A Storm of Flames and Deceit

XIV. Contingency

Nephele

I wonder if it's the heat that's making me feel faint or my physical proximity to Eris. As it is, he has only wrapped his arm around my shoulders a couple of times in fleeting moments of necessity, and that had been the closest I had ever been to a boy physically.
But now his arm was wrapped casually around my waist, and I'm feeling a bit lucid.
Either way, the coconut tea is appreciated. I had never had iced tea before. Back in Hybern, the only thing we ever iced was water. Warm tea was much better suited for the chilly and rainy climate.
But this...
This might be a game changer.
The tea was a muted purple color, garnished in hibiscus and lemon, perfectly frigid, patching my unquenchable thirst.
But another part of me left unquenched.
I decide to promptly ignore the electric tingle of Eris' princely fingers absentmindedly rubbing my waist even as we sit and sip our tea.
"I must compliment you," Cressida says to me in her sweet island drawl. She really is gorgeous, as is Tarquin. I'm beginning to think that I might be encountered with a good bit of attractive people on this trip, but I'm not sure if I'll find anyone who makes the same impression that Eris had though. "That dress is phenomenal. It looks stunning on you."
I actually do blush a bit, trying to play it off with a smug smirk. "Thank you," I smile at her, covering Eris' ears playfully, though I'm sure he can still hear what I say next. "Don't tell Eris this because he'll get an even bigger head, but he picks me out the best clothes." I revoke my hands, and Tarquin and Cressida both laugh quietly.
"You wouldn't be talking about me like I'm not here to our hosts, would you sweetheart?" He asks me, faking an affectionate smile. I smirk, leaning closer though my body seems to sizzle.
"Me? Mock you? I wouldn't dream of it," I smile, snuggling closer to him on the couch. I'm definitely a bit dizzy. I look back to Cressida. "And I do love your hair," I comment, genuinely meaning it. She had locks, like me, but hers weren't twisted. They were braided, jewels and gems and golds and silvers woven through the strands.
She smiles appreciatively, but Tarquin groans. "Oh, you really shouldn't have said that," he whines, sipping his tea. I furrow my brow.
"Why not?"
Cressida grins devilishly, twirling the end of my hair between her manicured fingers. Am I imagining it or does Eris hold me tighter, as if jealous? "Because," Cressida says emphatically. "Now I must do your hair later today. I would love nothing more. I've never seen locks so long."
I smile shyly again, looking down at my hair. It falls to nearly the base of my spine. "Thank you," I tell her. "It grew out quite a bit over the two centuries I was confined. They say that even when you're dead, your hair and nails continues to grow. I wasn't sure I believed it until my imprisonment."
Tarquin frowns slightly, questions churning in those kind eyes. His curiosity wins out. "Please interrupt me if at any point I'm being rudely inquisitive, but I'm truly curious about this all," he glances at Eris. "Forgive me if your declaration of marriage seemed to be more of a brief summary than a full narrative of you two's love."
Love.
I nearly vomit at the word.
Sex, I was absolutely ready for. Love? That was some far off concept. I don't want to love anyone. How would someone like me even understand something so broad? So abstract?
I've never loved someone before, not even platonically. Not even my family.
I'm not sure I want to start.
I cringe to consider even being in love. It's one thing to be forced into a marriage. It's another thing to choose commitment like how someone chooses to be in love.
I've known a lot of shackles in my life, but love might perhaps be the most binding.
I will have no part in it.
"Eris can describe it better than me, I'm sure," I tell them, glancing at Eris helplessly. I hope to convey that it's something I have difficulty talking about, but in truth, I'm not entirely clear on the story we have woven. I paid attention in the meetings, but I didn't pay that good of attention. "I sort of knocked unconscious the minute he saved me." It's nearly true. The minute I was freed from my chains, I did indeed knock out. The only difference is that it wasn't Eris who freed me.
Eris nods, but his jaw is stiff. all part of the act, I suppose. He wanted to look like my treatment was truly infuriating to him. It was quite convincing short of smoke steaming off his head- which I wonder if he could arrange.
"I can tell motive enough for Hybern," Tarquin contributes as Eris pretends to gather himself.
Cressida nods in agreement. "Her power is palpable," she nearly shivers. "I could feel my hair standing on end ever since she got here."
Eris takes my hand as I pretend to look up at him gratefully. "Yes, Hybern had locked her away for being as powerful as she was. He didn't like being second in his own land, especially to a young woman."
Cressida and Tarquin exchange a look, and I can already tell the question they want answered but don't dare ask.
Why didn't he just kill her then?
I answer this one. "He kept me alive as a contingency. He thought that if he ever obtained the cauldron, he could syphon my power to him, but he never could figure out how."
"And now he rots in hell," Eris shrugs, content with the idea that Hybern suffers now.
I nod. "I was roughly two centuries old when Eris found me."
"I had been searching Hybern's palace, looking for relics that might suggest the intentions of the human queens, but I found her," he hesitates as if repulsed by how I was kept.
"I was starved," I say for him. "I was living off my immortality alone for two centuries," I smile up at Eris, my lips wobbly, but my eyes bright. Grateful. "Then this grumpy red head found me and freed me from my shackles, at which point I passed out."
He sips his tea. "She was cuffed in the teeth of magic sucking creatures for two centuries, injected with faebane bidaily."
Cressida glances at my forearms briefly. "Is that why...?" She trails off, not wanting to hurt my feelings. I nod, feigning insecurity, letting Eris trace the lines in faked admiration.
"Now lightning runs through my veins," I shrug, shaking my head. "But enough about me, I hear your court is known for their excellent seafood."
Cressida and Tarquin share a hesitant grin, like that story was difficult for their kind hearts to stomach, and they don't even know the half of it. Regardless, Tarquin launches into a lively conversation about his weekends fishing if only to make the conversation lighter.
Eris squeezes my leg affectionately, as if to tell me good job, but his hand stays there for the rest of tea, his thumb rubbing sweet circles on the inside of my bare thigh.
...
Not long after, Cressida offers to take me to the beach while Eris and Tarquin discuss official court business. I happily oblige and let her take me upstairs where she insists on letting me borrow a swimsuit. I had never word such a garment before. I was the type to jump into the creek butt ass naked or fully clothed. No in between.
But I must admit, I like these scrawny pieces of light blue fabric she gives me. The top is made of two small triangles that barely contain my bust, tied together by slim straps. The bottoms are also two small triangles, one covering my front, one- barely- covering my ass.
"I'm gonna be honest," I say to Cressida, admiring my ass in the mirror. "I don't think I've ever gone out in public this naked."
She chuckles, dressed in a similar suit in a coral color that makes her dark skin pop. "You haven't a thing to worry about," she waves me off. "It's quite normal here, the revealing clothing and swimsuits. When it's this hot, you find people care less about how much skin you show."
"Oh, I'm not complaining," I smirk, looking her up and down. "I was just taking notice as to how sexy we both look." She giggles, shoving me.
"You're trouble, Lady Nephele," she grins with those white teeth, taking my hand, pulling me out of her dressing chambers and towards the sea.
"Please," I tell her, running after. "Call me Neph."
"Alright, Neph," she takes a sharp turn away from the even shoreline with white sand. "You know how to swim right?"
I scoff. "Of course I know how to swim."
"Good," she grins devilishly. "Because I think I might take you cliff jumping."
My heart skips a beat. "You had me at jumping off a cliff."