A Wicked Game [The Crown Saga II] (Under Editing)

A Shadow's Feather

The room was cold, but the heat from the glowing lamp above our table kept my face warm while the blanket over my shoulders took care of the rest. The crisp air smelled like the frost-covered grass and naked trees right outside the windows — with an odd trace of faint smoke.

We were usually sitting in the dining hall by this time of day, anticipating the arrival of a new hot meal at our tables. However, today — the last day before the beginning of a new year — we'd been invited to the castle conservatory for our midday meal.

There was a semi-opaque roof over our heads, but the rest of our surroundings had been closed off by panels of glass like the gazebos from Adeena's Garden. This was usually a place where people would enjoy the sun and admire the view of the landscape, but the sky was gray, and the sun was nowhere to be seen.

It had been a few days since the Rising Sun Festival, yet it was somehow still the topic of conversation around most tables — ours included.

Piper and Calla were exchanging thoughts and details as if they hadn't already done the same for days. I'd lost interest long ago and kept my gaze locked on the mountain outside, where I could stare blankly into the dark depths of the frozen pine forest until the treetops vanished into the fluffy white mist covering the top.

Trees didn't surround the conservatory; instead, it was separated from the forest by a naked field of white snow and a few leafless trees scattered across its space, with a few birds nesting among the dense branches.

"Will?"

I turned my head as I heard my name being mentioned, seeing both of them staring back at me with questioning looks framing their faces.

"Did you doze off again?" Calla asked with furrowed brows, moving her blanket closer to her flustered face.

"No, I—"

No good excuse came to mind, so I decided to give up trying and raised my shoulders instead.

"That's the sixth time today, Will," Piper said and put her icy hand on top of mine to have my gaze meet her worried eyes. "What's going on?"

I sighed and pulled my hand back to escape her frozen grasp. "I'm just tired, I guess," I said, leaning back into the warm fur covering my chair.

They knew why my mood wasn't as it usually was.

Ever since the Rising Sun, we'd been on a break from the mandatory courses and training exercises to enjoy the festivities, so there was nothing to keep my mind occupied from everything that worried me — except that one lesson I'd had with Art, but that was days ago. Since then, he'd been called to the Air Realm for an assignment he'd refused to tell me about.

Faye was still avoiding me, and I was at a loss for new ways to get her to talk to me.

I constantly worried about my family and whether they had enough food to survive this unusually harsh winter.

The last time I'd felt this homesick had been during Payton's surprise party, where Piper had managed to calm me down before my emotions spiraled out of control. However, I wasn't so sure that this was one of the moments where I could be calmed.

I'd been suppressing these feelings for days, and it felt like I was going to burst into unstoppable tears at any moment.

However, what they didn't know — and what probably worried me the most — was what that dreaded alcohol had finally forced me to admit to myself. I'd fallen in love with Caiden, but he wasn't mine to have. Besides, I could never betray Piper or Calla like that — not after everything they'd been through to get here.

"Are you sure that's all?" Calla continued, the skin stretching across her knuckles as she tightened his fist around the blanket's edge.

"Yeah," I said, forcing a nervous smile without meeting her eyes as guilt nibbled on my nape. "It's nice out here, but I just want to get through this meal so I can head to the Battle Arena and practice my routine."