The Princess and the Warlock

Chapitre Huit

I found Kaius in a room I'd never been before downstairs, the door slightly ajar with a faint glow of orange flickering light filtering from it. I'd quickly—and when I say quickly, I mean I barely got the fastings done properly—thrown on a gown before leaving my bedroom. I'd glanced in the mirror when I passed it, and my puffy eyes were finally starting to deflate. There was still a bit of redness scratching at my neck, but I fluffed my hair enough to cover it.

Pressing my hand to the wood of the door, I eased it open as quietly as I could. Kaius was standing with his back to me, looking the same as he had minutes ago though now wearing a nice dress shirt. His silvery head was bowed over something in front of him, the black wax candle to his left illuminating whatever it was that had captured his attention. I swallowed, confused as to why my heart thumped to a different tune than it had moments ago when I was coming down the stairs.

As if he heard my heartbeat, Kaius turned, eyes finding my own. "What are you doing, peeking through the slats like a house mouse? Come in."

My cheeks felt hot as I opened the door further, slipping inside. It was warmer in here, as if a fire had been set, but the stones in the hearth were cool and dark. "What are you looking at?" I asked him, my bare feet carrying me closer. "A map?"

It was a map unlike I'd ever seen before. I was taught geography at the palace, but these seemed much different. The mountain formations seemed larger on this sheet of paper, with different circles of land and narrower bodies of water. I found the kingdom on this sheet of worn paper, but it looked much, much smaller. Like a speck on the page rather than the grand country that I'd been taught it was. "A map of sorts. Here's the Wildwood." He dragged a finger along the paper, across a forest that spanned farther and wider than my kingdom and Newheart combined. "Where we are. I want to take us here." His finger slid upward and west on the map, touching a country that was shaped like a riding boot. "I want to show you something."

"How about we go here," I said, reaching in front of him to touch the coast. "Where there's water."

Kaius glanced over at me, eyes lighting. "Another day," he promised. "Tonight I want you to see a friend of mine."

I raised an eyebrow at his words. "You have friends?"

For the very first time, I heard Kaius laugh. It was a short sort of breath, one that seemed to be dragged from him in surprise, but genuine all the same. The skin by his eyes even crinkled. "Don't sound so surprised; you'll hurt my feelings."

"If you have friends, what do you need me for?" I asked jokingly, smiling up at him, hoping my expression resembled something of a flirty grin.

Kaius said, "I just needed some different kinds of friends, is all." He turned back to the map, tucking a piece of hair behind his ear. "It's going to be late there, but I want to show you a place where magic exists tenfold as it does here."

I reached my hand out to him, palm up. "What are we waiting for, then? Whisk me away to the Land of the Shoe."

His smile was slight, but it was there. "The Land of the Shoe is a collection of smaller countries and providences. We're going to one called Florence."

"Florence," I sounded the word out, feeling it on my tongue. "Sounds beautiful."

"It is," he agreed, and grabbed ahold of my hand. I felt a slight tip in energy as his skin touched mine, as if the sparks from his fingertips were transferring onto my grip. "Close your eyes."

I did, taking a deep breath in. "This won't make me sleepy again?"

"We'll see, won't we?" Kaius' hand, last minute, slipped from my hand to curve around the top of my waist, holding me to him in a gentle and polite way, making sure not to put too much pressure. I had to bite down on my bottom lip to keep from smiling.