Realm of the Chosen: A Reverse Harem Romance

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Sunlight filtered through the treetops, illuminating the wide awning of the house before anything else was visible from the path. Kit rode into what could be considered a clearing, compared to the rest of the thick forest, though it was still overrun with weeds and vines. She imagined at one time this was a yard—one where children played, where dogs chased rabbits unfortunate enough to come out of the forest too near them, where a mother shouted dinner was on the table.

The house itself was rather large as manor houses went, or else it had been. Kit had never seen it intact, before the charred remains of the roof in the back brought down a good portion of the second story. Compared to the mammoth castle she’d lived in her entire life, the building was small, but she’d seen many cottages in the villages nearby, including one inside of the castle walls and in Eastbury, and she knew whomever had owned this place had been incredibly wealthy at one time.

It had been many years since she last visited these ruins. She pulled Belle to a stop near a tree that would serve as a fair place to tie her mare, and before she could swing her leg over, Eli was there, ready to help her down, though he of all people would know most of all that she needed no help. Still, the feel of his strong hands gripping her just above her hips sent a sensation up her spine like no one else ever could, and as her boots brushed the ground, she momentarily forgot the structure behind him, lost in his green eyes, a brighter shade of green than even the thick foliage of the forest could rival.

“Are you sure you want to go inside?” he asked her. “It’s likely less safe than it was years ago, when last we came here.”

“I’m certain,” Kit nodded, his words jarring her out of her stupor. He released her waist, but she slipped her hand up into his and started toward the front porch, which was mostly intact, and the door, which had been hanging on one hinge before. Now, it was propped against the frame, indicating others may have come to visit this lonely place. She wondered if the inside was as she remembered it or if her mind had invented the details she could not remember to fit the story of the lonely princess who’d found a sympathetic friend willing to oblige her on the steps near the door so many years ago.

Eli released her hand so that he could carefully move the solid oak door aside, certain it was stable before he stepped through and waited for her in the foyer. The entryway wasn’t grand; nor had it ever been. Wooden floors, a staircase that fit the purpose of transporting occupants up and down the levels. Nothing fancy or frivolous. If there ever had been any ornate decorations, she had never seen them, though the walls were broad enough to have supported plenty of artwork.

She’d never been up the stairs. Eli wouldn’t allow it, saying it wasn’t safe, and she’d never been here without him, not once. The few times they had visited here together, he’d always kept a careful eye on her, reminding her the place wasn’t structurally sound and could crumble on her at any moment. Even now, he reached for her hand once more, standing between her and the hallway.

Kit had a specific mission in mind. Yes, she wanted to visit this place with Eli again, to remind him of the interaction they’d shared years ago, before her Exploration, back when she was a frightened young lady, unsure or what her future would hold or how she would navigate the important moments within in. But beyond that, curiosity and a few misplaced comments had left her curious as to what this place had once been, and she was hoping to find a clue within what was left of its walls.

“I’d like to have a quick look around,” she said quietly as she stepped past him. He only backed up a step to give her room out of habit, she was sure. He didn’t want to give her leave to go traipsing about, frightened she’d get hurt she supposed. But as she headed down the narrow hallway that led to all of the rooms on the north side of the main floor, he followed only a few steps behind.

Most of the rooms were fully gutted. Remnants of wallpaper hung in places. There were signs on the floor that indicated some placement of furniture or rugs. It was impossible to tell which room was which, until she reached the very back of the dwelling. Then, even though the upper floor had caved in here, and she was looking up into a bright blue sky, she realized this room had served a specific purpose. There was a hearth, counters, even storage still visible beneath piles of charred wood and debris from the upper level.

“This must’ve been the kitchen,” she said, standing in the doorway, Eli’s hand grasping her wrist lightly, in case she should try to move forward. He would strengthen his grip, she had no doubt, if she took one more step.

“So it appears.” His voice was even, and she could tell he still wished she hadn’t come so far into the building. She took another step back, into the hallway, where the ceiling seemed sturdier, in order to appease him.

“Do you think this is where the fire broke out?” she asked, turning to face him. “Don’t most fires start in the kitchen?”

“As far as I know, the majority of fires do begin in the kitchen. It would make sense.”

There was something in his eyes that made her narrow hers. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but the few times he’d withheld information from her, or outright lied, she’d noticed the same distance in his emerald irises. Eli knew more than he was saying, which made her believe he did know where this fire had started. And it wasn’t in the kitchen, despite the fact that this room had more damage than any other on the ground floor, and it was the most logical explanation.

Kit studied him for a moment before she said, “Let’s go back to the stairs.”

He obliged quickly, gladly, and she wound her way back down the hallway, wondering if it would do her any good to explore the rooms on the other side of the bottom floor. She doubted it. If she was going to find any suitable answer, it would be upstairs. And Eli would never let her go up there.

As she passed by the edge of the staircase, she happened to glance down and saw something unusual in the woodwork. Something was off, uneven. She assumed it had to do with the settling of the house, and with Eli watching, she couldn’t do more than run her hand across the surface. Since everything felt as expected, she put the oddity out of her mind, deciding to focus on other issues instead.

Off in the distance, she heard a trumpet sound and the thunder of hooves. The hunting party had made its turn. If she didn’t rejoin them soon, Cassius would be out looking for her. Even with that information, she sank down to the second to bottom step, spreading her riding gown out around her, and motioned for Eli to join her.

This time, he wasn’t so quick to oblige her, though she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps he’d momentarily forgotten that should she ask him for a similar favor to the one she’d asked nearly six years ago, he’d be legally allowed to oblige. “Do you remember?” she asked, not for the first time.

“Of course, I remember,” he said again. “You were sitting right there, and I was sitting on the step above you.” He moved so that he was in the same place. “I was shocked when you turned to me and asked if I’d ever considered breaking the law.”

He seemed more relaxed now, though every sound outside took his focus away from her momentarily. In that instant, as before when she’d brought him here last, being caught on this property would mean trouble for both of them, particularly him. Her mother had told her many times to stay out of forest ruins of every kind, though she hadn’t specifically named this house. She was certain her mother would be irate to know she’d ducked out on the hunt to bring him here.

“And you told me you’d broken the law lots of times.”

He grinned at her, and Kit smiled back. “I had. The silly ones that made no sense. Like not catching fish in the queen’s river, or never lighting a lamp after midnight. Those laws never made sense to me.”

“But the one I wanted you to break, was that silly?”

“It was silly. It is silly.”

“Why is that?” Kit asked, tipping her head up at him so that she could see him better.

Eli drew in a deep breath. “Because... I’ve always felt that you should have the freedom to choose whomever you want, you know that, Kit. The Choosing, and all of the other complicated phases that go along with it, are all fine and good in practice, but when it comes to you, I’ve never felt like they were necessary. You don’t need all of this fanfare to find the right man for you.”

His words were meant as a compliment, and she knew at once what he was trying to say, that she was capable of finding love without all of these ceremonies and contests. But... at the moment, when her heart was torn in more directions than she could count, she wasn’t so sure she could agree with him. “You helped me tremendously that day.” Her voice was quiet, and he leaned in, either to hear her over the sounds of the forest or because he simply wanted to be closer to her.

“I didn’t do anything, Kit. I only kissed the girl I’d been wanting to kiss for as long as I could remember.” His eyes narrowed slightly, and he continued to come closer to her, stopping with his lips only a hairsbreadth away from hers.

“You gave me courage that day. If you’d refused, or if you’d said you were afraid we’d be found out and get in trouble, I wouldn’t have even kissed a man until my Exploration....”

“I’m not sure you kissed a man then,” he countered, a sly smile on his face. “I was only nineteen myself.”

“Man enough,” she retorted. “After that... I felt much more confident. At least... until the Proem.”

He shook his head slightly, breathing in deeply through his nose. “You were certainly nervous about that as well, but you got through it.”

Kit remembered the days leading up to the ritual. If Eli hadn’t been there to calm her, she had no idea what she would’ve done. And the guard who’d performed the ceremony in lieu of the physician, Mikali, had put her at ease instantly. She reached over and took his hand. “You’ve always made me feel stronger than I actually am.”

“No, Kit, I’ve reminded you that you’re stronger than you think you are.”

His words hit a soft spot in her heart, and without any conscious effort, she found herself leaning forward, closing the gap between them, pressing her lips to his soft, warm mouth. Eli’s hand came around the back of her head and pressed her forward, and Kit slid closer, so that she was between his knees, one hand pressing down on his muscular thigh for balance as the other reached up to intertwine in the back of his hair. Just as he’d done the first time he kissed her, on these steps so many years ago, he gently pressed her to open her mouth, and she did, welcoming the taste of him, losing herself in the feel of his tongue grazing hers, the touch of his fingertips lightly on her arm and then moving to encircle her waist.

It ended too quickly, as it had the first time, and Kit stared into his emerald green eyes, breathless, wanting more, as she had years ago. “We should leave before your mother discovers our absence,” Eli said, also drawing in heavy breaths.

Kit nodded slowly and slid back a bit before pulling herself to her feet. He took both of her hands, and she pulled him to standing. They paused there, toe to toe for a moment, before he leaned down and gently kissed the top of her head. He then moved past her, letting go of one hand, and turning her with him, strolling toward the door.

Stopping, Kit released his hand. “Will you go untie the horses? There’s something in one of the rooms I wanted to look at again quickly. The wallpaper was interesting.” She gestured over her shoulder, as if she would go back down the hallway.

His eyebrows raised dramatically, and she could tell he wanted to protest, not to trust her, but he took a few steps backward, toward the door, without saying anything at all, and the moment he stepped off of the porch, she shot up the stairs as quickly as she could go.

She had to keep her steps light or else he’d hear the telltale sound of boots on stairs. As it was, she knew he’d come right back in after her, that he’d catch her in the act of deceiving him, but if she saw what she needed to see before he caught her, it would be worth it. Otherwise, she’d be forced to argue with him, to insist he let her go so she could see if what she was hoping to find even existed.

The nearer the top of the staircase she grew, the more rickety was each step so that by the time she reached the second to last one, she sounded like thunder rolling through the dilapidated building, and she had no doubt Eli would hear, even if he was all the way across the front yard unhitching the horses, though she had to assume he wasn’t. It was clear why he’d never allowed her to go up here before.

At the top of the staircase, the damage was excessive, particularly compared to the rooms below which only had a bit of smoke damage, save the kitchen. Here, the roof was long gone, and the tops of the walls had caved in and crumbled, the light colored wallpaper black at the top, rivulets of raindrops from hundreds of downpours dragging streaks of color from top to bottom.

She stepped carefully, hanging onto the wall as she went. The floor quaked beneath her, and Kit hesitated for a moment, thinking this was an idiotic idea. She could fall clean through to the first floor, maybe keep going depending upon whether or not the house had a cellar. But having found nothing downstairs, there was one more place she needed to check. Which of the rooms before her was the master bedroom?

It was clear then, once she peered around the corner at the top of the stairs, little of the master remained. Not much more than soot covered walls and the outer scraps of flooring. Except for the fireplace. It was situated so that it connected to the kitchen hearth below, so none of it had toppled over, though it was greatly damaged. The mantel was burned to a crisp, and the stonework beneath it, what appeared to have been a white, polished marble, was so covered in grime she couldn’t even make out what she was looking at.

But there were letters there, just the same, as she had thought there would be. A family name. Even she wasn’t foolish enough to take another step closer so that she could more clearly see. From her position in the doorway, leaning in, it appeared as if the first letter was a C, though it was hard to tell. After that, it could’ve been an O or a U. Maybe a B next....

Firm hands grasped her around the waist, and without a word, Eli picked her up and carried her back down the stairs even more quickly than she had climbed them. She didn’t bother to protest as she had nothing to say, though she was shocked he wasn’t giving her the tongue lashing she deserved. She’d purposely deceived him, making him think she was going back down the hallway instead of up the stairs. He had every right to yell at her.

Once she was safe outside, he set her down. Turning her to look him in the eyes, he placed a hand on each shoulder and said, “Don’t ever do that again.”

Though she wasn’t used to anyone telling her what to do, save her mother, Kit hung her head. “I’m sorry,” she muttered. “It’s just... if you knew where I was going, you wouldn’t have let me go.”

“Damn right I wouldn’t have let you go.”

“I needed to see.”

“You needed to not act like an imbecile, Kit.” He released her, placed his hands on his hips, and shook his head at her. “I don’t need to tell you how unsafe that was.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“You said that already. Stop being stupid.”

She nodded; he was right. She wanted to tell him what she’d seen, that she thought she may have found the master bedroom, that the hearth had a name inscribed in it, but before she could get the words out, the sound of at least two horses tearing through the trees gained her attention. A wave of relief washed over her when she saw it was Cassius and Drake, not her mother or any of her guards.

“There you are!” Cassius shouted as he reined Snowduster in. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“We were just about to rejoin the hunt,” Eli said, his eyes still narrowed at Kit.

“Good. I think it might be over soon,” the Representative from Warchester Keep said. “Landon is hot on the fox’s tail. So I had to bring this fellow with me instead.” He nodded in Drake’s direction, a teasing grin on his face.

Drake nodded his head slowly, his dark brown eyes showing he knew Cassius was only teasing. Kit wanted to get to know him better. Drake reminded her of one of her guards she’d become acquainted with during her Exploration. Hins had disappeared without a trace a few months after he’d first pleasured Kit, much like Terrowin, and Kit missed him. When she looked at Drake, she was reminded of Hins because they had the same muscular physique, chocolate eyes, and similar dark skin, though Drake’s cheekbones were angular, and his hair was cropped low to his head. He was from Killmont, and Hins had been from that province as well. Kit had asked Drake the last time she’d spoken to him if he knew of Hins, and he’d said no, but he was aware that there were several families in his province who longed to leave logging behind and travel to the castle to serve however they may. He’d assumed Hins was from one of those families. Being a nobleman himself, Drake had had no reason to leave until he’d been selected as a Representative.

“We should head back if we want to see Landon secure his victory,” Drake suggested in his thick Killmont accent.

Kit smiled at him and slipped her foot into Belle’s stirrup. The horse was already unhitched since that’s what Eli had been doing outside before he’d caught onto her plans, and he steadied the mare for her so that she could climb up. Once she was firmly in her saddle, he mounted Aeros with no trouble whatsoever, despite the horse standing free, and the four of them rode off back in the direction from which the two Representatives had just come.

Eli and Drake rode ahead while Cassius dropped back slightly. Understanding he wanted to talk to her, Kit slowed her ride until they were even. The clearing would meld into forest soon, so whatever he wished to speak about, he needed to make it quick.

“Are you all right?” he asked, his voice low. “Eli looked troubled.”

“I’m fine,” she assured him, forcing a smile. “I did something foolish. He didn’t like it.”

One eyebrow arched as Cassius studied her for a moment. “I don’t like it either.”

“I know. I won’t be so stupid again. I promise.”

Cassius turned and looked over his shoulder, causing Kit to do the same. From there, only the arch over the front door was barely visible. She wondered when she might make it out here again. Promising not to be stupid was one thing, but she wanted to know what that fireplace said. Perhaps there was another way to go about it.

“That place looks dangerous. If you’d have been with anyone else, I wouldn’t have let you go. Now, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t even have let you go with him.”

“Eli would never let anything happen to me,” she assured him, just as the trees got so thick, she had to drop back and let him go ahead.

“I should hope not,” Cassius muttered, but she could tell by his tone, he wasn’t so sure. Maybe he shouldn’t be. If Kit continued to act so impulsively, she could end up putting herself in a situation where she could get hurt regardless of who was looking out for her. She’d just have to find another way to determine what had happened in the abandoned shell of a house in the forest.