CAIN

SEVENTEEN

"I take it you're close then."

We had taken to the library, sitting around a table which proved to be too small for Cain's body. It reminded me of him sitting in my own home, the first time we had met.

I smiled at Cain's remark, "Thick as blood."

"Has it always been the case?"

I nodded, looking down to flick the pages of a book I had borrowed, distracting myself with illustrations of vampire anatomy. "And they say distance makes the heart grow fonder," I drawled.

"And what of you?" I asked him, "Are you as close with your family as I am with mine?"

He shook his head, "I'm not sure if I even had parents."

"How does that work?" I looked at him in confusion.

Cain leant back in his chair, face turning to the window as he tilted his head. The sunlight turned his eyes into pools of honey. "I was born a wolf, and became a man." 

He said it as if it was simply the way of things and not at all terrifying that he was so ancient he had forgotten how he had come to be.

I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity, "As we all do."

He turned to look at me once again, "I'm half surprised you didn't crawl out of a story book yourself." 

"I'm going to assume, Cain," I shut the book, "that you see me as a princess in a tower and not a haggard old women who brews potions and eats children."

He was smiling, an uncharacteristically smug look about him. I shook my head, but couldn't stop myself from smiling too.

"I'm sure only one of those things are true," he told me.

"You're right - I haven't brewed potions all year."

His face dropped, until he realised I was grinning. "I thought we established the rumours were not true," I said, pretending to be more offended than I was with a mock hand to my heart.

"Some of them are."

I rolled my eyes, "Oh please, enlighten me."

"Some say you are the most beautiful women in this kingdom."

I studied his face, but he wasn't smiling anymore, only looking at me so intently I felt as if he could, all at once, know everything about me. "You're bullshitting."

"That's what the rumours say, Ana."

"In this kingdom?" I repeated, shaking my head, "Try the most beautiful woman across all kingdoms."

"They should really call you the most humble woman across all kingdoms."

"You can add kingslayer to the list if you're not careful."

He mused on this, "It would make for an interesting twist to this investigation."

I shook my head in disbelief. "I have you right where I want you, Your Fuzziness. It's only a matter of time before I establish myself as the rightful heir to the throne."

"And what would you do," he asked me, "if you ruled this kingdom."

I laid my head in my hands, frowning slightly, "Ban fairytales, that's for sure."

"No concern for your origins then."

I raised my eyebrows. "I would get rid of that awful painting you have in your throne room."

He seemed surprised by this, "The one with the leopard?"

"The one with the leopard," I confirmed. "It's positively ghastly."

"It's a historic artefact, Morgana, centuries old."

I remained unimpressed, "It doesn't stop it from being an eyesore."

He choked a laugh. "No, I guess not."

"I would hire a personal chef," I thought out loud.

"You could do that without becoming queen."

"It feels more fitting that way. Hmm, maybe I would attend a ball naked."

He leant forward, "You are so strange."

"You wouldn't be able to say that if I was queen," my voice matter-of-fact, "I would forbid slander against the crown."

"They would overthrow you, most definitely."

"It's a good thing I'm not queen then."

Cain's eyebrows furrowed, "I wouldn't say that."

"Planning a proposal for me then?" 

The words came out of my mouth before I could truly consider the implication of them. The silence startled us both and in that moment, I truly wished I knew a spell to reverse time. You're his mate, marriage is what mates do. 

"Not anytime soon, Morgana," Cain finally said, perhaps an attempt at light-hearted humour, but I watched him sigh.

"How did you become king?" I chose my next words more carefully than my last.

"I was a general for a long time," His Fuzziness stood up, "When this kingdom claimed sovereignty, the council wanted to crown someone who would defend this country. They wanted a solider, not a king."

"But you remained?"

He nodded, "Until I am challenged and defeated."

"Do you...enjoy it?"

"You speak of it as if it is a career choice," he laughed, walking over to the window once more.

I shrugged, "Is it not?"

He paused before answering, "I know it sounds strange, but sometimes it feels like a calling. And other times I simply cannot imagine myself as anything but the crown."

"The first spell I ever did - it felt right. Like magic was my calling."

Cain begun to speak, but was stopped short as my brother entered the room, a document in hand. We both turned to face him as he handed me the sheet of paper.

"What is this?" I asked him.

"The information you requested," Lucius replied grimly, "Although I'm not sure it's what you were looking for."

"This can't be right." I read the receipt of the purchase of the same wolfsbane that had killed the guard. "Are you certain, Lucius?"

My brother only nodded.

 I handed the paper to Cain. "Alice's father," I told him, "He was the one who bought the wolfsbane."