Twist me (shatter me x twisted series x cruel prince)

Chapter 4

Jude

I hustle Cardan away from our "friends". It's not I don't like them, I do, and under any other circumstances I would've been delighted to meet them but I find it hard to trust anyone lately, for most of my life trusting people doesn't usually end well. The world is a crude place, assuming the worst out of everybody isn't pessimistic, it's accepting reality as it is. Anything else leads to a broken heart, at best. It's the reason we're here in the first place, I made a mistake, I trusted Madoc and now I suffer the consequences. Optimism and naïvety comes with a price, and eventually you'll have to pay it.

"Well?" I said.

"Well what?" replied Cardan obliviously.

I sighed, exasperated. "Well what do you think? Do we ought to trust their word?"

"I see no reason why they would wish to deceive us, after all our situation is no more believable than theirs."

"Hmm." I needed to think without Cardans thoughts interrupting my own. I was used to making choices independently and operating on by myself, one of the things I had to get used to as a queen instead of a spy was how frequently I had to share my ideas and accept advice before acting them out. It's not like I don't like receiving advice, it's just that for most part I just end up doing the opposite of it, however good or reasonable the advice might sound.

I evaluated our company, they seemed trusting enough, most of them at least. The brunette and the black haired guy looked like they would've been willing to host a tea party with us there and then, they had seemed delighted to share details about themselves. It was shocking how easily they trusted compared to the Folk of Faerie. Of course I had considered it to just all an act, after all we've only known them for less an hour. I recalled the sincerity of the smile the brunette had given me, it stirred up something inside of me but again, as they have already confirmed, they possess some kind of power as well, something powerful too from what I have heard, I cannot afford to underestimate them.

There's the other two as well, the girl in the head scarf had spoken too, not with as much enthusiasm but talked nonetheless. Out of the two of us it was Cardan who spoke the most, I had asked questions mostly, I suddenly wanted to curse Cardan for telling them so much about us. He had shared potential weaknesses that could be used against us, such as the fact he can't lie, or that we had little or no back up here. For all we know they could be lying about everything they said.

The blonde was to be considered too, the entire time his cold gaze was pinned on us, as though evaluating was he was seeing. He looked as if he would like nothing more but to run a weapon through us there and then. He hadn't spoken a single word, I didn't know what to make of him yet. I made a mental note not to turn my back and give him, or any of them an opportunity to stab me or Cardan in any way.

"You know darling, not everyone in this world means you harm," Cardan drawled. I hadn't spoken out loud, but perhaps he saw my expression.

"I know that, but only a fool would trust blindly," I reply tartly.

"Others are even more foolish that they trust even when they know it'll lead to eventual betrayal," he smirked slightly,

"Well I refuse to be that fool," I said harshly.

He placed a hand on his chest mockingly. I gave him a nasty glare and he recoiled to my satisfaction.

"We shall play along with them, get to know them, if what they say is true and they can indeed aid us, we accept their help and get back to Madoc before he can cause further trouble," I continued briskly. Owing a debt to someone in exchange of a favor is dangerous in Faerie, and even though I suspect it's quite different here I do not expect their service to come without cost, but I am willing to pay that as desperate as I am to get back to Elfhame.