Chapter 9 Auria #2
I, of course, avoided eye contact and rushed through the halls as if I had something important to do. I’d learned long ago that the best way to be allowed places was to act like you belonged there, so I walked as if I was expected to arrive in a room just out of sight in less time than I had.
After I climbed several staircases and crossed more halls I couldn’t keep track of, I came to a completely empty corridor.
Unlike most of the others, not even a guard patrolled this part of the castle, giving it a creepy, empty-but-not-really-empty feeling.
A ten-foot long tapestry hung across the stone wall, drawing my attention like seeds summoning Rat.
A great battle scene had been sewn into the woven layers of thread.
Two fae armies, one wearing icy blues and the other wearing cold purples, clashed on snowy foothills with a huge mountain range rising up behind them.
Violent streaks of blood marred the snow, and three massive dragons flew over the fray.
The scene was both epic and tragic, and I couldn’t tell which side, blue or purple, was even winning.
A blue-clad general or commander or something knelt on the frozen ground next to another fallen soldier.
His posture—the way he bent over someone he obviously cared about—nearly broke my heart.
This scene had to be real, from some moment in history.
A moment that meant something to someone.
I reached up to touch the kneeling leader, but—
“What are you doing here?” A loud, harsh voice filled the hall.
I sprang away from the tapestry and saw a soldier at the other end of the corridor storming toward me.
I could try running back the way I’d come, but he’d chase me down to a hall with more soldiers, and then I’d be trapped.
Maybe I could convince him that I had something important to do in this hall.
My mind scrambled to come up with a reason to be in an empty corridor, but the soldier reached me before I was ready. A tight spasm seized my chest and my mind slowed. Soldiers and their armor all had the same horrible intimidating—
He grabbed my arm. “Nobody has permission to be in this hall.”
“Raaaaak!” My cockatoo flew up from behind me, landed on the soldier, and pecked at his helmet twice before the soldier swatted him off.
Unfortunately, he managed to beat Rat away while still gripping my arm. I looked over my shoulder. There had to be a way out of this.
When I turned my head, the soldier gasped and pulled me closer. “What is your name?”
I lifted my chin. I refused to let him see how much he scared me. “Auria.”
He dropped my arm and knelt on one knee. “My lady. Please forgive me. I did not recognize you.”
My head spun. This soldier was bowing to me. That had never happened before. Soldiers were terrors—cruel, evil people who hurt others and chased me. But Dearan had said they would protect me. What exactly did Bylur tell them?
“And how do you recognize me now?” I hesitantly asked. He might be kneeling, but I didn’t trust soldiers, even when I was curious about them.
He looked up at me, his face reflecting so much of my own curiosity and nerves. “Your human appearance and your name. Every soldier on staff has sworn to protect and accommodate you.”
“Every soldier?” Had Dearan overestimated the danger to humans in this place?
He dipped his head. “Those who were not willing to extend their loyalties to my lady were relieved of their positions.”
Oh.
Oh! I pressed my lips together as I realized the implications of that statement.
Not only were some fae soldiers not willing to protect a human, now those same soldiers had reasons to hate me personally—I’d cost them their jobs.
I really needed to talk to Bylur before he turned the entire castle against me.
The soldier in front of me ducked his head a little deeper. “If you have no need of my services, I will report to the prison for punishment.”
“What?” Memories of the dark prison from last night threatened to distract me, but I pushed them aside and focused on the soldier. “Why would you do that?”
“For the way I attacked you. It was a violation of my oath. And, if you’re not opposed, I’d rather take a punishment and stay on here than leave.”
“Fae are obsessed with punishments,” I muttered as Rat chirped for a treat from my shoulder. I shoved a sunflower seed in his mouth and crossed my arms at the soldier. “What’s your name?”
He lifted his head up. “My name?”
“Yes. Surely they call you something?”
He rolled his shoulders back. “Ivodar, my lady.”
“And what kind of punishment do you expect?”
“For breaking an oath? Something that will take weeks to recover from.”
My eyes widened. “For accidentally breaking an oath while you were trying to protect the castle?” Bylur’s words came back to me. The fae body can take a lot of pain.
“Yes.” He swallowed. “Because my sister would be allowed to remain working on the staff while I recover. She wouldn’t dare stay here by herself if I had to leave, but she has a job and friends here that would make leaving much harder.”
I tipped my head at him, trying to understand. “So, you would take a horrible beating for a mistake so that your sister doesn’t have to leave a life she likes here in the castle?”
He nodded. “Yes, my lady.”
I blew out a very undignified puff of air and did not resist rolling my eyes this time. “That’s ridiculous. Ivador, please stand up.” He shuffled to his feet, and I almost regretted the instruction. He towered over me, at least a head taller and more than twice as thick.
He won’t hurt me, I reminded myself while smiling to cover up my fear.
Not now that he knows. Maybe these fae were gluttons for punishment, but they also had an obsession with oaths and vows.
I tried to make myself relax with a deep breath, but it came out shaky and uncertain.
Someday I would not tremble at the sight of a soldier.
Ivador stepped backward, far enough that he couldn’t reach me, and my next breath came a little easier. This was a good fae.
“Believe it or not, Ivador, I’m actually here because I’m trying to find my rooms. I’m not sure where they are, but I got distracted by this tapestry.” I waved at the battle scene.
He nodded. “Understandable. The Battle of Brothers was only a hundred and forty years ago. It nearly wrecked Kalshana, and anyone living still feels its effects. I can leave you now or show you the way to your rooms.”
The Battle of Brothers. I tucked that name away for later. “Will you show me the way? I’m supposed to meet someone there soon.”
“Of course.” He started walking back the way he’d come, and I followed quickly. “I suspect you overshot. If we go to the spiral staircase ahead, we only need to go down one level and turn to the king’s suites.”
“The king’s suites? First I thought Bylur was a lord, then someone called him a prince, and now he lives in the king’s suites?”
Ivodar launched into an explanation as we entered the stairwell.
“He is the High Lord of the Umbran House and probably the most powerful fae in all of Kalshana. If he announced himself as King, most of the kingdom would celebrate his reign, but he refuses to do so. However, given his family’s position, his power, and his role in organizing a council right now, it is only appropriate that he stay in the best rooms in the castle. ”
How about that? Not only was my husband cursed to be a bear during the day, he was also the most powerful fae in this strange world. Maybe that had something to do with why the crazy queen wanted to marry him in the first place.
Ivador pointed at a wooden door. “Your sitting room, my lady.”
I craned my head to look at Rat, who’d perched on my shoulder for the short walk. “Sitting room.”
He squawked and repeated, “Sitting room.” Hopefully he’d remember it well enough to guide me here next time I found myself lost in a palace maze. He didn’t really speak, but he repeated a lot of sounds back to me.
The soldier bowed and turned to leave.
“Ivodar.”
He spun around so fast the metal on his armor clanged against itself. “Yes, my lady?”
“What is your assignment today?”
“I’m patrolling this floor and the floor above, with the tapestry. But, if you’ll allow it, I’ll request a replacement so I can report to the prison.”
My chest pounded. I never in all my life imagined I’d want to help a soldier, but he’d only grabbed my arm for a moment. And he released it as soon as he realized who I was. And that prison was awful. He did not deserve torture there for trying to do his job here.
I fisted my skirt and lifted my chin. “Ivador. I do not want you to report to the prison.”
His head hung and then bobbed it slowly. “Yes, my lady.”
Before he turned around again, I rushed to say the rest. “I want to rewrite how we met. You did not charge down the hall and ask me what I was doing. You recognized me from a distance and offered your help in navigating this place. You have no reason to go to the prison.”
He lifted his head and stared at me. After several seconds, he said, “Fae cannot lie.”
I gave him a bright smile. “Well, perhaps you can find a way to leave out any parts that will get you in trouble. I would like you to continue patrolling as you were assigned.”
He stared at me for several more seconds, and then bowed, deeper than before. “I am very grateful, my lady. Please do not hesitate to send for me if there is anything I can do for you in the future.”
He turned around again, this time standing a little taller than before, and marched away. My nerves still itched—I would never be truly comfortable speaking to a soldier—but I felt good about this, far better than if he’d taken himself to prison for a mistake.
I turned the handle and pressed on the door to go into Bylur’s sitting room. My sitting room. The door pushed back against me, so I used my shoulder to open it far enough to slip inside.