Chapter 11 #2
I asked about the size of the wings, whose wing was where, if there were areas of the palace that were off-limits to me or other guests, which rooms were considered private versus those used for entertaining or courtly political meetings, and so forth.
Betsee answered readily, but her cheeks were flushed by the time we turned down my new area of residence. “I shall endeavor to find you a map, my lady. I’m sure it will explain everything better than I ever could.”
I smiled genuinely. “That would be lovely. I do adore a good map.” And to think, the last one I’d looked at had been a constellation map that had ultimately played a hand in me finding the Wishing Stone.
“Ah, here we are.” Betsee waved toward a new hallway with her free two hands since the other two still carried the laundry basket. “Right this way. Your wing is around the bend ahead.”
A common area lay directly in our path, and beyond it were five large hallways stretching out like a pentacle. Betsee explained that each hall was owned by one royal.
My forehead furrowed in confusion. “You mean, my parents don’t share a wing?”
“Oh no, they do. Two of the wings have been empty for as long as I’ve worked here, except now, one is to be filled by you.”
We approached the common area, and loud voices came from one of the other halls that wasn’t part of the private royal wings. Six siltenite males were walking together, loudly discussing some kind of business from the sounds of it, yet when they spotted me, they all stopped.
“So it’s true!” one of them remarked. He looked older than a thousand summers, given his gray hair, wrinkles around his eyes, and pale skin that looked rather sallow. “Princess Primelle has returned from the dead.”
The other males all stared at me.
I froze, rooting to the spot. At my back, Kole growled quietly and came to stand directly at my side, his large body blocking me slightly from view.
“And she has an Imperial Warrior with her.” The same older male clapped and then laughed. “Stars and galaxies. I thought it was all rumors, and the king was having a good laugh just now at the council meeting, but here she is, and in the flesh no doubt.”
I drew myself up as tall as I could. “I’m sorry, but who might you be?”
The male dipped his head. “Pardon me, Your Highness.” His apology sounded genuine, but it wasn’t lost on me that his gaze flicked to my wrist, right where the glowing blue cuff encircled it. His shoulders relaxed more, and he bustled toward me, his arm reaching out for a formal handshake.
Kole instantly blocked his path. “No touching.”
The male’s eyes widened. “You cannot be serious? Do you know who I am?”
“Of course, Lordling Fillingmore.” Kole didn’t miss a beat.
“You’re the head of House Fillingmore, married to Lady Wisim, father to three siltenites: two lordlings, named Arin and Caudral, and one lady named Filameena.
Your children are grown, and all reside in Whiteolf.
You’ve been the head of your House for nearly two hundred summers, ever since King Russem took favor upon you at that time and assigned you as a House leader, and given your current status, you also sit on the king’s council. Did I get everything right?”
For a moment, the lordling gaped, and my jaw dropped too. I knew Kole was intelligent, but it seemed he was also educated.
Behind Lordling Fillingmore, the other five males all watched their exchange avidly, but Betsee looked so uncomfortable that she’d plastered herself to the wall.
Lordling Fillingmore laughed quietly. “So you’ve memorized some history, very good. Yet despite knowing who I am and the important positions I hold, you still guard her from me?”
“Of course,” Kole replied.
Lord Fillingmore’s lips thinned. “That’s rather insulting, don’t you think?”
Kole’s expression remained impassive. “Someone wishes to harm the princess. Who’s to say it’s not you?
Or one of the other House leaders behind you?
I wouldn’t consider my unwillingness to put her in potential harm’s way insulting.
I would call that prudent. Surely, you agree, my lordling?
Surely, you value her life as much as I do? ”
Even though Kole’s words sounded polite, his tone was anything but. Power rose in his aura, and he stared at the House leader as though he was seconds away from enacting his warrior affinity and slicing his head off.
Lordling Fillingmore’s throat bobbed. “Goodness, when did the palace become so hostile?” He laughed lightly, and the others behind him joined in.
Yet Kole’s stance didn’t falter, and he didn’t back down.
One of the other lordlings stepped forward, and since Kole had called all of them House leaders and they’d mentioned a council meeting, I had a feeling each of them commanded one of our kingdom’s ten Houses.
Unlike Lordling Fillingmore, the second lordling looked young, probably not much older than me. He was thin, with light-brown skin, and stood of medium height. When he addressed the other males, his aura seemed genuinely curious. “I believe I’ve missed something. There are three princesses now?”
Another House leader, who was shorter with stocky thighs, brown skin, and midnight black hair, scoffed.
“Really, Lordling Crumpuff, your youth is showing. This female is none other than Princess Primelle, the third daughter of the king and queen, born with unparalleled magic, who supposedly died at the young age of three. However, the rumors circulating through the palace during the last two days have proven true, as confirmed by the king just this morning in our meeting. You would have heard that if you’d actually been listening.
” The lordling glanced at me, and something about him made my skin crawl.
“Princess Primelle’s been raised from the dead, it seems.”
“Truly, Lordling Messepire?” Lordling Crumpuff looked at me as though he’d seen a ghost. His mouth dropped open. “Did your unparalleled magic allow you to resurrect?”
Lordling Messepire laughed, the sound cruel, and a tingle of his magic flowed through the air and brushed against my Shield.
I recoiled when I identified it. Nightmare magic.
One of the more sinister forms of magic from Mistvale.
“She didn’t actually resurrect, you fool. It was merely a play upon words.”
The young lordling flushed and glanced at the others.
Lordling Fillingmore seemed to find his innocence as ridiculous as Lordling Messepire, but two I hadn’t met yet looked sympathetic, and the last appeared as uncomfortable as Betsee, but since none of them were going to put the poor lordling out of his misery, I sidestepped Kole.
“I never died, Lordling Crumpuff. The king and queen faked my death because the entire kingdom feared me due to my magic, and someone tried to assassinate me because of it. Several assassination attempts were made, or so I’ve been told.
For my safety and the well-being of the kingdom, they staged my death and then had me raised by commoners well away from the capital until I learned not to enact my magic on those around me.
But now, I’m back and have been welcomed into the royal family once more. ”
“What a tale!” Lordling Crumpuff looked me up and down again, and while Kole shifted from where he stood, he didn’t react or comment further, but Kole’s attention remained high, and his focus constantly meandered between all of the males.
“A tale, indeed,” I agreed. “Trust me, nobody was more surprised than me when I learned the true nature of my birth.”
The young lordling glanced at my wrist. “Is that a magic-suppressing cuff you’re wearing?”
“It is.” I smiled brightly and held it up. “It’s rather beautiful in a way, isn’t it?”
Lordling Fillingmore frowned, and his bushy gray eyebrows drew sharply together.
“Wait a minute. I thought those didn’t work on you.
I remember when you were a wee child. Nothing the king and queen used to suppress your magic was effective, including those kinds of cuffs.
I even remember witnessing your horrific magic myself. ”
My smile stayed as bright as the fairy lights.
Kole, however, growled. “Watch yourself, Lordling Fillingmore. That’s the princess you’re speaking to.”
“Apologies.” Lordling Fillingmore bowed stiffly, and I scrambled with a believable reply for why I would be wearing something that supposedly didn’t work on me.
“The magic’s been altered on this cuff.” I turned it every which way so they could admire it. “It thoroughly suppresses my abilities now. The king and queen thought it best so nobody needed to fear me again. At least, until you get to know me and learn that I’m not to be feared.”
“Is that so?” Lordling Fillingmore cocked his head. “How curious. And who came up with this new invention?”
“Timith Hollaran!” I replied exuberantly. “He’s a brilliant inventor. He works for the king and queen. Perhaps you’ve met him?”
“I have.” Lordling Fillingmore dipped his head, and a tentative smile spread across his lips, probably because I appeared entirely harmless and had just appeased him by confirming that my magic was completely contained, which sounded entirely believable considering I’d named the palace’s renowned inventor.
“But I thought even he hadn’t been able to create a device that could suppress your magic? ”
“From what I was initially told, that’s correct, but in the past season, Timith finally cracked the magical code needed to do so.” I had no idea how these lies were spilling off my tongue so easily, but I could have sworn that Kole’s lips twitched.
“Hmm, how fascinating.” Lordling Crumpuff stepped closer to me. “May I see it?” the young lordling asked eagerly.
But Kole blocked him when he tried to reach for me. “No. Touching.” Another low growl entered his words, and Lordling Crumpuff hastily retreated.
“Sorry,” he squeaked.
“It’s all right.” I stepped closer to the young lordling but remained far enough away to appease the warrior. “It’s beautiful, though, isn’t it?” I let the glowing blue cuff flash in the fairy lights. “I’ve come to think of it as a piece of jewelry. Fashionable and functional.” I beamed once more.
Lordling Messepire arched an eyebrow and looked at me as though he thought I was daft, but then his expression morphed, and I could have sworn that the wheels began churning in his mind. The lordling with nightmare magic smiled, and it took everything in me not to shudder at that oily grin.
“Beautiful, indeed,” he murmured, except he wasn’t looking at the cuff. He was studying my face and swelling cleavage. “Perhaps I’ll be lucky enough to dance with you at your ball this weekend.”
A low sound rumbled in Kole’s chest, and he stared at Lordling Messepire so intently that I was surprised holes weren’t burning through the House leader’s head.
“Perhaps.” I lowered my hand so the blue cuff stopped flashing in the lights, but I kept my smile stretched. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I must return to my chambers. I’ve been told that I need to have a dress fitting.”
Lordling Messepire bowed, and the others followed suit. They carried on down the hall, back the way Kole and I had come, and Betsee finally pushed away from the wall.
“Oh, my lady, be careful around that one.” She stole a fearful glance over my shoulder to the retreating males. “I’ve heard the staff speaking of Lordling Messepire and a few other House leaders. You don’t want to get on their wrong side.”
I swallowed uneasily. “Is that right?”
Betsee nodded vigorously. “Indeed, especially Lordling Messepire. His magic is terrifying. I hope you never have to experience it.”
“She won’t.” Kole’s brow furrowed, his emotion leaking through his usual mask. “I’ll ensure that.”
Betsee dipped her head, but when I looked at Kole for an explanation, he merely said, so quietly I knew that only I could hear, “Don’t worry.
You’re too strong for him, Prim. You’re too strong for any of them to get past your defenses.
None of them can penetrate your Shield as long as you keep it in place. ”
I nodded and took some comfort in that, because Kole was right.
I was stronger than all of those males combined, but that was only if I had my wits about me.
If I let my Shield fall or fell asleep without a ward activated around me, which automatically put a fairy in a vulnerable state, then I would be as helpless as a newborn babe.