Chapter 36
3.
By the time only the last of the three candles Raelin had given her remained, flickering low into its final inch, Kiara was jolted awake by a sudden, insistent knocking at the door.
Who could it be? Was she even allowed to open it?
She held her breath for a moment, ears straining toward the noise. And then, through the heavy wood, a voice she recognized.
[Open up. It’s me.]
Ael. Only then did she exhale, tension unspooling from her shoulders. The moment she unlatched the door, Ael pushed in — not alone, but accompanied by several others.
“W-wait? Wh-who are these people…?”
It came out in a squeak, her panic swelling as if she’d just stumbled across something she was absolutely not supposed to look at. Flushed and flustered, Kiara turned tail and fled back to her bed, diving beneath the sheets in a crumple of limbs and embarrassment.
Ael blinked, briefly thrown off, before stepping forward to follow her.
She was curled in the farthest corner of the bed, wrapped tightly in the sheets like a terrified cocoon. The fabric surrounding her quivered with faint, fine tremors.
“What’s wrong? There’s nothing to be afraid of. They’re just servants.”
He’d ordered them to clean her chambers while he was away — nothing more. And yet, none of them had volunteered to go up to the North Tower. Not a single one.
‘She’s a witch, isn’t she? One look into those eyes and you’ll be cursed.’
That was the excuse they gave. It was utter nonsense, and yet their conviction had been immovable, no matter how many times he tried to reason with them.
In the end, Ael had simply resorted to yelling.
‘What scares you more, those red eyes or these red eyes?’
That had been the line that finally got the servants moving, but only on the condition that Ael came with them. Even so, Kiara’s response was far more severe than anything the servants had shown.
Ael, puzzled, glanced back at her trembling form — and then remembered something she’d once said, almost in passing.
Eaten, drowned, froze to death, or beaten to death by people.
‘So that’s what it was…’
Ael exhaled a quiet sigh, nodding faintly as the pieces fell into place. Of course. She must have spent her life being hunted — not for anything she did, but for some whispered curse she carried.
No wonder she shook like that. No wonder her fear ran so deep.
There was nothing he could do about it now, so he turned away from the bundle in the bed and jerked his chin at the servants still hesitating by the door.
They flinched, then shuffled forward, beginning their work with visible unease.
At the sound of footsteps and rustling linens, Kiara only curled tighter beneath the sheets, shrinking away from the noise like a frightened animal.
Ael glanced at her from the corner of his eye, then spoke over his shoulder to the nearest servant.
“Where’s the bath water?”
“It’s on its way, sir. Ah, and we brought fresh bedding…”
The servant gestured toward a wicker basket cradled in his arms. Inside, freshly laundered sheets and pillowcases were folded neatly, stacked in pale cotton layers.
Ael sighed, long-suffering.
“Just leave it here.”
“B-but the linens…”
“I’ll toss the used ones into it and leave it outside the door. Pick it up later.”
With that, he raised his voice toward the rest of the staff, still moving awkwardly about the room.
“If you’re afraid of the curse, then you’d best finish quickly, right?”
The moment the words left his mouth, the servants sprang into motion with renewed urgency. Their fear of the so-called curse outweighed any concern for decorum — or for Kiara or for Ael himself.
Oddly enough, Ael found it satisfying. Let them be scared, if it meant they moved. He sat down on the edge of the bed, his voice low and careful as he spoke to the shivering bundle of linens beside him.
“You don’t need to be afraid.”
Your soulmate is right here.
He said it almost idly, like a passing thought. But Kiara’s trembling began to ease. Her breathing slowed.
She didn’t emerge, not yet, but at least she’d stopped shaking. She stayed curled up under the sheets, quiet and still, until long after the servants had finished and left.
In the end, she only came out because Ael had had enough. With a firm tug, he pulled the covers away himself.
“A-Ael!”
She yelped, scrambling to reclaim the sheets. But Ael, clearly exasperated, didn’t budge.
“There’s no one here.”
“B-but…”
Kiara’s eyes flicked uneasily around the room. Just as he’d said, it was empty — small and clean and holding only the two of them.
Even so, she still couldn’t bring herself to let go of the fabric.
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