Court of Nightmares and Ruin

Chapter 32

Icelyn

"Kohl! I am not an invalid. You do not need to carry me around."

"No, you are not an invalid; you are a human, which is much worse."

When he returned to my room, Kohl snatched me from my bed and had not put me down yet. If I were completely honest, I was glad he was carrying me around. I had yet to adjust to my new body. Let's just say we were not getting along well. This new body was weak and puny, the exact opposite of what I was used to.

When we entered his room, Kohl finally put me down and gently placed me on his bed.

"I wouldn't have complained if I had known this is what you were up to." I leaned back in a seductive pose against his silky black pillows.

"This is no time to joke, Icelyn."

"Whose joking? At least let me enjoy something in this new body."

"I will not risk hurting you. That's not why I brought you into my room. I did it so I could watch over you."

I shot upright so quick my head was spinning. "You cannot mean that you have no intention of touching me? What if I am like this forever?"

"That's not going to happen. I will fix this and kill all those responsible for doing this to you." I saw darkness flash in Kohl's eyes, which made me tremble.

"You didn't answer my question."

I was not letting this go. The more he evaded, the more I wanted to know what he thought of me now that I was different.

A tear slid down my face when he didn't answer me. With our mate bond gone, was it possible he didn't love me anymore, or worse, was he repulsed by my human form?

"Just rest for now. I have things I need to take care of." He gently ran his hand down my cheek, wiping at the tear. I think my heart was breaking again. Was that possible? It had barely healed from the last break.

"Can you ask Jen to join me?"

"No, she is forbidden to come around you," he said firmly in a tone not to be questioned like that ever stopped me.

"That is absurd. I already told you it wasn't her that was in my room. I don't know who it was, but it wasn't her."

"I don't want her around you until I have sorted all this out and know exactly where to start."

Before I could ask him what he knew, he vanished in a puff of mist. This day couldn't get any worse. First, I was turned into a human, and now there was a very pissed-off Night Realm king running around on a rampage, and I with no way to stop him. Well, I sure wasn't going to just sit here. I had to figure out what had happened and, more importantly, how to regain my old self. I walked over to the door and pulled it open, only to find a guard there.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, dumbfounded. Kohl didn't use guards.

"I'm sorry, my queen, but Kohl asked me to ensure you were safe and not to let you leave this room until he returned."

"Did he, now?" I simmered with anger as I closed the door and walked over to the balcony. Escaping from here was much simpler when I had my powers. As a fae, I wouldn't have died even if I fell, but now...

This was a foolish idea, I thought to myself as I hosted myself up onto the balcony. I was still wobbly on level ground. I was not accustomed to the feel of this body. It was hard to explain. I was smaller but felt heavier, like I had lost my litheness, confidence, and strength. A gust of wind blew, making me teeter. I threw my arms out to regain my balance.

I quickly bound over the railing and scaled down the wall. I could do this, I might have a new body, but I still had my training, and it was coming in handy right now. I breathed a sigh of relief when my feet were back on solid ground.

"Icelyn." I heard someone call to me in a hushed tone and turned to see Jen ducking behind a bush.

I approached her slowly, my senses were off as a human, and I was still suspicious. The real Jen wasn't who did this to me, but someone who looked like her did, and I couldn't be sure which Jen this was.

"What are you doing out here in the bushes?" I kept my distance and waited for her to respond.

"I was trying to get up there to see you because Kohl forbade me to come near you. He's sexy and all, but he is really starting to piss me off."

That was Jen, alright. She walked from behind the bushes and handed me a piece of paper. I unfolded it carefully. It looked so old that it would puff into dust any minute.

"What is this?" My eyes danced across the page, trying to decipher the text and the strange symbols.

"It's a map. It leads to a magic book. A book that has the power to reverse all of this." Jen motions to my body, and I look at the map again.

"Where is this? I've never heard of any of these places before?"

"The mortal realm."

I went completely still. Fae were forbidden to go there. It was the law of the land. I looked down at myself. That may be the only good thing about me no longer being fae.

"Where did you get this, and how do we know it's real."

"Would you believe a mirror fairy?" Jen smiled sheepishly at me.

"A what?"

"Never mind. Just trust me; it's genuine," Jen assured me.

I scrutinized her for a while and then decided it didn't matter where it came from as long as it could get me back into fae form.

"Well, let's go. The sooner we go, the sooner we can get back. Kohl is going to have a meltdown when he finds us gone."

"It's not that simple. Kohl has to go, as does the Day Realm king. They are the only two that can get the book."

Correction, I was wrong. This day could get worse.