Chapter 31 Auria #2
He leaned his nose into the bag. “Where did you get peaches from?”
“We traded them with a summer fae who was traveling through Kalshana selling his food.” Hopefully that wasn’t too far-fetched.
He pulled his nose out. “I think we should take them. In exchange for letting you into Kerebos.”
My jaw fell. “But… I… don’t know when I’ll be able to buy food next. What if I don’t get paid until I work for a few days? What if—”
The other soldier ripped the bag out of his partner’s hands and gave it to me. “Taxing visitors is the queen’s privilege. She might take your peaches, but she might not.” He glared at the thieving soldier. “We will not.”
I clutched the bag. “Thank you.”
“She will be informed of your presence. You should head to the palace and present yourself before you try to find work elsewhere.”
I nodded, slipping back into a maid’s habits. “Yes, sir, thank you.”
He tipped his head at the road.
I closed the bag, threw it over my shoulders, and fled down the path. I ran for two miles before I slowed down to a comfortable walking pace and pulled out a pastry to finish relaxing.
Cancel that. I couldn’t properly relax now. Not until I had Bylur and we were safely back home in Kalshana.
I ate the pastry anyway.
The rest of the day was uneventful. I passed a few other travelers and soldiers, but I kept my head down and didn’t make eye contact. Nobody said anything.
An hour before sunset, the palace rose on the wintry horizon. I’d kept a hold on Bylur’s magic all day, enough that I hadn’t been chilled at all, despite the snow on the ground. Once I could make out soldiers patrolling the palace grounds, I left the road.
The castle was huge—I wouldn’t lose it—and I needed to find a way onto the property without alerting everyone to my presence.
But twenty-foot tall walls surrounded the castle, and the only obvious way past them was through a well-guarded gate.
I tried skirting around the walls, but they kept going, easily surrounding the entire castle complex.
How would I get in? I absently rubbed my thumb, but on finding the ring missing, I moved my hand to the key hanging from my neck.
The key.
If I could use it to walk through the shadows like Bylur, I wouldn’t have to sneak anywhere. I could just… walk.
But how did he tell his magic what shadows to move him to? Or when to move him?
I eyed the stony wall nearest me. If I could just be on the other side of it, in any shadow there, that would be enough. Sneaking around would be easy if I were already inside the wall. A warm swell of magic brushed against my arms, and I looked down to see…
Shadows.
Yes!!
This would work. Stay with me, Shadows. I gripped the key, stood in a shadow behind a huge, bare-branched tree, and focused on the shadows that might be on the other side of the wall fifty feet away from me. I closed my eyes and took a step. Then another. And a third.
I held my breath, and opened my eyes.
I almost squealed with joy when I realized the wall was inches from my back. I covered my mouth with a hand and leaned on the solid stone. Bylur would not have wanted me to use his gift to sneak into his enemy’s castle, but I was doing it. And he’d just have to deal.
I stayed tucked against the wall and looked around.
Directly in front of me rose the side of the castle, made of stone, just like Bylur’s.
To my right, the sky lit in a rainbow of sunsetting colors with a few wispy clouds making dark blues and purples swirl together.
I saw the gate rising higher than the rest of the wall and imagined a front courtyard at the entrance of the palace.
To my left, just rising above the walls, grinned a gibbous moon. I leaned my head back against the stone behind me. East of the sun, west of the moon. Would Bylur be inside somewhere, bound to a queen he detested? Or would he be in some kind of prison? A shiver ran down my spine. I hated prisons.
The grounds I could see were completely empty, so I slipped out of the shadows of the wall and followed a cobbled path that ran between manicured flower beds toward the back of the castle.
I needed to get inside, probably posing as a maid, to get some more information. But I also needed to hide my pack.
As I rounded a small tower, I spotted the perfect solution: a hedge maze. Did every castle have one? They seemed to be a thing in the two winter fae kingdoms I’d seen now.
I picked up my pace until the evergreen walls hid me again.
Following the outer edge, I took two turns and stopped in a corner where I’d hear anyone coming before I saw them.
I dumped everything in the pack out onto a stone bench, tucked Brielle’s ring into a pocket on my skirt, and then stared at the peaches.
I wanted to keep them, but I wasn’t sure if my dress would smash them.
It didn’t matter. I couldn’t risk leaving them here and losing them.
I rearranged my pockets so two were completely empty, and slipped a peach into each of them.
I slid the empty bag and leftover food and water under the edge of a hedge bush, and picked up the last peach.
Maybe I could trade it with someone to get enough clothes to pass as a maid.
“Unbelievable. She’s so disconnected from reality that—”
The angry mutterings prompted me to jam the last peach into a pocket, tuck the key inside my jerkin, and pretend as if I were walking toward the voice.
Moments later, a woman close to my age rounded the corner and froze, facing me.
Not woman. Fae. She could be over a hundred since she looked my age.
A dark mole dotted her forehead above her left eyebrow, and she carried a goblet and a plate with a chicken leg on it.
She was taller than me, and she narrowed her eyes instantly. Not friendly, then.
“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” she demanded. Nope, not friendly at all.
But she wore a black dress with a full white apron—surely a maid’s outfit. And I wanted a maid’s costume.
Plastering my most casual, friendly smile in place, I dropped a quick curtsy. I needed to win her over, at least enough to trade me for that apron. “Auria, at your service. And, obviously I’m hiding from people who annoy me, which… it sounds like you might be doing also?”
She didn’t smile. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I took a cautious breath, hoping this would work. “Well… I heard you talking about someone disconnected from reality.” I shrugged. “That sounds annoying.”
She relaxed her face and plopped onto the bench, slamming the plate and goblet onto the stone so hard I was surprised they didn’t spill over. “It is very annoying.”
I scanned the paths ahead and behind us, trying to make a show of hoping we were alone, and then sat next to her. I clasped my hands the way Brielle did when she’d get excited. “Tell me about it.”
She raised a brow. “Do you know who I am?”
I shook my head slowly. Was I going to ruin everything with this bit of honesty? A maid who expected to be known? How was I supposed to guess at that? I winced. “No, I don’t. Sorry?”
She huffed and straightened up. “I could tell you, but then you’d become as annoying as everyone else in this kingdom.”
I puckered my lips, thinking about my friends’ advice on bargains and trades. “I doubt it, but I’ll make you a deal. If you tell me who you are, and promise not to tell anyone about me, I’ll tell you who I am and enough details about why I’m here that I’m sure you’ll be surprised.”
An intrigued smile crossed her face. “I haven’t been surprised in decades. And nobody has tried to bargain with me since I was publicly shamed. But if you want to make your deal with me, knowing that you too would be ostracised if our bargain were known, I’ll do it.”
My eyes widened. “A fae maid who is publicly shamed?” I leaned closer to her. “I’d love to learn your story. And I’ll tell you mine. But you must promise not to tell anyone about me.”
She grinned. “A human who wants a bargain of secrets? I’m in. I promise not to tell anyone about you if you tell me your story, and I’ll tell you mine first. It’s a bargain.”
“I agree.” I didn’t know if that was the correct thing to say, but a hot burning flashed across my wrist before I could think about it any more. A dark tattoo, shaped like a scroll, appeared on my wrist. I looked at the maid, and she lifted her wrist to show me the same symbol.
“It’s a bargain,” I whispered, remembering Dedalus’s instructions.
“Indeed.” The maid sounded as awed as I was. Maybe it was her first bargain too? When had she been shamed?
She rubbed her hands together. “My story first. I had the misfortune of being born with the wrong magic.” She snapped her fingers and a flame appeared in her hands. “Fae don’t control what kind of magic they get. My mother, Queen Daneira, expected me to have ice magic like her and my father.”
She shrugged and fisted her hand, extinguishing the flames. “I have fire instead. But my mother wanted her heir to showcase proper winter magic, so I was publicly shamed and assigned to the service.” She waved her hands over her apron.
My jaw fell. “That’s terrible! Fire magic sounds amazing.”
She smirked. “Maybe if you’re human. But in a winter fae realm, ice magic is prized over all.”
“But—” That didn’t make any sense. Bylur was practically king, and he didn’t have ice magic. And, if her mother was queen, did that mean her mother was the one who’d forced Bylur to come here?
“Your thoughts are spiralling,” she said. “Are you going to share them or tell me your story?”
“Can I share first?” I asked. I loved talking, and she seemed willing enough to answer questions now. Though, my questions were sure to put her guard up—
She shrugged. “Sure.”
I bit my lip. “I’m a little confused. I thought the queen wanted to marry another fae, but if you’re her daughter, wouldn’t she already be married?”
A disgusted huff escaped the maid. “If she were any other fae, she would be.” A sneer turned her lip.
“She insisted on marrying my father—a fae with ice magic—in a human wedding so that she wouldn’t have to bind her heart to his.
She wanted an heir, but she did not want to risk sharing her magic with a spouse in a proper fae marriage.
I don’t know what his reasons were because she had him killed when I was too young to remember. ”
My jaw fell again. “She what?!”
“You really don’t know anything about Kerebos, do you?” the princess-shamed-maid said.
I shook my head slowly. “Obviously. I should have asked more questions before I came.”
She snorted. “The queen wants to marry Bylur, from Kalshana, because she wants his magic and kingdom. I don’t know how she thinks she can subdue him after they’re married, though, because he’ll be able to use her magic as easily as she’ll be able to use his.
And everyone knows that he wants Kalshana run by a council instead of one ruler.
That’s what I was mad about when I came in here.
The queen sent me to deliver him enchanted food and wine. ”
She waved at the goblet and chicken between us on the bench. “But I spoke to him yesterday. He won’t drink it, and I don’t think he’ll marry her, even though she’s threatened to kill him if he doesn’t.”
The blood drained from my face. “Kill him?”
She nodded. “I think it’s more likely that she intends to keep him imprisoned until he changes his mind, but I don’t think she realizes that he won’t change his mind. He’s told her, she just won’t believe it.”
My heart warmed even while my stomach twisted. He was in prison. But he wasn’t going to marry her. Because he loved me.
Also, because she sounded like evil incarnate, but I’d rather focus on the last words he’d said to me. I love you. As much as I am capable of love, I’ve given my heart to you.
The maid poked me. “So… your story?”
I smiled slowly. “I am Bylur’s wife, and I’ve come to bring him home.”
Her eyes widened, and then she started laughing. Her laughter grew, until it shook her whole body.
I folded my arms. “I’m serious.”
She wiped her eyes. “I can tell. And that’s why it’s so delightful. Nobody has ever challenged my mother. And, even if she kills you for existing, I want to see her face when she realizes who you are.”
That was not reassuring.
But maybe… “Would you help me beat her?”
She sobered instantly. “No. She’d kill me too if she suspected the smallest bit of treason from me.” She raised a suspicious brow. “Have you already talked to her?”
I shook my head. “No. Why would you ask that?”
The suspicion lingered in her eyes. “Because she often throws me into situations to tempt my loyalty. I think she’d like an excuse to kill me, because she thinks murdering me without a reason to give everyone would make other more people disloyal.”
Oh. “You don’t need to risk that,” I said. “I don’t actually want anyone to die. I just want to go home with Bylur.”
She nodded. “Well, I can’t help you. And I need to go deliver these before she visits him.”
“Wait!” A new idea was forming in my head. “What if I took those?”
She raised a brow.
“I’m a new maid here,” I lied. “I haven’t even had time to get a proper outfit. But what if you had things to do, and you assigned another maid to make your delivery?”
She smiled slowly. “The queen would be furious.”
I pulled out a peach. “I could sweeten the deal?”
“What deal?”
Maybe I shouldn’t try making two bargains in one day. I shifted my wording. “I just thought that if you had to deal with an angry queen, a sweet peach might make it more worth it.”
Her smile grew, and she extended a hand. “Reassigning work isn’t remotely treason.” She lifted the fruit to her nose, and her eyes lit up. “Where did you get this?”
“You’re not really helping me,” I reminded her. “I can’t tell you any more secrets.”
She sniffed it slowly. “This will make my whole day. I might walk past the laundry room in a moment,” she added. “A new maid ought to wear proper clothes.”