“Yeah, I think so.”
He reaches out and helps me up. I stumble as I come up to my feet too brusquely, and knock against his chest.
“I’m sorry,” I manage, tucking a loose strand behind my ear.
Damn it, I can barely stand his closeness without feeling like a schoolgirl. I need to put distance between us. Stepping by him, I take in the chamber. It’s round, so we’re certainly in the upper half of the tower, where there must be room for only one chamber per level, and a stairwell.
There’s a big bed with a dark canopy with patterns in the shape of stars, a curved bookcase, built specifically to fit the curved wall, a curved writing desk with papers and a quill inside an ink bottle, and an open wardrobe overflowing with shiny robes.
“This must be the Grand Mage’s bed chamber.”
Xerxes starts sifting through the books on the Grand Mage’s private desk, calmly and casually as if we weren’t on an urgent mission.
“We won’t find what we’re looking for in here,” I say. “We have to get to his study, I think it’s at the base of this tower. That is, if he didn’t move it since the last time I was here.”
“And when was that?”
“A few years ago at an event.”
Xerxes moves around the room casually, taking his time exploring it, as if he doesn’t have a worry in the world.
“Shouldn’t we get moving?” I press.
But instead of replying the King of Flames just drops on the bed, crossing his arms under his head and his booted feet on the Grand Mage’s expensive covers.
“What in the cursed realms are you doing?” I urge. “We have to move fast, get what we came for and go, before anyone discovers us. We can really avoid confrontation, and it won’t even be hard, if we do things right.” Besides, the temperature is rapidly dropping in here because of the broken window. The tower is high, and the wind strong, wheezing. I’m already getting goosebumps.
But Xerxes seems completely unbothered.
“What exactly would we be looking for in the Grand Mage’s office? Documents, scrolls, what?”
“Probably his personal books. We’ll search for any information he might have on Apophis, and I’ll take it from there.” I go on to tell him exactly how one thing will lead me to the other. Talking actually helps form a structure in my head. I had something close to a plan in mind from the start, but I hadn’t had the time to get into the details of it. “If he does know where the Wraiths hid the Firestone, it will be obvious from the information he keeps on Apophis. Even though I’m not exactly a mage, I’m a part of their guild, I know how they think.”
“Tell me more,” Xerxes invites, his voice warm. Maybe because he’s gotten used to me being around him, and he doesn’t feel like he has to act all tough and bad-boy all the time? “Take me through the steps.”
I do, focusing on each one, seeing it in my mind.
“It sounds like a good plan,” he says when I’m done. “But still there is no guarantee we’ll learn anything, and it will take a lot of hiding from the guards and all the other entities that might roam this castle.”
I raise my eyebrows. “I’m sure it’s comfortable, lying there with your hands under your head and criticizing. Do you have a better plan?”
“The one we started out with.” He props himself up on an elbow, comfortable on the bed. “We wait for the Grand Mage to return to his chamber—this chamber—and we get the answers directly from him.”
“But, you said—No,” I block, shaking my head no. “We agreed to avoid unnecessary conflict and violence. Besides, he might come in here with guards, and you would have to—” I can already imagine him pulling the hunting daggers and slashing the guards’ throats before they even realize what’s happening.
“I’ll take them down, it’ll be easy,” he confirms my fears.
“No,” I yelp. “You don’t understand. I... To me, ‘guards’ is not just a word, or a concept. I have been living with ‘guards’ for a year now, I played cards with them, laughed with them, drank with them. We told late night stories, and shared secrets. I made voodoo dolls for them to mess with their rivals, and—” I look away to hide my face so Xerxes can’t see that I’m crying.
“So that’s what the voodoo dolls were for,” he concludes. “You were just messing with people to avenge your friends?”
“We weren’t really hurting anyone.” I motion to my ‘silver-moon’ glowing face. “It would show if I did.” I bend down, and pick up Nazarean, who’s done sniffing around the room, and now he’s brushing his tail against my feet, meowing up at me in a heart-warming attempt to ease my distress. As I straighten up with Nazarean in my arms, I realize I’m sitting on the bed next to Xerxes. Desperate to persuade him not to hurt anyone, I came closer. Or maybe it was the heat that attracted me.
“Oh, high realms, I’m sorry.” I jump up, holding Nazarean at my chest, the warmth of his fluffy body permeating through my catsuit. “It must have been the warmth, it’s freezing in here.” The tight fabric keeps me warmer than the white vaporous garments I used to wear before Xerxes took me away from my hideout, but not warm enough.
The King of Flames looks me up and down, assessing my state.
“You’re shaking. I can help with that.” He moves more to the side, making room for me on the bed. My heart skips a beat. Is he inviting me to lie down with him?
“I—” I swallow hard, my heart beating in my throat. “I’m not sure if that’s proper.” I expect Nazarean to hiss at him, too, but he doesn’t. Another clear sign Xerxes doesn’t have bad or dirty intentions with me. Except I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse.
“You replenished my magic powers, and you’re going to do it again if I need it before we get to the Firestone. The least I can do for you is to warm you up.”
I don’t know what to say, it’s like my brain is frozen, but Nazaren meows, clearly agreeing with the king.
The king. Xerxes sure looks like one as he lies on the Grand Mage’s king size bed, one knee bent, his wrist propped on it. His glowing bronze skin, his strong features that show just how vigorous he is, the leather vest, the ripped jeans and the sculptured shape of those dark-red lips, the man is irresistible.
I should refuse, I should step back from the bed and find another way to warm up, but Nazarean meows again, encouraging me to do it. I look at my familiar and oldest friend, raising my eyebrows at him, my face full of questions that only he can understand. We communicate on levels that no one else gets.
I remind him that this is the King of Flames we’re talking about, the villain who created armies of Undead, who allied himself with the most dangerous creatures of the Underworld, and who tried to take over the world, to gain control over all the realms. But the vibes I get from Nazarean insist that we can trust him.
My familiar is a magical creature with abilities way beyond what one would expect from a magical black cat. In the end, I decide that, if Nazarean feels comfortable with the King of Flames, so shall I. I take a deep breath, and place a knee on the bed. I keep Nazarean in my arms as I lie down, but he jumps off as soon as I’ve rested my head on the pillow.