{"Yes, but I am here to help you!"}
"You really have no problem with it?" I asked again, unsure.
He held my face softly and made me look at his turquoise eyes, "I have absolutely no problem with them. They make you badass and even more attractive, if I may. I do have a problem with what caused them to begin with, but I am proud that you were strong and are still standing in here to tell the tale." {"There's nothing unattractive in you, babe."}
I can think of some things.
{"That doesn't count. You don't see yourself like I do."}
What about my temper? That's not attractive.
Oliver grinned, {"It's bloody attractive. I love seeing you angry and annoyed. You look hotter, I've told you that before. Having a temper like that means you're strong minded, and that is to be valued."}
I melted at his words. Sugar-coating me again, I see.
{"I meant every single word, beautiful. All of them!"}
After kissing for a long time and almost starting it all again, I put some space between us, feeling like he was holding himself to ask me about something else. "What is it? You can ask."
Oliver licked his lips, then held my right hand higher and pointed at my pinky finger, the one with the mark of my bargain with Ivy. "I want to know what is this. You didn't have it when I left you in your dorm, but when you came to the hidden chamber, you had it around your finger. It's a witch mark, is it not?" {"What did you do?"}
Yes. It's a witch mark. "Cosmos told me that to get into the secret office of the library to then go to the hidden chamber, I would need to be in Ivy's favor for her to let me go inside the place she hid with magic."
{"Hel! Ivy is cool but she's dangerous."}
I'm not very harmless myself, am I? "So, when I went to her and told her to let me in there, she asked me what I could give her to gain access to the office. So, I offered her something only I could get, something only I could offer her, and that an old witch like her wouldn't refuse."
His eyes widened softly, "The blood roses?"
You aren't the top 1 for nothing. "Yes. I offered 1, she asked for 5, so, I bargained until we settled into 3. I am a business person after all. She was almost glowing with delight, I swear. Both me, Felix, and Jack got all freaked out. So, the mark is a bargain, and it'll disappear after I fulfill my side of it. Get her 3 blood roses from my Emerald Sky City Palace and brew them into tea for her."
But he gave me a look, "How did you know she would know about the roses and accept the bargain? What if she asked for something else?"
"I took a leap of faith," I rolled my shoulders. "Something in me told me she would go for it, so, I offered it, and it worked. Besides, it's not a hustle for me. I'll already be taking 10 roses for Mia. It's just 3 more."
{"You're reckless, you know that?"}
I grinned, Oh, I know.
Oliver narrowed his eyes, "Anything else I should know?"
Cosmos! "Master Cosmos will be arriving in the morning and he'd said we'll be meeting for breakfast. He also said he has a present for me," I beamed. "I'm excited. I also told Hanna he'll be coming, so she can doll herself up, since she's all obsessed with him. Of course, I also told him that she's into him, just to give him a touch."
He chuckled, "I still can't believe you're playing cupid with him."
Cupid is too strong. "Matchmaker sounds better!" I winked. "And besides, he's young. If he looks around, he might even find his mate there and waiting for him to pop up. He's lonely, doesn't date, lives alone, and spent those last ten years with me, or doing the work of Meredith's general. No matter what people say, he's a good person, and as much as I avoid, I care for him a lot. An awful lot. I know he cares for me too, even if he tries to fake it."
"That much is obvious. I've seen you talking to him, and that guy never talks with anyone like that, not even Felix. He must actually see you as his child, plus what you said about him being your mom's fan boy."
A nod, "True. He never told me about that. And when I talked with him about it, he said that in the very beginning, he didn't know who my parents were, but as soon as he learned about it, he said he had no idea how to tell me, because he was afraid of touching a point that would break me. Which, I mean, would probably happen."
Oliver passed both his hands on my hair, brought me closer again and kissed me. "I am not his fan, but I'm glad he was there with you."
He's not your fan either. "Meredith has no idea he enjoyed the time we were together, because he pretended he didn't. She also never sees what she doesn't want to see. She sees Cosmos as someone easy to manage all because she's aware of the crush he seems to have on her, and thus she uses that to her gain. Every time he had to test me in front of her, he also did it with all he had, because if he didn't, she would know he's going easy on me and it would not end well. He mastered the poker face, the indifference, but I mastered seeing through all that."
"Okay," he clicked his tongue, "maybe I like him 5% more now."
Idiot. "Master also never saw her torturing me. He only saw what happened after that. She would send him away every time she came. But he made sure the rest of the month was bearable and he did everything to make me strong. He was stern and a pain in the arse, but it was for the best. He wanted me to be stronger than him, and when I became that, he was happy. I mean, he had a poker face on, but I could tell."
{"Idiot? For you? Always."} "But when he met you, ten years ago, you already had the silver hair and reptilians slits."
A nod, "I didn't know about the eyes, but yes. Silver hair, check. He actually had no bloody idea my hair was once ebony black. I pretty much told him the day he left me on the Himalayas. If my hair was still black, I think I would look a lot more like my mom, since that is the screaming big difference between us, plus the fact that my eyes are constantly like this and hers were only when she partially shifted or shifted."
"You mom was outstandingly gorgeous then," he giggled.
Oh, she definitely was. "If I'm able to make her corporeal when we go to the lair before going up to Emerald Sky City, you will see. Especially because as spirit, her eyes are constantly like mine now, dragon ish, since that's her true nature, after all."
{"Already meeting mother-in-law? I can't wait."}
I punched his shoulder softly, "Don't be an idiot."
"Impossible!" He exclaimed dramatically, but then he got all tense and it took me off guard. {"I should tell her. I definitely should tell her."}
Frowning, I glared at him, "Tell me what? What is it?"
Oliver pressed his lips together, {"How do I even do this?"}
"Oliver. Tell me!" I growled, holding his face to stare at me. "You are making me anxious, I don't like to feel anxious, and you are anxious. So, tell me. If you don't tell me, I might freak out."
{"Fuck. I don't know how to do this."} "There's two things."
"Tell me the worse first!"
He gasped, "I think both are equally bad."
"Which one do you think I'll take as the worse?"
Sigh, "Your father will be here."
I blinked, "I know. He'll be coming in the morning, idiot."
{"Ah, babe,"} another sigh. "I mean Russell. The blood-related one who was your mom's mate." I tensed up right bloody away. "They all come when Meredith doesn't, and Meredith never comes on Lunar Starfall. So, they come as the apparent Crowned Prince and… Princess."
My vision turned red for a second, "Philippa," I hissed. "Philippa will be coming? She'll come to Lunar Starfall Eclipseball Tournament?"
{"I wish I could do more on this."} "Yes, beautiful. She'll come with your… with Russell. I'm worried that you won't be able to keep your hands to yourself, and get into a very bad kind of trouble."
My stomach dropped, nausea taking over. "I can't do anything."
If I do, Meredith will know I'm totally out of her control, and it'll be bad. It'll be really fucking bad. But I also won't be able to keep my mouth shut. Maybe my hands, but not my mouth.
{"I'll be with you the whole time. I'll try to be."}
But when he tensed up and fear took over his heart like a vine, I felt even sicker. "What is the second terrible news, Oli?" I whispered.
He closed his eyes, "Earlier, River told me mother will be coming."
Oh no. Oh no. This is not good. "Your… Violet will be here?"
There was fear in his eyes when he opened them, "She will. Father only comes in the Northern Lights Festival, for the Eclipseball Cup. But sometimes she comes in the Lunar Starfall, for the Eclipseball Tournament too. I don't talk with them normally, only when they need me to play my Crown Prince duties. She knows I despise her, but River doesn't, and that's why she usually sends word for me through him."
"Bloody fucking bitch," I cursed.