Chapter 43 – Neve
Chapter 43
NEVE
V ale stood over me, a muscle feathering in his jaw, the concern I’d seen in his eyes before guttering as he considered my secret.
I waited, hoping he’d say something. Anything. The seconds ticked by into minutes, and finally, when the pressure in the room grew so thick I thought I might explode, I tried to get through to him.
“Vale, I?—”
“I have to go,” he said and stomped out of the room.
Everyone else stood still, most not daring to even look at me. Not until Anna took my hand. “Neve might like some time to rest.”
“And a warming bath,” Clemencia added. “The water is ready?”
Wide-eyed, Thantrel nodded. “It is. We will, umm, leave.”
It was the first time I’d seen the youngest, most outgoing Riis brother anywhere close to at a loss for words. Silently, Thantrel left, and his brothers followed, clearing out of the room until only one male lingered on the doorstep. Lord Riis.
“Something else?” I sighed, already exhausted by the day, though it was still early morning.
“You are exactly who I thought,” Lord Riis said, “and Vale may take some time to come to terms with the truth, but I believe he will.”
“We’re related, Lord Riis. Closely so.”
And married. Put two and two together on your own.
“I understand your fears in that regard.” A small smile curled his lips. “I’ll get another room prepared for you, Princess Neve.” He turned to go.
“Wait.”
Lord Riis stopped. “Yes?”
“How did you figure out my identity?” I didn’t doubt that he’d known. Out of everyone in the room, he hadn’t seemed surprised when I’d spoken the name my parents had given me.
“I’m a spymaster,” Lord Riis replied. “I listen. I observe.”
“And?”
“The night of the ball, in the kitchens.” He pointed to my scar. “The slave looked shocked, like she recognized you.”
Emilia. My stomach pitted.
“Did you interrogate her?”
“I questioned her. Without force.”
My lips pursed. “And she told you?”
“She did not, but her colleagues had looser lips. I spoke with them too, and bit by bit, I pieced together that Emilia had worked for the Falks. Had been very loyal to Queen Revna.” He swallowed. “You’ll remember that I, too, knew your mother. I recognized the hairpin Princess Saga gave you that had once been Queen Revna’s.”
“I remember,” I breathed, replaying the night of the Courting Festival’s opening ball in my head.
“The night you wore that hairpin, you struck me as familiar. Only later did I realize I’d been recalling your mother. Not so much in your looks, but in the way you hold yourself. And after I spoke to the other slaves, I eventually remembered the human, Emilia, too. She’d worked in the nursery, and Queen Revna always proclaimed her to be the best nanny.”
“You deduced who I was from that?” I frowned.
“No, but then you wed Prince Vale and the Drassil tree blessed your union. That it even spoke to you was remarkable. Few know this because there are many stories of the Drassils speaking to epic heroes, but they’ve only ever spoken to those of noble blood. That narrowed your identity further. That was enough for me to believe I might be right in my hunch.” He paused. “Even as my suspicions grew, I had no idea which twin you might be. How did you learn?”
I pointed to the scar. “Emilia and the palace.”
“The palace?”
“I can enter the hidden part of the palace. It speaks to me.”
But only when it wants to, I didn’t add .
Lord Riis’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “A spymaster’s dream.”
“I suppose so.” Another question tipped my tongue, one I’d tried hard not to consider, but if anyone would have the answer, it would be Lord Riis.
Perhaps it won’t be so bad, and he can pull me out of my torment.
“I have another question.”
“Anything, Princess Neve.” He cocked his head. “Or shall I call you Isolde now?”
“No,” I said.
Though that was the name I was born with, and my slave master had given me the name Neve, I wasn’t ready to claim Isolde yet. It didn’t feel right.
“Very well.” He inclined his head. “You were asking?”
“It is said that King Magnus had everyone in House Falk and House Skau killed.” I chose my words deliberately, knowing Prince Calder still lived in the dungeons—that the king had allowed the rumor to spread and instead tortured his birth father by keeping him locked up for decades. “I’m assuming bodies were found and verified? So why do people believe I am dead?”
The Lord of Tongues paled and cleared his throat. “Because after the fighting in Avaldenn ended, soldiers found the bodies of two young girls, toddlers, in the same tower where you and your sister slept. They were burned.”
“Burned?”
“Not on purpose. You can’t tell now, but King Magnus hurled fire at Frostveil, burning large portions of it. No one could know for sure if they were you and Thyra, but no other toddlers lived in that section of the palace.”
“They could have been brought in, though,” I said. “They had to be because Thyra escaped too.”
The moment the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them. Lord Riis had promised to keep my secret, but he’d said nothing of a sister. If she lived, I might have just put a target on her back.
Lord Riis blinked. “You’re sure?”
“That’s what Emilia told me, though I’m not sure if my twin lives.” I swallowed thickly. “A part of me wonders if someone put the toddlers there as decoys.”
“You were— are —princesses,” Lord Riis said as if that was a valid reason.
Maybe it was valid to my parents, but to me, it was only heartbreaking.
I sighed, and though the ice had left my veins, I found I wanted nothing more than to sit in the hot water and think over all that had happened. “Lord Riis, might we talk more later?”
“Of course. I’ll have a servant waiting outside to show you to a new room when you’re ready.”
“Thank you.”
He showed himself out, leaving me with Clemencia and Anna. The moment we were alone, my throat tightened.
“Do you two think Vale will forgive me for not telling him? That he . . .”
That he’d what? Would love me? Impossible. Fae families intermarried, particularly noble houses, but not as closely as we had. A relationship such as ours was taboo, and we would have to dissolve it.
That felt like someone was punching me in the stomach. My body could not fall in line with my head.
“He will, Princess Neve,” Clemencia answered.
“Clem”—I stopped her—“please call me Neve.”
I’d never shied away from the title of princess, not even when it was all pretend and had nothing to do with my past, but I considered Clem, like Anna, too good of a friend to use a title.
“It’s clear in his gaze that he loves you.” She paused. “And even if you can no longer be married and have done normal things that married couples do, you will both come to terms with the truth—you didn’t know. No one meant harm by it. Quite the opposite.”
“He seems like he does what he says,” Anna added. “He tried to sneak you out of the city. And helped you kill another royal.”
“He’s the most honorable person I’ve ever met,” I admitted.
My friends said nothing, and I found I couldn’t sit there a moment longer. I made to stand, wobbled, and they were there, holding my arms and helping me to stabilize.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “I want to use the bath.”
Though every one of my muscles ached, I pushed through the pain and exhaustion and, with their help, walked to the bathroom.
“You’re no longer blue,” Clemencia said, her tone soothing. She was always there to help me, and it seemed she was slipping into that role now. “But you need to stay in the bath for a good long while to make sure you’re warmed from the inside out. It was terrifying how blue you were.”
“Truly,” Anna agreed.
I didn’t argue, just slid into the tub. Arie and Thantrel had chosen the perfect water temperature. It was not too hot but not lukewarm, either. My muscles loosened and as I allowed the water to warm me, I wondered what Vale would say when I next saw him.