Chapter 13 A Bear and a Bargain
A Bear and a Bargain
Demelza expected that the rooms would be an extension of the mushroom residence’s pale grandeur.
What she did not expect was to open the door and immediately see a massive bear holding a piece of cake.
The bear looked at Demelza, looked at the cake and then shoved the cake immediately into its mouth.
“Tasted odd, wanted to spare you,” said the bear.
At least, Demelza thought that’s what it said.
“Ursula, must you talk with your mouth full?” said an unfamiliar voice.
Demelza peered around the bear and saw a beautifully appointed sitting room.
Squashy, emerald-green couches were positioned around a great fireplace.
There was a basket of fruit on the side table, and stacks of blank paper and pens on another.
On the main table was a small service of fragrant herbal teas that made the room smell of chamomile and chrysanthemum.
On the far end were a large window and a reading nook where a young woman sat with her back to the window.
“I’m Talvi,” she said, sliding off the cushion and coming toward Demelza. “That’s Ursula.”
When Demelza looked back at the bear, she now saw a golden-haired girl standing in her place. The girl was tall and muscular, with broad shoulders and an even broader smile. She wore a kitchen smock and appeared dusted in flour.
“The room listens!” she said, excitedly. “I asked it for a practice kitchen for tomorrow’s talent display and it knew exactly what sort of wooden spoon I was looking for. Honestly, that’s reason enough to stay in the tournament for me!”
Ursula was clearly from the Ulva Wylds and the fact that she took the form of a bear was formidable. Normally, anyone who could shift into such an imposing form was immediately recruited for the royal army. Demelza wished to ask more, but she knew she had to tread carefully.
Ursula leaned forward and snuffled her. “There’s a bath in each chamber too.”
“Ursula!” scolded Talvi.
“What!”
Talvi was exquisite and her features were like those of a doll.
She was shorter than Demelza. Her hair looked like snowfall and was braided down her back.
Her eyes were not the typical blue of an Aatos Mountain girl, but dark as a moonless night in winter.
A pair of spectacles hung around her neck, and when she smiled, Demelza was reminded of her mother.
“We were going to wait for you before we picked our rooms, but then we weren’t sure if we would have a third—”
“I got delayed,” said Demelza. In truth, she had paused on every landing to observe all the contestants she could before her meeting with Arris at midnight.
“That one’s yours,” said Talvi, pointing at the bedroom beside the fireplace. “Have you asked someone else to bring your belongings?”
Demelza shook her head. “They … they got lost, I’m afraid.” She pointed at her muddied hair. “Ran into a bit of an accident.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Talvi.
“Does it wash off?” asked Ursula, wrinkling her nose.
Talvi glared at her.
“Already tried,” said Demelza. “It’s enchanted to stay put for the next week, I’m afraid.”
“That’s disgusting!” said Ursula cheerfully. “I love rolling around in the mud, but it does get itchy when it’s dried.”
“So!” said Talvi. “What are you doing for tomorrow’s talent?”
“I’m cooking them a feast,” said Ursula. “If they have a single taste bud between them, they shall swoon at my creations.”
Demelza hadn’t thought this far. She felt as though she hadn’t sat down in years and all of a sudden, the world had gotten too overwhelming.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Perhaps singing?”
“Oh I’d love to hear a song!” said Talvi. “Would you sing for us? Please?”
Demelza froze. She looked back and forth between Ursula and Talvi. Unable to think of a reason to say no, Demelza rocked on her heels and tried to summon the sweetest voice she could imagine. The moment she began to hum, Ursula recoiled. Talvi’s eyebrows shot up her forehead.
“How thoughtless of us to ask you to sing when you must be exhausted!” said Talvi.
Demelza stopped humming and Ursula breathed a sigh of relief.
“Very exhausted,” said Demelza.
“It’s getting quite late,” said Talvi, peering up at the wall clock. “I’ll see you in the morning. I wish you all luck. Barring that, I wish you peace.”
Demelza said her goodbyes and went straight to her room. As she closed the door, she heard Ursula let out a low whistle.
“That was awful singing,” she said. “If she goes, do you think I could take her room and make it a second practice kitchen? I can’t fall asleep smelling food, it just makes me hungry…”
Inside the room, Demelza gasped as a warm feeling snuck through her body. The feeling of home was uncanny. It was like she had known this room all her life.
It was no secret that Prava had constructed Rathe Castle, but now she could feel her father’s magic in the very stones.
As Demelza ran her hand along the walls and looked at the quaint, cozy bed beside the large window, she marveled at her father’s magic.
Because of him, Rathe Castle was a living thing.
She wondered what request had been made of it that allowed the Castle to extend itself into the roots that ran beneath the ground, tangling and fusing and growing into the lovely mushroom towers where they all slept.
The room even smelled of her parents’ library in Hush Manor, and when Demelza closed her eyes, she imagined the library wyvern hopping on her desk and leaving paw prints and poems across her research.
Demelza did not wish to think of how much time she had spent on that research.
How many hours she had spent wishing to be useful. Important.
Demelza pressed her hand against the stone wall. “Do you know me?”
Perhaps it was her imagination, but she imagined the stones warmed beneath her palm.
Demelza glanced at the clock upon the mantel of her small fireplace and nearly cursed.
It was almost midnight. She listened at the door for a while to make sure that Talvi and Ursula had gone to bed.
She did not look back at the part of the wall that she had touched.
If she had, she might have noticed the strangest glow within the stone.
As if it were waking up.
Demelza found the prince by the shores of the lake. The glass wyvern boat was gone, and the still lake was a mirror reflecting the cold stars. Prince Arris was lying on his back and for a moment Demelza imagined him asleep. But then he sat up and turned to look at her. He shook his head and smiled.
“You’re real,” he said. “I thought you might have been a bizarre figment of my imagination.”
The prince was wearing long-sleeved navy pajamas.
He looked as if he had bathed since the last time she saw him, for his hair was wet and brushed away from his forehead.
Slowly, the buttons of his nightshirt came undone and the sleeves rolled up to show off rather sinewy arms and Demelza had never noticed that someone’s arms could look … like that.
“Stop that!” said Arris.
Demelza blinked. “I didn’t mean to—”
“My apologies, I was speaking to my pajamas. They are terribly willful,” said Arris, sitting up and fixing his buttons. “Every time they notice a girl is looking, they start coming undone.”
“Oh,” said Demelza.
Once he had adjusted his buttons, he cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry if I seemed rather forward in our first meeting,” he said. “Your truth song shocked me. I didn’t even know veritas swans really existed. I mean, it’s as if the stars themselves conspired to bring you here to this tournament—”
“I take it we’re in agreement, then,” said Demelza.
The prince seemed long-winded and she was in no mood for conversations about the impossible nature of her existence when it was this late at night and she’d had no food and no rest in who knows how long.
“What I need from you is a ranking of contestants so I know where to spend my time investigating. I’ve already started making some mental notes on who appears to be the most popular choice for a future regent but then there’s the matter of getting them all alone and—”
The prince shushed her. Demelza had not been shushed since she was a chick. She glowered at him, but Arris had lain back down and was staring up at the moon. He looked positively giddy.
“I really think we should take a moment to acknowledge our great fortune here. You know, they say the moon is Wrate’s clear eye and the sun is his lusty gaze and since we are both in need of clarity, it seems only right that we take a moment and look up at the moon,” said Arris.
“At least that is what I intend to do. You’re welcome to join me. ”
Demelza remained as she was.
“I think I can actually hear you standing in an angry manner,” said Arris. “It’s impressive. Would you please sit?”
Demelza grumbled and then sat down. The moment she sat, it seemed as though the world slammed into her.
All the fear that she had folded away, all the exhaustion she had kept at bay for the past ten days as she moved over the moors, scrabbled up river banks and trudged through valleys snuck into her limbs.
Her mother’s parting words found her. You do not need wings to fly, my Demelza.
Use your wits, find a way to live and above all …
guard your heart. Demelza had done so. She had made her way to Rathe Castle. She had struck a bargain with a prince.