Chapter 4
A dora and I lived on a small estate a half-hour carriage ride away from the royal palace in Calida. When I was younger, we had frequently hopped between rental flats. Sometimes, we could only let a single room that the two of us had to share. By the time I was sixteen, my work as a muse paid well enough so that we were finally able to afford our home.
Still, it was much more modest than Adora had liked despite being far more affluent than what I'd grown up in. It was a solid two-story home built of stone and timber and surrounded by a high wall of shrubbery.
Inside, the floors were polished stone, and the walls were adorned with tapestries and paintings. My mother carefully chose all of the furniture, which was finely crafted with rich hardwoods and lavish fabrics.
My mother and I each had our private chambers on the second floor. Mine was the smaller of the two, decorated with delicate tapestries and pastel paintings. Adora's chambers were more austere, with golden and ivory flourishes, and she had a large, ornate desk where she could conduct her business affairs.
In any other kingdom, this would certainly be the grand home of a noblewoman, but this was Calida—the capital city, no less. It was a lush land between the deserts and plains to the east and the bright blue ocean to the west. The generous soil had made it a coveted place renowned for its opulence and extravagance.
Nobles and royalty lived in grand palaces, and their clothing was enhanced with precious gemstones. Queen Kriselle was famous for her beauty and charm, and she surrounded herself with a retinue of nobles, warlocks, and enchanters who helped maintain her power and influence.
Wealth and titles were things that most of her Court were born into, but it was not the only way to obtain a life of abundance. Magik could elevate even the poorest pauper to a level of prestige if one could wield it well enough. Musing and enchanting were often a path out of poverty, albeit a difficult one.
In addition to affecting the magik of muses, enchanters could create illusions, transform objects, and sometimes even control the minds of others.
While often revered for our beauty and grace, muses were much more than that. We inspired creativity, passion, and vitality in the people of the kingdom, and most importantly, we used our magik to entice good fortune from the Matronae.
With all of that in mind, our home, as lovely as it might be, did not speak to a life of grandeur and excess that Adora felt we rightly deserved.
When the carriage pulled in front of our house, Adora sighed, and that was the closest she’d gotten to saying anything the whole way home from the Balefire celebration. I thought everything had gone well, but she seemed displeased. My mind raced to think of a mistake I had made, but all I could come up with was a sip of the wine.
Could that be it? We had left shortly after Adora had pestered Soren, but that wasn't surprising. My mother was never one to stay too long at these celebrations since she believed that indulging too much in anything – be it food, drink, music, magik, even laughter – would turn one into a useless glutton.
It was only after the silence of the carriage that I realized I must’ve done something wrong.
I followed her into our dark home. As she strode through the entryway, she pulled off her cloak and tossed it absently on the bench by the door. It would remain there until the morning, when our housekeeper Heloise would arrive. The next time Adora wore her cloak, she would complain of the wrinkles. So I picked it up and put it away in the coat closet, along with my own.
Since Adora still hadn't spoken, I summoned my courage and asked her the most innocuous question: "How was your evening, Adora?"
“It went about as well as expected, I suppose,” she said noncommittally, and she lounged back on the couch. “It’s a bit chilly, isn’t it?”
That was my cue to start the fire in the hearth. Whenever Heloise wasn't here, it was my job to tend to the fire, hang the cloaks, and do all the tasks beneath the Lady of the House.
“Careful so you don’t get soot on your dress,” Adora said as I cautiously tended to the flame. “How do you think the evening went, Isadore?”
"I thought it was a lovely night," I replied, feeling a twinge of apprehension for telling her how I truly felt. But what harm could there be in admitting I had a pleasant time? So I plunged on, "All the muses performed well, and the Queen applauded when we finished."
“The Queen will applaud at anything,” Adora said derisively. “I’m not trying to take away from your night, but merely speaking from experience. When I was in her Court, before you were born, I saw her applaud a monkey that could juggle. Her taste is utterly questionable.”
"I know," I said because she'd told me about her days on the Queen's Court a thousand times before. Maybe more.
When other children had bedtime stories about princesses and dragons, my mother told me about the jealousies and backstabbing of social climbing.
“And you got carried away there at the end, didn’t you?” She posed it as a question, but it was a clear condemnation.
So it was the honeyed wine that had indeed upset her. It was a relief, honestly, because I knew how to apologize.
I straightened up from the fire so I could face her fully and she could see my chastened regret. "I am sorry, Adora. I hadn't really drunk anything. Soren handed me a goblet, and I held it to be polite."
“Soren.” She snorted in contempt. “He seemed awfully dull and unimpressive for an enchanter. And the Kingdom of Sudamon for his next placement? What an embarrassing step down for him.” She shook her head. “But he’s the one they’ve put in charge, so it is good that you humored him. No one wants to deal with a defiant muse.”
Adora lay back on the sofa and rubbed her bare arms. I grabbed a blanket from a basket near the fireplace and laid it across her lap.
“Did you make a good impression on him, do you think?” Adora asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Soren. Does he think highly of you?”
"I-I don't know," I stammered, confused both by her questions and the fluttery feeling in my stomach when I thought of Soren telling me I'm magnificent.
“It would be good if you performed more conductions,” Adora said. “It’s time you got out of these menial performances, and the way to do that is by making nice with the enchanters. Even lousy ones like Soren.”