Chapter 17
CHAPTER
That night I lay in my small bed across from a soundly sleeping Eladir.
My mind was restless, and my body too. It was accustomed to the rigors of both physical and magical exertion, which brought sleep swiftly at the end of the day.
But today, I hadn’t done anything remotely comparable, so I itched to find sufficient release.
I pulled the blanket over myself, hiding underneath to attempt small forms of magic to exhaust energy.
Inconsequential things like glamouring, even going as far as to briefly shapeshift myself an additional finger.
While this proved to be an amusing oddity, it did not bring me any closer to sleep.
I’d stare at the small torch hanging near our doorway and focus on trying to make it burn brighter and then dimmer.
Hoping that toying with my elemental magic would lead to a reprieve of this restlessness, but nothing worked.
I hadn’t realized the day of sabbath was already upon us until Gia said something.
The mention of the moonstone had me on edge.
Saryn had said we’d be more likely to be able to visit the safehouse when everyone was preoccupied with ceremonies and private prayer related to the sabbath.
I ran my fingers along the smooth, polished sides of the stone in my fingertips.
What if I failed to successfully portal back to the safehouse?
How many times had Gia already made the jump?
With my eyes closed, I thought of every detail I could remember about the safehouse.
The charred alleyway behind it, the sunny and sand-filled street in front.
The barren, unassuming interior. I let the images surround me like a gallery of paintings.
Before long, the gentle swirls of pale cream, ochre, and sable lulled me into a dreamless sleep.
I awoke extra early, once again hid my stone away in my undergarments, and made my way to the servants’ kitchen to grab a biscuit to scarf down so I could meet Gia first thing upon her waking.
Each of the ladies’ maids were on different schedules, dictated by the noble they served.
Some of them wanted us there first thing in the morning, others preferred to be left in solitude until they required assistance.
When I arrived at Gia’s door, I encountered a young male carrying a tray of breakfast who was just about to knock on her door.
“I’ll take care of that,” I said, while grabbing the tray out of his hands. He looked at me, bewildered. My commanding expression left no room for negotiation, and he quickly went on his way.
I knocked on the door politely and heard Gia groggily reply, “Come in!”
She sat up in her bed, looking tired with her long hair a tangled mess. I put the tray down on her bedside. She grabbed a piece of fruit and began eating it like someone starved. She relaxed back into her pillows and continued to shove food in her mouth.
I paced back to the door to lock it and ensure our privacy. “You convinced them you’re a noble, eating like that?”
“I am a noble!” Gia grabbed a plum and chucked it at me from across the room. I caught it one-handed and laughed. Sometimes it was easy to forget we were once High Fae.
Once she was done eating, I began to tidy her room while she perused her overflowing closet trying to decide what to wear for sabbath.
“This is my favorite day of the week,” she explained. “And not just because it’s the best opportunity to visit the safehouse, but because Silas will be tied up all day with services, prayers, and then the Gifting Ceremony.”
“What’s that?”
“The poor and destitute come to plead their cases to their king. Some asking for family members to be forgiven of their crimes, others begging for handouts. Let’s just say listening to these depressing requests all afternoon does nothing to ignite Silas’ desires.
He usually likes to sleep alone after the sabbath. ”
“I’m sorry that you’re in this position.” There was no plainer way I could state it.
“Don’t be. Half the time he’s too drunk to get it up, and I just have to fool around a bit till he rolls over, passes out, and begins his incessant snoring.”
“It’s still not fair,” I grumbled while pulling up the sheets to finish making her bed.
“Speaking of not fair…” she teased, and I already knew where she was headed. “A mate at Basdie? Well, it can’t be Saryn; you two despise each other. And I’m guessing that our whorish friend Cairis isn’t pining after you. So, if Trace wasn’t your preferred flavor after all, that leaves…”
“Varro.” The feel of his name on my tongue allowed me to let out my first big exhalation since arriving inside the castle walls. My muscles relaxed at the thought of him and finally being able to tell Gia.
“All that time you never mentioned the call of the bond; I could have told you immediately what it was. It’s so distinct, unlike anything I’d ever felt before,” she explained.
“I thought it was our powers growing since the waters of Mirtith!”
Gia shook her head at me like I was an immature child who should have known better.
“The first time I felt it, I was so young,” she recollected. “Something kept drawing me back to the stables. I couldn’t understand why, since I despised the smell of them and how it dirtied my dresses.”
Gia was so melancholy at the time we spoke of her former mate, that I feared mentioning it ever again. Even now, I felt the need to tread lightly.
She continued, “It’s so strange once you realize that the sensation is an actual tether to an individual, one you can’t ignore.
The closer you get, the stronger it thrums. The farther away—you fear its absence.
” Gia looked lost momentarily. I contemplated my response, but then the moment was gone as Gia’s tone shifted.
“Of course, that is until you seal it, and then that whole mind-melding business becomes intrusive as ever.”
She stripped off her night gown baring her nude body once more with zero embarrassment.
I envied her boldness, I really did. She slipped a dress over her head and then began her interrogation.
She wanted to know how I’d confronted Varro, and his subsequent reaction.
Had he known before I did, or was he equally surprised? Did the others know?
I explained to her why I hadn’t yet sealed the bond, adding the information about my dark wielding and the Drift. Gia was now as informed as Cairis and Nori, which was a relief since I would need her help keeping this secret from Saryn.
“That’s some serious self-control,” she remarked, to which I informed her that we’d done plenty else to occupy ourselves at Basdie. And then she asked the question that had been buried in the back of my mind ever since receiving her note.
“Are you going to tell Trace?”
“I have to. Somehow…” I trailed off. “He lied so frequently, and I hated it; I won’t be such a hypocrite.”
Unsure of exactly how and when I’d confront Trace, I turned the conversation toward more important matters, lowering my voice to a whisper.
“Why do we need to kill the queen?”
“Because there is someone being kept prisoner in the cells below the castle, someone important, and the only way we’re going to get to them is to cause a little chaos. We’ll discuss more once we’re safe to do so.”
What followed was a clear list of instructions from Gia.
She was going to head to the atrium of the Prayer Hall to ensure she had been “seen”, but shortly after, she would step into a more private area and portal to the safehouse.
Sometime after she exited her room, I was to do the same so that I would be last seen exiting the dormitory of the lady I served.
She looked at the leftovers on her breakfast tray and encouraged me to eat some fruit before making my attempt, acknowledging the distance between the castle and our safehouse.
My nerves caused me to fidget. While I’d much rather make the attempt with her by my side, I trusted her guidance that the stones offered the best chance to leave the castle undetected.
When she left me alone, the quiet of her room began to feel haunting and only furthered my feelings of dread.
I anxiously chewed on a piece of fruit, noting how ripe it was compared to the half-rotted ones they provided the servants.
I slipped into the hallway and made my footsteps as soundless as possible before reaching an empty corridor.
I’d practiced this many times at Basdie and tried to think of Varro standing by my side, comforting me and radiating the confidence that I could do anything I put my mind to.
I removed the stone from where it was tucked into my undergarment and inhaled deeply, slowly exhaling while reminding myself of all the detailed pictures of the safehouse I’d painted in my mind the night before.
I rubbed the smooth stone between my fingers and channeled its power until the familiar swirling cloud appeared before me.
I reassured myself, saying, Do not fear the destination, know the destination. And with that, I stepped into oblivion.