A Usurper's Cause (Book #4)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

One Year Later

Aristol

Eldon dug out the twine wolf from his pocket and held it up closer to his face. That same strong sense of familiarity overtook him again. He knew this thing from somewhere. He knew he'd seen it many times in his life before.

It'd been found Elouise's bedchamber a week after they'd taken over the castle. Godwin had tossed it into the corridor and demanded a servant to dispose of it, but Eldon snatched it out of the boy's hand when Godwin wasn't looking. He couldn't really describe why he felt so possessed to have it and to keep it safe. It was hers and that alone should've urged him to get rid of it forever.

But he just couldn't. It taunted him, and he felt it would only taunt him louder if he lost it.

"C-C... Captain?" a timid voice addressed from behind.

Eldon turned, facing Booker—one of the newest ranked knights who insisted they were friends before.

"May we... take our break now?" Booker asked, his body trembling.

Eldon nodded and stuffed the wolf back into his pocket. Booker bowed his head, thanking him, and ran off. Eldon watched him go up to the other soldiers and saw the relief flood their features. He didn't really get why they made such a fuss regarding their breaks. He thought he gave them plenty of time to laze about despite Godwin demanding otherwise. He glanced over to his left, noticing Leanne staring at him with her usual scowl. Yet another person who swore they'd been friends. Even if they had been, she never tried to talk about their past together.

He heard someone walking toward him and he turned to find Ivy. She stopped beside him and waved at Leanne with a smile sweeter than honey. Leanne rolled her eyes and looked away.

"I love when a woman poses a challenge like that," Ivy purred.

"Whataya want?" Eldon asked.

"Why do you always have that attitude with me?"

"I got better things to do than stand 'round here with you."

Ivy waved him off. "Godwin would like a word with you, but don't ask me what about. I'm just the messenger."

Eldon couldn't help but smirk at the irritation in her tone. "Fine. I'll go now."

"Before you do, answer me this: have you been practicing our most recent lesson?"

Eldon pursed his lips, avoiding her daunting glare. He stared down at his hands, remembering they'd been playing with fire and had scalded his palms. It took hours for them to heal. So, no, he hadn't been practicing. In fact, he barely tried with any of the stupid spells she kept showing him. She found out every time they would move onto a new one, because she would ask him to demonstrate, and he never made any improvement. She reported this back to Godwin who would then give Eldon a lecture about needing to be prepared for anything, but he really had no desire to learn anything.

Every day, he noticed more and more Interlopers and members of Inferum cantivat falling under Godwin's mind control as their usage of magic improved. The last thing he wanted was to be like them. Like Ivy. Although, he would admit, he did kind of enjoy attempting to move objects with his mind, except he'd already forgotten every word of that spell.

"No," he answered blandly, furrowing his brows.

"I'd threaten to tell Godwin again, but what good has that done?" Ivy huffed and rolled her eyes. "You're not taking any of this seriously anymore. Don't assume that just because we've been living in peace for a year that it's over."