Viridian

Chapter 15

"You're gonna get sick," I laugh, scrubbing the last of the cookie sheets as he eats yet another cookie.

"Worth it!" he muffles through a mouth of chocolate. I stifle my laugh as I dry off the pan. "Come here, Adhira," he commands, the dominance returning to his voice. I turn away from the sink, tossing my drying rag down on the counter as I make my way towards him. Coming around the counter to his barstool, he catches me off guard, pulling me in by the waist. "Open," he tells me, my mind automatically obeying him even without the use of his powers. He picks up a cookie with his left hand, his right remaining snug around my waist, and brings it up to my mouth for me to eat. I take a bite, bringing my hand up to take the cookie from him, grazing his hand in the process. "Delicious," I laugh uncomfortably as I meet his eyes, plopping the rest of the cookie in my mouth. He takes my hand, bringing it to his mouth and closing it around my fingers, licking them clean. "I agree," he grumbles.

I pull away from Cato as the door swings open, the Captain of the Guard bursting through, his green uniform stained with blood. "Apologies," he says, bowing slightly. "There's been a development." He looks worried. I notice Cato's eyes glow, the two having a conversation that I am clearly not privy to, before a look of recognition flashes across his face. "I have to go," his face hardens as he stands up and walks out, leaving me confused.

I make it back to my room, my mind running wild with what might have caused such a reaction from Cato. My window swings open with a rush of wind before I see a hand grasp the base of it. "A little help here?" I hear Manisha call as she tries to climb up the side of the wall. I laugh when I realize I'm on the second floor. "Ever heard of a door?" I ask, as I pull her up. "No, what's a door?" she plops to the ground, dusting off her green flowy pants. "So," she starts, making her way towards my couch. "Bored of the castle yet?"

"You have no idea."

"Enough to ditch?" she quirks an eyebrow, flopping down on the black cushions.

"Raincheck?" I ask, taking a seat in the hanging chair. I'm all for ditching, but something tells me Cato's dealing with enough right now without worrying about my whereabouts.

"I'll take you up on that, Princess."

"Hey do you know what time it is?" I change the subject.

"About two o'clock. Why?"

"Because I haven't seen a clock in days," I shrug.

"Here," she chuckles, reaching into her pocket, pulling out something green before tossing it to me. I catch it instinctively in my palm. It is smooth as an ocean rock and green as an emerald.

"What is it?" I ask, confused at the odd stone contraption. She laughs, calling to the device "into a watch." I panic, the device morphing, moving to my arm as if it has a life of its own, vines sporting out, rapping around my wrist. The moment passes, leaving me with a delicate watch, the strap made of green vines and the stone from before reading 2:11 on it.

"How did you—"

"It's a Vurn," she shrugs, continuing when she understands my confusion. "They can shift into small objects: a watch, a necklace," she gestures to her neck, showing me the simple emerald hanging from a golden chain. "Or more important things, like a dagger if need be. They were apparently super popular back in the war, allowed people to have the upperhand with hidden traps and stuff, but now we've got so many Savanats who make them they're practically used for currency."

"I've never even heard of them." I'm starting to realize there's a lot of stuff I haven't heard of. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Wow, I'm really bad at being a consistent updater, lol. Sorry about that, guys. Anyways, this one is short but I uploaded another one after it to make up for it. I've been in a bit of a writing slump, combined with an extensive to do list, so I apologize again for the delay. Super random question, what's your favorite donut flavor? I was eating one while I was writing this so... that's my train of thought. Kisses!

 - Nicole Winters