22
L ord Frederick held out a folded paper, which Bennett took. My blood froze at the sight of my name in Mother’s spidery script.
My darling Narcissa,
It seems that I have underestimated you, daughter. Whether it was through your own cunning or through fateful circumstances, you are exactly where you need to be. That is all that I care for. My heart is singing with joy as I write, for we will be reunited soon. You mustn't let this opportunity go to waste. Get close to the crown prince. Make him trust you. Better yet, make him love you—heaven knows you’re beautiful enough to do it.
I tire of this cell. My health is deteriorating, and for that reason I cannot wait until you are queen to leave the dungeons. I will plan my own escape soon. When you receive this, know that I am somewhere in Delibera, awaiting your return.
All my love,
Your dearest mother
The parchment crumpled in the crown prince’s hand. He stood. The air suddenly felt colder.
“Bennett, I—”
“Where is Wilhelmina now, Lord Frederick?” he said, voice hard.
“Back in her cell, with extra security. It seems that her previous guard was allowing her various resources.” Lord Frederick turned to me, his usually kind face serious. “Lady Narcissa, if you have been communicating with your mother—”
I clenched my fists. “I haven’t.”
“Your father says you’ve been visiting her monthly,” he said. “Why? What were you speaking to her about? What did she say to you?”
“I...nothing. I promise.” My vision clouded. I blinked back my frustration. What could I say? That I was visiting her to make sure she was still there? That she wasn’t hatching another treasonous plot? It was the truth, but it sounded fraudulent. Like I was protecting myself.
Lord Frederick sighed as I went silent. “I’m not accusing you of anything, milady. It’s only procedure. If you could tell me everything you know—”
He cut himself off when I began to cry. I clamped a hand over my mouth, mortified that I couldn’t control myself in front of him. In front of Bennett.
Bennett turned away abruptly. “It’s getting late,” he said quietly. “We will deal with this matter in the morning.”
The shirt that he had carefully draped over his arm now lay in a pile on the window seat, forgotten.
I stood and fled, having no wish to manipulate them with my tears.
Giselle tried to stop me in the middle of the hall, but I pushed past her and locked myself in my room, heart threatening to burst out of my chest. But my heart was nothing compared to the anger bubbling in my stomach like a fiery cauldron ready to explode.
Even hundreds of miles away, Mother managed to destroy all I obtained without her. Lord Frederick’s generous kindness. The fragile trust I had only just built with the crown prince. My future .
Misty bounded over to me from the bed, tail twitching in concern as I sobbed. What’s wrong? she meowed.
I hugged her close and buried my face into her fur. “I was fooling myself when I thought I could be anything more than a traitor’s daughter, wasn’t I?”
Misty put a paw on my chest. Stop being dramatic. Tell me what happened.
I pushed my jumble of emotions over to her and let the memories of the last ten minutes flash by. Misty hissed. So! That no good mother of yours is back at it again.
“I knew you didn’t like her,” I said with a mirthless laugh.
What are you going to do now? Misty asked.
I exhaled, sagging against the door. My damp skirts tangled around my legs. “I don’t know.”
She nudged her head against my arm. How about we run away? Find somewhere else to live—somewhere nobody knows us. Pippin must come too. We’ll need someone to carry the cargo.
“No. That’s as good as pleading guilty. They’ll scour the entire kingdom to arrest me.”
Misty settled on my lap. We’re in a rut, then. She let me pet her for a bit. A good night’s sleep might do you good.
I didn’t object, though the last thing I wanted was hours of silence to brew in my own thoughts.
The crown prince’s warm hazel eyes would be the first thing I’d think about.
I AWOKE TO MISTY’S meows. The room was still dark. It couldn’t have been more than an hour since I fell asleep.
There’s something happening in the city , she said, green eyes glowing.
I slipped out of the bed, shivering in my thin chemise, and went out to the balcony. Vandil was usually silhouetted in the distance, but this time a glowing ember flickered at the far edge, illuminating the minuscule buildings .
“Is that...fire?”
Misty joined me outside. It was still raining, though the droplets were finer and sharpened by bites of icy wind.
If we can see it from this distance, think of how bad it is in person.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “The witch market is at the edge of the city.”
Well, that’s—
I didn’t hear the rest of her words as I raced back inside, wrestling myself into a gown and pelisse. I didn’t bother with my corset.
Where do you think you’re going? Misty demanded, leaping onto the mattress.
I stuffed my feet into stockings and the half-laced boots under my bed. “To the city.”
She paced, bristling. What are you planning to do? Single-handedly put out the fire?
“Something like that,” I muttered, straightening after tightening the laces. I rushed blindly toward the door, but Misty jumped in front of me.
Are you insane? What am I supposed to do if you don’t come back? We’re supposed to be together. Forever. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?
I knelt, pressing my palms into the icy tiles. The cold made my elbows tremble. Mother would go into hysterics if she could see me now.
A lady, go off into the city in the middle of the night, and without her underpinnings no less! Your reputation will be ruined! Don’t you care about anything I’ve built for you?
You’ve ruined everything already, Mother, I said to her savagely. I have nothing left to ruin.
Stop that! Misty yowled, sensing my conversation with my non-present mother. You’re delirious !
If I was delirious, so be it. I needed to do something reckless. Something heroic. Something like what I had done at last Season’s Masquerade Ball.
“Misty,” I said quietly, “I have to go. I’m tired of having no control over how everyone views me.”
Oh, yes. And running headfirst into an inferno will fix that how?
“I don’t have time to argue. Are you coming or not?”
Misty gave an exasperated meow. The things I do for you.
MINUTES LATER I BURST into the stables with Misty tucked under my arm. The odor of hay and manure wafted over us as I trotted past the stalls.
“Cozbi?” I called out.
A nicker came from my right. Over here, Cozbi said, sticking her head out. She blinked at me sleepily. What is it?
“We need to get to the city. There’s a fire,” I said.
Fire? She drew back, stamping her hooves. No, thank you.
I pressed a hand over my forehead, trying not to appear too frantic as I concocted a plan. “You’re one of the fastest horses I know. You can get us there quickly before the fire spreads. Think of all the pears you’ll get once you come back as a hero,” I said.
Her nostrils flared. Hero?
I nodded. “You’ll be a hero. And so will the other horses who come, if they choose to,” I said, raising my voice. “You all will be rewarded.”
The crown prince’s gelding stuck his head out from his stall. Why should we go?
She did help us with the mice problem , a chestnut-brown horse said .
Another horse whinnied. Will there be sugar cubes?
“Sugar cubes for all,” I promised, opening Cozbi’s stall. I frowned at the gelding. “But you should stay.” Endangering Bennett’s horse would only make him hate me more.
Only fitting. He is a coward, Cozbi thought to me.
I reached for the saddle hanging above her when the door creaked open.
“Narcissa? What are you doing?” Maddox said, rubbing his eyes. Hay clung to his tunic and hair.
I hurriedly explained as I saddled Cozbi.
“Is there another riot? Did someone set the fire on purpose?” Maddox asked, alarmed.
“I don’t know. But there is a chance,” I said, putting Misty into the saddlebag. “I’m going to help.”
“Wait here. I’ll tell Lord Frederick and the crown prince.” He turned to leave, but I grabbed his arm.
“You can’t!”
Maddox scrunched his brows. “Why not?”
I swallowed. I was being selfish, wanting to solve this alone. Lives depended on my desperate need to prove myself. But what else was I supposed to do? Sit in my room and wait for Lord Frederick and Bennett to publicly condemn me in the morning?
I was half-tempted to bribe Maddox with heroism and Father’s approval.
“There’s no time to get them. I have a plan,” I managed to say. It was a half-baked plan at best, one that I had scrounged together during my flight to the stables. “Do you trust me?”
He dragged a hand over his face. “I really don’t have a reason to.”
“Maddox—”
“And yet,” he said, looking heavenward, “I do. ”
Once Maddox readied himself, we galloped past the flax fields with a fleet of horses behind us. There were about twelve, not counting Cozbi and Maddox’s horse, all equipped with buckets, saddles, and lengths of rope we had begged from a bewildered stableboy who performed his duties with impressive haste.
The city came into view. The cobblestone streets were sleepily silent with the exception of the pattering rain. No one was yet aware of the chaos on the other side.
As we got closer, the night air grew thick with smoke, the surrounding buildings set aglow by the raging inferno ahead. Witches ran to and fro, crying in dismay as crackling flames devoured the thatched roofs of their shops and homes.
They had enchanted their roofs to stay dry. It seemed someone decided to take advantage of that.
Maddox’s eyes widened. Cozbi grew skittish beneath me, as did Misty, who ducked her head into the saddlebag.
“Quick. To the canal,” I said, stamping down my own panic. “We won’t be any use burnt to a crisp.”
Making sure the horses were in a single file, I led us through the buildings until we came to the canal. Several witches were already there, magicking buckets into the dark water. It seemed that one individual could only enchant two or three at a time. The buckets only moved as fast as they ran.
I dismounted. Pulling out a length of rope from the saddlebag, I tied it to a bucket and threw it over the edge. It crashed into the water below. My arms strained as I hauled the full bucket back up, palms stinging.
Maddox did the same, strands of hair falling from his drenched ponytail. “At this rate we won’t do any good,” he said with a grunt, lowering the bucket onto the ground. The rope unfurled from the handle. “We should go back and get help.”
I rested my hand against a lamppost. My feet and back ached. The adrenaline from before had masked how sore my body was from the past hours of touring. This was an idiotic idea. I tilted my head back in frustration.
Three lamps shone brightly at the top of the post.
“Wait.”
Stepping back, I tossed the rope over a curve of the post, tying one end to the bucket and the other around my hand, fashioning a crude pulley system. The rope was just long enough. I lifted the bucket with a tug, this time with much more ease.
Several more lamps lined the railing of the bridge.
“Gather as many witches as you can,” I told Maddox with newfound energy. “I’ve improved my plan.”
I had fashioned the same pulley system on five posts when Maddox reappeared with ten witches behind him, all covered in soot. I recognized one of them as Pamela from the fabric shop.
“Lady Narcissa, what are you doing here?” she cried, looking over her shoulder at the billowing smoke snaking down the streets. “Have you brought men to help?”
I shook my head, ignoring the twinge of guilt at her words, and squared my shoulders. “I brought horses.”
I proceeded to explain my plan. Some witches would stay to man the pulley systems while those who could ride would levitate buckets toward the fire on horseback, taking the animals as far as they can go.
“That'll speed things up tremendously,” one of them said, panting.
“It’ll be ideal if we have more than five pulley stations,” I said, looking at the bare lampposts further down. “If you could tell the others to join us—as many as possible—the sooner the fire will be tamed. We can do this together.”
Pamela blew a breath. “Us witches have never seen the value of leadership. Now it saves us in our time of need.” She gave me a grim smile. “Now. Where is the rope?”
As Pamela and the others set up more stations, I led the horses down the bridge. They stamped their hooves nervously as the odor of smoke and ash grew stronger.
“Heroism and sugar cubes await.” I looked at Cozbi. “And pears.”
The horses whinnied in a resounding cheer. I let the witches take their reins, one after the other, as they galloped down the street. I trusted the animals to protect themselves and their riders.
I turned and began filling buckets as more disheveled witches streamed toward the canal, picking a role to play in the system. The cacophony of splashing water, hooves clattering against stone, and panicked shouts seemed to last for hours until the crackling fire ceased and the streets were no longer illuminated by its eerie red glow.
The rain had helped tremendously in our efforts once everyone removed the enchantments from their roofs.
Maddox put a hand on my shoulder. “I think it’s over,” he said, coughing into his tunic. I let go of the bucket I was about to lower.
“Is it?” My voice was feebly hoarse from the smoke I had inhaled. “Are there any casualties?”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know. We should go check.”
I nodded and took the horse nearest to me, a sturdy brown mare. We trotted down the street toward the fire site. I patted her mane, sensing her exhaustion. “You did well.”
The center of the witch market, which had been full of color and life this very morning, was now dark and dilapidated. Charred piles took the place of buildings. The structures that managed to survive were burnt beyond recognition. Witches huddled in small groups. Some wandered around the rubble, looking for lost belongings.
I dismounted, letting the horse go back to take a well-deserved break and a drink of water. The air was dense and sooty as Maddox and I approached.
Pamela came over to us, a handkerchief over her nose.
“Is everyone—” I went into a coughing fit as I choked on a mouthful of smoke.
“Everyone is fine, milady,” Pamela said. She pulled out a spare handkerchief, which I gratefully accepted. “Our shops, on the other hand...” She heaved a sigh as she regarded our bleak surroundings. “We are fortunate to have magic. Otherwise, reconstruction would take a great deal longer.”
“Do you know how the fire started?” Maddox said. His voice was muffled by his tunic which he had lifted over his nose. “A rioter, perhaps?”
Pamela shrugged. “You’ll have to ask the others. I woke up in the midst of it.” Her gaze softened when she looked at me. “We owe you many thanks, Lady Narcissa.”
I expected to feel pride at her words—some sort of accomplishment—but I couldn’t muster anything of the sort. My palms were raw and throbbing from the rough rope. “I wish you the best in reconstruction,” I said. “The crown prince will be notified. I’m sure he can aid you and find the culprit, if there is one.”
She nodded. “Thank you again, milady. The two of you will make great rulers.”
My stomach twisted at her parting words. Perhaps I would no longer be engaged to the crown prince by the time the witches had repaired their market. I turned to Maddox, who was looking at me strangely.
My limbs suddenly felt leaden. The past sleepless nights had not helped, either. If only I had listened to Misty and—
“Misty!” I grabbed Maddox’s arm. “Have you seen Cozbi?”
“Who?”
“The speckled mare with a dark mane. She had a saddlebag. My cat—” I was taken over by another coughing fit.
Maddox furrowed his brow as I righted myself. “I’m sure she’s back at the canal with the other horses. I don’t see any of them here,” he said. “But are you—?”
I dashed down the way we came, chest constricting. How could I have forgotten Misty? What if she had been caught in the fire? Had I been so desperate to prove my worth that I abandoned my only friend?
The buildings blurred together. I wasn’t sure if it was due to my speed or the throbbing in my head. The lampposts grew nearer. Cozbi was drinking from a bucket of water with the other horses. I caught a glimpse of Misty sticking out of her saddlebag, alive and well.
Rough hands grabbed me from behind before I could let out a sob of relief, jostling me into the side of a building. I stumbled, having no energy to resist.
“Don’t move, princess, or I might cut you,” a gravelly voice said in my ear.
I fell limp against my attacker when I felt the cold bite of a blade against my neck.
“Who are you?”
She laughed, a throaty, unpleasant sound. “An unsatisfied customer.”
I didn’t dare to turn and look at the speaker. “Don’t play games with me. What do you want? ”
“Simple. Tell the crown prince and the king to banish those witches. Or we might have to banish them ourselves.”
So there were others, assuming she was the one who set the fire. But no sign of other assailants appeared in the dark corners of the street.
“They won’t be scared away by pesky little fires,” I said, mustering as much venom as I could.
“They would’ve been if you didn’t show up. They’re an unorganized lot, spoilt by the conveniences of their own magic,” the rioter spat. I flinched as she pressed the dagger harder into my neck. “Get rid of them. Exterminate them like the vermin they are or my hand might slip.”
I steeled myself, too exhausted to bother coming up with a plan. Perhaps my future was doomed to the dungeons even if I managed to escape. My death might even make me a martyr of some sort—a heroine. Mayhaps the best crown princess Olderea ever had, one willing to sacrifice herself for the kingdom. I smiled humorlessly at the thought. Even my own death had selfish reasons.
“No.”
My assailant stilled. “What?”
“No,” I said louder. “There’s nothing you can do to make the royals bend to your will, not even take me hostage.”
She forced a laugh. It sounded nervous. The hand at my throat was rough and calloused. Underneath the odor of smoke was the scent of earth and flax.
“The witches are not sourcing from your fields, are they?” I said.
I took her silence as confirmation. She was one of the flax farmers.
“His Highness is planning to limit witch weavers to their specialty fabrics and convince them to source from Vandil farmers. The textile merchants will have to go back to human-made linen and you will get additional business from the witches, if you wish it,” I said, closing my eyes briefly as my head pounded. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Don’t think you can lie your way out of this.” Her voice was hesitant now, but her grip on me tightened.
Pounding boots sounded from the way I came. Members of the Royal Guard appeared, some on horseback, but most on foot. I had taken their horses. Lord Frederick and the crown prince led them, their faces grave.
Why was Bennett here? He was terrified of fire.
My assailant tried to pull me back into an alleyway, but we had already been spotted.
“Stop right there!” Lord Frederick shouted.
The dagger bit into my skin. I flinched as blood trickled down my throat. “Stay back!” the farmer shouted, fully panicked. “Stay back or I’ll kill her!”
“Don’t do anything stupid,” I muttered.
Bennett dismounted from an unfamiliar stallion, face tight. “Release Lady Narcissa at once.”
The farmer’s legs were shaking like a newborn fawn, no doubt unused to the role of assassin.
“Do as they say,” I said quietly. “They won’t hurt you.”
She dropped me and fled. The blade nicked the back of my neck and clattered to the ground beside my knees, stained red. A slip of paper fell beside it. Almost on instinct, I stuffed it into my pocket.
Shouts came from the guards as they pursued the farmer. I only hoped she hid somewhere sensible.
Someone hauled me up by my upper arms. The scent of cedar and spices identified him well enough, but I didn’t have the strength to stand myself. I fell against his chest.
“You’re bleeding,” Bennett said, attempting to hold me upright. His face swam in my vision, speckled with growing black spots. His brows were knit, hazel eyes dark despite the glow from the gas lamps.
Heavens, he was beautiful. I could stare at him forever.
Bennett’s hand cupped the back of my head. “Narcissa? Say something. Please. ” I detected a note of panic, but I couldn’t be sure from the blood rushing to my ears.
“Make sure...make sure the horses get their sugar cubes,” I managed to say before darkness overtook me.