Lucas’s brown eyes narrow in a look of loathing. Even after the torture session he just endured, he responds to Xavier with attitude. “If the girl you love knew what you did here, she wouldn’t have anything to do with you. You’re a horrible person.” He spits at Xavier’s feet as he wrinkles his nose.
Xavier’s fist draws back, and he punches Lucas. I feel the strike across my heart. Lucas is right. How could I ever want a man who does that to people?
Pounding at my door wakes me. I look over at my window and realize the sun is just rising. After the dream I just had, as well as my late night with Alizon and Xavier, I feel like I’ve barely slept.
“You have to be joking, this better be life or death,” I groan. Turning my head toward the door, I yell not too nicely, “What the hell do you want?”
“Rosalyn Addison Cholmondeley! You open this door right now before I blow it open!”
Oh, shit. Mother. I jump off my bed and run to my door, unlocking it and throwing it open. Not only is my mother standing there, but so are Xavier and Alizon. Xavier is the last person I want to see after last night. He has a lot of explaining to do about my brother and what he was doing to Lucas. As they enter my chamber, I feel like they’re invading my privacy. This is supposed to be my safe space. I sigh, this is just the way I want to start out my morning. Bring on hell day, part two.
Swearing under my breath, I put my hands on my hips. “Yes, everyone, come right in.”
I make sure to put as much sarcasm in that statement as I can. Since Xavier is the last one to enter, I slam my door while sticking up my middle finger at him. A hand whips across my cheek. FUCK! That hurt.
“Watch your mouth, young lady!” My mother glares at me. Well, I guess I had to get on her bad side at some point.
Straightening my nightgown, sugar drips from each word I say. “What can I do for you, Mother?”
She paces in front of me, and I wonder what has made her so upset. If it’s about last night, I’m not the one to blame. That’s all on the two imbeciles standing with us. Alizon and Xavier should have kept their powers to themselves and me out of their war. I prepare myself for the inquisition that’s about to take place.
“Do you want to explain why you allowed your sister to torture Xavier with his own power, and then punched her in the face?” She regards me with shrewd eyes. “Also, why would you be carrying on in the corridor, chasing after Xavier?”
“The only thing I’ll take responsibility for, Mother, is punching Alizon because she was torturing Xavier to death. All the punch did was stop her because I couldn’t get through to her.” I realize I can’t stay calm through this explanation because being blamed for the situation is preposterous. “What did you want me to do, allow her to continue to torture Xavier with his own power?” I ask her flippantly. When she starts to answer, I continue. “Now I’m in trouble not only for punching her, but also for not putting a stop to my older sister not being able to control her own anger?” I cross my arms as I shake my head. “This is ridiculous.” Once again, she tries to talk, but I hold my hand up and stomp my foot. “Xavier had everything that happened last night coming because not ten minutes before he was making out with you in the corridor by the throne room, he was in here, holding me in his lap and telling me we would figure everything out.”
Staring at the ground, I find the strength to continue as my hands start to shake. “You want to know the other thing I found out last night? I had an older brother. I guess we all have a lot of secrets. Maybe we can all sit down and share them. Starting with how Xavier likes to go and torture people in other kingdoms. I bet you guys didn’t realize my powers would come and bite you in the ass, did you?” I’m panting at the end, and a single tear makes its way down my cheek. None of these people are who I thought they were. Nausea churns in my stomach.
My mother is breathing hard through her flared nostrils, and I know I’ve probably pushed her too far, but my temper got the best of me. They had no right to blame me for what happened last night.
When I look at Xavier, his eyes are wide. I almost chuckle. If they were any wider, they’d pop out of his over-inflated, egotistical head. I’m wondering what he’s scared about the most, the fact that I know about how he tortures people, or me letting the cat out of the bag about him being in my chamber and holding me in his lap. The way I see it, he had it coming. Don’t put the blame for your mistakes on me. Popping my hip out, I again cross my arms and give him the smuggest look I can muster.
He looks at my mother, exclaiming, “Your Majesty, I would never do such a thing. She’s like a daughter to me. You should realize that she’s lying to you to get out of trouble.”
Hurt slices through my heart and tears sting my eyes. The trust in our relationship chips away a little more. Alizon was trying to contain a laugh but then her face transforms into a mask of anger. She turns to Xavier and then looks at my mother. “Mother, Rosalyn isn’t responsible for what happened yesterday. My actions are my own. Honestly, I believe everything she says. Rosalyn isn’t known to lie. Xavier, on the other hand. All that comes out of his mouth are lies.” She steps to me, puts her arm around me, and whispers, “I have your back, sis.”
The one person that hasn’t spoken yet has waited until last. She slowly makes her way to me and grips my chin forcefully. “Rosalyn, your puppy love for Xavier has gone too far. When are you going to learn that he will never return your feelings? You’re a little girl trying to play in an adult world. It’s time for you grow up and let go of him.” Her eyes slice through me as she hisses, “To address the fact that he tortures people, you will keep that to yourself or find yourself in the dungeons being the one who is tortured. Do I make myself clear?”
Pinching my lips together I respond, “Yes, ma’am.” She lets go of my chin and stalks out of my chamber with Xavier on her heels. The thumping in my chest slows as soon as the door slams behind them. Alizon moves to me as my lower lip starts to wobble and the first tear falls down my cheek.
“Don’t let him have that kind of control, Rosalyn. Don’t cry for him.” She strokes my cheek and pulls me to her chest.
The thing she doesn’t realize is that he is my first love. When he denied me the way he just did, he put the first splinter in my heart. I’ve spent my whole life hoping that something would happen between Xavier and me. And now, when we’ve finally started getting closer, he’s gone. Wiping my eyes, I let fury take over.
Shoving her back so I have some space, I sigh heavily. “Who had the bright idea to involve, Mother?”
In a thick voice, she says, “I didn’t tell Mother, Xavier did. I woke up outside your door, and Mother and Xavier were already there.”
When she says this, my frustration deflates. I wring my hands. “I’m sorry for pushing you away. I don’t know what happened, and I’m so frustrated and hurt. It’s unfair that this happened, Allie. I want to turn back time and make yesterday go away.”
I walk over to one of the chairs by my window and sit down. Looking out, I watch the sun rise over the snow-covered landscape. As the sun hits it, the snow twinkles. It looks beautiful and peaceful out there, unlike the war zone inside my brain.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Alizon take the other chair. She clears her throat to get my attention.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on inside your head? You somehow know about Benjamin and the fact that Xavier tortures people in other kingdoms. I would really like to know how you know those things if you’re willing to talk about them.” She folds her hands in her lap as she patiently waits for me to respond.
Letting out all the air in my lungs, I realize I’m in for a long talk. “First off, I had a vision last night. Xavier was torturing someone named Lucas. It was horrible to watch, Allie.”
She leans forward in her chair and crosses one of her legs over the other. “Well, at least I can talk to you about this without having to go against Mother’s orders. It’s interesting you saw Lucas. I didn’t realize Xavier tortured h
im.”
“Is Lucas someone important?”
She chuckles. “You could say so, but don’t ask me who he is. I’m not allowed to tell you.” She looks at me seriously. “I’ve been trying to explain for a long time what kind of man Xavier is, and you’re now seeing it for yourself. I’m not going to try to force you into anything anymore. It’s up to you to make a decision, but I hope you make the right one. Now, who told you about Benjamin?”
My eyebrow goes up. “Benjamin?”
“Our brother, Rosalyn,” she states, her tone dry.
I take a relieved breath. “I’m happy you aren’t brushing off the fact that I brought him up.”
She nods her head. “Who told you, Rosalyn?”
What I’m about to tell her is probably going to sound crazy, but I need to tell somebody.
“You did, Alizon.”
She frowns at me. “No, I didn’t. I never talk about him, and I’m not allowed to tell you.”
I guess it’s time I tell somebody what’s happening.
“Allie, something started happening yesterday. I put my hands on someone and could see pictures or hear thoughts. Last night, when you were torturing Xavier, you kept saying in your head that he killed your little brother.”
Allie’s face lights up with a smile. “You’re getting another power.”
In an uncertain tone, I ask, “What do you mean?”
“Rosalyn, what you just explained is the beginning stages of telepathy. You’re getting another power.”
I’m stunned. I don’t know what to think about this, but I think I like it. A smile spreads across my face.
Carefully, I tuck a piece of my curly hair behind my ear. “Allie, will I always have to touch people in order to hear them?”
She shakes her head at me. “You didn’t pay attention to any of your lessons, did you?”
I give her a sheepish look. “I didn’t think I’d get another power.”
“Okay, there’s a lot you could do with telepathy. It depends on how strong you are with this power. Right now, you must use touch, but as you get stronger, you won’t. The stronger Witches can manipulate people’s minds, but you need to be careful not to abuse that part of the power. It’ll just take time to see how strong you become.” She gets an evil smile. “You should keep this from Xavier and mess with him.”
Huffing out a breath, I reply, “Allie, you realize keeping it from him won’t be that hard, right? We aren’t talking to each other anymore.”
Alizon sighs heavily. “You two have never stopped talking to each other. I don’t see that lasting for very long.”
Leaning forward I roll my eyes toward the ceiling. “Okay. Can I ask you about Benjamin? What happened to him?”
She stares down at her hands. “Benjamin’s a hard subject for me to talk about, but I’ll try.” She takes a shaky breath. “Benji was my baby brother. Like you, I helped raise him. When he was barely crawling, Xavier—.”
My chamber door bursts open and slams against my dressing table. Alizon and I jump from our chairs, ready to fight. When we see Scarlett sauntering in, we both look at each other. My patience with people has officially run it’s course. What is it with everyone bursting into my room this morning? Especially this whore.
Scarlett is my nemesis, and, like Lawrence, has had it out for me for as long as I can remember. Her mother is an adviser to mine, and Scarlett thinks she’s important.
She flings her wavy, obsidian hair over her shoulder and glares at me with chocolate-brown eyes. “Rosalyn, you better get your butt to training so I can beat it. Lawrence is about to come and get you,” she goads, using her perfect, innocent smile to piss me off more.
I fly across the stone floor, but Alizon grabs me around the waist. “Don’t let her egg you on.” She then turns to Scarlett and says, “Get out, Scarlett, before I make you.” I struggle against her, and my nails cut into my palms.
Scarlett hurries out of the room as Alizon hisses in my ear. “Don’t let her get inside your head. You need to focus on training. She did this on purpose because she knows she can’t beat you otherwise. Get dressed. I’ll go down and distract Lawrence until you get there. Just hurry.” She runs from the room, closing the door behind her, leaving me to dress quickly.
Grabbing the leather training gear I stole from the training room, I decide it’s time to cause a stir and rebel. It may not be proper attire for a princess to wear, but I’m sick of being the good girl and being screwed over for it. I pull up the leather pants, which are thankfully already broken in. I mean, I’ve already made my mother furious with me, I might as well do it right and push her to the edge. Just to make sure I fall within the royal guidelines, as she puts it, I grab a red tunic. My sleeves gather at my wrists and my breasts swing back and forth underneath. I add a leather vest over the tunic, which pushes my breasts up. My black boots lace over my leather pants and my braided black hair is styled into a bun on top of my head. The whole world is going to stop when I walk into the training room. Today is going to be a great session.
Chapter Four
Xavier
I fly out of Rosalyn’s chamber, wondering how I’m going to fix the problem she caused when she opened her mouth. She created a mess I have to clean up. I’ll have to begin with her mother.
Andreya whips around. “I’m only going to tell you this once, Xavier. Keep your hands off Rosalyn. We already discussed this. You are too old for her and I will not have the two of you together. I don’t know what yesterday was, but if I find out you were holding her in any way, there will be hell to pay.” She storms down the corridor and out of sight.
I’m doing the best I can to keep seeing Rosalyn, but if she has another episode like this morning, it’s going to be impossible. I have gone to extreme lengths to be with her and I wish she could see that. In my heart, I know she’s supposed to be with me, so why would she have a vision of Lucas? It’s going to push us farther apart, and I can’t have that.
My feet quickly carry me down the corridor when I see Scarlett coming my way. She’s nothing but bad news. Lawrence has had her under his wing for far too long, and it shows. He’s persistently criticized and held a grudge against my girl since she was little, and I’ve been doing everything I can to protect her from him. After seeing Scarlett, I realize today is training day, so I make my way farther into the castle where all the training rooms are. On the brief occasions I’m home, I look in on Rosalyn’s training sessions to make sure she’s protected. She hasn’t hit the age of maturity yet, which means she can die during a training session. And Scarlett has been doing her best to accomplish that for the past six months. My muscles cord because I know that Lawrence stops it, but only right before that happens. He knows he’ll be killed if something happens to the crown princess. It will be his life he forfeits.
I’m hiding around the corner when I see Scarlett walk in, proceeded by Alizon. It takes a few minutes before I see Rosalyn. She is beautiful. She strides toward me in tight leather, showing off all her curves. My lips pinch together, and I have an internal battle of wills. Everything in me is telling me to confront her and make her put on something else. She’s only mine to look at, and I don’t like that Lawrence will see her.
There’s an echo in the corridor as the door to the training room closes, and I finally come out of my hiding place. When I reach the door, I hear Lawrence’s harsh voice. “I want a clean training session. There will be no magic usage. This is all about hand-to-hand combat. Scarlett and Rosalyn, you’re up.” That’s the biggest crock of bullshit I’ve heard. The only way Scarlett can beat Addy is with her magic. Addy’s defense has become superior because she hasn’t developed powers other than her visions.
I’m lost in my thoughts when I hear Rosalyn cry, “What the hell! I thought you said no magic.” Forcefully opening the door, I run in. The smell of sweat overwhelms the room. Rosalyn is inside a ward on a red mat with Scarlett, and she left herself wide open for a punch. My girl knows better, and I’m sure Law
rence distracted her on purpose. Rosalyn must have quickly regained her focus because, when Scarlett goes to punch her again, she blocks her and knees her in the stomach. I smile when I see Scarlett double over in pain.
Scarlett backs up quickly and throws a punch, but it’s blocked by Rosalyn’s arm. I watch them go back and forth. Rosalyn delivers an amazing roundhouse kick, knocking Scarlett to the floor. I couldn’t be prouder of her. Rosalyn flies back against the ward, and I know that things are about to go downhill. Scarlett slowly gets up and wipes the blood off her chin while walking toward Rosalyn with a slight limp. She delivers the first blow. “I’m going to thoroughly enjoy killing you.”
She punches Rosalyn’s stomach and her face. Scarlett starts spouting things that make absolutely no sense. “You think I’m going to sit back and let you take everything from me? I am going to ruin you and enjoy doing it. You are nothing but poison to everyone around you.”
Rosalyn’s head rolls forward, and I know I need to stop this. Sprinting across the room, I shatter the ward before throwing Scarlett against the wall.
Glaring at Alizon, I growl, “Alizon, check on Rosalyn.” She should have stopped it.
I’ve barely registered that I’m across the room until I’ve got my hand wrapped around Lawrence’s throat, lifting him up. I’ve had enough of this, and he’s going to know it. My hand tightens, and he turns blue. Tapping my foot, a sadistic smile spreads across my face as I see his face scrunch up when I loosen my grip. “I’ve warned you about this, Lawrence, multiple times. And now I’m going to make sure your prodigy suffers. It’s going to be your fault because you’ve allowed her to hurt my girl over and over again. I’m going to enjoy what happens to Scarlett, and make sure you go through hell, too.” Letting him drop, I spit on him as he breathes harshly. “If Rosalyn’s injured one more time, I will personally seek you out and destroy you. You seem to forget who I am and what I can do.”
Decadence (Tree of Life Series Book 1) Page 3