Chapter 2
I snuck in through the back door of the east wing.
“You’re unacceptably late,” Farah bit out, startling me.
“I—I’m sorry, my great-aunt, she—”
“Come with me.” I followed her to the servants’ kitchen, her stride far too hurried for my tired legs.
What the f—
My pace slowed, and I lingered by the door before joining the other servants, doing what Mounir would describe as loitering.
“Here, take one,” Farah said, offering me a biscuit.
“Now what would go well with biscuits?” She lifted her pointed nose at me.
“Care to make us a cup of tea, Delia? Tonight, we shall sip tea and eat biscuits like the royals. But discreetly, of course.” Farah said the word “discreetly” while looking at each of us with wrinkled eyes that conveyed a warning.
“What if Mounir sees us?” I hissed. My hand trailed up my arm, to the hidden finger-mark bruises that were forever changing their shape and colour but never really went away. “We would surely be punished.”
“Just make tea, Delia.”
“Fine. I’m sorry I broke curfew.” I looked over my shoulder. “Nadya, can you get the sugar and milk?”
“Two sugars for me, please,” Sabriela ordered with as much sweetness as the sugar she had just requested.
“One for me,” said Ralfe.
As we sipped tea and Farah spilled some, it reached our ears that Mounir’s youngest brother had passed from some strange illness and that Mounir had to leave abruptly to attend his Sand Cremation Ceremony, three days away from Sharlam.
I hid the start of a smirk beneath my teacup.
I thought that Daekon—god of hell and taker of tainted souls—might claim my soul for an eternity just for that, but to imagine a week without Mounir…
I thought, What an utterly splendid day.
Then the day became just splendid when Farah revealed that in a few weeks’ time, Fae from Silch would be visiting Ramel.
Rumours were that the Ice Fae were coming to purchase an absurd amount of glass for the castle of Nivaria.
She said they would be staying at the Sand Castle until their order was ready.
Ralfe almost choked on his tea. “Ice Fae, from Silch?” he asked, eyes wide.
“Yes, Ralfe.”
“Do you know who will be coming?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Will they be males from Nivaria, King Ryvar’s men?”
“Do I look like the Seer to you? I don’t know all the details, Ralfe,” Farah replied flatly. My eyes dropped to my shoes.
“Ralfe and Tomas told me that Fae are brutal creatures. That they are much more powerful than humans,” Sabriela said, worry filling her innocent eyes. I moved next to her, my arm making its way around her auburn curls, and I held her from her shoulders.
“You don’t have to be scared, Sabi. I have a Fae friend from Sijar, and he is a very kindhearted male.
I also heard that many Fae visit Ramel for the Dunehaven market.
I’m sure they can act civilised, you might actually be surprised.
” Words to caress, but not ones that I would swear were true.
I suspected that Faern might have been an exception, or perhaps the human side of him was somehow more dominant.
“If you’re talking about Faernand, he doesn’t count.
He’s a Sijari Demi-Fae who’ll probably never even reach immortality.
Despite his pointed ears and sharp canines, he is no less human than you and me, Delia.
The Fae I’m talking about are the Silchan brutes—brutes as pale and white as snow.
Merciless beings that fight and battle as if death is nonexistent, as if immortality itself makes them unhinged.
The brutes who not only can lift thrice as much as any man could but they are also empowered with unique abilities, as if that’s not enough.
The brutes that bite their women’s necks like wild animals.
Why do you think they are called males and not men, huh, Delia?
They’re beasts.” His eerie storyteller tone gave me the urge to strangle him silent.
Especially since it was all lies. Had they been all that, they would have fought for their fellow Hydrans. They would have battled for the Ilmans.
“You’re scaring Sabriela,” I hissed, each word coming out through gritted teeth. “And I don’t think that the Ice King will send his male ‘warriors’ or anyone of importance to buy some glass.” Sabriela held me at my side, her brows furrowed. “Go on, Sabi, it’s time for bed.”
“But I want to st—”
“They’re here! They’re here!” An agitated man rushed in, his face as red as a tomato, his forehead gleaming with sweat. “The Ice Fae are here,” he breathed.
“Calm down and catch your breath, Sonny,” Farah said, her own voice saturated with apprehension.
“Please, come quickly!” he told Farah.
“Delia?” Sabriela lifted her face, her red-brown eyes filled with concern.
“It’s all right, Sabi, we are not going to ask you to serve them. Besides, they will likely be settled in the west wing, closer to our king,” I assured her. She thanked me with a tight hug.
“Just wait here, all of you!” Farah ordered, commanding everyone’s attention as she strode out of the kitchen, gesturing with both hands.
After what seemed like forever, Farah returned, failing at hiding her concern.
“All right, everyone. So, the Lord of the Vanguard of Ice is here, Lord Aegir Hailin. With six others.”
“Lord Aegir Hailin? You mean Prince Hailin? The king’s brother is here?” Ralfe blurted, his gaze pinned on Farah.
“Do not interrupt me! He’s here with six others, the rest of his vanguard will be arriving later on.
We don’t know exactly when. Now there are no more guest rooms available in the west wing, so the males were asked to stay in the east. I had to give each of them one of the smaller rooms on the first floor, but for the Lord of the Vanguard, I assigned him Prince Semuel’s rooms, on the second floor. ”
“You did what!?” My fists clenched at my sides. “He might decide to come back, you know?” My voice was far too high for my ranking.
“I’ll deal with that later if it comes to it, but you and I both know that Prince Semuel won’t be returning anytime soon.
I’m sorry, Delia, but all the other guest rooms are covered in paint that has not yet dried.
We weren’t expecting them so soon, and I wasn’t going to ask Prince Hailin to share a room with one of his men. ”
“You could have put two of his men in one room and th—”
“Enough!” Farah snapped, her face reddened. “They are already settling in their rooms as I explained, and that’s the end of this conversation. Nadya, go wake Tomas up and tell him to come here immediately. Clara didn’t seem like herself today. Let that one rest.”
Nadya scrunched her nose as she exited and returned with a sigh, Tomas trailing behind her.
“What in Amfir’s name is going on? Am I not even allowed to sleep now?” half-asleep Tomas grumbled, rubbing his face.
“The Lord of the Vanguard of Ice is here with six of his men. Each one of you will be waiting on two of his men, while one of you will personally, and professionally, wait on Lord Hailin himself.” Her voice was edged with command.
“What? No way, I’m not serving some Fae lord brute,” Tomas argued. “Are those biscuits?”
“Then you’re to wait on the first two rooms. Now go fetch them towels and refreshments, then come back to prepare their trays for their midnight supper.”
“I will attend to the next two rooms,” Nadya said politely.
“Smart girl,” Farah said.
“I’m not serving the brute prince, all right. Delia, you go serve him.” Ralfe’s voice was a width of a hair away from forcing me to do something I might later regret.
“I don’t think so. Today is my day off, so I don’t count,” I countered, shrugging my shoulders and crossing my arms.
“Nice try, Delia. It’s past midnight, you count,” Farah said, her tone flat.
“Now if you two are going to act like little whining children, then I shall treat you as such.” She returned with two used candles clenched in her hand.
“Whoever picks the longest candle chooses who to serve. Delia, you pick.”
“Why does she have to pick?” Ralfe complained.
“Because I said so.”
I extended my hand and touched the candle closest to me.
The day went from splendid to complete shit when I saw her open palm. I made an effort not to wipe away Ralfe’s grin with a slap across his face.