Chapter 42

Violet

For a moment, I let the silence hang between us. I watched him get more irritated. He must be used to intimidating a lot of people by throwing his title around. A bit of irritation prickled at the back of my mind. It wasn’t fair to be upset with Theodore for letting his brother take over the throne or abdicating his right to succession. He had some damn good, traumatic reasons for his decisions, but couldn’t he have killed Owen first?

I took a deep breath, pushing that thought down. It wouldn’t be good to have such bloodlust on my mind when in closed quarters with someone irritating me. Whatever the spell Theodore had cast on me didn’t return me to full strength, but judging by what I knew about Owen and his figure, I probably didn’t need my full strength.

I took a deep breath and slipped my hand into my pocket, checking to see if my phone was recording. It wasn’t.

Damn it. Was my watch? It would be the most iron-clad defense against him if he decided to trump up charges against me about whatever might happen next.

“You really shouldn’t make more enemies,” Theodore said, stepping into the room behind him. Owen went stiff and pale, but his eyes were still narrowed and glaring at me.

Theodore glanced at me and his smile grew tense, brittle almost.

“You really can’t afford any more of them.” He sighed. “Though I guess you get that from our dear old man.”

My gut flipped at the way he referred to their father. The heaviness in his tone, the darkness, was there. It was almost suffocating.

“If you don’t want to end up like him, I’d suggest you start looking for a good suit for our ceremony, bestow your blessing, and never try to have a private conversation with my wife again… I’d rather not let the press have any reason to think we hate each other.”

Owen worked his jaw. He flushed with anger.

“Violet?” Theodore said my name softly. “I promised you a walk through the gardens, hm? There’s probably just enough time for it while we’re getting packed.”

We were leaving tonight? I smiled.

“That sounds great.” I nodded at Owen. “Your Majesty, have a good night.”

Owen’s eye twitched. “I was under the impression that you would be staying the night.”

“Things happen,” Theodore said. “We have business back at Midnight, and you did say you had no further use for us.”

Owen bared his teeth. I walked around Owen to reach Theodore.

“Are there really lunar flowers in the pond?” I asked.

He slipped his hand into mine, squeezing tightly and leading me down the corridor.

“There were years ago, but I don’t know what they’ve done with the place. For all I know, they’ve rearranged the whole thing.”

We walked quietly outside into the fresh air. I felt relieved, but not exactly relaxed. Once we were several paces away from the doors, Theodore glanced at me, the anger in his eyes softened to pure concern.

"Are you alright?"

"Of course.” I smiled. “Off topic of discussion to have, but let’s talk about it later, hm?”

The moonlight felt alive on my skin. I gasped, seeing the stone start to light up as we walked.

“The garden on the Donovan Estate is just like this,” I said, bending to trail my fingers across the glowing stones. “Well… sort of.”

“What do you mean?”

“My mother set the garden up,” she said. “My father said it was a place that reminded her much of where she grew up. We’d go to her home country and pick out new stones for the garden’s pathways.” My eyes burned. “We were… I haven’t updated the garden in a while.”

Just the thought of doing so without her made my heart ache. I trailed my fingers over them, curious about them. But the surfaces were unexpectedly bare and smooth.

I tilted my head. “None of the stones here are carved.”

He crouched down beside me. “Carved?”

“With glyphs…” I trailed my hand over them, searching for some indication of the glyphs that had to have once been there.

I lifted my gaze about to as, but when I met his gaze, the words died. There was a longing, a questioning longing in his eyes. They were glowing brightly, likely reacting to the magic of the stones. I bit my lip, scanning the area, trying to piece together what he might be seeing.

These stones had been here far longer than his mother would have been here…

Unless they weren’t. I made a note to look into the history of the palace again but turned back to look down at the glowing stone.

“Do you think… you might want a garden in Midnight?”

“What?”

“A garden,” I said, gesturing. “Even… just a small one. The courtyard behind the house would be perfect for it. I can imagine you’ve been too busy to set one up, but I have nothing against getting started.”

“I… don’t have much of a green thumb, and we don’t have much need for a garden in the mountains.”

I laughed and shook my head. “What does a green thumb have to do with a garden?” I snickered, finding the idea silly.

A garden of this type practically maintained itself. It would be helpful to him, especially because he had magic.

“I imagine a lot.”

I shook my head. Either he was being intentionally obtuse, or he worried someone was listening in.

“Alright, I won’t force the issue. Wouldn’t want you to decimate some poor plants by accident.” I stood. “Are you showing me the lunar flowers?”

He nodded and stood beside me, leading me deeper into the garden. It looked older than I expected as if they hadn’t been maintaining it properly. When we reached the pool, my heart sank.

The pool was still. Nothing grew or lived in it. The vine work around it had all died, and while the water seemed relatively clear, there was such a sense of loss here.

Lunar flowers might never grow here again. I couldn’t be sure that they ever had from the state of the pool.

“This pool?”

He nodded silently. “I suppose they’re just out of season…”

Out of season? Lunar flowers were ever-blooming. Didn’t he know that?

We don’t have much of a need for a garden in the mountains…

I bit my lip. The words felt odd to me. I squeezed his hand. Something fearful and cold filled my stomach. It felt like a ghost had passed by and my mind was drawing a conclusion I didn’t have words for yet. I didn’t like it. It made me sick. It felt dangerous, and the urgency to get out of here pressed down on me like someone was screaming at me to run for my life and never look back.

I stepped closer to him, trying to gauge the tension in his body.

He was a stiff as stone.

“Do you think we’re packed, yet?”

“Probably.”

“Let’s get going then.” I smiled up at him. “We don’t want anyone to think we want to stick around, hm?”

He nodded and wwe turned back just as one of his guards showed up. In a matter of minutes, we were getting back into the car we’d arrived in and driving off. As soon as we stopped to transfer back into the carriage that would take use through Dark Forest and back to Midnight, I sighed in relief.

“Thank you for coming in,” I said. “If I’d had to fight him, it would just complicate everything.” I climbed into the carriage and checked my watch, grinning. “Even with the recording.”

“Recording?”

“I’m taking a page from Kincaid’s book and recording situations that may come in handy later.” I glanced at him. “I’ll have to get you one made.”

His lips twitched. “Even if I use it to record something naughty?”

I scoffed. “So long as I don’t have to hear it. I don’t care what you record.” I sat back. “He’s not the time to take no for an answer is he?”

“No.”

I looked out the window, huffing.

“It’s fucking unfair. If I didn’t have my watch on auto-record, and if he brings that meeting up against me, he could easily say that I approached him. When he’s the one…” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “No sense in working myself up about it now.”

If I let every man in the country misusing his power and shifting blame onto a woman rile me up, I’d never sleep.

I glanced over at Theodore. He watched me quietly, but I could tell there was a lot on his mind. I didn’t pry, but I was dead curious.

After a pause, he asked, "How do you feel about him?"

“Who?”

“Owen.”

I blinked, caught off guard by the question. "What do you mean?"

“You’ve gotten to see a fair amount of him today,” he said. “What… are your thoughts on him?”