"I still wonder about it," I said.
His brow furrowed, eyes searching my expression. "Wonder about what?"
"Whether you're the villain in my story."
~~~~~~~
Mara Monroe is at the center of a war she wanted no part in.
But with her new throne she fac...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I could do nothing productive with my time after my conversation with Cedric.
He filled in so many of the blanks I had, and yet, I still wasn't sure if I was relieved by his answers. We were connected, that much was clear now.
I wondered, and hoped, that the connection between our elementals was the reason why I couldn't get the image of the shadows lurking behind his shoulders out of my head. His aura had always been there, the deep violet and maroon swirls of color had once been breathtaking. Now the colors were marred by shadows. They'd never been there before.
Or maybe I'd just never been looking for them.
The wind rustled the sketch pad in my lap and I used my palm to smooth the page. It was blank. My brain was too smart to let my hands draw what they wanted. Too smart to let those thoughts simmer and become art.
Instead, I shut my eyes tight, banishing all thoughts of the drawing that wanted to be, pushing it down right beside my Elan Vital and the powers that resided within me. Whatever chest I was locking my feelings inside was filling up and I could only hope that it wouldn't burst.
My fingers moved, seeing the new image of what I wanted to draw in the corner of my mind that was reserved for art. It had always been there, I think, even when I was young. I knew the images I wanted to draw, to paint.
That corner of my mind had always been mine. Now that corner was filled with images of him, and it felt like an even worse betrayal.
I lost myself in this new drawing, the echoes of Cedric's story playing in my head like a vinyl record, scratching when I messed up and crooning while I shaded and smudged. It must have been hours before I finally looked up from the page to blink away the focus.
Four hands reaching for the cauldron. Two masculine hands on the left and two feminine hands on the right. The masculine hands were shrouded in shadow-like figures while the feminine hands seemed to be emerging from flames. I knew the title I would've given the piece if I'd had the chance to paint it and put it in my senior collection.
Yuanfen.
Ellie had taught me the word a long time ago, and I could almost see her smile when I chose it. She probably would have teased me for it, and I found myself wishing she were here to poke me and make me laugh.
When I looked down at the way I drew the two pairs of hands reaching just as much for each other as they were for the cauldron, I flushed a little.
Not bad, his voice said in my mind.
I snapped the sketchbook shut.
Fuck off, I thought back.
"May I join you, your majesty?" A vaguely familiar female voice came from behind the bench I'd been perching on.
I turned to see Freya, her hands clasped in front of her and her gown flowing behind her with the wind. She was the picture of the perfect princess, even the way she held her jaw screamed regality.
