A Ruin of Roses (Deliciously Dark Fairytales #1)(58)

“Okay, but listen here, Finley.” Hadriel sounded like he was pressed against the wall. “The king passed that law because he wanted the prince to settle in with a noblewoman of dragon blood and make her queen. Or at least a queen in waiting.”

“And when he couldn’t get his way, he made a deal with the demons, and here we are. I know.”

He kept talking, but I wasn’t really listening. Although there was no door to the rest of the grounds, there was a lovely patio I hadn’t noticed from my tower room. It led to a pair of large glass doors in the side of the castle. Darkness waited beyond.

Royalty had lived through there.

In awe, I stepped up onto the patio.

“No, but… The king blamed the queen’s death on the prince. When the prince tried to marry for love, it broke the queen’s heart, and she died. That’s what was said. The funeral brought back the prince and the demons, and the king trapped him here.”

The queen herself had come out through those doors and onto this patio. She’d used these—now rotting—wooden chairs to look out at her or her gardener’s handiwork. She’d maybe breakfasted or taken lunch out here on fine days, soaking in the beauty. Maybe before the king had gone mad, they loved each other and celebrated that out here.

No, probably not. Royalty didn’t find love.

Well, maybe she had enjoyed some self-love, thinking about a hot gardener or something.

I approached the glass, shielding my eyes from the glare.

“She and the prince had a really tight bond,” Hadriel called, his voice distant as I tried to peer in the room.

Despite all the times I’d played make-believe as a kid, pretending to be in the royal court, I’d never believed it would actually happen. And now, after the world had gone to shit, here I was standing on the queen’s private patio. This was blowing my mind.

I couldn’t see anything through the glass, but curiosity was burning a hole through me. I tried the doors, figuring they’d be locked. Could I find my way through the castle to check the other side? Nyfain had a skeleton key—if there were ever a reason to seduce someone…

I pulled on the handle. Nothing happened. A push had the same result. I dragged my hand as I stepped away, and the glass pulled away from the other side.

I froze. Sliding glass. I’d never seen such a thing! But then, I’d also never seen a single pane of glass as big as these doors. Money made miracles.

I slid it open farther.

“Finley?” Hadriel called. “Finley, did you fall in? What’s happening?”

“I’m fine,” I called, a bit hushed, pulling the door open.

“Don’t nose around in there. The master blames himself for what happened, and that garden is the remnants of something she loved. He won’t want it disturbed.”

His words flowed around me as I ventured into the dark space beyond, and although I could hear him, I wasn’t listening.

Two fabric chairs teamed with a couch sat around a little table by the door. A place for tea, probably. Not a speck of dust marred the shiny surface, as though this room was still routinely cleaned. The floor was plastered with an enormous rug, nearly large enough to cover my entire house. A little desk waited off to my right, cleared of any parchment, and a large mirror was stationed on the other side. Other furniture took up residence, but I crept toward the oddest thing in the room. A rosebush somehow—obviously magically—grew out of the actual floor! As though the floor were dirt. It looked almost fake but for the differences in the browns and yellows of the leaves and the way it curled as it died. The branches were brittle and roses deep brown and wilted except for a few. It was in terrible shape.

For some reason, it moved me. I wanted to roll up my sleeves and nurture it back to life. But there was something uncanny about it, beside it growing in the wood floor, so I left it alone lest I break some sort of magic remembrance spell or something.

Instead, I continued onward, absolutely delighting in the saturated tones and bold decorating choices. She even had a decorative sword and shield tacked up on the wall. A woman after my own heart.

An open doorway led to a room with a bed and another small chamber that appeared to be the bathing room. The bed stood against the far wall, a huge, canopied affair decorated in gold and ivory. The wardrobe in here had been dusted, too, everything clean and in its proper place.

Imagine living in this kind of finery, in rooms such as these. It was beyond belief for someone of my upbringing and social status, but I would definitely be dreaming my life away after seeing it. My make-believe audience was about to turn into a bunch of make-believe servants and adoring ladies-in-waiting, hanging on my every word. No more jester thoughts for this girl.

Making my way back out, I heard the metal tinkle. Like a key in the lock!

My heart sped up, and I hurried toward the glass door. Before I could get far, the door swung open. Nyfain filled the doorway, seeing me immediately. Suspicion and rage filled that golden gaze.

Everything Hadriel had said finally took root.

The funeral brought back the prince, and the demons and the king trapped him here.

She and the prince had a really tight bond.

The master blames himself…

“Oh, holy goddess, no fucking way. You’re the prince,” I said in a hasty release of breath, so many emotions warring through me that I didn’t know what to do with any of them. Excitement, sorrow, disbelief—I didn’t know where to land.