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“We’ll have a little quiet, at least,” I said, turning to look Agnieszka. She was looking at me a like and it made me nervous and self conscious. I tried to wipe the sweat from my forehead, my vanity somehow withstanding the near death of it all. I wondered at the last time I had bathed and looked down at my hands and tattered clothing, feeling disgusted and wishing Agnieszka would leave.
To my complete and utter horror, Agnieszka did not leave. She was, in fact, still looking at me. When her eyes caught mine, the moment charged. It is the current of magic between you , I reminded myself. You are the ogre in her songs, the monster down the hall .
But it was the first times in days since I hadn’t felt lonely.
“ Sarken, ” The way she said my name made me want to get down on my knees and pray. It terrified me.
“They’ll most likely attack at the first light of morning,” I said too quickly, stepping away from her and gesturing toward the stairs. “The best thing you can do at the moment is get some sleep.”
Then, I turned on my heel and marched away from her. I am proud of myself for not acting on my impulses again , I told myself as I marched up the stairs. You’re not running away. You are showing incredible restraint , I thought as I marched past the library and the laboratory. Of course, this is just a precaution, I admitted to myself as I marched past the other rooms in the tower because there was really only one place I could trust myself in. The only space I knew I could truly feel safe in was my own bedroom. Not from the Wood, of course, but safe from Agnieszka and all the terrible ideas that came with her.
It was impossible for anyone but me to solve the mystery of the dragon rug. It was in a clever bit of illusion magic with a nasty bite at the end. Even if Agnieszka tried, which she would not do , she could not possibly know that she needed to turn. No, Agnieszka would fall asleep tonight with her precious friend and I would stay up reading some dry book on arcane river magic and then tomorrow we would both die. It wasn’t a cheery thought, but I felt safe, like the boundaries of my world were falling back into their original parameters before Agnieszka disrupt my life with her legs and hair and laugh. She was safe from me. I was safe from her.
So, you can imagine my surprise when I was awoken after only a few hours of badly needed sleep to see her standing at the side of my bed holding back the curtain, her hair casting a flickering shadow against the firelight.
I was so completely shocked that she was there, unsure whether she was a dream or finally coming to kill me, or if there could even be another reason she was standing at the side of my bed in the middle of the night having gotten past my rug-
My rug , I remembered, alert again.
“How did you-” I began, trying to prop myself up on my elbow when Agnieszka pushed me back down and kissed me before I could even finish the question
I couldn’t help but make a shocked sound against her mouth. By the time my thoughts managed to catch up with Agnieszka’s behavior, I was already gripping her arms.
I pushed her back.
“Listen, you impossible creature,” I gasped. You’re the ogre, I reminded myself, so disgust her, “I am a century and more older than-”
“Oh, be quiet.” Agnieszka cut me off as she scrambled up the bed. Before I could so much as protest, she was straddling me with her knees digging into my hips.
“Do you want me to go?” She asked, leaning over me, a challenge.
My heart froze and my hands instinctively tightened on her arms to keep her there.
Still, I tried to say yes . I tried to do good. I tried to remember peace and quiet and my tower before Agnieszka had come. I tried to remember being a monster; a teacher; another unworthy leech. I tried to remember why it mattered what other people thought of the pair of us. But it was already too late and it was too hard to think straight with her on top of me; her legs pressed tight at my sides, the brush of her hair on my face.
“No,” I finally admitted. Then I pulled her back down to me so we wouldn’t have to talk anymore.