A Thief of Nightshade(52)
Then what? You’re messing with pretty powerful emotions when you wager what you’ve wagered.”
“You say that as if I don’t know it.
Like I have no idea what it feels like to think myself unworthy of being loved by others. Could you please just have faith in me this one time?”
“I didn’t say that I didn’t have faith in you,” he snipped.
“No, but you’ve doubted my every move since coming here, which tells me you don’t think me capable of much.” She walked to the floor-length mirror in the corner of the room.
Aislinn came up beside her. “That’s not true—I know you’re capable of quite a lot. But this isn’t your world and there is a whole other set of rules here. Rules you rarely stop to consider.” He paused to glance at the fluff and frill of the gown.
“At least it’s not as bad as what Lipsey had you in.” He meant it as a joke, but her expression told him it had stung.
“Hey, I just meant that ... I didn’t mean that the way you’re ... Aubrey, you look unbelievably beautiful in that dress, every bit the love of my brother’s life.
You don’t know, do you?”
She tightened the ribbon that held her hair away from her face and turned from the mirror. “Know what?”
He knew she’d been abused. He’d felt Jullian’s knowledge of it when Aubrey had touched the Oran, but the void of what Jullian had discovered, how she’d been abused, was probably due to Aubrey’s unwillingness to revisit those memories. Aislinn had missed its effect on her and how she viewed herself, but now that he knew, it was unmistakable. He wanted to say something, anything to comfort her, but felt that it would only make things worse if she knew he’d been able to see everything she had.
“I don’t know what, Aislinn?”
Aubrey asked again. This time he sensed hesitance instead of irritation.
He forced a smile. “How much faith I really have in you and how little I have in myself.” She looked away, seemingly at a loss for words. “Aubrey, we’ll get out of this. We’ll get to him in time.”
“He has no memory of me at all,”
Aubrey said suddenly. “What if he never remembers? What if we save him and...”
she paused. “I’m dying anyway. It’s better this way for him. If he never remembers me then he’ll never know that I died trying to save him.”
Guilt for having once had a similar thought hit Aislinn like a punch to his gut, and he felt sick. “Don’t say that!”
She smiled sadly, “It’s the truth, Aislinn. No matter what happens, I will die in Avalar.”
The door behind Aislinn swung open.
“His Majesty requests your presence,” the guard said.
Aubrey looked at Aislinn and he saw a fleeting glimpse of fear in her eyes and wondered if
they
weren’t
merely
reflecting what she saw in him. “Then let’s go,” she said.
Aubrey was inexpressibly grateful that Aislinn had been allowed to come with her, because frankly, she was terrified.
She hadn’t had any idea what she was getting herself into and she knew it as she’d said what she had to the Goblin King, but she needed to buy them time to find a way out of Koldavere, or if her hopes proved useful, for Given to arrive with help.
They made their way down the unadorned halls of the keep until finally they came to a long winding set of stairs.
The guard gestured down.
“Are
we
going
back
to
the
dungeons?” Aislinn asked.
“Just keep your mouth shut and keep walking,” the goblin snarled.
Aislinn balked, but Aubrey ignored him and kept on until they had made it to the end of the stairs and were met by the King.
He held out his arm for Aubrey.
“You look so lovely. Come, we aren’t far now.”
Aubrey repressed her disgust and slid her hand in the crook of his arm. They stopped just a few yards farther. The dark jade door before them had an amazing gold filigree handle.
The King glanced sideways at her, the flames from the torches that lit the walls reflecting off his gold mask. “After you, my love,” he said.
Aubrey looked on in silence as the door opened on its own. With faltering breath, she walked in.
As with everything else she’d seen in Koldavere, this wasn’t what she’d expected. The room was small in comparison to the throne room, though it was larger than the bedroom they’d just left. The corners were dark, but she caught quick movements—darting things that scurried like rats and she heard the shuffling, scraping noise of feet all around her.
“Ahead of you, you’ll find the entrance. Don’t mind the dark.” The King’s tone was supposed to be soothing, she knew, but it made her insides turn.
“What
about Aislinn?” Aubrey looked to see Aislinn on all fours, backed against the door as if to pounce.
“He’ll stay here with us.”
“Us?” Aubrey swallowed hard.
The King merely unfolded his hand in the direction he’d pointed her in.
She nodded reluctantly and turned to walk into the darkness.
The room around her suddenly melted into pitch black. The air was cool and humid, the scent that of wet earth. Her timid footsteps echoed as she slowly made her way forward, each one taken with great consideration, and great trepidation.