Chapter 15
Fifteen
Hugo glared at the spinning wheel and the giant bundles of straw, the scent tickling his nose and nearly drawing out a sneeze.
He heaved a heavy sigh and tried to ignore the way his heart skipped as the metal bolt slid home, locking him away.
He should have known that returning to the palace was a mistake.
The promise of seeing Prince Everand was a temptation he hadn’t been able to pass up, but he should have.
This time, he didn’t have the chance to see the queen.
The moment he’d arrived at the palace, he’d been handed off to another squad of guards—though this group wasn’t as rough as the first set—and they’d escorted him to the same room he’d been locked in weeks ago.
No chance to plead his case to the queen.
No opportunity to explain that he couldn’t spin the straw into gold.
So far, no one had said that he’d lose his head if he failed to spin the straw into gold, but there was the feeling that he wouldn’t leave the room until the task was done.
The letter from the queen hadn’t said much.
It only stated that he was to come to the palace by a certain date and time, which was a full two days ahead of the ball.
He’d thought that maybe he would be instructed on how to dress and act at the ball so as not to embarrass himself and the royal family, since he was their guest.
No, it was to give him time to spin the straw into gold.
Hugo’s gaze slid over the room, taking in its appearance.
Not much had changed from his last visit.
There was a slight improvement in the food.
Now he had a full baguette, rather than half, and an apple.
There was even a small bottle of wine to go with his water.
If they’d added a bit of cheese, it might have been called a nice snack.
The spinning wheel was the same, but there seemed to be even more straw this time.
Cursing his luck, he walked to the window and opened it, letting in the late-morning sunlight and some fresh air. It was later in spring now, and the days were getting warmer. The window would help keep the worst of the day’s heat at bay.
He stared out, but this time he didn’t contemplate jumping to avoid having his head chopped off. Prince Everand filled his mind. Would he ever get to see him? Did the prince know he was in the palace? Would he care?
No, that wasn’t fair. Everand would care, but there was no telling if he could do anything against his mother’s orders.
Hugo leaned his shoulder on the window frame and stared at the empty courtyard far below. “This is what you get for wanting things above your station.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
Hugo jumped at the intrusion of an unexpected but vaguely familiar voice.
He jerked around to find the same strange figure in ragged clothes and a mask perched on the straw, swinging one leg.
His other leg was bent with the heel of his old black boot dug into the straw.
An elbow rested on his knee, making him look so comfortable and casual, as if it were normal for him to appear out of nowhere and rescue Hugo.
Relief poured through Hugo at the sight of the strange man, and a smile grew on his face despite his words. “I don’t want to, but it seems like every time I reach for something, it comes back to bite me in the ass.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
“Something like that. It’s my fault this time. Can’t even blame it on my mother.”
“That old queen demanded you spin more straw into gold? Witch!”
“No! No! Well…not technically. She dangled an invitation to a royal ball in front of me. I thought I could use it to see Prince Everand. She mentioned nothing about spinning straw into gold, but I suspected she’d make that demand.
” Hugo dropped his hands to his sides, letting them slap his legs.
“I thought I would get the chance to explain to her that I couldn’t spin straw into gold, but I didn’t get to see the queen.
The guards took me straight here and locked the door.
No one will listen to me and let me see her. ”
“Can’t spin straw, huh?” the stranger asked while rubbing the pointed chin of his mask.
Hugo huffed and flopped on the floor, leaning against the stone wall. “It’s time I came clean, or I’m just going to get into this mess repeatedly. But don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about you.” His lips twisted into a crooked smile. “I doubt anyone would believe me, though, even if I did.”
The stranger shrugged as if being discovered wasn’t a concern. “If you were lucky to keep your head, she probably wouldn’t let you see the prince.”
Why did that feel like the worst that could happen? Even worse than losing his head.
The stranger made a noise of disgust and hopped from his perch. “Why do you want to see that ugly, stupid prince anyway? He’s a big, boring lout.”
“No!” Hugo almost shouted. He lunged up to his knees, glaring at the man who’d saved his hide once.
“You’re wrong about him. He’s beautiful, funny, and brave.
He saved my life when he could have left me behind.
No one would have thought worse of him for it either.
I really l—” The word got caught in his throat, and he swallowed before trying again.
“I really like him, and I wanted to see him.” Hugo dropped to sit on his heels, his hands falling open and empty to his thighs.
“But what’s the point? The queen is using me for your ability.
Once I finally tell her I can’t, I won’t be able to see Everand.
There’s no way she would have let me marry him anyway.
I keep telling myself I need to be more practical so I can help my family, but…
each time I think about him, I want…more. ”
The stranger’s low chuckle drifted across the room. He did this weird hobbling step over to Hugo and squatted so that his face was right next to Hugo’s, but his mask made it impossible to see his eyes.
“Hope is a funny thing. It makes us want things we know we shouldn’t. Makes us fight and achieve impossible things.”
Hugo scoffed. “Like spinning straw into gold? Yeah, I seriously doubt I’m ever going to develop that magical skill. I create and weave glass. That’s all. Nothing important.”
“But you make beautiful things with it because your soul is beautiful,” the stranger whispered, bringing the hint of a smile to Hugo’s lips. “And you know glass can be as deadly as steel. Bet you could protect a person with that gift. It has more value than you think.”
“Maybe.”
“The important question is whether this useless prince—”
“Not useless,” Hugo cut in sharply.
“Okay, okay, not useless. Does this beautiful specimen of human flesh return your feelings?”
Hugo snorted at the stranger’s description of Everand. He didn’t seem to care for the prince, but Hugo had felt the same about Ev at one time. It was likely that this person didn’t know him at all.
“Yes, Prince Everand likes me too. He wants to see me. But even he warned me that being together might be complicated.”
The stranger made a dismissive noise. “Complicated. Bah. All things worthwhile demand a fight. Are you willing to fight for him?”
Hugo didn’t even have to think about it. “Yes, I want to fight for him. I want to be worthy of him and have him fall in love with me.”
The stranger straightened, clapped his hands together, and rubbed them. “Then we need to get you out of here. But you know my requirements. I don’t work for free.”
Hugo climbed to his feet as well and lifted his hands, already pulling on his spark of magic within his chest. “Would you like me to make you another rose? Or maybe an iris? I know how to make a few other flowers. How about a branch with a bunch of pink plum blossoms?”
But the stranger was shaking his head. “Nope. Nope. You made me a glass flower. This needs to be something different. Something you didn’t make, but that has value.”
“Oh.” Hugo’s heart sank as he dug through his pockets. He’d brought nothing with him. Just worn the nicest suit he had, which was the suit he’d received during his last visit to the palace. “I’ve got some money. Not many coins, but you can have all of them.”
The stranger made a noise. “Coins are too common. Everyone has coins.”
Hugo was about to point out that most people would argue they don’t have nearly enough coins when the stranger grabbed his hand.
“What’s this?”
Hugo looked down to find him looking at the jade-and-silver ring he wore on his thumb. His father’s ring—the only thing he had left from his father. He jerked his hand free and covered his right hand with his left, rubbing his thumb across the wide band. “It’s my father’s ring.”
“So, it’s valuable.”
“Well, probably just to me. It’s not worth much to anyone else if you try to sell it. You wouldn’t get much if they melted it. I’m sure I have more coins in my pocket than you’d get for the ring.”
“Doesn’t matter. That’s what I want. The ring in exchange for spinning all this straw into gold.”
Hugo frowned and stared at the ring, rubbing it even harder. What would his father say?
He almost laughed. He could hear his father’s deep, booming voice in his head demanding that he take the deal right that second.
It was just an old ring, and this was his chance to chase after love.
Of his parents, his father was the romantic.
He’s the one who’d chased after their mother, while his mother was somehow the pragmatic one.
“Okay, but will you promise me one thing?” Hugo said.
“What’s that?”
“If you ever wish to get rid of this ring, will you try to find me first? Let me make an offer for it before you sell it to anyone else.”
The stranger hopped from one foot to the other and punched Hugo in the shoulder. He got the feeling he was smiling behind his mask. “Deal!”
Hugo felt a little better about sliding the ring off his thumb and putting it into the gloved palm of his companion. At least there was a slim chance of the ring working its way back to him one day.
With a cackle, the stranger dropped onto the stool behind the spinning wheel, setting it whirling. Hugo jumped into action, pulling straw closer to the man so it was easily within his grasp. He also shifted the basket of empty wooden bobbins closer.
One after another, he watched the bobbins fill with glittering gold thread.
Each one got him one step closer to Everand.
He still didn’t know how he was going to fix the mess he was in.
He needed to stop the queen from ever making this demand again, but he wasn’t sure how he was going to do that without losing his head.
At the very least, he had to tell Everand the truth. Everand trusted him, and he couldn’t lie to him. Not anymore. And maybe the prince would know how best to deal with the queen.
Hugo tried to stay awake and help the stranger as he worked, but as the day wore on, he grew sleepy.
The last few days had been so frantic and crazy.
Now he felt only relief that he had taken a good step forward.
Long after the sun had set, Hugo sat against the wall and drifted off to sleep as the stranger worked.