Goddess of Magic: A Snow White retelling (Kingdom of Fairytales Snow White Book 4)

on. Not with them, not with Mother, or in Urbis...It was like shooting a spell into the dark and still expecting it to hit a target.
It only took a few more minutes for me to arrive at Topher's room. Well, at the one he shared with Jake as Adam's guests. I hoped that Jake wasn't about. With everything going on, I wasn't in the mood for Jake's brand of dismissal towards just about everything that was important to me.
A hint of betrayal entered my thoughts. I'd spent so long hoping my future would be spent with Jake, and yet now, I wasn't even sure I wanted to be in the same room with him, especially if we were alone. Why wasn't I happy with the fact he seemed to know I existed now? A small part of me knew the reason but wasn't ready to properly think about it. For now, I simply had to accept how I was feeling and move on from there. I had bigger things to focus on.
I was only slightly out of breath from rushing through the palace, but it shouldn't be noticeable to anyone but me.
I knocked on the door and waited. Scuffling sounded from within. I clenched my hands together, trying not to let my nerves get the better of me. Why was I even feeling nervous? I wasn't usually one to get too worked up.
It swung open, squeaking a little on the hinges. I made a mental note to ask one of the members of the staff to do something about it. As far as I knew, it would only take a simple spell to fix it. I'd do it myself, but I wasn't aware of what the spell entailed. Offensive magic like I'd been using was different from magic that was useful around the house, and I had no idea how it worked.
"Kelis," Topher said.
Relief rushed through me at the sight of him standing in the doorway, his dark hair tousled as if he'd just got out of bed. But that wasn't likely. He was an early riser from my experience.
"Are you busy right now, or do you want me to come back?" I asked.
Please don't send me away. I needed his help, true, but I also wanted to spend time with him. Even if it ended up that he couldn't do a single thing to help me.
"I always have time for you," he responded. A little uncertainty danced in his eyes, but it didn't stop the smile which spread over his face. He really did want to see me.
I shuffled from side to side, trying to work out what to say next. I wanted to go into his room, where we would be away from prying eyes, but I didn't want to force myself into his life.
"Why don't you come inside?" he asked, as if able to read my mind.
I nodded eagerly
"I’ll head downstairs and get us something to eat. You should make yourself comfortable while I do," he offered.
"Thank you."
He slipped past me and down the hall. I watched him for a moment, before shaking away my thoughts and stepping into his room to wait for him to come back.
Just like before, it was easy to tell which part of the room was being used by whom. And this was only the reception room they shared. Judging from the mess that led to one of the rooms, I didn't want to think about what lay beyond Jake's door. He'd left clothes everywhere. I was surprised Lyss had put up with him for so long.
Huh. That was one of the first times I'd been able to think about her without feeling a surge of jealousy. But then, Rhi had implied that Lyss wasn't a good person to begin with, which stopped me from feeling too bad about it.
The door opened once more and revealed Topher with a shaky tray of tea trying to balance it at the same time as entering the room without letting the door slam in his face. I rushed forward and took the tray from him.
"Thanks."
"No problem." I set the tray down on a table with two chairs on either side of it, before taking a seat.
Topher joined me, sitting while I poured us each a cup of steaming tea.
"You know they bring it to the room if you ask?" I checked with him.
"I do. But your note sounded urgent, and I didn't want to waste time that we could use for talking."
I nodded. That made sense. If we weren't interrupted by one of the maids, then we could get straight down to business. I was glad he'd judged correctly that what I had to tell him was for his ears and no one else's.
Topher, I could trust. Everyone else, I wasn't so sure about. And that was a problem.
"I'm sorry I wasn't around yesterday," he said. "I was trying to find out more about what's going on in Urbis."
"That's all right." It felt like I'd spent most of my day sleeping anyway. "Did you find anything out?"
"Not much. But we can talk about that after whatever it is you need to tell me. It sounded urgent," he prompted before picking up his teacup and blowing across the top of it.
"It is. Kind of," I admitted. "Do you remember when I told you about the dreams I'd been having?"
He nodded. "They sounded like they were a way for you to process what was happening with your Mother."
"They're not."
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"I think..." I trailed off, suddenly wondering why I was going to admit this out loud. Now that I was thinking about it, I sounded crazy.
Topher didn't say a word, waiting for me to explain what was going on. I appreciated his support. It felt similar to the way my parents had always looked out for me. It was unconditional. He wanted to help me in whatever way he could.
I took a deep breath. He wasn't going to tell me I was crazy. He'd help