Servant of Earth

Chapter 5

5

“You’re afraid,” Alodie said after we’d been walking in silence for a few minutes.

“Yes.” There was no point in lying. Who wouldn’t be afraid?

She glanced at me, and I was struck by the eerie beauty of her face. Long, narrow, and a blue so pale it was nearly white. Her thin frame and fluid movements reminded me of the first Underfae I’d seen, but she wore a serviceable blue dress and her blue-gray hair drifted around her shoulders as if she were floating underwater.

“I understand your fear, but try not to let anyone see it,” she said. “You’ve been given a great honor in serving one of the ladies of Earth House.”

“It didn’t seem that way when the king announced it. They all laughed.”

She smiled slightly. “A great honor for you. A grave insult to Earth House.”

“Why?”

“Because humans are considered little more than animals.”

I bristled, but she raised a hand to cut me off. “By most,” she clarified. “Not by all. I work with many humans. We are all here to serve.”

She turned right, and the smooth black stone underfoot gave way to cobbles. Grass emerged from the soil at the edges of the path, and I was astonished to see a few wildflowers. How did they grow here without any sunlight?

Alodie stopped. “Here we are.”

The walls were covered in ivy, and the line of torches stopped just ahead of us, casting the path in darkness. “Where are we?”

“The entrance to Earth House.” She gestured for me to follow, and as she stepped past the line of torchlight, her posture relaxed. “It doesn’t look like much right now, but it’s a spectacular sight in the day.”

It wasn’t completely dark; now that my eyes had adjusted, I realized the arched corridor was lit with faint blue ambient light. The walls around us had changed from gray stone to a smooth material that looked like glass. I ran my fingers along it and yelped.

“Why is it wet?” I stared with shock at the water coating my fingers. The wall hadn’t been hard to the touch, either.

Alodie laughed, the sound bubbly as a tinkling spring. “We’re surrounded by water, girl. What is your name, anyway?”

“Kenna Heron.” I hesitantly touched the wall again. My finger sank through the glossy surface, and it felt as if I had dipped it in a cold river. The current brushed against my skin. “How is this possible?”

“Didn’t your human myths tell you about our magic?” Alodie tilted her head curiously. “The separation was not so long ago.”

“For us it was.” A thousand years, the Elder had said.

“Earth House controls soil, plants, and water—anything found in the ground beneath our feet. This tunnel is the only access point to the house, and it’s held in place by spells. Members or guests of Earth House are allowed through, but the second an unwelcome visitor tries to enter, the water will flood the tunnel and sweep them away.”

“Where does it sweep them to?” I felt claustrophobic at the thought of being this close to an enormous amount of water that could come crashing down at any moment. We’d been traveling steadily downward from the throne room for long minutes, which meant we must be far underground. Like being at the bottom of a lake.

“They drown. Death is the punishment for anyone who tries to access a house’s territory without permission.”

I was sweating by the time we reached the end of the corridor. Alodie pushed open a thick metal door, and I scurried after her, eager to leave the oppressive weight of the water behind.

The room was dark, but when Alodie waved her hand, torches sprang to life around the space, casting a glow similar to the warm light of afternoon.

I gaped at the sight that met us.

Flowering vines covered the pillars and walls of an enormous entrance hall. The floor was packed earth, worn glossy smooth by what must have been thousands of years of footsteps. Trees, flowers, and bushes pushed up from the soil, reaching towards the high ceiling and a distant mosaic that depicted a blue sky and yellow sun. The space was a riot of natural color, and the air smelled of damp earth and growing things.

“It’s beautiful,” I said in awe.

Alodie smiled. “It is.”

Spiraling staircases climbed from the four corners of the room, and arched entranceways on each floor led to unknown corridors. Alodie led me up a winding stair in the back corner. The stone balustrade beneath my hand looked like the knotted branch of a tree, and I marveled at the intricacy of the carving—I could see the grain of the wood, the hints of new buds protruding from the surface, even the tiny bodies of insects.

“So you have Earth magic?” I asked. The Underfae were magically gifted, too, but I didn’t know to what extent.

“I have some small gifts with water, but nothing like what Princess Oriana and the Noble Fae wield. I’m an asrai, an elemental type of Underfae. There are asrai in all of the houses, not just Earth, so our abilities vary.”

On the sixth and highest level, we entered a wide hallway. It was carpeted in soil, but somehow the dirt failed to cling to my shoes or hem. We passed a line of wooden doors, many of which were carved with incredible natural scenes: tumbling waterfalls, thick forests, and blooming meadows. Alodie led me past a door covered in carved flowers to a smaller unmarked one. On the other side of that entrance was another staircase, this one much plainer.

The room behind the unmarked door was small and simply furnished with a chest of drawers, a narrow bed with a brown coverlet, a wardrobe, and a desk with a looking glass. The walls were painted a soothing blue and illuminated by faintly glowing crystals. The ceiling was covered with crystals as well, although those didn’t glow.

“You’ll stay here,” Alodie said. “Lady Lara’s room is through there.” She gestured to another door at the side of the room.

Lady Lara. Princess Oriana’s daughter and my new mistress. I knew nothing about her except that she was apparently royalty and undergoing some sort of trial.

Alodie opened the wardrobe, revealing an array of simple earth-toned dresses. “This wardrobe will refill itself if you damage a dress, and it will provide any special attire you might need.”

A magic wardrobe. Anya would have loved it. I bit my lip hard at the thought. “Thank you, but I still have no idea what I’m supposed to do here. What does being a handmaiden even mean?”

Alodie sighed and gestured for me to sit. There was only one chair at the desk, so I sat on the bed and watched as she folded her long, spindly limbs into the chair. “The Fae houses are each ruled by a prince or princess. Oriana is the princess of Earth House, and her eldest child and heir is Lady Lara. Lara will be undergoing the immortality trials soon, and it’s customary for every candidate to have a special servant who attends to their needs during this time. The king selected you.”

“Immortality trials?” I grew more confused with every piece of information she gave me. “What are those?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose as if staving off a headache. “The trials happen when young Noble Fae come of age,” she explained patiently. “They become eligible at age eighteen, but the trials are held whenever there are enough candidates to compete—usually every decade or so. The trials test key Fae virtues. If a young faerie succeeds, they are granted immortality and the full use of their magical powers.”

I’d known the Noble Fae were undying, whereas Underfae lived elongated but ultimately mortal lives, but I hadn’t realized they didn’t possess their full magic or immortality until adulthood. There was so much our legends had left out. “What if they fail?”

“It can go very poorly,” she admitted in a hushed voice. “If a candidate does not succeed, they will gain immortality but be stripped of all magic. Those faeries are usually cast out by their families and become servants. And sometimes…”

“Sometimes?”

“If the failure is bad enough, the candidate dies.”

So my mistress was about to be tested, just as I had been tested earlier tonight. Prove yourself or perish.

“How will I serve Lara during the trials?” I’d barely survived my own test. How was I supposed to help a Fae lady survive hers when I had little knowledge of this world or how to be a proper servant?

“Bring her food. Help her dress. Accompany her to functions and ensure she has everything she needs. When the trials begin, you may need to participate in a small way.”

Now I was the one who felt a raging headache coming on. I looked at the door that separated my room from Lara’s. Would my new mistress be kind? Considering the reactions I’d received in the throne room, I doubted it.

It was too much to process. The flight through the bog, the audience with the king, and now this new position helping a royal lady undertake a life-or-death test…

Alodie sighed at my expression. “It won’t be easy. Just try to make it look easy.”

Don’t show fear. Make it look easy. The picture her warnings painted matched what I’d seen at the Fae court as those beautiful monsters had sneered at me. The Noble Fae lived for power and thrived on exploiting weaknesses.

“When do I start?” I asked dully.

She eyed my exhausted face. “Sleep for a few hours. Lara is out with friends. When you hear her return, you may go to her door and see what she needs—food, help undressing, or anything else. There’s also a bell beside the door that she can ring if she needs you.”

“Won’t I startle her if I just appear at her door?”

Alodie looked like she was stifling a wince. “By now she’ll have heard about you. She won’t be surprised.”

Her tone told me the lady wouldn’t be happy, either.

I hadn’t thought I’d be able to sleep, but exhaustion dragged me under seconds after Alodie left. I didn’t even remove my shoes before lying down. My last thought was surprise that the crystals on the wall were dimming on their own, as if understanding that I wanted darkness.

I woke to the sound of slamming drawers in the next room.

I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. My room was now lit with a pale yellow-rose glow that reminded me of dawn. The light emanated from the crystals in the ceiling, mixing delicately with the soft white gleam of the crystals that had sparked back to life on the walls. Did the faerie lights mimic the sky outside? If so, I had slept for more than a few hours, and Lara had come home much later than expected.

It was tempting to pull the covers back over my head and lose myself to unconsciousness. Being awake meant being afraid. It meant remembering with every heartbeat that Anya was gone.

Another drawer slammed. I stood and tried to finger-comb my hair and smooth the wrinkles out of my dress but eventually had to admit defeat. My first impression would not be a tidy one. I took a deep breath before rapping on the door firmly.

There was no response.

A cowardly part of me hoped my new mistress didn’t want to see me. I knocked again. “Hello?”

“What?” came the angry reply.

I hesitantly turned the knob and peered inside. “Lady Lara?”

A statuesque faerie stood in the center of the room. She was stunning, with long, waving black hair, berry-red lips, and hooded brown eyes. The effect was somewhat ruined by the scowl slashing across her face. “Well? What do you want, human?”

“My name is Kenna, and I’m your new handmaiden.”

“I’ve heard.” Her voice was flat and furious.

I mustered my courage. “I’ve come to see if you need anything.”

Her mint-green gown hissed over the packed earth floor as she stomped to her dresser. Her room was far more elegant than mine and about four times the size, with a carved wooden screen that separated the sitting and sleeping areas. Half-visible past the screen was a four-poster monstrosity of a bed draped with gauzy green fabric. The furniture was carved from golden wood, and the walls were covered with pink-flowering vines.

“I don’t.” She yanked her earrings out so forcefully I winced, then threw them on top of the dresser. “Get out.”

She didn’t need to repeat the command. I backed out with an awkward curtsy. “Ring the bell if you need anything.” I shut the door behind me.

Something shattered against it.

I blinked at the door, heart pounding. I had a feeling that bell would stay silent for a long time.

Not knowing what else to do, I explored my room further. There was another door in the back, perfectly flush with the wall. I pushed the edge hesitantly, then jumped back as it clicked and swung open.

Inside was a bathing chamber with a deep copper tub fed by pipes leading into the walls. One entire wall was taken up by a marble counter topped with an enormous mirror. I trailed my fingers over the glass in amazement. Every mirror I’d ever seen had rippled and distorted my reflection, but this was smooth as a still pond.

My face looked gaunt. I reached up to my cheeks, pressing my fingers against sun-freckled skin. I hadn’t eaten well for a long time, but I’d never seen the evidence of it so clearly before. In contrast to the thinness of my face and frame, my hair looked enormous, a wild, curling brown tangle that fell to my lower back.

Anya had loved my hair. She’d told me she’d have traded her own wavy tresses for it in a second, and I’d told her she was crazy. Tears blurred my eyes at the memory. It felt like her ghost haunted my every step to make sure I never forgot her…or how I’d failed her.

Now that I’d recovered from my initial horror, the full force of grief washed over me. I sank to the floor, clasped my face in my hands, and wept.

I don’t know how long I sat there. Long enough for the light emanating from the ceiling crystals to grow brighter. Long enough for my eyes to ache and my knees to stiffen. Eventually I took a few deep breaths and scrubbed at the salt trails on my cheeks. There would be time for mourning later. Maybe in the dark the next time I lay down to sleep. Maybe every night for the rest of my life. Now, though, I needed to focus on survival, which meant pulling myself together, purging every sign of weakness from my appearance, and beginning the search for an escape route.

Everything I’d seen so far had convinced me I needed to escape Mistei. I didn’t want to spend my entire life in servitude to a species that hated humans. I would perform my duties for as long as it took to find a way out, and then I’d start a new life somewhere far away from the Fae-human border.

My knees cracked as I rose, and I winced. The earth floor hadn’t stained my dress, which must be faerie magic as well. I turned the faucet handles above the deep sink and a stream of warm water came out. I washed my face, rinsing the evidence of my grief down the drain.

To my surprise, the end of the counter held not just a pitcher and glass but cosmetics and ointments. I sniffed the bottles, wondering which ones were soap and which were scent, then tested them until I found one that frothed in my hands. There were bottles beside the tub as well, presumably for washing hair.

It was unimaginable luxury. Servants in the Fae court lived better than anyone in Tumbledown did. I applied a few drops of a liquid I had identified as honeysuckle perfume to the insides of my wrists, as Anya had told me fine ladies did, then combed my hair, wincing as I worked through the knots. The cosmetic boxes had small carvings on their lids: the graceful line of a cheek, a pouting mouth, an artfully depicted eye. I selected two at random, applying a small amount of rouge to my cheeks and a pale blue shimmer to my eyelids.

I hardly recognized the woman in the mirror. My amber eyes looked more alert, the redness from crying diminished by the ice-blue shimmer. My cheeks shone with a healthy glow. With my hair smoothed by yet another ointment, I looked clean, neat, and pretty.

The wardrobe provided me with a blue dress, which thankfully had sleeves loose enough to hide the dagger still wrapped around my bicep like jewelry. Once fully attired, I set out to explore my new surroundings—and start looking for a way out.

The house teemed with activity. I tried not to gawk at the Underfae I passed while descending the servants’ staircase next to my room, even though they openly stared at me. Servants filed in and out of corridors and hurried up and down the stairs bearing trays and boxes. There were more elegant asrai, their hair varying shades of blue and gray, as well as small, soil-colored beings that only reached up to my knee and carried brushes or fireplace pokers—brownies, presumably. Their exposed skin was crusted with lichen, and their black eyes were bright and curious. I whipped my head around at a whisper of movement in the air and saw a tiny pixie, no larger than my longest finger, darting past on gossamer-thin wings. Elder Holman had told us about pixies: they were supposedly benevolent and brought luck and health. Their darker counterparts were sprites, which delighted in mischief.

The pixie hovered beside me, studying me with round eyes. She was delicate and beautiful, with blushing ivory skin and a tuft of dark green hair. She flitted away before I could speak.

I emerged in a corridor on the bottom floor. From one direction came the sound of clattering dishes, and from the other came splashing and a few high-pitched giggles. A communal bathing room, perhaps, or a laundry facility. More Underfae gathered here, but my attention was grabbed by a woman hurrying by. Now that I’d noticed the twinkling sense of magic that emanated from even the smallest faeries, there was no mistaking this drab woman for anything but human. She looked to be in her fifties, with graying hair and melancholy eyes.

I approached her. “Hello. You’re human, right? My name is Kenna. What’s yours?” I extended my hand, but she stopped in her tracks and stared at me in shock. Her hands fluttered in the air, then dropped to her sides, as if she was overcome with emotion. She didn’t respond.

The silence was growing awkward. Was there a taboo about humans speaking to servants of the Earth lords and ladies? “I was wondering if it’s fine for me to look around. Do you know if we’re allowed to leave Earth House?”

Wide-eyed, she nodded and pointed down the hall.

“Thank you.” I walked away with feigned confidence. When I glanced over my shoulder, she was still staring after me.

I was relieved to find Alodie in the main hall. She smiled at me. “How is Lady Lara?”

“She has not required anything of me,” I said carefully.

“That bad? She’ll accept it eventually. She has no choice.”

“Well, until she does, I wanted to explore a bit.” To find out whether there were any convenient exits I could slip through unnoticed. “That’s allowed, right?”

“Yes. You are not a prisoner.” She smiled apologetically. “You can’t go aboveground, though. All the exits are warded to prevent anyone from leaving without the king’s permission.”

Not a promising start. “But I’m free to go anywhere within Mistei?”

“You can visit the public spaces, but you can’t enter any other house’s territory without permission.”

“How many houses are there?”

There was a slight hesitation before she answered. “Five total. The others are Fire, Light, Illusion, and Void.”

Interesting. The Elder had said the Noble Fae could grow plants, summon fire, even turn day into night, but I hadn’t realized those abilities depended on what faction they allied with. There was so much to learn. “And where are their territories?”

A brownie tottering under a pile of boxes called Alodie’s name, and she raised a hand in acknowledgment at the frazzled-looking Underfae. “Be there in a second!” Then she returned her attention to me. “I’ll draw you a rough map of where the entrances are later today. Until then, just be cautious.”

I didn’t want to be cautious. I wanted to get out of here.

Alodie must have seen it in my face, because she rested a fine-boned hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure being underground feels strange and restrictive to you,” she said softly, “but Mistei is enormous. There’s plenty of room to explore. Some say there’s no end to how deep you can go.” She paused. “Though I wouldn’t recommend exploring too far down, or you’ll run into the Nasties.”

Plenty of room. Sure. “So I’m not a prisoner, but I can’t go outside or visit other house territories, and I shouldn’t go too far down.”

She looked sympathetic. “I understand this is new for you, but you’ll grow accustomed to it. Once you settle in, I doubt you’ll miss the outside world at all.”

I silently vowed never to settle in.