❝ because you keep me sane. I can't stand it either but I feel like I'm slowly losing my mind when you're not there. AND I SWEAR IF YOU START LAUGHING IM GOING TO- ❞
･:*:･˙ Isella Vozenilek always had a knack for attracting animals and gaining their...
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ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐊 of blood hung heavy in the coach. Zoya had to press her sleeve to her nose to ward off the smell, but the musty odor of dirty wool wasn't much improvement. She envied Toyla, all of of a sudden, being a coachman didn't sound so bad right now.
They were ten miles outside Ivets, far from the safety of the capital, racing along the narrow roads that would lead them back to the estate of their host for the trade summit, Duke Radimov.
Zoya wasn't much for praying, so she could only hope no one had seen Nikolai escape his chambers and take to the skies. If they'd been back home, back in Os Alta, this never would have happened. She'd thought they'd taken enough precautions. She couldn't have been more wrong.
A mile later, grogs and groans were erupting.
Then a voice, hoarse and beleaguered, said, "I don't suppose you brought me a fresh shirt?"
Zoya took the pack from the coach floor and pulled out a clean white shirt and fur-lined coat, both finely made but thoroughly rumpled—appropriate attire for a royal who had spent the night wandering.
Situating himself upright, Nikolai peeled the ruined shirt from his body. He used the linen and water from the flask she handed him to wash the blood from his chest and mouth, then splashed more over his hands and ran them through his hair. The water trickled down his neck and shoulders.
"Are we going to talk about what happened tonight." Zoya was staring up at him. "I know you were awake, well, at least when I got there."
He was shaking badly, but at least he looked like Nikolai again—hazel eyes clear, the damp gold of his hair pushed back from his forehead.
"Which part are you referring to? The part where I ate the goose or the part where I almost ate that girl."
"Everything. Today was different, am I correct? How much of it can you remember Nikolai?"
Nikolai didn't know where to start. Today was definitely not like the other days. How was the monster able to keep so calm in that barn? And how did he manage to change back so fast? He couldn't even say something funny to lighten the mood. He was completely puzzled and borderline...freaked out?
"How I got there is still blurry, but when she— she came into the barn, things got clearer. I don't know how to explain it but, I was self aware from that moment on and it almost felt like I was there instead of the monster. That has never happened before. Then she touched me and I was out for a minute or two."
