A Fairy Tale With Two

Chapter 7

    The nest morning, Rowan stirred to hear the labored breathing of a person on the floor beside the couch. She sat bolt upright, nearly banging her head on a low hanging light from the low ceiling. Her feet rested on the wooden floor as she sat up, her eyes locking onto Kaden, who was struggling in his bonds.

     "I hope you're not planning on escaping," Rowan rested her elbows on the arm of the couch as she peered over it to look at him, "Aliyah could find you fast, you know."

       "Who?" he rasped, looking up at her as he rolled back into a sitting position.

       "She's a werewolf," Rowan sighed, resting her chin in her hand, "Are you ready to talk to me this morning?"

       "I've been ordered to kill you. If I don't, I'll be executed. If I tell who sent me, I'll also be executed." Kaden raised his bonds around his wrists to his mouth as he began to bite at them.

       "Executed? Was that the word they used?"

      "Yes."

       "It was Adeline, wasn't it," Rowan didn't bother looking to him for confirmation, knowing it was true, "Only royalty have the power to 'execute'. And my Dad would never threaten someone like that. Besides, when I asked earlier, you said 'she'."

       "When you said that she'd kill you for going to the dance, you weren't kidding," Kaden grumbled, arching his back in an attempt to stretch out. His back was sore and his arms ached, "I wasn't expecting to actually try to do it once I found you. Guess I have a harder will than I thought."

       "Don't sound so happy about it," Rowan gave him an annoyed look, rolling onto her back and turning away from him. She rested her head on the arm of the chair as she stared at the ceiling, "But she really tried to kill me."

        "That seems bigger than her just being mad at you," Kaden said, licking his dry lips as he gave his head a shake, "Why would she want to kill you so much?"

      "I don't know," Rowan bit her lip, "But this is upfront treason, no doubt about it. She's never liked me, but this is... insane." She raked a hand through her dark hair, "But I'm going to get to the bottom of this mystery. Are you with me?"

       "Do I have a choice?"

      "Oh, totally," Rowan looked over the arm of the couch to look at him again, "But if you had said no, I would've pitched you into the gorge. You can help us prove her treachery, or you can support her."

       "Nah, I'm with you," Kaden raised his bound wrists, "Can you do something about this?"

       "When Aliyah gets back," Rowan said, her eyes wandering the carved table behind him to admire the animals and plants' pictures embedded into the pale wood, "Oh, I never should have gone to that stupid dance!"

      "Yeah, how was that?" Kaden asked, "I almost went. Almost."

      "Well, it was actually a lot of fun," Rowan sighed, closing her eyes as she recalled it, "The food was awesome, and the room was beautiful, you should've seen it. I've been in and out of that room so many times in my life, but I really couldn't recognize it at all. And that man I danced with... he turned out to be Kaizen, would you believe it?"

      "KAIZEN?!!!" Kaden choked, "You danced with KAIZEN?!!"

      "I didn't know he was Kaizen until after we danced," Rowan frowned down at him, "Do you know him?"

       "No," Kaden scowled, then snorted, "Yes. He's a jerk."

       "He was not," she slid off of the couch beside him, "He was really nice. And funny. The only time he wasn't was when my stepmother busted me and sent me off. Then he sounded like he could kill someone."