The Crystal Mines

38 Callion

After closing the door to Nik's room, I threw my head back against the wall. Stupid. You stupid idiot. I forced my mind to go blank. Staring ahead at the opulent room in front of me. My clothes were dripping rudely all over the lush carpet and all I could do was listen to the sound. The sound that reminded me of the incessant dripping in the cell back in the mines. The cell that she had come to invade. I swallowed and closed my eyes.

Being in this room was a gross familiarity. As the prince, I grew up traveling with my father, living without want. I had been to Ashburn before. Shared this room with my father while he and King Hesper held meeting after meeting. Though King Hesper only was following the typical polite hospitalities, I couldn't bear being in this room. I could barely bring myself to wear the clothes I had ruined only moments ago. My mind warred with itself. I had lived two lives, and returning to the first, felt like cheating. But it was all her. Nik. She freed us and had no idea just how extraordinary she was.

I couldn't help myself before. Her cries had carried into my room just after I had dressed. A broken, haunting sound. At first, I didn't go to her. Leaving her to mourn the past months in her own way, as I'm sure we all were.

Sitting at our shared door, listening like some creep, I had waited. The lioness tattoo on my arm that connected us, covered her face, clawing and scraping as a silent roar left her jaws. I had tried touching it before entering, trying to bring comfort but still offer privacy. But Nik only cried harder. Not being able to take it anymore, I had flung to door open, ready to tell her to get the feck up and pull her strong ass self together like I knew she could. I couldn't. Seeing her, kneeling on the floor by her door. Clearly, she had shut it and didn't make it but a step further. She didn't look up as I waited for a second, hoping she would get up. But as I stood there, seeing her too thin body, caked in grime and dirt, wearing the same rags as the prison. She will never know how much I broke with her in that moment. Before I could properly use my brain, I grabbed her off the floor and brought her to the tub.

Nik was light. Too light. Not the curvy, confident woman I had met at the Winter Masque. I wasn't even sure how long we had been in the mines together. Time had melted together, hot and unyielding. I had washed her body, as detached as I could manage. It didn't matter anyways. Though I had seen her form countless times, I knew I wasn't who she wanted. It didn't matter if I was her mate.

Mates could be rejected. It happened, just not very often. And I sure as Hells wasn't going to take one more choice from her. Ugh. I shouldn't be thinking about this. Not when she was just on the other side, hurting about all that we had endured. I pushed myself off the wall, pulling myself together and changed into something dry. It didn't take long to fix my hair again, running a comb through it.

As standard, there were two guards outside my door, protecting the Prince of Salvare, what ever that was worth at this point. I forced myself to wear the mask of the prince, fighting the eye roll I wanted to wear instead. When I asked where I could go to practice with weapons and magic, they directed me to the courtyard above that we had appeared in. I thanked them, knowing they would follow just a few steps behind me. I paused, looking at Nik's unguarded door. Did they not know who they had in there? Rejection or not, she was my mate. I asked one of my guards to stay at her door and walked away down the hall.

The room where the Sibling, Mohan rested, was heavily guarded. Understandably. The only one that seemed to trust and understand the creature was Nik. The King would be insane to not question him later. Just then, a small thing came whizzing by me, stopping short and returning to right in front of my face. Shock came and went. Trife hovered in front of me, his tail flicking mischievously.

"She's in the room near mine," I crossed my arms.

The sprite spun around, and farted in my face, before taking off towards Nik.

"You, nasty creature," I bellowed, "I can taste it!"

I ignored his squeaky laughter and the guard's snickering and climbed the stairs to the courtyard. The sudden eagerness to get my hands on a weapon, was a testament to the control I needed. It had only been a couple hours since we came through the portal. And it would be quite a few more before Ameer arrived. Though I was anxious to see my friend for the first time since I was dragged away after my father's murder. I wasn't sure I wanted to be present for the exact moment of his arrival. Him and Nik deserved to have their moment without me lingering to poison it.