Glais sighed. “Evangeline, do not ask me questions if you do not want the answers. I will not lie to you but that means admitting that perhaps I am not the monster you think I am.”
Evangeline considered leaving then. He was telling her the truth and Glais was right. She had come to him to find out more, and when he gave the answers she didn’t like, or when he started to lose that monster edge she had placed against him, Evangeline would get defensive. She was clearly struggling and yet she continued to try. “Please, tell me.” She may not want to know, but she needed to know.
Glais was sure that she did not want to know but since she asked, he would be powerless except to comply. “When I bite, the excitement and the rush turns sexual. In the beginning, I was with Wick only for the bite. She was my friend and I could not perform anything like that with her.” Glais paused, giving Evangeline an opportunity to stop him but she seemed okay with this so far. “I believe we were thirteen or so, and after my feeding, she grabbed me through my pants. I was too shocked to stop her. That first contact ended with masturbation.” Glais hoped staying clinical would help Evangeline but the rainbow of expressions on her face made it seem that there was no easy way for him to explain this and spare her feelings. “The next time, it was more.”
Evangeline was glad for the lacking details however she was struggling with her own reactions only knowing the bare basics. She didn’t need details. Evangeline felt sickened by Glais taking advantage of Wick in any way. He claimed innocence that she had started this but Glais had said so himself that this effect was interchangeable due to the bite. Wick only initiated sex because of Glais’ bite. It seemed Glais was not willing to accept this. Evangeline did not feel it was up to her to argue the point. “How often?”
Evangeline tilted her head and Glais knew the look by now. She did not believe him. “Not every time. She was my friend Evangeline. It isn’t how you imagine it.” Glais rested his ankle on his knee and tried to work out why Evangeline was asking about this after reading his letter. He had hoped the story of the lace would woo her. Instead it had brought her to his chambers on a mission to destroy him further. “My relationship with Wick is complicated Evangeline. I do not think it is a conversation you want at this hour.”
Evangeline ignored his protests. She was here now and she needed closure on this before she could rest. Wick being so close all of the time, it was a constant reminder of the danger that Glais posed to her. “The first time you attacked her.”
He hated the word and Glais winced slightly as she used it but managed to keep eye contact. Glais nodded. “Yes?”
“Why did it affect Wick like it does?” Evangeline knew this was a sore topic. Wick had a theory but she wasn’t sure on it. Glais didn’t seem to know much more about his condition than Wick did but Evangeline was desperate to know.
“Evangeline, I do not know what kind of education you are looking for but some answers simply will not satisfy you, or fit the mould you have decided to place on me.” Glais rose from the seat, but Evangeline stayed sitting, watching him as he approached the fireplace. He simply needed space and yet he couldn’t bring himself to remove her from his room.
“Glais, how can I trust you not to do the same thing to me?” Evangeline asked his back, watching those firm muscles tense at the question.
Glais was concentrating on not exploding as the frustration built. Glais simultaneously needed to yell and beg her in the same breath. Evangeline was slowly sending him mad with her questions, and yet he knew none of this was her fault. Much like he had been, Evangeline did not have time to learn this curse slowly but rather was being forced to learn it all in a matter of a few conversations.
“I am not the same person I was then.” Glais had been impulsive and uneducated about his own cursed bloodline. He frowned trying to reign in his emotions because she could not know how painful this was to speak of. “I was ill-prepared for the force of the feeding. I did not know any better. Instinct made me move against my friend.”
Evangeline watched him struggle, and while it hurt her, somehow seeing him like this made her more willing to sit and listen. This was raw and real, and she could trust every word he said. Since finding out that his actions since her arrival had been some kind of backwards plan to save her, Evangeline wasn’t sure if anything Glais did was honest or further attempts to control her. “Tell me about it.”
Glais’ shoulders slumped in defeat. He grabbed at the metal poker that sat against the wall of the fireplace. Touching the logs, Glais said nothing as the sparks erupted from the log. “There are reasons Wick and I barely speak now Evangeline. I suggest you learn to respect our history.” He knew that she had not moved. She sat still in her chair watching him with cold eyes. Her stillness seemed eternal, and already the castle spoke of her ability to wait until you gave up the information that she so desired. Evangeline’s patience seemed to know no limits, and she would wait until there was no option but to speak.
It worked like a charm on Glais. “I was aware of my father’s condition. Not quite understanding how it all worked or why it was placed upon us, but I was aware. My mother thought I should wait until I was older and since I was still a child she believed they had time to speak to me at length. The desire was sudden. There was no warning.” Glais paused, feeling uncomfortable. “I know you find this difficult to believe Evangeline but I was only a child and yes Wick was a victim. We both were.”
He turned to face her. Illuminated by the fireplace, he seemed otherworldly and her silence came from a place of fear and not strength as she was powerless against him. “She was my first victim and I do not understand why it affected her body so much. There is nothing I can do for her but to allow her a comfortable life here in the castle.”
Evangeline rose her eyebrow, almost taken by his emotional output until the very last moment where she came to her senses. “A comfortable life? She is a servant.” She was quick to point out the flaw in Glais’ supposed good intentions.
“She asked for that position,” Glais growled out the words in her direction and Evangeline pressed back into her chair at the sudden look on Glais’ face. “Do you see why these questions are slowly sending me mad Evangeline? You know nothing, and what you think you know, it is undoubtedly influenced by fairy tales. I am not a prince you can save. This is not that clear cut. Wick could have any life she so desired and yet this is the one she wanted. I gave her what she asked for and still you hate me. I am at a loss with you Evangeline.”
Evangeline nodded, agreeing with him because she dared not fight him. “I am struggling to understand you, I know.” She tried to bring him back from that emotional place. He felt wild to her and she could never tell if his actions would prompt an attack. “Like you said, Glais, I am fighting to catch up on something thrust against me. No one will speak of this curse and you give me riddles.”
Glais laughed. Short and barking in nature before he shook his head at her. “No, I do not speak in riddles. You just believe every word I say means something else. My condition came out at a young age, unheard of before. Wick was the unfortunate victim. I mourn the life she might have had every day and yet there is nothing more I can do for her. I feed on many women, and yes that includes sex, but Evangeline it is not what you think it is. I feel no tenderness or protection towards these women.”
He threw the poker down, and as the metal scraped along the smooth stones, Glais crossed the room. Leaning over her, his hands trapping her wrists against the arm of the chair he continued. “You have taught me above all things Evangeline to fear the woman you love. I made a mistake and I can apologise but you do not want to hear it. I can offer you nothing but to apologise until the end of days. Even those you use against me. Do you want a monster? Should I be the man you have painted in your mind?” He asked her.
“Glais, you're hurting me.” She struggled against him but he had Evangeline well and truly trapped under his weight.
“This is what you want, correct? A monster? A beast?
A horrific frame of a man who desires nothing but your blood and your pain?” She cried out gently as Glais pinned her tighter and leant closer so his breath was hot on Evangeline’s face. Instinctively she turned her head to the side, exposing her throat. He pulled himself off her before they went further. “Leave.”
Panting, Evangeline did not need to be told twice. She raced from the room, pulling the door open and slamming it closed. She didn’t get far, however. Struggling to catch her breath Evangeline fell against the wall. Tears threatened her eyes but she wasn’t sure what was causing them. She wiped at them stubbornly with the back of her hand but it did nothing to stop them from reforming and clinging to her lashes.
Her breaths came fast and erratic, and Evangeline felt like she was about to suffocate although she had nothing to stop her from taking a full breath. It was like the air had been stolen from the space around her. Looking one way up the hallway, she turned the other and spotted a small window. Throwing herself towards it, she thrusted it open and gulped down the night air.
“I knew you would not last.”
Evangeline cringed at the voice, knowing who it belonged to before she even turned to face Luella. Of all the people to see at this moment, Evangeline did not want to see her. She almost hoped to see Glais had given chase, knowing he would save her from this woman but she was alone. Evangeline tried to stand a little straighter, but her chest was still compressed with a panicked chill that kept her from looking anything but pathetic.
Luella chuckled at her, enjoying the demoralised Evangeline as she struggled. She reached out and threw Evangeline’s hair to the side and exposed her neck. “As I suspected. One bite and you are ready to quit. Glais will be begging for my forgiveness before the sun is out.” Luella stepped into Evangeline. She took her chin in her fingers and forced Evangeline to look at her. “Fear not little princess. I shall keep your husband satisfied even after you are married. I perform the acts you never dare consider.” Luella tossed Evangeline away.
Evangeline fell back against the wall, hitting her head against the window edge but she said nothing as Luella walked away. For all of his shortcomings, and Evangeline felt like Glais had many, the obvious reasons he kept Luella around was lost on Evangeline. Someone who was willing to put her life on the line must be slim to come by, and yet surely there was someone else who could take her place. Anyone.
Evangeline sniffed and reached back to check her head. Bringing her fingertips back to her face, she saw there was no blood but it did not mean that she felt nothing. The point of impact was pulsing loudly and giving her the worst of headaches. Wincing, Evangeline attempted to stand but she didn’t get fair before her feet tangled over themselves and she found herself sitting down hard in the corridor.
Deciding that she needed rest, Evangeline crossed her legs and concentrated on staying with her back to the wall while it threatened to let her fall. Evangeline heard a slam from up the hall, and the walls seemed to vibrate with the force. She turned to look and couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her. Luella stood at Glais’ door, her mouth was stuck open in a silent protest from being denied.
Feeling eyes on her skin, Luella snapped to where Evangeline sat casually on the floor, leaning back on the wall. Evangeline smiled, only a hint of her pleasure at the scene. Stamping her foot Luella huffed at the closed door. She paused for a moment as if something might change Glais’ mind. Once it was clear he had no plans to allow her entrance Luella walked the other way. Pleased to see the other woman rejected Evangeline attempted to stand and this time succeeded. Her discussion with Glais might not have given her the closure she had imagined but seeing Luella dejected had lifted her spirits.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Evangeline had been instructed by Kyleigh to meet her in the gardens in the early afternoons. Evangeline was not excited by the prospect of doing so. Since Glais’ attack, his parents had been different with her. Kyleigh less so since there was so little she seemed to understand. Whatever she feared the day Evangeline had attempted to escape was long forgiven, or forgotten. Quintus, however, was quite the opposite, and when Evangeline was around, there was a feeling of caution as if she might run spooked from the room at a moment’s notice.
In truth, Evangeline had finally come to accept her fate as it had been written. Evangeline could not leave Braykith or Glais. With every passing day, it seemed all the more likely her parents couldn’t even come to Braykith for the wedding. What luck could she ever have in leaving it? So far there had been no official announcement concerning this, but the whispers of the rebel forces were being held all over the Kingdom. Her father would take all precautions but they could not manage to lose him. Evangeline understood however she felt the need for her parents more than ever before. It was too late to call off her engagement to Glais, she had long given up on that ever happening, but she just needed a friendly face in the crowd.
Standing in the fresh greenery, it was hard to believe it had been just weeks since the grass had shivered into nothing. Just the memory of it made her skin crawl in response and self-consciously she touched the side of her neck. The marks had faded but she never quite forgot how they had marked her for days. Even with her hair out, Evangeline had been cautious to keep her neck hidden because it embarrassed her.
Kyleigh waved and got Evangeline’s attention. Drawing her back into the moment instead of being caught in the past, Evangeline was quick to join her. Behind the Queen of Braykith came two of the soldiers that Evangeline recognised as her personal guards. Would Evangeline be forced to be accompanied by guards once she was married to Glais? She wasn’t sure how she would feel about that. Behind the guards, she spotted Thomas, his hands busy with a small statue. Now that was curious, and Evangeline stopped thinking of Glais and his condition and instead meet Kyleigh half way across the gardens.
“What is this?” Evangeline asked, gesturing to the statue.
“It is a small tradition of my family actually.” Kyleigh shrugged, looking down at the ground as if she was embarrassed but Evangeline smiled. “I took on almost all that Braykith has to offer however this little piece of my home means a lot.”
“This came from where you are from?” Evangeline asked and approached Thomas, taking the statue from him. It was made of stone, carefully carved into the shape of a person. There was a hole in its hand where a piece of paper was barely seen, and another larger hole in its chest where the heart would be. Evangeline turned it over in her hands carefully. She dreaded to drop it.
“It comes from Eoboven, yes.” Kyleigh smiled down at the figure.
“Where is Eoboven?” Evangeline asked, still turning the figure around and seeing the smaller details inscribed on the solid rock. It was so intricately described, the scribes delicate and seemingly impossible to manage such finery in jagged rock and yet they had managed to do just that. She did not know how to control her hand well enough to create such work and she knew no one else of such skills. Evangeline was impressed.
Kyleigh offered to take the statue and Evangeline quickly gave it up to her. Thomas started digging a hole while Kyleigh’s guards took their positions, casually keeping their eye on the borders and the Queen, who seemed oblivious. “We call this the Thosei statue. It is a gift to the bride when her wedding approaches.” Kyleigh wiped her hands over the statue. “My mother presented one to me and so I present one to you, Evangeline. I hope you don’t mind such a little tradition.”
“No please Kyleigh, share this with me. What is it for?” Evangeline encouraged her and was rewarded with a smile from the uncertain Queen.
Kyleigh knew it was silly to cling to this tradition since she was now a Braykith royal but she couldn’t bring herself to dismiss it. “In his hand, he carries a note. It is given to the spirits of the earth as the worms eat at the cloth it is written on.” Evangeline nodded and politely pointed to the other hole in the statue to keep Kyleigh speaking. “Ah, that carries a seed. It is believed if the seed survives, you will be blessed with ch
ildren. As many branches as the bush has by spring.” Kyleigh chuckled at the look on Evangeline’s face. “I do not think it is quite that literal, but a good growing tree is a positive sign of a strong family tribe.”
“Where is your bush?” Evangeline asked, looking around and hoping to spot it.
“It never grew until you arrived.” Kyleigh said and she handed off the statue to Thomas, who caught it while still balancing the shovel. Apparently they did not have the same fears that Evangeline had in holding it. Kyleigh lead the way over to the furthest point in the garden. “My room with Quintus is there, and so we planted our Thosei statue here. I cried for the first few months when nothing grew. Quintus told me it was superstition and meant nothing but you know what it is like. It might seem odd, but you believe in the fairy tales you grew up with.”
Evangeline looked at the garden now with its lush greenery and the showy flowers in bloom. She spotted the plant out of place with the other flowers. There was no other bush like it. “The seed comes from Eoboven?” Evangeline guessed.
“Yes. The Clovart plant.” Kyleigh stood with her hand behind her back, looking down at the bush that grew now without any stresses or a care in the world. “I suppose it is just superstition.”
Evangeline shook her head. “No. Your message was received and your plant grew. Braykith soil tried to stop it but that seed stayed there in the earth just waiting to show itself to you Kyleigh. I think it magical.”
Kyleigh wiped at her eyes with a finger and made a soft affirmative noise as if she couldn’t risk words. She feared that she might cry if she did attempt to thank Evangeline. Instead, she took her new daughter’s hand and braced herself for a moment. “Men will never understand the struggles we endure as their wives. Leaving all we know behind for a land and man who are unique and foreign.”
Those struggles seemed so small when compared to the Braykith kingdom’s curiosities, but Evangeline dare not mention that so obviously. Instead, Evangeline squeezed her hand back. “I would be honoured to continue this tradition with my own children should we have daughters. It will not be forgotten.”
Extol of Agnatic Dreams (The Extol Series Book 1) Page 30