Violet Amethyst's Arc

Chapter 3 of 9

Dawn came gray over the conservatory. Violet reached the rose-tangled glass first, with Kai one step behind. The prince waited inside, cloak drawn, hood low. He watched them cross the threshold. When his eyes found Kai's hand hovering near his belt, his shoulders went stiff. He stopped speaking before he began. "I said come only if you meant to know," the prince said. "You brought a guard." "He's my friend," Violet said. "He wants a reason to fight me." The prince stepped back. "I won't open old wounds while he stands ready to draw." Kai didn't move. "The last fairy who trusted you vanished. I'm not leaving her alone with that." Violet felt the whole meeting slipping. The prince's jaw locked. In one more breath he would leave, and her three weeks would end at a closed door. She turned to Kai and put her hand flat on his chest. "Kai. Look at me." She kept her voice soft. "You followed me north. You gathered every rumor no one else would share. You've never once let me get hurt. I know that." "Then let me stay," Kai said. "He won't talk while you're here. You saw it too." She curled her fingers in his jacket. "I'm asking you to trust me for one hour. Wait outside. Watch the door. If I scream, break it down." Kai's blue eyes searched her face. His hand stayed near his belt. "One hour." "One hour," she said. "Then you can glare at him all you want." A muscle in his cheek twitched. It was almost a smile. He hated it, she could tell. But he dropped his hand. "I'll be right outside this glass. If I hear anything wrong, I'm coming through it." He looked past her to the prince. "Hurt her and there's no curse that saves you." Then Kai walked out. He stopped just beyond the rose-covered wall, close enough that his shadow fell across the panes. Violet watched him settle in to wait. Her chest ached. She had never sent him away from a fight before. She turned back to the prince. The stiffness had left his shoulders. He studied her with something new in his pale face, almost surprise. "You sent your protector away," he said. "For me." "For the truth," Violet said. "I meant what I said. I want to know what I'm walking into." The prince lowered his hood. She saw his face fully for the first time. He crossed to a broken bench under the dead roses and sat. "Then sit," he said. "I'll tell you what the curse is. But once you hear it, you can't unhear it. And you may wish you'd left with him." Violet sat across from him. She had won her hour. Now the door was truly open. Whatever waited behind it, she would learn it alone.