A Power of Old(31)

It wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

I looked over at Ruby, but her gaze was fixed on the floor.

“I’ll leave you two,” Abelle announced suddenly. “I’ve just spotted an old friend. Let Hazel know she’s welcome to come over and visit any time—I’ll help her in any way I can.”

“Thanks, Abelle,” Ruby replied. “I’ll let her know.”

“Good luck, Ashbik.”

As soon as Abelle left us, a thick tension descended between Ruby and me. There were so many things I wanted to say to her, but I didn’t even know where to begin. I didn’t even know if Ruby was even thinking about us—maybe she was solely focused on her friend.

Please say something.

Neither of us spoke for a while. I kept smiling and nodding at villagers who waved and shouted in my direction, but my heart wasn’t in it. I felt slightly sick, like the walls were crashing in slow motion around me—the idea of Ruby and me not being able to be together was starting to become horribly real.

“Ruby—” I started, but she tightened her grip around my arm.

“Don’t,” she whispered. “Not right now. Not here—okay?”

“Okay.”

I understood that she didn’t want to talk about it, but we needed to, whether she liked it or not. I would give her a reprieve for the moment—it wasn’t like I wanted to have the conversation surrounded by nosy ministers, but I couldn’t handle staying silent on this for long.

“We’ll talk later?”

“Later,” she replied.

I looked back over toward the dais. Jenney was standing by the steps, surrounded by young trainee ministers. She looked beautiful—out of her servant clothes and wearing something she’d most likely stolen from one of the guest rooms.

“She’s going to have a different life from now on,” Ruby mused as she followed my gaze.

“I hope so.”

For all intents and purposes, Jenney was my younger sister. I hoped that while there would be countless negatives to being the king of Hellswan, one of the benefits would be the ability to spoil her rotten. I didn’t want her going near a kitchen sink again, or working for so many hours that she ended up falling asleep on one of the kitchen chairs—something she did all too frequently. Maybe now she could actually start enjoying her life, making up for lost time...

“I hate to tell you this, but you’ll be beating them off with a stick.” Ruby tried to hide a smile, looking over at the fawning boys. “Sorry.”

I grimaced as I assessed each of the hapless-looking ministers who surrounded her. I’d be keeping her away from them in the future—that was for sure.

“What’s wrong with Julian?” I asked, noticing the boy watching the same tableaux we were, but scowling.

Ruby looked over at Julian standing in the corner of the room nearest the dais, skulking in the shadows. She sighed. “When Benedict started to become influenced by the entity, I think he shut Julian out. Hazel and I were preoccupied all the time with the trials, and I think the only person who ever really paid Julian any attention was Jenney…I guess he thinks that’s slipping away.”

I understood how he felt. Would I be Julian soon, watching Ruby from afar because I couldn’t have her, couldn’t get close to her? Either way there would be distance between us—either we’d be like Hazel and Tejus, who had to physically distance themselves from one another to stop her draining him, or we’d be like Julian and Jenney, one of us standing on the sidelines while the other got on with their life.

“He still hasn’t recovered, has he?” I replied, noticing his pallid features that were highlighted by the flickering candles of the room.

“No. He needs more rest, but I guess it’s also psychological. He was down there for a long time, thinking that his friends had left him, not knowing if he would ever get out. That’s got to leave a mark.”

“We’ll get revenge, Ruby,” I reassured her. Queen Trina’s time would come.

“I know,” she replied, looking up at me with solemn eyes. “I’m proud of you, by the way,” she added. “King Ash of Hellswan.”

I groaned.

“Don’t—I’m Ash to you, Shortie, always.”

She rose up on her tiptoes to kiss me lightly on the cheek. Unsatisfied, I drew her into a crushing bear hug, not wanting to let her go. I inhaled her familiar, warm Ruby smell that never ceased to drive me crazy.

“It’s going to be okay, whatever happens,” she whispered.

I nodded into her hair. Now I didn’t want to talk about it—I just wanted to hold her, ignore the fact that I was a sentry and she was a human, that I was a king from a different dimension than hers, and that the castle I was supposed to protect with my life was already under threat from a powerful entity.