Chapter Twelve Idris #3
I grin. “You don’t live on an island and not experience your fair share of … displays.”
A smile tugs at the corner of her mouth, and she looks away.
It strikes me that I’m sitting here with a princess talking about sick, and the oddness of the situation almost makes me laugh.
More than that—with Kit, it doesn’t feel taboo.
She’s still a bit embarrassed, but I don’t feel any awkwardness now.
I’m not sure it’d be the same if I were sitting here with Catharine.
Kit swallows. “I don’t think we should try to sail me all the way home.”
“I could walk you—”
“Absolutely not.” She draws herself up. “I saw the state of your feet. You need to go home and rest.”
It’s my turn to blush. “Well …” I’m surprised to find myself a little disappointed to let her go so soon. “Just take a moment to recover, at least. You don’t need to go marching off at once.”
Kit nods. She takes a few more breaths, then begins, “About last night …”
She tells me about everything she saw. Our journey, the cliffs, my words, the dancing. Abram and the woman in iron boots carried in halfway through the evening.
I stiffen. “She was there?”
Kit nods, confused. “Do you know her?”
I hesitate. “I think she’s the queen who cursed my great-great-grandfather.”
Kit lifts her eyebrows. “She’s the one doing this to you?”
“Yes. Well …” I hesitate. “I don’t know if it’s her fault really. I mean, the curse she placed is why all this is happening, but she had a reason for it. My great-great-grandfather sort of … bound her feet in iron.”
Kit’s eyes widen. “I thought the Folk couldn’t touch iron.”
“They aren’t meant to.” I shift my weight, brushing some sand off my boots. “Did you manage to speak to anyone? Figure out anything about your own … situation?”
“I only spoke to Abram.” The wind rises off the sea, and the wisps of her hair dance around her face. “Speir was there—”
“Speir?” I turn to her. “How do you know Speir?”
Her expression tightens, and she doesn’t answer.
“Oh.” He was the one who cursed her and Catharine.
But how had he become involved with them?
And why would he care to switch their bodies?
I can’t ask her any of this, of course—already she is stiff, her neck tight with whatever keeps her silent.
I add out loud, “He is the one who delivered the queen’s curse to me. ”
She nods, not surprised. But apparently, however she knows that, she cannot tell me.
“He was there for little more than a moment,” she continues, picking up from where I had interrupted.
Her voice starts hoarse but grows more comfortable as she speaks.
“I wasn’t confident about making myself known, though I think the queen did see me.
But she didn’t do anything about it. Maybe tonight I’ll have more luck. ”
My stomach twists. “I’ve already asked so much of you, Kit. I don’t know about …”
Kit lifts her chin. “I promised I would help you and your brother, and besides … I still need to find a solution for my sister.” In a joking sort of voice, she adds, “Though I’ll require a bag of gold this time.”
I look down at True and rub his ears. “Jay said I pushed him overboard. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you.”
“I’ll be careful,” she says confidently.
After a few minutes, I venture, “What will you do about King Byrne?”
Kit’s hands tighten on her knees. “We will have to leave Mrs. Westness’s house. And, perhaps, go to one of the more remote islands.” Her gaze settles on True. “But I can’t leave now. You’re my best chance of finding a way out of this. I don’t know what I can do to—”
She closes her mouth abruptly. Her skin tightens over her collarbone while her throat constricts. I wonder what it is that cuts her words—what it feels like when she is silenced.
After a few moments, she adds, “I don’t know any other way.”
“I understand,” I tell her.
We sit in silence for a little while, both in our thoughts.
“I should let you get home,” Kit says, rising. “When would you like me to come tonight?”
“Eight?” I offer, getting up too. My feet immediately sting in protest. “Sorry I was asleep when you arrived last night. I’ll try to be awake this time.”
She shakes her head. “Sleep whenever you can. You need it.”
I think about what it might be like if I wasn’t asleep when she came to my room. The awkwardness of trying to fall asleep with a woman there. My face heats, and I simply nod.
Kit hesitates, as if unsure how to part. “Thank you for bringing me … at least part of the way.”
I nod again. “Give your sister my regards.”
She glances up, an uncertainty in her look that confuses me. It’s an uncertainty that is almost, maybe, something like hurt. But in a moment it’s gone. She drops a curtsy and turns to leave.
I watch as she gets farther and farther away. Beyond her, the hills rise up against the cloudy sky. My legs are weak, and I lower myself to the sand, suddenly winded. True presses against me. I lie down, closing my eyes, wishing I could sleep.
But as soon as I start to slip into a dream, the noise begins again.
Clink, clink, thud.