A Beautiful Cage
I had argued. I had pushed. I’d even sworn! Good gods, how long had it been since my last bath? And all along, he was the prince—the son of King Caedryn. I had more or less insulted the fae to him.
What an idiot.
“Why didn’t you tell me? What do I call you, Your Highness?”
“Just Varyn is fine,” he said with that smile that never seemed to leave his face.
“Just Varyn…” I glanced at Nella.
She looked as stunned as I felt—and then curtsied.
I felt beyond the need for curtsying myself.
The mortal man scoffed at such an informal way to address the prince. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it either.
“I shall inform the king and queen of your arrival, Prince Varyn. Should I also announce your…guests?” For a servant, this guy was smarmy.
“That won’t be necessary. I’ve just brought them to work here in the castle. I’ll escort them to Miss Melda and then join the king and queen in their private dining room.”
“Excellent, sir.” With a last judging look at Nella and me, the servant bowed again to the prince and walked away, heading toward the dining hall.
“You lied,” I said to Prince Varyn as I fell into step beside him, with Nella beside me. His booted steps echoed all around the massive entrance as we started up the never-ending staircase.
“Did I?”
“You said you weren’t a noble.”
“Well, I’m not. I’m a royal. Important distinction in the court.”
Nella chuckled, and I shot her a look. But when I realized it was probably the first time she’d laughed, or even really smiled, in days, I softened and smiled back.
“Okay, then, Your Highness, who is Miss Melda?”
“I really hate formal titles, so you know. Miss Melda is head of laundry.”
He walked with a slight pep in his step, looking so at ease. I suppose it was easy being a fae prince.
I, on the other hand, was winded from the stairs, breathing heavily but trying to hide it. At the top of the stairs, a woman appeared from around the corner.
“Ah, Miss Melda, just the woman I was looking for. This is Naci and her sister. They’re going to join you in the laundry room if that’s okay?”
“Oh, Prince Varyn, the extra help would be much appreciated, thank you.” Miss Melda was a short, plump woman with a kind face and pink cheeks, graying hair tied back in a tight knot.
“Very good, I’ll leave them in your care.” He nodded to Miss Melda, then to Nella.
I watched him as he turned and headed back the way we came. Just as I moved to turn away, he looked at me over his shoulder and winked.
I’d have to ponder the many mysteries of the prince later.
* * *
Miss Melda showed us around the laundry room—the various wash stations, the endless clothing lines with small fires spaced throughout. She explained that the fire helped dry the clothes and linens faster.
She showed us around the folding stations and explained how a bed sheet was folded versus a pillowcase (some were large and square, others small and round), a towel (which could be large, medium, or small, all folded differently), or table linens (there were formal and informal).
All the folding instructions were a lot to take in, and of course, it was where she assigned us. She explained we wouldn’t touch any clothing. That was for the skilled launderers.
Then she eyed us and said we wouldn’t touch anything until we bathed.
She introduced us to three other women in the laundry room, all of whom smiled pleasantly at us and then continued their washing and hanging. I caught one of them staring just a moment too long at my healing wounds.
Miss Melda grabbed two plain towels from a folded stack and handed one to Nella and one to me. “The servants’ quarters and baths are this way. If you’ll follow me, please, quickly. I must get back to work at once.”
I turned to Nella and mouthed “baths,” which earned a smile from her. Folding laundry wouldn’t be so bad. Not if it meant we were together, we had a place to sleep, and food to eat. Maybe the prince really had done us a favor.
The laundry servants all slept in the same room, with a row of small beds along two parallel walls and a lit fireplace at the end. All the beds were identical with white linens and pillows and a green blanket at the foot. All perfectly made.
From a cabinet beside the fireplace, Miss Melda pulled out two sets of uniforms for each of us.
They matched the one she was wearing—a simple long-sleeved gray tunic with a matching pair of loose-fitting pants.
The thin shoes were the same green as the king’s crest on the right sleeve of the tunic.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was clean and soft.
This was shaping up to be better than our lives in Briarstead, even if we were considered servants to the royal fae of Ashenholt. That was a depressing thought…
“The bathing chamber is through this door here. Take the rest of the evening to wash up and rest. You’ll take the last two beds on this side.
” She gestured to the ones closest to the fireplace on the wall opposite the door we’d come through.
“You’ll start bright and early tomorrow morning.
I come through and wake everyone promptly at six.
I’ll have one of the other ladies show you around more of the servants’ areas after breakfast linens are done in the morning. ”
“Thank you, Miss Melda.” I was honestly thankful.
“Thanks, Miss Melda, for being so kind,” Nella added.
With a smile, she backed out of the room and left Nella and me to it.
We both ran straight for the bathroom, eager for a bath.
There were four large basins in the center of the chamber, currently empty, each atop a grate with fire logs beneath. I’d heard about heated water baths but never thought I’d get to take one myself. This was luxury compared to what we were used to.
There were four throne-like chairs with chamber pots positioned underneath off to one side, each behind a movable screen for privacy. That was definitely a luxury.
On the other side of the room were four sinks spaced along a counter, each with a pitcher for water.
As I took a match from a container on the counter to light two basin’s grates, the excitement over a heated bath fizzled out when I caught sight of myself in the mirror above the sink.
This was the first time I’d looked in a mirror since we left Briarstead. Since Aemilia gave me these wounds and blinded me in one eye.
The half-healed skin was gruesome. No wonder people stared.
Jagged pink skin stretched from my left temple, down the side of my face and neck, to my collarbone.
One tendril snaked from the main line at my cheek to the corner of my left eye.
The pain was mostly gone, and the wounds were healing pretty quickly—that salve from the stranger couple and the banshee’s magic combined seemed to have helped. So there was that, at least.
As I got closer to the mirror, I saw that the iris was completely devoid of color, the whole thing as black as the pupil.
My green eyes were my favorite thing about my appearance. And half of that had been taken away from me.
My knuckles were white from gripping the counter. Seeing the forming scars, the black that replaced the green, sparked that angry beast in my chest.
Aemilia. Cassius. Caedryn. Purple-eyed blacksmith.
“Naci…?” Nella appeared behind me in the reflection in the mirror.
“It’s fine. I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s take our baths and get some sleep.”
The sight had significantly dimmed my mood.
We both washed our hair three times with the lavender-scented soap we found, then brushed out the tangles in our wet hair. I braided Nella’s hair like I used to and left mine to dry down.
We got into our beds just as the other laundry ladies were heading to the bathing chamber. I rolled over to face the fire, away from everyone. To hide my face now that I knew how horrible it looked. I never wanted to show my face again if I could help it.
If I hadn’t been so occupied with thoughts of my scars, I would have noticed how warm and comfortable the bed was. I would have realized that this was all I could have dared hope for my Nella, my little lamb. But I was too busy wallowing in self-pity.
“Naci…I can feel your sadness. But I can feel your happiness, too, at the way things are going for you and for Nella. I can feel your love for her and your determination to find your mother. She’s out there; I know she is.
Focus on those things, not the scars. Just… focus on the good. You deserve that.”
I let the tears fall silently at Noxie’s words. It was nice to hear from him. But I didn’t respond. I had no words at that moment.
“Sleep tight, Naci. I’m out here whenever you need me.”
“Night, Noxie,” was all I could manage.
Someone doused the fire so the light in the room faded to just an orange glow from the coals. I stared at them until I fell asleep, dreaming vicious, gruesome dreams.
* * *
Morning came early, just as Miss Melda had promised. My mood had improved some from last night. Sleeping in a warm bed had done wonders for my back and morale.
We followed the other ladies to the servants’ dining hall, which was a small room off the main kitchen, where servants were already hard at work, preparing to feed the fae and mortals of the castle alike.
Nella yawned as we stood at the back of the line to wait for breakfast. A young, skinny boy was at the front of the line, scooping something goopy-looking into the bowls in the outstretched hands of the waiting servants.
When it was our turn, Nella made a face of pure disgust. The look made me laugh as we walked to an open spot on the wooden bench lining the table.
We sat down and took our first tentative bites.
It was…edible. Nella made a dramatic show of swallowing before she whispered to me, “I think maybe you should be in the kitchen cooking. This is awful.”
I enjoyed cooking, and I was pretty good at it if I had the ingredients I wanted, which was seldom back home.
“Better than scraps, Nella, be thankful.”
My attention snagged on an older man sitting on the other side of the table from us. He was staring at my face.