile. “I look forward to it.”

  I laughed, self-conscious and unsure how to react to his eager expression. I relied on my manners to fill the silence, “Thank you, Finn. I’m looking forward to it as well.”