32. Appearances are Everything
A fter a fitful night’s sleep, Rose got up with the sun. Opening the curtains on her window, she stood watching it rise through the trees, turning them a glowing green and setting the sky to shimmery pink and gold.
“Fear is not my friend.” Larkin lifted his head to mew in agreement but then lay back down. Knowing he was still tired, Rose turned back to the view out her window.
“Being a timid mouse isn’t going to get us anywhere,” she said to herself. “I have always fought orders I don’t like. Why am I hesitating now?”
Larkin mewled again. “Right. Our Prince could die.”
Catching motion from the corner of her eye, Rose looked down to the green lawn at her left, where many males were assembled. They were training, she realized, sparring, and watched the mock fights.
Already sweaty, they were working on hand-to-hand combat. Lord Aldric was among them, fighting just as hard, obeying the commands of the one leading them. He sent the male he was fighting against sprawling with a hard punch and then stood over him with his shoulders shaking with laughter. Bending to help him up, Lord Aldric then patted him on the back.
He glanced up, his eyes meeting hers. And held.
His partner took advantage, landing a punch that had Lord Aldric’s head snapping back. Rose winced, turning away as Lord Aldric shook it off.
Going to the door, she opened it to greet the guard—not Cedric—who gave a slight bow.
“Good morning, Lady Rose.”
It was still strange being called a lady , but she rather liked the respect.
“Good morning,” she replied. “May I ask your name?”
“I am Declan.”
“Declan. Would it be alright if I had a bath?”
“Of course.” After a moment of silence where his eyes went distant in the same odd way Lord Aldric’s had the previous night, Declan refocused on her. “It will be prepared shortly. Would you like me to have food prepared as well?”
“Has everyone else eaten?”
“We break our fast after morning training.”
“I will eat with the pack then.”
“I warn you, we are a loud and rowdy bunch after training, not to mention sweaty and smelly. It’d be nicer for you to take your meal up here.”
“I’m good with loud and rowdy.”
Declan inclined his head.
“Thank you.”
Leaving the door open, Rose returned to her window to watch the sky brighten. The continued sounds of training filled the quiet until females arrived in her room with buckets of steaming water. Coppers from Prince Adrian’s coin purse showed her gratitude.
“After traveling for a week with no proper way to bathe, I am very grateful for this.”
The females beamed, turning to whisper to each other as soon as they were out of the room. The last offered her a selection of rose-scented soaps, bath additives, and lotions that Rose set on the table beside the tub.
Indulging in a long soak in the fragrant water was bliss. Guilt at doing so while her Prince was locked in a cell ate at her, but she vowed to get him out.
She just refused to do so grimy and gross.
So thinking, she washed thoroughly and then dried, rubbing the silky lotion into her skin. Choosing an ivory dress with a pattern of pink roses, she dressed. The high waist was embellished with a pink ribbon that tied in the back, and more of the same capped the short sleeves. After brushing her hair and twisting some of her curls so they held, she felt much more capable of handling whatever Lord Aldric threw at her.
It was probably silly for clean skin and a nice dress to inspire confidence, but as her parents had always said, appearances were everything. Presentation was half the battle in politics, and while she didn’t have much experience, she would do her best.
After slipping on her pink shoes, she left the room, Larkin the scarlet tanager flying to her shoulder. He twittered in her ear.
“Declan will likely be with us until the next shift change.” She glanced back, meeting Declan’s brown eyes as he followed her down the stairs. The blonde highlights in his close-cropped brown hair seemed to shine in the light from the tower window they passed. When Larkin twittered again, she stroked his breast. “We will share breakfast. I am sure there is plenty. ”
Rose stepped into the Great Hall where the huge tables were spread with food and surrounded by rowdy males filling plates. Others around the room teased and ribbed each other while they ate. Several stared at her as she passed.
Lord Aldric noticed her and nudged Cedric so he moved down a seat, clearing the spot to his left, which he motioned for Rose to take. “Good morning, Lady Rose.”
“Good morning, Lord Aldric. Tiernan.” She nodded to him on the other side of Lord Aldric and turned to Cedric. “Good morning, Cedric. Thank you for making room.”
He grunted and took a large bite of his meat pie, turning away from her.
Snubbed as she was sure he meant for her to be, Rose turned back to Lord Aldric who asked, “Did you sleep well, milady?”
“Yes, thank you.” She took a piece of the bread, spreading butter and a bit of strawberry jam from the jar in the middle of the table, and poured herself water from a nearby jug. “I would like to visit the barns this morning”—she looked up to meet Lord Aldric’s ever-watchful eyes—“and check on our team. I would like to see more of the grounds as well.”
“Of course. I will show you all you wish to see.”
Rose nodded, offering some crumbled bread in her palm to Larkin still on her shoulder. “See, silly. More than enough.”
When Larkin finished the bread, chirping to indicate he wanted some of the meaty gravy, she poured some on a plate. Diving to the floor, he shifted to his leopard form and waited for her to set it down.
When one of the wolves, a smaller brown, came close sniffing, Larkin shifted to a larger russet wolf and growled threateningly, pinning his ears back, hackles rising. The werewolf shifted back to his human form—a painful-looking process that Rose watched raptly because Larkin’s shifting was almost instantaneous .
The wolf’s fur regressed, disappearing to leave tanned skin, his limbs changing shape and length with audible snaps as hands took the place of paws. His torso thinned, losing the barrel shape, and on his head, his ears shortened, his muzzle flattened and rounded out until a teenage boy sat naked and trembling on the floor.
And then he darted away.
Larkin gave a satisfied huff before returning to his food. He then sat licking his chops, focusing his amber eyes on her. When another wolf started creeping closer, Larkin pinned his ears back and bared his teeth in warning.
“Your wolves make him nervous,” Rose said to Lord Aldric.
“The young are curious, more so than the rest of us,” he replied, his eyes on Larkin as he growled at the wolf still inching closer. After a snap of his jaws, he shifted to his red hawk form and flew to Rose’s shoulder, where he looked down at the wolf with superiority.
Rose stroked his creamy breast as he cooed in her ear. “He is still hungry. May he hunt in your forest?” She worried he was using too much magic because not only was he shifting often but he always took the harshest edge of her headaches, and every night he helped her through her nightmares.
“Surely. Or he can have anything he wishes from here.” Lord Aldric waved a hand over the table to encompass it all. “None here will harm either of you. As I said, most are simply curious. We don’t get many interesting visitors.”
After a rub of his cheek on hers, Larkin flew off. Rose followed him with her eyes until he was gone. “I have only seen Keeps in books,” she said after a moment. “Does your castle have an inner courtyard?”
“Let us walk and I will show you.”
“I don’t want to take you from your breakfast.” As she said it, she ate the last of her bread .
“I am finished.” Lord Aldric stood, offering his arm, and she let him lead her out. “What do you think of Silvershade so far?”
“It is beautiful, both the Keep and your forest.” Though only a few inches taller, he felt much larger as she looked up at him. “Your maids—are they maids—were nice enough to haul water for a bath for me this morning.”
“Aye, I heard. Word of your generosity is spreading. We aren’t as fond of titles as they are in the capital. Everyone simply does their part to support the pack. Those females all prefer to keep the castle clean.”
“You aren’t fond of titles but use yours daily.”
“Eh. They have been passed down for generations. It is now tradition for our alpha to go by lord . My grandfather was Lord Finnian. My father was Lord Bran. If the pompous King thought too hard about it, I’m sure he’d remember and take it away.”
Rose made a thoughtful sound, blinking as they left the dim interior of the Great Hall for the bright courtyard. Once her eyes adjusted, she took in the small flowering trees planted in the corners and the large square stone pagoda in the middle of the space where wooden benches were lined up. Off to the right was a stone well, which Rose thought was smart, as they didn’t have to go far for their water.
“What is that building?” She pointed to a long, low structure to the right.
After a grudging silence, Lord Aldric replied, “The cells.”
There was no dungeon then; that was where her Prince and the others were. “Take me there.”
Lord Aldric stopped, tugging her back when she kept going. His expression was hard. “They will not be freed.”
“Believe me, I heard you the first five times,” Rose replied smartly. And then more gently, “I need to see them, Lord Aldric. Regardless of your reassurances and your treatment of me, they have been locked away all night with no medical treatment.”
His eyes bored into hers. “Five minutes.”