Sapphire Spells

Chapter 36

The tour of the mansion is quick. Amber shows me to what is my room while I am stuck here, the kitchen, and the way to get outside. As long as I stay within the property bounds, which is lined by rows of perfectly manicured trees, then I am free to wander around as I like. The property line is strange as beyond the immediate garden out back of the house, there are raw woods. It is all-natural and unmanicured. However, cutting through the pure vegetation is that line of trees marking the perimeter.

"What is on your mind?" Amber asks as she reaches for her cup of tea and brings it to her lips.

"Nothing." I frown and glance away toward the wall of windows. These fairies and their windowed walls. They probably have them everywhere because they love staring at their reflections in the glass, and it is more subtle than having walls of mirrors. Though these windows, I actually like them. They overlook the garden, and I am not, who knows how high above the ground, staring at concrete buildings.

Amber sighs, setting the cup down. "You don't care to know anything at all?" A small smile plays on her lips, giving her a warm and inviting aura. She insisted on showing me her favorite room of the house and us having tea there. This is how I ended up sitting across the table from her, uninterested in small talk. However, if I want to better understand who she is and how to get myself out of this mess, I will likely need to talk to gather information.

I turn from the window and the plants lining the entire room. "I am a prisoner. What more is there?" My gaze locks with hers, and in her eyes, I see a calm that is so very much like Preston's that it is creepy. Leaning back in my chair, I hold her gaze, refusing to look away first. I am determined to endure it, no matter how uncomfortable.

Amber's lip pulls at the corner as though she can tell how hard I am trying to appear as calm as the rest of them. "You know, he is trying to help you in his own way. Preston, I mean."

She manages to get a snort out of me. "No wonder you agreed to marry him. You are delusional." Just like he seems to be.

"It is the King's wish." Amber shrugs a slender shoulder.

Something about her reply pulls at me. She said it is what her King wants of her. "It is not your wish?"

"I am to serve my king." She breaks eye contact first and glances at her cup before reaching for it. "And Preston is kind. I am lucky to be engaged to him."

I feel like she is trying to leave me breadcrumbs to follow her into a conversation I never intended on having, yet here I am, gobbling up those breadcrumbs like a starved person. "I suppose when you look at his horrific father, you can not help but think Preston is kind. Though you can do better." And why can't she? To this point, she has done nothing to harm me. If anything, a strange welcoming presence is coming off of her, and I would like her if it was not for her being a fairy. I want to dislike her, yet here I am, questioning whether she might be better than the rest of her kind. At least she has a good sense of not living in a stuffy city. Though I suppose I don't know if that is by choice.

Amber snorts a laugh. "Do better than a prince?"

"Then that prince? Yes."

Her gaze narrows, though she shows no sign of anger. It's as if I am a mystery she is trying to solve. Exactly as I am trying to solve her. "What he did with Alexander was to protect you." Her head tilts to the side, letting her long auburn locks tumble over her shoulder.

"By claiming me as his property?" My voice grows an edge, even though I am trying not to let anything she may say get to me.

Her head tilts the other way. "By making sure others do not view you as something they can have their way with." Her voice surprisingly mirrors mine in gaining a warning edge.

"And I should be thankful for this? I get collard with something that makes me weaker than I already am when standing against those like you. And therefore, should I be thankful that a prince claims me as his property? I would not even be in this mess if it was not for him." My jaw clenches.

She leans back a little further in her seat and views me momentarily before replying, "For someone who has known him for so long, you seem to know him so little."

That statement royally pisses me off. "Except I never knew him, did I? It was all a trick, a plot to get close to me."

Amber laughs.

The sound is only more fuel for my raging anger. Yeah, I could never be as calm as them.

"What reason does he have for that?" She asks once her laughter settles down.

"You tell me! I am the one sitting here, aren't I? Maybe ask your precious king what they want with me other than contacting the deceased king."

She shakes her head knowingly and takes a sip of her tea. "Preston has largely been in the dark over what happened with your family until recently. He knew you were a Sapphire witch, sure. But he did not know that Xavier had already waged his war on witches."

I do not know how to reply. They are liars, all of them. Yet, when I think back on Alaric's first interaction with Preston, he seemed genuinely surprised when Alaric mentioned a war. Was that all a trick still? Some long con?

Amber adds, "I have no way of proving anything. You do not need to believe me. But it is the truth."

I want to talk about something else.

"Why is Xavier so keen on your marrying Preston anyway?" I ask, irritated.

Amber raises a brow. "Finally, an interesting question." She moves her hand before her as if inviting someone to speak, yet no sound comes. But there is movement.

I nearly jump out of my seat as one plant by the windowed wall grows a vine that twists and shifts as if alive. It slithers across the floor, crawling up a table leg and onto the table, slithering till it pushes the tray of cookies closer to Amber before slithering away back into the plant it came from.

What the fuck. Royal fairies possess abilities, like Preston and his influence on wind and air. "You're royal?" I ask in shock.

Amber releases a chuckle. "Not yet." She tilts her head and waits, expecting me to make sense of this on my own.

"I didn't think fairies other than royals have magical abilities," I state.

"Most don't." She reaches for a cookie, pausing with it mid-air in front of her mouth. "But I am only half fairy." She takes a bite. "Mmm, this is delicious. You are sure you don't want one?" She pushes the plate gently towards me as if she has not just shattered my brain.

The blood must have drained from my head because I am light-headed. "You are part witch?" My eyes are nearly popping out of the sockets from the pressure in my head.

"I am indeed." Her full lips stretch into a smile.

"How can you stand for the way they treat witches?" Thoughts are roaring between the bones of my skull. 

The smile falls from her face. "This is why I am telling you that Preston is doing what he can to help you. Because honestly, things could be much worse for you." Amber then gets up and walks out of the room without another word, leaving me with my mind racing.