25. Chapter 25
25
Zara
A dán did not recover from his wound. Tomas, however, was back at the table with us by the night following the trial with no visible limp and his arm had only a scar that looked years old. I said nothing and asked no questions, knowing that I was only alive because of a deal I’d struck with the heir himself. If these others had made similar deals, who was I to blame them?
The fae cavorted with an extra measure of glee, but only for a night before their glamoured faces began once more to droop in boredom, fanning the flames of my hatred for them into a raging inferno.
At our table, Adán’s empty seat gaped like a missing front tooth.
For days, the rest of us hardly spoke during our meals, which suited me just fine. I couldn’t force conversation with these people knowing that I’d survived because of Casimiro’s protection. I felt like a traitor every time my eyes paused on the vacant space at our table.
The weeks after the trial passed in a strange blur as my body adjusted to waking in the evening and sleeping in the day. At first, I slept in small bursts. Exhaustion would win, and I’d curl into my borrowed bed, fighting off nightmares of dips nipping at my ankles as I ran through a version of my garden back in Avencia, this one choked with brambles and filled with smoke. Then I would wake, march down to the arena for more training , which so far had consisted of being chased or fighting with wooden weapons, much the way I had once practiced under my weapons tutor’s direction. The absence of Adán pressed like a suffocating blanket over our training sessions, reminding us what was at stake. Even Ivy said no more than a handful of words to me the entire week. I wasn’t in the mood for idle chatter, either, except that I needed to uncover something useful for Casimiro before he would tell me about Talia.
And I wanted to know why his arms turned black. It hinted at a weakness, and the more I learned about this immortal fae prince, the more it seemed he was weaker than I’d once thought. So, I’d accepted Alba’s invitation to duel, hoping to eventually learn more about Casimiro. She’d only come to collect me one time in two weeks, which helped me remember that time passed differently for these immortals. They were never in a hurry about anything. Sparring with a fae had proven every bit as maddeningly unfair as I’d expected, but, in the end, Alba had not hurt me, and I’d actually found myself smiling a few times.
In an effort to hold up my end of the deal with Casimiro, I’d asked Ariana about the poisonings, but she’d given me a stiff look and fastened my dress extra tightly that day, so I’d decided not to ask her again. And every other mortal I’d asked had given a similarly unhelpful response. Casimiro was right—the people here must have been silenced from speaking about this.
One night after a training session, Ivy and I walked mostly in silence through a cavern we’d discovered that housed fascinating glowing mushrooms and equally mesmerizing crystal formations that twinkled in the strange light. This place reminded me of the whimsical illustrated children’s books in my father’s massive library. I missed the comforting reading space and the welcome feel of the library I’d left behind in Leor. I missed my own bed and the food I was used to eating in my home. I even missed Nina.
“Do you think of your family often?” I asked Ivy.
She nodded but didn’t reply.
Speaking of home brought a tightness to my throat, followed inevitably by a sinking feeling that felt like guilt mingled with anger. I huffed as memories of Jorge barged into my mind.
“What is it?” Ivy asked. Her features were painted in a pale blue hue from the glowing fungus that climbed the walls.
“If I hadn’t been so bad at reading men, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
Ivy tilted her head. “You don’t know that love would have broken the bargain.”
I chewed on that a moment. I’d believed so wholeheartedly that love would solve my predicament that I’d never paused to think of the fact that even if I had found true love before my twentieth birthday, I might still have been stolen away.
“Hmm,” was all I said in return.
We made another pass through the cavern that was equal parts charming and eerie. Our quiet stroll was interrupted as Ariana hurried into the blueish light, glancing around several times before seeing us.
“There you are,” she breathed, walking up to us with quick steps. “You need to come with me. It’s time to get ready.”
Ivy and I exchanged a glance. “Ready for what?” I asked. “More training?”
“Not training,” she said, staring at the cavern’s smooth floor. When she straightened up, her eyes locked on me. “You are to bathe and prepare for your first evening as a centerpiece.”
My face fell and a shockwave of adrenaline spiked through my blood.
I’d seen the other entertainers endure it. Whatever grace period there might have been protecting me from this humiliation was now over. I couldn’t fight the violent sinking sensation in my stomach. I bent forward, hands clasped around my middle.
Ariana cleared her throat. “I brought your chosen outfit to your room already. At least you get to wear a real dress, not just scraps of food. Be grateful.”
I stumbled forward and clung to Ivy. “Grateful,” I repeated as sweat broke across my forehead.
Ivy squeezed my hand. “They can’t kill you tonight,” she muttered. “You will survive this.”
Ariana nodded firmly. “Come now, to the bath.”
The baths were fed from natural hot springs that flowed from the heart of the mountain and housed in an arched cavern dotted with two dozen small pools carved from stone like everything else. The walls in the women’s bathing chamber were etched with a pair of massive shadow fae locked in an embrace, their wings arcing from the ceiling and down each wall. Though the baths were more luxurious than any I’d ever seen or used, no amount of lavender oil, salt scrub, or floating roses could distract me from the horrible mental images I conjured as I washed. What would they make me do tonight?
I said nothing to Ariana as she led me back to my room, pulled a brush through my hair and pinned it up, and helped me into a form-fitting white dress entirely covered in glittering beads. Only as I walked toward the armoire to retrieve the small ruby from where I stored it out of sight on the top shelf did I break my silence.
“Ariana,” I said as my hand withdrew with the ruby. When I turned around, one of her brows was lifted. The pointed facets of the stone dug into my skin as I rolled it between my fingers, deliberating.
“Yes?” she finally said, setting one hand on her hip.
“I…” I swallowed, briefly picturing what I was about to endure. The ruby in my hand had provided me with a sense of comfort these past two weeks, and I saw now that it was a lie. A pretty little lie cleverly meant to chip away at my resolve to stay strong, to fight back against the fae and their machinations. Casimiro was not my ally. He was a master craftsman wielding a tool he needed for a task. I was nothing to him, and the only reason he didn’t want me to die was so he could glean information from me. Then, before I could change my mind, I stuck out my hand. “Here.”
“What is it?” Ariana didn’t step toward me.
“Take it. Before I change my mind.”
She stepped toward the ruby in my outstretched hand, eyes widening.
“It’s a gift,” I said. “One that will protect you against the poisoner, whoever that may be.” I assumed that if the stone had kept me safe, it would do the same for her.
She inhaled sharply. “How did you get that?” She didn’t question its effectiveness, as if magical stones were a well-known commodity around here.
“I found it,” I said. I had found it…in my hand when Casimiro gave it to me.
Her eyes narrowed quickly as she shot me a scrutinizing look. “Then how do you know what it does?” She took a step back.
I shrugged, not prepared to answer this. “I found it before the last trial. It’s how I survived.” Also true.
Her head tilted. “I see. And why do you want to give it to me now?”
“Because,” I sighed, “you need it more than I do. I want to help.”
Lips pursed, she took the jewel from my hand and examined it against the candlelight, almost like she’d seen stones like this before. She pocketed the ruby and squared her shoulders. “Thank you. But you really should have kept it.”
With that, she turned on her heel and waved me forward.
We walked silently to the dining cavern. It had taken so long to bathe and style my hair that it was close to the midnight meal, the fae court’s largest meal.
The massive cavern was mostly empty when we arrived, save for a handful of white-clad servants bustling about, placing food on tables and setting out wine goblets.
“Why are we here so early?” I asked, fighting the trepidation mounting in my jittery fingers.
Ariana bit her lips and pressed her hand against the pocket containing the stone. “You are to be standing there before any of the fae arrive, and sometimes they come early to start drinking.”
“Oh. How nice.”
Ariana’s face pinched slightly, the first expression of compassion I’d seen from her. “I’m sure some will be early tonight, considering the heir is away. They like to revel a little more on nights when he’s absent.”
“Absent?” My voice cracked a little, but I quickly swallowed, forcing down the knot attempting to shut off my air supply. Giving Ariana the stone had been the right thing to do to, considering humiliation wasn’t as bad as getting poisoned, especially now that I knew Casimiro wasn’t here to administer an antidote.
“He’s collecting another mortal, I believe,” she replied.
Another human to torture, whether by lifelong servitude or months of deadly trials. I was no longer sure which was worse. “Where do I stand?” I asked. I was ready to get this over with.
Her head nodded toward a table near the center of the cavern.
The table was covered in heaps of grapes, cheese, roasted nuts, steaming platters of roasted lamb or slivered potatoes, and rice scented with saffron enchanted to never get cold as long as the fae wanted to eat it.
I cleared my throat and nodded, willing the night to pass quickly. Gathering my heavy, beaded dress in my hands, I stepped from the stone bench onto the table, delicately picking my way to the center, which had been left vacant, just for me.
Once in place, I shook out my hands, lifted my chin, and imagined I was awaiting a performance. That’s all this was. A terrible, humiliating performance.
My eyes cut to the prince’s table. It, too, was spread with food, which meant perhaps that Alba would dine there alone tonight. Even though I’d agreed to spar with her, I doubted that made us friends. My face pinched. No one would get me out of this. As no one had saved Ivy or Eudoria or any of the others.
The air in my lungs whooshed out slowly.
“I’m sorry you have to endure this,” Ariana said before quickly striding away.
“Wait,” I called after her. That was the nicest thing she’d said to me since my arrival. She turned around, hands wringing at her waist. “After…tonight,” I said, scrambling for a reason to talk to her again, to attempt to forge a friendship with her. “I want to know what you were taught about mal —about people like me.” I offered her a small smile, desperately trying not to cringe at my own words. It was a terrible reason to talk, but maybe if she knew I could respect her views on cursed children, she might be more willing to change those views and see me as a friend.
She blinked up at me, her eyes flicking from my face to the food displayed around me. Then she nodded quickly and fled the cavern.
After what felt like half an eternity, fae courtiers began trickling into the cavern. Fresh sweat prickled across my chest and back. Fortunately, the two fae who arrived first did not sit at the table where I stood. They never even looked at me, a relief.
Less than fifteen minutes later, another fae arrived, then another, and soon the cavern was flooding with shadow fae, some in elegant ballgowns and suits, others in attire stranger than any story I’d ever heard. One fae man who sat at my table had feathers all over his body, save for his face and the palms of his hands. A woman came laughing and dancing her way to my table with a dress made of tiny mirrors. As she took her seat, fragmented images of my reflection bombarded me.
Other than laughter and pointing and some rather unpleasant name calling, the table filled without anyone throwing anything at me or touching me in any way. They laughed and talked among themselves, but their sporadic insults were delivered with enough vitriol to make sure I never missed a single one.
The first glass of wine tossed onto my dress came as a complete shock.
The red liquid sloshed from the goblet onto the beaded hem of my white gown. I’d remained mostly stoic, only moving to shift my weight, but I let out a small shout as the fae launched into riotous laughter.
On the far side of the cavern, Ivy’s head popped up as she watched me. I couldn’t see her expression, but I knew exactly how she felt. I’d been angry when I’d seen her and the other entertainers suffer.
The woman wearing the mirror dress hurled a strawberry so hard that it splattered across my stomach. As they pointed and laughed, heat surged up my throat and burned in my ears and cheeks.
So that was the reason for the white dress. To provide a lovely canvas for the food and wine.
I glanced down at the items near my feet, refusing to meet any of the fae’s eyes. There was a gravy boat of some sort and a decanter half full of wine.
Exhaling as loudly as a bull, I fisted my hands and told myself it would be over soon. But when the feathered man stood up and hurled his full glass of wine at my chest, I snapped.
My foot jerked out and kicked the decanter.
Spiced red wine flew all over the feathered fae and the man sitting next to him in a ridiculous yellow suit.
The edges of my lips curled up at their shocked faces.
But the taste of victory quickly soured as the feathered one lifted his hand and cut off my air supply with a silent spell. My hands grasped at my throat, but it was no use. I couldn’t draw breath.
Purple dots swam before my eyes and I sank to my knees, knocking over the gravy and a plate of grapes.
When I sank onto my hands, the purple spots turned to gold flecks that blurred the table beneath me. I thought they couldn’t kill me, but perhaps these shadow fae didn’t bother with the rules while the heir was away.
Just as I was about to collapse onto the table, a loud voice rang out.
“Stop.”
Air returned to my lungs.
Head splitting, I looked up to see Casimiro striding between the tables toward me. Without a word, he raked his arm across the table, scattering dishes and goblets onto his surprised courtiers’ laps. He propped one foot on the large table and reached two hands under my shoulders. Drawing me forward, he pulled my limp body against his, then lifted me and set my feet on the floor beside him.
The wine on my dress stuck to his white shirt, staining it.
His eyes traveled down my frame, pausing at the strawberry smear and the other stain near my knees. Still lightheaded from lack of air, I gripped Casimiro’s shirt in two fists as I heaved ragged breaths.
“Breathe, little spark. It’s over now.”
I nodded, swallowed, and nodded again. I glanced at the table of silent, shocked fae.
“Look at me, Valencia.”
I did.
His dark eyes flared with a magical blue light, and I cowered, still unreasonably clinging to his shirt. He blinked and the light died from his eyes.
“Don’t be afraid.”
I was. I was afraid of them all. I hated them all.
In a deep and commanding voice, Cas spoke to the fae still staring at us. “You know the rules. You are not allowed to harm them outside of the trials.”
Leaving his grumbling courtiers behind, Casimiro led me from the cavern amidst a flurry of whispers. I let him, though my one desire was to flee not just this cavern, but this wretched palace altogether. Perhaps I could find another door to fall through and never again face these vile creatures.
Outside the cavern, I could no longer contain the shudders that started in my chest and worked their way down to my toes. I hated how shaky I was, hated how good it felt to have Cas’s arm holding me steady.
He stopped at the bottom of the stair leading up from the wide atrium. “You don’t have my stone with you tonight.”
“I gave it to Ariana.”
Cas quirked a brow at me. “You gave the stone away?”
“She needs it more than I do.”
“Do you really think so, after tonight?”
My fingers traced my throat, which still burned on the inside, but I didn’t respond.
“How am I supposed to keep you alive if you give my protection away?” he asked.
I turned so I could look him fully in the face. “I didn’t think you could kill me outside of the trials. I might not have given the stone away had I known you can.”
He flinched at the word you . Then his thumb rose and touched my shoulder, where sticky wine clung to my skin. Black lines bulged under his skin, racing up his hands into his wrist. His jaw muscle tightened.
I exhaled loudly at his touch, drawing his eye.
“I wish things were different,” he said as he turned away, eliciting a thousand unspoken questions in my mind.
Finally, I drew up the courage to ask one: “If you’re the heir, can’t you change what you want to?”
A quiet scoff escaped his lips. “Have a good evening, se?orita Valencia.” He offered a quick bow and walked back toward the dining cavern, leaving me shaking and confused and unable to dismiss the feeling of his thumb against my shoulder.