“Eden,” Kiran started and I turned my face to him. He walked over to me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Will you wait outside for a moment; I would like to talk to Callea and Elio alone please.”

I nodded my consent and stood to leave. Callea remained huddled in the corner of the room, her arms wrapped tightly around her in a state of subdued shock. Our eyes met as I left the room, and she flinched back to reality nodding to me graciously. I nodded back, acknowledging her fears and forgiving her for them. In that moment we came to understand each other, I was the dangerous outsider that threatened everything familiar about this kingdom and she was a loving wife desperate to save her husband. She hated me because she thought she could protect her husband that way.

In that small moment, her mind changed and I watched it happen. I wasn't to be feared anymore. She recognized me now. She recognized the Oracle inside of me. She recognized the true heir to the throne.

Chapter Seven

I stood outside the cottage, breathless and exhausted. Kiran and I had visited four different residents where a Titan lay in the last hours of the King's Curse. I played idly with the silver handcuff that hung loosely around my wrist like an oversized bangle and wondered how many more houses he wanted to visit today.

It wasn't that I didn't want to help others. I did. More than any other ability I possessed, the healing smoke gave me unfathomable joy and with every King's Curse lifted I felt the victory of this war that much closer to my possession. But, the last Titan had taken everything out of me. The smoke struggled against the severity of his disease and I was close to collapse even now, alone for the first time all day.

The sun burned in the afternoon sky, still scorching as it set lower on the horizon, casting long shadows on the worn cobblestone streets. I stood up purposefully, taking a deep breath and determining that I could help as many Titans as Kiran could offer. A little exhaustion on my part was nothing compared to the agonizing last moments of life these men were facing.

I crossed my arms and rolled my head around my neck ready to face any challenge Kiran had to offer. And that is how Kiran found me when he walked from the small cottage, closing the door carefully behind him. He paused for a moment, taking in my resolute stance and expectant eyes. He stood there staring at me, relief painting his expression and his eyes warm pools of aqua, like the ocean near the shore.

“Thank you,” he whispered simply.

“Are there any more?” I asked. I ignored his gratitude; it unnerved me and reminded me that he had feelings. I was on a mission now, and I needed a task, I needed to move out of his intense gaze.

“Yes, but they can wait a day or two. Those were the most dire cases and I know you're exhausted.” Kiran moved forward, walking with purpose in my direction. His eyes moved passed me and when he brushed by me, headed in the direction of the castle, I unclenched my jaw and released a breath I subconsciously sucked in, wondering what I had been afraid of.

I turned on my heel, chasing after him. “No, really, Kiran, if there are more, I can help them. We don't have to go back to the castle yet,” I pleaded, not ready to be locked up again.

“Eden, it's obvious how tired you are. I'm not going to push you, there is always tomorrow,” Kiran explained without slowing his pace. “Besides, I hadn't realized how late it was.”

“More palace business?” I grumbled, not meaning to sound regretful but unable to stop myself. The prospect of spending the night locked in his empty bedroom and alone was depressing and I couldn't pretend to feel anything less.

“Actually, not tonight,” Kiran answered, amused.

“So why are we in such a hurry?” I pressed.

“I have plans,” Kiran responded curtly.

The castle was in view now and if I wasn't desperate to know what Kiran was up to, my feet would have slowed from the sheer dread of walking up those cold stone steps to his bedroom.

“Kiran, I can't do it!” I shrieked, gripping his bicep with both my hands. We were only a few feet from the castle doors and I couldn't make myself go inside them right now. I couldn't face more isolation and emptiness. “Please don't make me go inside yet! I know I promised to cooperate, and I will, I just need a little bit more time, just a little bit more sunlight.”

Kiran spun around to face me, his magic flaring beneath my skin and his eyes hardening into steely dark blue orbs. His muscle flexed beneath my fingertips and I wanted to let go of him, to appease him before he called his father and informed him of my defiance, but I couldn't. I forced my gaze to his and begged him silently to help me.

“We're going swimming,” Kiran stated and then shook his head as if clearing it. “What I mean to say, is that Talbott, Sebastian and I are going swimming. If you would like to join us that would be Ok with me.”

“Really?” I gushed. I took a step forward, my hands still gripped around his bicep. “I don't have to go back to your room?”

“If you want to go swimming,” Kiran clarified. “You have to stay with me, obviously, but if you want to come with us, you can.”

“I do! I want to go with you!” The idea of not only, spending the evening away from the castle, but the opportunity to do something as recreational as swimming was purely joyous. I couldn't stop the smile from widening across my face, or my magic from soaring with happiness.

“We will have to go upstairs though, Eden. I mean, we need to change,” Kiran explained carefully, waiting for me to object.

“Do you have a swimming suit for me?” I asked.

“Yes, the closets were selected for Seraphina and they contain everything you could need,” Kiran confirmed my earlier suspicions robotically, as if replying from a cheat sheet he had been given. “If you are seriously opposed to going upstairs I can leave you with a Guard on the main level and retrieve one for you.”

“No, really, as long as I know we're going to leave again, I'll be fine.” I breathed a sigh of relief and released Kiran's arm from my hold. He turned toward the castle and I trotted after him, excited for the prospect of the evening.

“You agreed to go swimming before you knew if you had a swimming suit?” Kiran inquired, looking at me over his shoulder.

“Listen, I will do anything to stay out of that room, even if that meant skinny dipping with a bunch of boys,” I laughed, completely serious.

Kiran snapped his head forward, not commenting on my confession. I followed him upstairs and to his bedroom where he showed me a drawer that was full of skimpy two piece bikinis with mere strings to tie them closed. I realized I might prefer skinny dipping over Seraphina's slutty selection. I dug around in the drawer for a few minutes until something far in the back caught my attention. The black nylon stood out against the bright florals, or sheer whites of the two pieces. Whispering a silent prayer, I reached for it, holding it in the air and confirming that it was, in fact, a one piece.

I clutched it to my chest and turned around triumphantly. Kiran gave me only a fleeting glance before I bounded into the bathroom happy that Seraphina had some semblance of modesty. I tied my hair high on top of my head in a messy knot before undressing quickly. I was thankful I had the foresight to shave earlier in the day as I slid the black one piece on, expecting simple sophistication. The suit was half way up my legs when I realized it was anything but simple.

“Oh good grief,” I sighed, tugging the deceivingly skimpy swimsuit over my shoulders and then stretching it over all of the appropriate places.

Instead of the modest one piece I expected to cover all of me, it was generously cut out at the sides, providing only a slim piece of material over my stomach and tying bikini style in the back just below my shoulder blades. Other than the thin string that tied the suit together and kept it in place, my back was completely exposed until it graciously covered everything below my last vertebrate. I tugged at the scooped bust-line, trying to cover my sudden voluptuous-looking décolletage to no avail.

I stood staring at myself for several minutes, wondering if I had the courage to wear this suit in public. I promised myself that the innate self-conscious feelings stemmed from the curse of being a girl, and not because any one of those boys meant anything to me. Still, I had to give Seraphina credit for being vain enough to wear something like this in public. I convinced myself it was better than one of the other skimpy two-pieces with mere triangles and string to cover myself with and took a deep breath before opening the bathroom door and thrusting myself into the coolness of Kiran's bedroom.

I stumbled through the door more mortified than ever as Kiran, just finished tying his shorts closed, stood before me bare-chested in the twilight that the setting sun had turned his room into. We stared at each other for a moment, jarred by my sudden entrance; neither of us ready to witness the other half-dressed. His chiseled muscles glistened in the soft light of the room, flexed in tension with the awkwardness of the moment.

We stayed there a second longer before he reached for his t-shirt lying on the bed and threw it forcefully at me. I received his silent order to cover up loud and clear, but instead of rebelling at the idea of an arrogant command, I caught it gratefully and threw it on over my exposed body. When I poked my head through the neck of his too-big t-shirt, he was already pulling on a different shirt. And both ready at the same time, we stood there for another clumsy moment more.

“Um, is this Ok?” I asked meekly. Kiran snapped his head up, with an open mouth to say something but then caught sight of my finger pointing to my exposed tattoo and stopped himself.

“Yeah, it's fine. We're just going over the hill. No one else will be around.” Kiran explained and I didn't think anything of it until he continued quickly, “I mean, Sebastian and Talbott will be there of course, but they already know about the mark. I mean, they've seen your tattoo, so it won't be a big deal. I mean, it's fine. Of course, it's fine.” Kiran rambled nervously.

“Good.” I wasn't sure what to make of Kiran, but when he turned on his heel I had to hurry to catch up with him.

I grabbed some flip-flops near the door and slid them on, realizing too late that they were his and much too big for my medium-sized girl feet. I didn't have time to exchange them now though, as he raced down the stairs with me trailing behind him.

I continued to follow him out a back entrance of the castle. We walked straight into a maze of gardens with twenty-foot hedged walls and blossoms of every shape and color in full bloom. He led me purposefully along an unkempt dirt path with frenzied flowers and delicate bushes growing possessively in our way.

“Isn't there a gardener?” I questioned when an angry white rose reached out and scratched my bare leg. I winced in pain and bent down to put my hand over the bleeding cut.

“My mother prefers it this way,” Kiran explained, turning around to wait for me. When I winced again and pulled my hand away soaked with blood, he bent down to examine the gash. “She insists that the flowers have complete freedom.” His hand moved over the cut and he pressed it firmly to my leg. My magic responded to his touch in a way that brought it immediately forward to heal the wound.

Kiran looked up at me then, flinching as though he had revealed something too private. His gaze lingered on mine, waiting for me to react, but all I could do was stand in stunned silence at the thought of his mother wanting the flowers to have freedom. I looked into Kiran's turquoise eyes, replicas of his mother's and remembered her cool indifference with Lucan, her subtle aloofness and careful concern when called for. I didn't hate Analisa in that moment, I sympathized for her. She was a prisoner too. A martyr also. And whether she held her crown because she thirsted for an influential marriage the way Seraphina had or because Lucan simply commanded her to be his wife and she didn't have the courage my mother possessed, she lived a life that no woman deserved.