Rosalind’s POV
When I woke up much later, Killian was gone. I wasn’t surprised. He no doubt wanted to put some distance between us after the surprising intimacy of our time together.
That was just, it suited me just fine that I didn’t have him in my room, so no one would know when I snuck out for certain clandestine operations.
I knew that after the so-called attacks, I should have been laid off from going back but I found myself getting more angry the more I thought about it. How dare they do that to me?
How dare they make me trust them and then betray me so thoroughly like this?
I had to go back. I had to at least attempt to have a civilized conversation with them to understand where this was coming from.
I snuck back out and River was there just in time, his face more unbearable than usual but I couldn’t tell at him there was where all the guards could come back on duty at any time and reported me for consorting with the enemy so I kept my mouth shut as River reached out to me and transported me away.
The moment we arrived safely, I turned on him.
“You attacked my people!” I shoved at River’s chest.
Okay so maybe I wasn’t calm right now but could you really blame me for this?
River caught my hand easily when I tried to shove him again. Note to self don’t fight your personal trainer.
“Calm down, you don’t know what’s going on.” River dropped my hand when it seemed less likely that I would launch myself at him again. He trusted me more than I trusted myself.
His dark eyes watched me carefully as he spoke.
“We did not attack anyone, we were attacked first.”
I rolled my eyes. Right like I would believe any of that.
“What?!” I exclaimed as I glared hotly at him. “What do you mean? Do you really think I’ll believe all of that? You and your people have been trying to attack us from the get-go and now you’re telling me you’re not behind the attack.”
River frowned at me like he was disappointed with me or something. Like I cared. His opinion of me was his business not mine but despite this view that I wanted to have, I still felt a sharp sting in my chest.
“If you think so poorly of us,” River leaned in. “Of me, then why did you come back?”
I opened my mouth and then found that I had no words. I wanted to tell him that I felt betrayed and hurt because I had begun to see him as a good friend.
He was the only person I had now that joked and teased me despite knowing that I had magic, though that might have been because by that standard he was a bigger abomination than I was since he could use his magic while I couldn’t.
It didn’t matter to me though. He was a friend all the same but the words would leave my throat and something in River’s eyes hardened and in seconds, I found myself with my back pressed to River’s front, a silver dagger at my throat.
I froze.
I hadn’t even seen him move, much less draw the blade. That was when I realized that in all our training he had to be holding back because I could never even attempt to square off against him. He had been going at my pace, my speed before but he had shed the pretense now.
He was an apex predator that had mastered his body, honed his skills to a deadly edge and when he wore the facade of a relatable wolf/witch to get the newbie to let her guard down with him, he could just as easily kill me.
I suddenly realised why he had been the one assigned to train me and abduct me. It wasn’t because they wanted me to be with a familiar face. It was because they wanted someone who could off me within a close distance of me at every time in case they decided I was no longer. a profitable venture worth pursuing.
His blade was cool against my skin.
“Do you see Rosalind?” His voice was soft and conversational like this was another lesson instead of him showing me my place. “If I wanted you dead, you would be.”
I had no doubts about that at all.
Then his voice became cooler and devoid of emotion inciting a deeper chill within me.
“If we wanted to keep you here, kidnap you again, it would be too easy. I would just press here,” His fingers drifted to the pressure point at the base of my neck. “And you would be dead to the world.”
My pulse jumped as I realized that somewhere along the lines of coming here for training, exchanging jokes and learning magic, I had forgotten how dangerous the purebloods could be regardless of the fact that I was one of them.
“River, let go of me.” I squeaked.
Surprisingly enough, he did and I spun to look at him and he looked like his black-on-black regular self and the blade was gone.
“You shouldn’t throw accusations like that next time, Rosalind.”
I swallowed hard. “I won’t.”
River let out a loud almost frustrated sign as he looked at me cowering away from even his shadow. Then he said the words that terrified me more than his proximity or lack thereof.
“Estella wants to see you.”
If he was this strong as just a guard then Estella as his leader would be way stronger than him. Why did she want to see me now? It was then I realized that maybe I should have stayed home today.
*****
“You seem tense.” Estella poured me a cup of tea as though she actually expected me to drink it or something.
I didn’t speak as I just watched her. River had left me in front of her quarters. Before he left, he gave me an uncharacteristic hug.
I couldn’t relax into it so I just stood stiffly waiting for it to be over. River took one look at me before walking away without another word.
“River told me that he might have… frightened you a bit.” Estella’s sharp blue eyes settled on me and I shifted in my chair not knowing what she wanted me to say. She had never frightened me as much as age did now with her amiable jovial front.
I remained silent inwardly counting the moments until they decided to return me home.
Estella shrugged at my silence, the beads in her little braids tinkling together as she did so. She sipped on her own tea, relaxed.
“River has always had a bit of an off vibe which is why I was surprised you took to him so easily,” She said conversationally. “He came to a little bit later than normal due to unforeseen circumstances but it has only made him more dedicated to this cause hence your words might have been taken a little bit to heart.”
River hadn’t grown up here? He had always made it sound like he did. I wondered how many more secrets of my friend I would find out before I left. today.
Estella continued conversing, not seeming at all uncomfortable with my silence as though this was how most of her interactions went with others listening as she spoke.
It was probably how they went.
“Do you want to know we attacked today, Rosalind?” She queried with a cynical lift to her mouth that made me profoundly suspicious of her that I found myself missing River’s reassuring presence
“What?” I asked and I nearly slapped myself for breaking my silence as the lift to her lips transformed into a full-blown smile.
“Magic.” Estella smiled.
Magic? What the hell was she talking about?
There was no magic in the Southern Paw pack. Magic was for across the seas and in this crazy place that was nowhere. Not in my city where I lived with Killian and Cillian.
“You are lying.” I spat at her, my fear momentarily eroded and she smiled wider all the more for it.
“But am I?” She teased. “You know nothing of your council, your priesthood and what is really going on in your precious little city.”
She was trying to turn me against Cillian and Killian because if something like that was going on then they surely knew. How could they have hidden something like that from me? It wasn’t possible.
The same way it wasn’t possible for me to hide magic from them? My internal voice mocked and I frowned.
If I could hide something that massive from them then they could very well do the same to me.
“I will send you back home now,” Estella informed me and I raised my eyes to meet her’s wondering what this game was now. “I won’t make you stay here. We will not hold one of our own captive.”
Her hands reached for me. “When you return, you must be ready to listen to truths, not the lies they feed you up there.”
I grabbed her hand and met her gaze, my fear gone. “I will not return.”
Estella smiled. “I just lifted the ban on River teaching you magic. You are more than I’m ready. I will be anticipating your return.”
Then I was home again. It was still night. A few seconds at most must have passed since my departure and I hurried back into the palace and Killian’s warm embrace.
Would I return or had that woman lost all her marbles? And more importantly, had any of her words about magic and the Southern Paw been true?