It’s only made worse by the fact those conquered towns were where he started his frozen statue collection, an entire captive audience to listen to his every whim.
“We need paper and pencils for the maps, should we check for anything else?” Andras asks as he walks over to the bookshelves. He glances back at me before rifling through the books and papers stacked there.
“I wouldn’t mind checking his personal papers or journals if there are any. He must have the location of the stone written down somewhere. With his ranting, there’s no way he didn't write down nonsensical ramblings down somewhere. Maybe we can decipher it. He had stones in his crown, but I doubt he could have inlaid it, Bella needed the Spirits to do that," I reason. Andras nods as he thumbs through the books. I walk to the desk and open the drawers, rifling through each one.
The first drawer is stuffed full of coins and gems. We haven’t talked about currency in New Faerie, but I make a mental note to tell the council about this. Technically it’s Sebastian’s gold now, though.
The second drawer is full of parchment. I pulled the stack out and set it aside. The rest of the papers are notices and laws for Winter, each one becoming increasingly more tyrannical as they went on. It’s like the king started to go mad over time, a progression like Sebastian suspected. It’s honestly unsurprising, he literally spent thirteen Earth years in Faerie with only the spirits and his torture victim as company. He was even raging at his frozen son every night like clockwork.
“Other than laws and money, there isn’t anything else here. Though we do have parchment and pencils on the top of the desk, so it wasn’t a wasted trip," I call over to Andras. He doesn’t respond. He’s staring at a book with a furrowed brow, eyes darting back and forth while he speed reads the contents. Walking up to him doesn’t even break his trance, so I bend low to try and read the cover. Of course, there’s no title.
“Andras. Aaaandras. ANDRAS!” He jumps when I raise my voice, finally looking up at me. “Sorry, I said your name twice before yelling," I try to hide my chuckle. “What is it?”
“It’s the king’s personal journal. This whole row is full of them. It’s fascinating reading his perspective. He was clearly insane in the end but this one is mostly coherent. He even mentions that he started the war because he planned on taking over Faerie completely. I’ll get into more of the details tonight, we should get back to the others," he closes the book and tucks it under his arm before we scoop the rest off of the shelves.
Sighing in frustration, I grab the parchment and pencils. I’m generally a patient man, but this will be a torturous wait.
Chapter 10
Bowen
“This room could work? There are three bedrooms and a bathroom, so it fits us all. Plus, the common room would be fine to have a meeting in," I point out to Jacob.
“Sure," he says absently as he opens one of the wardrobes lining the wall.
“Oh! Fancy clothes! I could use to change after a freaking bath. I feel so gross after being frozen for weeks. Plus, I would look dashing in this, don’t you think?” he asks with a wink, holding the formal outfit in front of him and posing.
“Dashing for sure," I grin. “Anything in there that will make the Queen swoon for her chiseled man candy?” I flex playfully and Jacob fans himself. The two of us are almost as ridiculous as he is with Bella. Almost. Nothing truly compares to their brand of crazy.
“We could find something, though she was never impressed by the muscled men back home. It’s funny she ended up with four of them," he snickers. Despite it being a joke, the comment stings. There’s still this feeling that won’t go away about our bonding, one that tells me it was forced on her. I hate feeling like she didn’t choose me, that Faerie did.
“She didn’t really have much choice," I admit quietly. Jacob’s smile drops and he studies me. His face slowly turns hard and I hold up my hands before his mind takes that the wrong way. “Not like that, killer. I’d never force myself on her, and I didn’t take advantage of her or anything. We were just her guards. I may have flirted, but she’s gorgeous, I couldn’t help myself. The Spirit told her when she was given the crown that she would have to find four men after the crown was complete. When she put in the first stone the Spirit of Faerie decided to bond us instead. I’ve lived long enough alone to not care and Bella seemed horrified like it was her fault and I was the one without a choice. We both just kind of went with it, but I worry that she will resent us for having to choose us.”
“Stop being dramatic," Jacob scoffs, like I’ve lost my mind. “Let me tell you a little something about my best friend. Never once has she done anything she didn’t want to do. If she flirts back it’s because she genuinely feels it. She is the opposite of me, she’s not a flirty person with just anyone. And, she has an insanely open mind. She accepted me and the fae in a world that didn’t accept either of us. If she knew those were the circumstances and she already felt connected to you, then I think she did what she does. Accepted it, made it her bitch, and moved on. You should too. You guys make her happier than I’ve ever seen her. It might not have been intentional that day, but she chooses you every single day.”
“And I choose her,” I admit. Even from that first moment I saw her stand and speak to us, I knew she was going to be amazing, a force to be reckoned with. She has a genuine kindness about her, but it’s rivaled by her fierce nature. The moment we traveled together and really spoke, I knew I wanted her, though I thought I had no chance. She was a queen after all. But now that we are all connected, and I see how perfectly we work, I know it’s fate. Even if I can’t shake this one negative thought. Though Jacob’s words helped. Because if she hadn’t wanted this, she never would have taken it as far as she did.
Letting out a sigh, I stand and brush off my serious thoughts. “We should find more blankets for the people in the ballroom. And scope out some rooms, I doubt they want to sleep on a stone floor for long once they are conscious.”
“Do castles have linen closets? That would make this so much easier," Jacob says, heading down the hall.
We search the halls and find more rooms, but not enough blankets to make a dent in the amount of fae we need them for.
Deeper into the castle, it’s more of the same. Corridors of rooms with no more than a huge quilt that would be impossible to transport.
“If this room isn’t something different, I’m burning this bitch down,” Jacob growls, yanking a small door at the end of our current hall. We both sigh in relief at the sight of the servant’s quarters. Because with servants, come supplies.
The simplicity of the room is such a vast contrast to the guest rooms. Each tiny space has a bed, a wardrobe, and a small table and chair. They are lined up side by side, finally ending in a large storage room on one end and the kitchen on the other.
“The kitchen! Yes!” Jacob does a happy dance at finding one of the most important rooms of the castle.
“You cook much?” I ask and he laughs. I guess I can take that as a yes.
“Queenie and I cooked together all the time. Other than karaoke, it was our thing," he says with a big smile as he takes in the room.
“Karaoke? Why haven’t I heard this! I’m an amazing singer!” I say in mock outrage.
He shoves me playfully and rolls his eyes. “What songs could you possibly Karaoke? Fae ballads?”