Chapter 3
Chapter Three
MAIA
“This is... white.”
“No, no, dear. It’s cream. This is the one that the princess chose.”
And she was getting a very bad feeling about all of this.
Maia knew for certain that the dress they had shoved her into wasn’t cream . She was staring at it in the mirror. Anyone with eyes could see that this was, in fact, a white dress. It was simple, but beautiful. A square neckline wasn’t too risque and the satin bodice tucked in around her ribs and then poured from her hips in a delicate waterfall of clinging fabric that left very little to the imagination.
On someone who was born noble, it likely would have been even more elegant. Maia’s arms were left exposed and the muscles there were far too prominent for any noble woman to have. But the dress was pretty.
They’d brought her into a back room that was just as nice as the princess’s. The bed in the corner was clearly unused, and while the view wasn’t quite as nice, it was still larger than her entire cottage and filled with fine velvet. And the smell of it. The room smelled like fresh strawberries, and she really had no idea how they were doing that.
The maid next to her tsked. “It needs more lace.”
“I don’t understand why I need more lace at all. I’m going to be standing up there next to the princess. Shouldn’t I look... plain?” Maia snapped her mouth shut as the maid started snickering.
Apparently, no one was concerned that Maia would outshine the princess. Honestly, she wasn’t all that concerned with it, either. But it was awfully strange to be wearing a white gown next to the woman of the hour.
She should say something. She knew she should. A part of her screamed to just open her mouth and say she wasn’t going to do this.
Maia could figure things out if the royal family pulled out of the flower contract. But they wouldn’t. Anyone with their head on straight would know it was far too close to the wedding—less than an hour away—for any contract to be dissolved.
Unless they didn’t want flowers. But that would be the scandal of the next ten years if they didn’t have flowers at the princess’s wedding.
Maia talked herself out of arguing. Saying anything would just make her look even more foolish, and she didn’t want to look foolish in front of these people. So she wouldn’t. She would keep her mouth shut. Even if it made her very uncomfortable. Even if alarm bells were screaming in her head that this wasn’t right and she should be looking at the finer details.
Like that veil they were carrying to her.
“Oh, no.” She put her hands up and backed away from the mirror. “No, I don’t need that. That’s...”
“What the princess asked. When the trolls enter the room, she has decided she would like your face to be covered. It only makes sense that they should see her features and not yours.”
But that wasn’t a face covering. It was a veil. Like the kind a bride would wear.
She was in white. There was a veil. Something was definitely wrong with this situation and she didn’t like where it was heading. She just needed a few seconds to get her head on straight and then she could confront everyone in this room.
All it would take was for her to say that something felt wrong. The maids here weren’t paid well enough to lie for anyone, after all. They were cut from the same cloth she was. Maia wasn’t born into this life of riches and wonderful things. She was like them.
But then the maid shook her head and sighed. “What do you think is happening here, flower girl? You’re just lucky the princess even looked at you. Who wouldn’t want this opportunity?”
“I suppose,” Maia murmured, but she still didn’t let them walk toward her with that veil. “I don’t expect anything to be happening. It’s just all rather odd. Don’t you think?”
“Rude,” the maid said. “You’re ridiculously rude. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. You want a contract with the castle that never ends? You put on the veil.”
It would be life changing if the castle signed a contract with her that declared her the official florist for every function that they had. The castle had more money than they knew what to do with. If the princess liked her, then they might do just that.
Still, this was all too odd. The warning bells going off in her mind wouldn’t let her agree to all this without pushing back some. “I just don’t think?—”
Her stomach interrupted her complaints. The angry growl filled the room with an embarrassingly loud noise.
Yet again, the maid looked at her with pity. “We’ll get you some food once the ceremony is over, too. We’ll do something about that hair of yours, and then you can head out to be with the princess again. Yes?”
She tried. She really did. The words were right at the tip of her tongue, and a part of her screamed to stand up for herself. All it would take was a single word. But they were all staring at her. They all had expectations, and they were, unfortunately, in a position of power. These maids knew the royal family better than anyone else. They were the ones getting her dressed, and she had to listen to them.
Even if it felt wrong.
So she nodded and let them work on her hair. They curled it, coiled it, made it look entirely unlike her. All her curls were smoothed out and piled atop her head. They were so pretty and she wasn’t... that. Winged eyeliner made her eyes seem bigger. Bright red rouge burned when they put it on her lips, making them so red it was almost comical to look at. When they were done, they had created a different person.
She bit her lip, horrified at what she saw. This wasn’t her. It wasn’t even remotely her.
“Stop doing that,” one of the maids said before smacking her shoulder. “Now we’ll have to fix your teeth.”
Baring said teeth, Maia realized she had gotten some of that rouge on them. The bright red streak seemed like an omen for what was about to happen, and she had no way of stopping it.
They scrubbed the three teeth affected by her mistake and then covered her hair and face with the veil. Why now? She had no idea. All she knew was that they were then tugging her out of the room and down the halls again.
All she could hear were the repeated clacks of their heels on the stone floor. She could barely see at all through the veil, just shadowy figures behind the white that all moved past her. Even then, it was distracting to feel her own hot breath pressing back against her face. Her breath puffed the veil out and still, she couldn’t see anything until the maids suddenly let go of her hands and then she was... alone?
Why were they leaving her alone? Why were they doing any of this?
She reached for the veil to remove it from her face.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a deep voice said. “You’ll ruin all the hard work of the women who prepared you.”
Not alone, then. A cold sweat broke out over her entire body and she froze. She wasn’t proud of it. Maia had always been that person, though. A piece of her knew she was in danger and instead of fighting or running or even just being scared, she was the first person to appease whatever caused her danger. Her father had likened her to a fawn, once. A creature who made others want to help her, even if they had originally hunted her.
A long exhale puffed the veil out just enough to reveal scuffed wooden floors before it dropped back into place. She returned her hands to her side and replied, “They did work awfully hard.”
“I should thank you. My daughter was very pleased you showed up when you did.”
His... daughter?
Maia’s knees went weak. She stopped being able to breathe, although that might’ve been the tightness of the dress. Certainly, it wasn’t the king himself in this room with her. The king, who everyone in this kingdom knew to fear.
Rumors about him fluttered through her head like a flock of birds had suddenly taken flight. He’d loved to behead trolls in the war when he had been a young man. Humans didn’t satisfy him any longer, and the women who were brought to his bedchamber never left. He used to be known for wearing a necklace of troll ears around his neck, their multi-colored skin and pointed tips obvious to all who saw him.
And then there were the darker rumors. The ones that said he bled young women dry and had his daughter drink the life force to keep her young. Someone had once said he hunted down strong young men in the hedge maze at the center of his castle because he grew tired of hunting animals.
That man was now standing behind her. She could feel his breath toying with the faint hairs at the nape of her neck. Then his fingers as he trailed his hand along the back of her neck to her shoulder.
This was bad. This was very bad.
Was he going to sacrifice her at the start of his daughter’s wedding? Why was he even here? He was the king. Surely there was something very important for him to do. Like be in the wedding.
She had to say something. Had to figure out what he wanted.
But what came out of her mouth was, “I just arranged the flowers, your highness.”
He chuckled, but the sound had no happiness in it. “Of course you did. I thought I heard wind that you arrived with a cart full of flowers that you had harnessed to your shoulders like you were a work horse.”
She didn’t have the money for a horse or a donkey. So she had to do it herself. That was something this man would never understand.
He continued speaking, “No, that is not why I’m thanking you. My daughter is a particular young woman. You could say she doesn’t make friends easily, nor is she all that interested in doing so. When she came to my rooms claiming that you were going to be standing up there with her, I was rather surprised.”
“Truth be told, so am I.”
“I’m sure you are.” He walked around in front of her, his shadow blocking out the light in the room, and then slowly, he lifted her veil.
She’d heard he was handsome, and he was. Though his hair had turned silver, there was still strength in his square jaw. The once broken ridge of his nose might have been ugly on anyone else, but on him, it was austere. Shrewd brown eyes stared into her very soul, making it hard to look at anything but them.
Still, she looked. She looked at the golden crown on his head and the gold tunic he wore. But mostly, she looked at the malice in his eyes.
This was a man unused to being kind. Maia had been around people like him her entire life. She’d come to learn how to read them, and in this moment, she knew he wanted to hurt her.
The king’s hands came down on her shoulders, squeezing just a little too hard. “Are you loyal to your kingdom?”
The change in subject was so unusual, she wasn’t exactly sure how to respond. “I am.”
“Are you certain?”
“I love this kingdom with all my heart. It’s my home, and I’m proud of it.” Was that what he wanted? She could continue if he needed to hear her say other parts that she loved.
He sighed, those hands squeezing harder until she thought her bones might break. But then he released her, and Maia had to lock her knees so she didn’t fall onto the floor.
“You’re shaking like a leaf,” he grumbled. “My daughter claimed you were far braver than that.”
How would the princess know? She had seen Maia for only a few moments before she’d made some insane decision.
Breathing hard, Maia licked her lips and tried to sound like the brave person they wanted her to be. “I can be, your highness. Although, I will admit, your daughter does not know me.”
“She sees into souls,” he replied. He glared at her as though her performance had been lacking. “She sees deep into the hearts and minds of those who stand before her. If she says you are brave, then you are.”
Was that what the ice cold sensation had been? Maia had thought the woman was controlling her like a puppet master, reaching into her mind and forcing her actions. Perhaps the princess was skilled at both talents. Neither of which would be surprising, considering the amount of elven blood that ran through her veins.
“I...” What did he want to hear? What could she say that would convince him to leave her alone? “I suppose I have not had many opportunities to be brave.”
Of course she had. She had spent her entire life keeping her mouth shut when men like this one threatened her. She had stood by her father when he’d gotten sick, learned every part of their business, broke her back day in and day out in the gardens and then prettied herself up for the customers in the afternoon. Maia had been brave every single moment of her life, but this man made her feel as though none of it had been all that impressive.
The anger in his gaze softened. “My dear, sweet girl. You are going to be braver today than you have ever been. You will be there when the trolls arrive. You will greet them. You will be the person they see before all others. In that moment, you will have to be brave.”
“What do you mean I will greet them?”
But then he flipped the veil back down, placed his hand on her back, and shoved her forward. Suddenly thrown out into the light, she could do nothing other than walk where he drew her.
There were more shadows. All of them moving and bobbing in front of her. Almost as though there was a crowd surrounding the two of them. Then sound hit her. The murmurs of people, hundreds of them, all standing in this room.
Were they already at the wedding? Maia tried to straighten her spine a little more, making sure she wasn’t slumped over beside the glowing beacon of the princess.
The king’s booming voice silenced them all. “My people! It is a great honor to have you all here. I beg you all to steel your hearts and your minds, for it is now that the trolls will enter.”
She tried not to tremble, but it was hard not to in the sudden silence that filled the room. And she couldn’t see anything at all. Not a single thing through the damn veil, but they had said she would be the person to greet the trolls, which made little sense.
That twisted feeling in her gut grew worse. She thought she might vomit. Something was terribly wrong.
Maia turned to leave, only to find that heavy hand at her back again. Not just a hand. Something sharp pressed against her spine, right between her ribs, with its tip against her hammering heart.
“Do not move a muscle,” the king growled into her ear. The threat made her freeze even more, like ice had filled her veins.
That was when she heard them. The whooping cries, the animalistic snarls, nightmarish noises filled the room with their haunting song.
The trolls had arrived.