Free Web NovelChapter 29: Chapter 29
" I spoke to Casilo last night." Circe said. "He told me everything. Him challenging you was your idea, wasn’t it? He didn’t betray you, he was just following orders."
Ragnar stared back at her with a blank expression. She didn’t need him to confirm anything, she had already reached a conclusion on her own and he was sure it wouldn’t be too far from the actual truth.
The night before the queen’s trial, Ragnar had approached Casilo with a single request and it was to make sure Circe wouldn’t fall into the hands of the lords or any one else for that matter. Circe was his bargaining chip, his leverage over Westeria and he wasn’t going to just let anyone snatch her away. Not now when he was so close.
He doubted she knew the full truth. Casilo would have only shared the parts he thought were necessary for her to hear.
There had always been a chance Ragnar wouldn’t make it out alive, and he wanted to have safeguards in place. Casilo had seen the shape Ragnar was in after battling the beast and knew another fight might finish him. So when the queen called for challengers, Casilo stepped forward, determined to secure victory if Ragnar fell.
" He was helping you and you broke his jaw." Circe said, accusation lacing each word.
" I’m afraid that’s what happens in a fist fight." Ragnar said coolly. In truth, he hadn’t been fully in control during the fight. Everything that happened after he fought the beast was a blur. It was what always happened when he let his shadows take over.
She grumbled something under her breath that sounded awfully close to ’heartless bastard’.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
" Lady Taryn told me that you’re healing faster than Prince Hairan. Why is that?" She didn’t seem keen on dropping the issue.
" Vampires usually heal faster than humans."
" It’s more than that and we both know it." Her tenacity was something to be admired. It lit her up from the inside. The distrust was present but she was overshadowed by curiosity. Too much of it could get her in trouble with the nobles.
" I’m only a half-blood. My mother isn’t a vampire." Ragnar said. " She is a creature from innermost."
It wasn’t something he often shared, but neither was it a guarded secret. Circe would learn the truth eventually, better she heard it from him now.
Circe furrowed her brows. Her knowledge of the place was sparse and everything she knew about it was either from the stories she had been told as a child or from the pages of the dust-covered books in her father’s library.
" It means your mother was a demon." The crease between her brows deepened.
" She is." He said, glancing away. He wasn’t taking the conversation as seriously as he probably should but then again, he had known the truth of his lineage for years.
She noticed his choice of words, it meant his mother was still alive. Or at least he believed she still was. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
" Is that why you are able to control the shadows? I noticed you doing it back when we were in the manor but I thought I imagined the whole thing." She wasn’t even sure something like this even existed.
" It would seem so." He drawled.
Circe narrowed her eyes at him. " Where’s she now?"
" You’ll have to ask her that by yourself when you find her. I haven’t seen or spoken to her my entire life."
She must have run out of questions for him because she went silent after that and he found that it was just as torturous as the first time. It wasn’t the silence that unsettled him, but the way it stripped away all distractions, leaving only his thoughts,and today, they were louder than ever
" Why did they bring me here?" Ragnar asked, shattering the stillness. It was the longest conversation they have had that didn’t involve insulting and threatening each other.
" Lady Caelorth didn’t think you would be safe in your chambers. She knows about the attack on the night of our wedding. So she brought you here for me to watch over you." Circe said. An evil smile curled her lips when she pulled out a small dagger. " She also gave this to me in case someone breaks in to get you while you are still unconscious. She doesn’t know I would rather kill you myself than lift a finger to save you."
" If you’ve had that the whole time then why haven’t you used it already?" There was something about Circe holding a deadly weapon that messed with his mind, scrambling his thoughts. He should have been afraid. He knew she hated him and fantasized about killing him. But not even a hint of fear was present when he watched her palm the hilt, only a strange sort of excitement.
" Because you are more useful to me alive. It’s very obvious that you have a lot of enemies here, people who would benefit from your death. But you also have supporters, and allies. My brother and I are going escape from Lamora and you are going to make it happen."
" Are you threatening me?" He asked with an incredulous smile.
" Yes," A single word, delivered so flatly it nearly drew a laugh from Ragnar.
" I would have left lamora a long time ago if it were that simple."
" Perhaps you just weren’t trying hard enough. I don’t think you even tried to leave at all, not when you fit in so well with the rest of the vicious nobles."
A knock on the door interrupted them. Circe quickly hid the blade under her dress but Ragnar’s eyes were still on her. Even while she brandished the dagger, he didn’t watch her with wariness and trepidation, instead his gaze was filled with intrigue like she hadn’t just threatened his life. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
The door creaked open a second later and Taryn walked back in, accompanied by a servant holding a large tray leaden with food.
" Did you find him?" Ragnar asked. The question was for Lady Taryn but his focus was entirely on Circe and the little conversation they were having before being interrupted.
" Yes." Taryn’s lips thinned. " He explained everything. This is for you. It has been days since you last had a proper meal."
" Thank you, Lady Taryn." Ragnar said. A smirk touched his lips. " Circe, would you like to join me?"
