‘She is very pretty,’ said Fae, peering over my shoulder. ‘Red hair is very sexy.’
‘Calm down,’ I smirked. ‘Your opinion is biased as you are a redhead too.’
‘Shush.’
I walked to the stables alone. The scene was very different to what I remembered. I was used to seeing a blanket of snow covering every inch of the grounds and the rooftops, but now there was luscious grass and dandelions galore spread before me. I crossed the grass, which was springy under my feet. The feeling was rather unsettling, considering the location.
Reaching the stable doors, I eased them open, wincing as they creaked, knowing the noise would announce my arrival. I poked my head in and looked around to see Camryn throwing the saddle over the back of a black Pegasus. I slipped inside. She still hadn’t noticed my arrival.
I stepped towards her, the hay on the floor crunching noisily under my shoes. The Pegasi’s ears perked up, and they looked in my direction. This caught Camryn’s attention. She turned around, her eyes locking with mine. She dropped the saddle she’d been holding and walked towards the fence of the pen she was currently in. I could only see her from the chest up.
‘Avalon!’ she breathed. She didn’t look very happy to see me.
‘Hello, Camryn,’ I said, nervously. ‘How … how are you?’
Camryn put her hands on her hips. ‘You’re asking me how I am? Are you serious?’
I licked my lips nervously. ‘Uh … yeah.’
‘I should call the guards right now to take you away,’ she snapped. ‘After what you did.’
I took a step closer to Camryn, my expression beseeching. ‘Camryn, I’m sorry.’
‘You’re sorry?’ she repeated, a sneer on her face. ‘You ruined everything.’
‘I didn’t mean to,’ I said. ‘But I had to do it.’
‘You had to? You are such a bitch, Avalon.’
That hurt, but I probably deserved it.
‘Camryn, we stole your Pegasi to get to Frost Mountain to save Hawthorne. I never meant to upset you.’
Camryn gave me a look that quite clearly said she had no idea what I was talking about. ‘What? I don’t care about that.’
I frowned. ‘Then why are you mad at me?’
Camryn raised her eyebrows as if she couldn’t believe her ears. ‘Are you kidding me? Avalon … you stole Jack from me. You took him!’
‘No … I didn’t steal him,’ I said, defensively.
‘Oh, really?’ said Camryn, a sour expression on his face.
‘I … I didn’t.’
‘Jack was my best friend, Avalon,’ said Camryn, pointing at her own chest. ‘We’ve been friends for over ten years. Then you come along, and, all of a sudden, he forgets about me and begins following you around like a lost puppy.’
I stared. ‘I didn’t mean to-’
‘That’s the worst part,’ said Camryn, glaring. ‘I saw him slowly slipping away from me, and you didn’t even care.’
I stared, unable to believe what she was saying. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said.
‘No, you aren’t,’ she snapped. ‘The only reason Jack noticed you in the first place was because you looked like Madeline.’
‘What? That’s not true,’ I said, slightly hurt. Noah had been the one to use me for my resemblance to his late fiancée.
She laughed, a cold, snide laugh. ‘Don’t be daft. He looked at you, and saw her.’
‘Why would he? Jack was only a kid when she died.’
‘He admired Madeline as much as Noah did. He was smitten from the first moment she smiled at him. Why else do you think he liked you? Your charming personality?’ Camryn scoffed.
Her words hurt, but I didn’t believe them.
‘You’re talking rubbish,’ I said. ‘Jack doesn’t like me because I look like Madeline. He barely knew her.’
‘Really? You think so? You forget - I know Jack. I grew up with him. I had to listen to him complain every day about Madeline, his father, and other ridiculous things. I was always there for him, but he never noticed me.’
‘That’s not my fault,’ I said, becoming angry.
‘Jack only ever liked girls that looked like Madeline. Black hair, blue eyes. It was his … fetish or something!’
I rolled my eyes. Camryn was being ridiculous, talking about Jack as though he were manipulative, like Noah.
‘Then you came along, and you looked just like Madeline. So he ran away with you, and I don’t hear from him for months on end. He forgot about me as though I were nothing.’
‘No, he didn’t,’ I said. ‘He talks about you all the time.’ It wasn’t true. Jack had probably mentioned Camryn in passing a handful of times. If anything, I’d mentioned her more than he.
‘Don’t lie to me,’ snapped Camryn. ‘He left, and I had no one. Not only that, but he is now a criminal because he’s affiliated with you.’
‘You shouldn’t believe everything you read,’ I said, my face stony.
‘And you shouldn’t believe everything Jack tells you,’ replied Camryn coldly.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
Camryn pointed at me. ‘That necklace,’ she said. ‘Why do you think he gave it to you?’