A Court Bright and Broken (Age of Fae #1)

23. Things Have Changed

Chapter 23

Things Have Changed

R aewyn

I woke with a startle to the sound of a door opening.

The cottage had only one door—which meant there was an intruder inside. I bolted upright, ready to spring from my bed and protect my family.

And then I realized I wasn’t in my bed. Not in the cottage.

Where was I? My legs were stretched out beneath the most luxurious bedding I’d ever seen or felt.

All around me hung lush folds of teal-colored fabric. Bed curtains. Something I’d read about but never actually seen in real life. They were partially open to an elegantly appointed room so large and bright you could hold a party inside.

The ball.

Memories of last night—both good and bad—rushed back into my mind like a river after a rainfall.

“It’s all right. Only me.”

Stellon’s voice. Comforting and, by now, familiar. I was in his bedroom.

Through the gap in the curtains, he came into view, approaching the bed. His face was grim, though he wasn’t unfriendly.

“Do you feel better?” he asked.

“Better?”

He sat on the edge of the plush mattress. “Yes. After a night’s sleep. I trust it was restful.”

The impact of his weight on the bed didn’t even cause a tremor on the opposite side where I’d slept. What was this thing made of?

I pressed down with my hands on either side of me and then bounced them to test it. Mistake. Searing pain shot up my left side and caused me to see stars.

“Ouch. Ow… oh, right.” My ankle. That’s what he was asking about.

“I’m not sure it’s much better. But I did sleep well in spite of it.”

Glancing across the room toward the fireplace, I eyed the narrow sofa where I remembered dozing off. Then my eyes flew to Stellon.

“Did you… you put me in your bed?”

“I did. Those settees are too small for anyone to sleep comfortably on—and beastly firm.”

“And where did you sleep?”

He cracked a grin. “With you, of course— after we made mad love all night long. Do you not remember?”

Shaking his head, he added, “That saol water must affect humans more strongly than I realized.”

At the sight of my mouth falling open and my hand coming up to cover my chest, he laughed.

“I’m joking , Firebug. But the saol water really did put you out, I guess, if you thought there was even a possibility I was serious. As I told you last night, you’re safe here.”

His expression sobered a bit. “As long as you’re in this room with me.”

Though I believed him, I was glad that wouldn’t be for very much longer.

He’d promised to arrange a carriage for me this morning, and I’d need it. I had to get home—fast.

Obviously, I didn’t intend to follow Sorcha’s orders and assassinate the royal family, especially after the way Stellon had taken care of me last night.

And I’d thought of a way to avoid it. But I’d have to move quickly if I was going to pull it off.

Sorcha was imprisoned in the dungeon—for now.

If I could get home and spirit my family away from Waterdale before she was released, she wouldn’t have a chance to take one—or both—of my little sisters and punish my father with more pain.

Hopefully what remained of his cure would last long enough for us to travel far out of the Earthwife’s reach.

Everyone had talked about Lord Elardis’ territory in eastern Sundaris as being remote. Maybe we’d make our way there. A far-flung region where the woods were thick and deep sounded pretty good right now.

It was said the Fae there lived completely isolated from humans and didn’t even speak the common tongue, communicating exclusively with each other. They’d take no notice of a new human family in their midst.

“Thank you,” I said to Stellon. “You’ve been incredibly kind. And I’m grateful you’ve agreed to arrange for transportation home for me this morning. I shall be ready to travel in mere minutes, as soon as I’ve made use of your private washroom.”

Throwing the covers to the side, I slid to the edge of the bed. Stellon hurried around to my side of it, offering a hand.

“I’m afraid things have changed,” he said as he lifted me and carried me across the room. “I’m not going to be able to make good on that offer—not yet anyway.”

I froze, outwardly from the shock of his unexpected touch—and inside from the shock of his words.

“What do you mean?”

His forehead creased. “There has been some… upheaval this morning in the palace. A woman, my newly betrothed bride actually, has disappeared.”

My hands came up to cover my mouth. An involuntary reaction, but it served the handy purpose of hiding my trembling lips.

“That’s terrible,” I managed to say. “I’m so sorry.”

He nodded. “Thank you. What’s worse is… I can hardly believe I’m saying it… she might have been an assassin. I only met her last night, and there were vials of poison found on the palace grounds.”

I didn’t have to feign horror at that announcement. I felt it down to my marrow. Though the evening bag I’d carried had vanished, apparently the poison it contained had not.

And now Stellon knew about it.

“How frightening,” I said.

“It is,” he acknowledged, then he opened the washroom door and set me down inside. “I’ll wait outside the door to help you back to bed—or to the settee.”

I didn’t intend to make use of either. There was no more time for resting and reclining.

But I was grateful to have a few moments to compose myself before I had to face Stellon again. This conversation was beyond unnerving.

Whatever had changed about my exit plan, I still had to get out of here. As I washed my face in the basin, I spoke to my reflection in the mirror.

“You will get out of here.”

When I emerged from the washroom, Stellon was waiting, as promised.

“How do you think an assassin could have made their way into the palace with poison?” I asked, as if I’d been considering it the past few minutes.

I needed to find out how much he and the others already knew. It was possible Sorcha wasn’t the greatest threat to my life within these walls.

Stellon stepped forward and once again swept my feet out from under me, effortlessly carrying me back into his bedroom.

“We’re not sure,” he said. “Apparently Lady Wyn had an invitation she claimed was from me, but that would have been a lie. I gave out no personal invitations—apart from the one I gave you, of course.”

My heart stopped for a moment, but Stellon went on, not noticing my involuntary flinch. He deposited me on one of the sofas—the settees , as he called them in his posh accent.

“Clearly, it was a forgery,” he said. “She could have a particular glamour that would allow her to make people see whatever she wanted them to see momentarily. Transfiguration glamour would have fooled the butler at the ballroom door into believing he was looking at an invitation bearing my mark when it might have been nothing but a blank piece of parchment.”

“That must be what happened,” I said quickly.

“Perhaps.”

He didn’t appear fully convinced.

“I still think there’s a chance she was kidnapped, that there might be some other culprit guilty of both offenses. I can’t believe Lady Wyn was the fiend everyone’s suggesting she was. We’ll find out. We’re investigating.”

Now I was even more eager to leave. I had no interest in sticking around for an investigation into me .

“In light of all this, I understand why you’re too busy to arrange a carriage for me.”

I was about to tell him I’d find my own way home, when he said, “Busyness is not the issue.”

“Oh. What is?”

“It’s no longer safe for you. You’re a human—one who hasn’t been…”

He hesitated, seeming to search for the right word.

“...vetted and approved to be in the palace. That’s my fault, of course,” he said. “I had no idea a crime would be committed on the night of the ball. Or more than one, as the case may be. You’re a stranger in the wrong place at the worst possible time. My father’s soldiers are combing the palace and grounds for evidence and suspects. We don’t want them to find you instead.”

“Oh.” My shoulders sank along with my heart.

“You can’t just tell them you invited me?”

“It wouldn’t matter,” he said grimly. “You’d still be a suspect. Almost everyone is at this point. And when it comes to humans, Elves tend to shoot first and ask questions later, so to speak. You were here last night—and when you were taken into custody, you weren’t wearing clothing suitable for a ball.”

“What if you were to smuggle me out of the palace in a big basket or something so no one sees me? You could buy the carriage driver’s silence as you did with the jailer,” I suggested.

When we’d first met, I’d had too much pride to let the prince help me with his money, but I was desperate now. I had to get back to the village before Sorcha did—or before she talked and revealed my part in the plot.

It wouldn’t matter to these investigators that I’d failed to carry it out.

Stellon shook his head adamantly, beginning to pace.

“Under the circumstances, I’ll have to go back and add to the fortune I’ve already bestowed upon the jailer,” he said. “Vast rewards will be offered for information leading to the would-be assassin, whomever it may be. Carriage drivers talk. Servants talk. The only people I trust not to betray me in light of that much temptation are my brother and sister.”

He went to the large window and stood looking out at the lawn and the ocean beyond it. Then he turned back to face me with a frown.

“We can’t risk it. Someone could stop you on the road and bring you back for questioning. Or worse, follow you all the way home and torch your whole village, just to be sure they got any ‘accomplices.’”

I shuddered at the horrific thought. “No carriage.”

“Right,” Stellon agreed.

“If you could just get me outside the castle walls somehow, I’ll make my own way home and trouble you no further,” I assured him.

“That’s the other issue—you can’t even walk.” His expression was droll. “How would you propose to make your own way home ?”

“I’ll figure it out,” I said. And I would.

Almost all my life, I had figured everything out—by necessity. No one else was going to help me, so I’d always found a way to help myself and my family.

No matter what, I’d do what needed to be done, even if I had to drag myself home on my belly then carry my family out of town on my back.

“I admire your confidence.” Stellon gave a nod toward my ankle. “But that is not something you just ‘figure out.’ Your pain tolerance may be high, but a sprain of this severity would fell one of our bravest knights.”

“Can you ask your healer for some medicine to give me? So I could walk?”

The day we’d met in the marketplace he’d said his “village” had a healer who could fix his injuries. That meant the castle had at least one, if not several healers who served the royal family.

If I wasn’t mistaken, he’d mentioned a healer last night.

“It doesn’t work that way, unfortunately,” Stellon said. “They don’t make teas and tinctures like your village mothers. For an Elven healer to help you, he’d have to be right here in the room with you, his hands on your injured ankle, using his own energy. It’s another type of glamour—one I very much wish I had at the moment.”

I looked down at my grossly swollen ankle and foot, which was also coming fully awake and beginning to sing with pain.

It was blue and purple now and at least three times its normal size.

“That would have been nice.”

“I’ll get you some more saol water. You’ll have to take it more slowly this time, but it will take the edge off.”

Stellon went to the next room and returned quickly with a pitcher and glass.

“Our healer is loyal to my father and wouldn’t even consider not mentioning the fact I had an injured human woman in my quarters. So for now, this will have to do.”

Pouring me a small amount, he handed me the drink. “Not as fast or effective as healing glamour, but it’ll speed up the process, at least a bit.”

He sat down beside me, giving me a regretful look as I took a sip.

“Even if your ankle were whole, and I could manage to smuggle you outside and through the gates, there are patrols everywhere,” he said. “They range miles beyond the border walls. And you match the description of a certain human apprehended by two guards last night.”

“After dark maybe?” I asked, still clinging to a shred of hope.

“Elves see in the dark far better than humans,” he said. “It’s a certainty you’d be caught in quick order and marched right back to the dungeon.”

“So that’s a no,” said the prince. “I wouldn’t be able to get you out of there again, and you’d likely be hanged just for the ‘crime’ of escaping.”

“Not tempting. So what is the plan?” I asked. “You can’t hide me in your quarters forever.”

“No, certainly not.”

He looked horrified at the prospect.

“But you’ll have to stay hidden here until all of this blows over, until the culprit is captured. And she—or he— will be.”

There was no room for doubt in his tone. “Once we have the assassin in custody, security in and around the palace will relax to normal levels—or near normal. I hope. By then your ankle will be much improved as well.”

My fingers dug into the cushion beneath me, and a ringing sound filled my ears.

“That could take weeks .”

It was going to take forever actually, since the person they were looking for was sitting right here opposite him.

He nodded. “It could. Or perhaps Lady Wyn will be found within a matter of days. No one can disappear into thin air. When she’s found, we’ll either rescue her from the kidnapper—or question her and find out whether she, in fact, is the would-be assassin. Then we’ll know how to proceed. Either way, don’t worry. It has nothing to do with you. And I’ll keep you safe.”

The sincerity in his eyes and determination in his voice surprised me. Before last night, I had thought all Elves felt superior to humans and looked at us like bugs or vermin to be squashed at will.

But then Stellon was different, wasn’t he? He’d voluntarily spent time among us, disguising himself as a human peasant and going to the Rough Market to mix with the crowds.

Thinking about what he’d done for me that day—and what he was doing for me now—filled me with guilt.

Add to that the guilt I was already feeling over ever agreeing to the Earthwife’s plan, and I could barely stand to exist in my own skin.

Then there was the matter of my family. As long as Sorcha was in the dungeon, they would probably be okay. But they’d be worried about me.

And she would get out eventually— or start talking, either under duress or voluntarily.

Worry twisted my gut into complicated knots. Stellon must have seen it on my face.

“It’s no trouble. Really,” he said. “I’m sure you don’t eat that much, and you don’t seem to snore.”

His playful tone changed to something darker. “I’m afraid I won’t be very good company, though.”

“I’m sorry again about your fiancée,” I said, feeling a bit sheepish.

He seemed to appreciate the sentiment. “Thank you. We’ll find her. Hopefully there’s a reasonable explanation for her disappearance. One that has nothing to do with assassination.”

Getting up and pacing again to the large windows, he glanced outside then turned back to face me.

“In the meantime, stay here and stay away from these windows. When the time is right, I’ll return you to your home. When the Assemblage ends in a couple of weeks, there will be a great exodus from the palace. That could be an excellent opportunity to get you out of here without notice.”

“How will it even work until then?” I asked. “Don’t the servants come in to clean and, I don’t know, dress you—and things like that?”

Stellon barked a surprised laugh.

“I can dress myself, thank you very much. Men’s attire isn’t quite as complicated as ladies’. As for the cleaning, I’ll allow them to clean the other rooms in the suite and have them leave fresh bedsheets for me to put on myself.”

“They won’t think that’s strange?”

“They will, but I’ll claim I need privacy because I’m mourning the disappearance of my betrothed.”

His face actually did look mournful, which tweaked my heart. That was my fault as well.

“Are you?” I asked. “You only knew her for a day.”

“Of course I am. I thought I’d found my eternal bond-mate. She seemed perfect for me. I might have been dangerously wrong, so I’m also mourning the loss of my own common sense. Yesterday was simultaneously one of the best and worst days of my life.”

Giving his head a little shake, he started moving toward the bedroom door.

“I must go. I’m supposed to be going to the dungeon to question the two human women who were apprehended on the grounds last night. I’ll be back soon with something to eat for you. Just be quiet and remember—don’t open the door for anyone.”

Stellon might plan to return with food, but I had just lost my appetite. He was going to talk to Sorcha.

There was nothing I could do about it. It wouldn’t make sense for me to beg him not to.

My only solace was that the Earthwife thought she was getting what she wanted so she had no motivation to confess the truth to him. Yet.

She had given me two weeks, until the end of the Assemblage, to kill Stellon and his family.

As far as she knew, everything was going according to plan.