No More Waiting
At breakfast the next morning, Nella made me recount every detail. Twice. I think she loved the idea of the prince and me even more than I did.
Because I did, I wanted it. I wanted him.
“The prince kissed you?”
I shushed Nella, hoping none of the other servants would hear. I did not need them turning on me, thinking I was in bed with the enemy. Figuratively, of course. I had only been in bed with him in my dreams so far.
But was he really the enemy, or was it just his father?
I was beginning to think the latter was the truth.
Thus far, I saw nothing of the cruel king in his son.
But there was still a logical part of my brain screaming to tread carefully, that there was just no way he really felt anything for me.
But my brain was losing this battle to my heart more and more each day.
I reiterated that the kiss was only on my hand and that it was absolutely not a big deal.
“Naci, please be smart. I know you like him, but you’re forgetting the mission here, why you’re even in the castle. You’re also forgetting who the mission makes him—he is the enemy.”
“I do not like him,” I said to Noxie indignantly.
“You haven’t learned to shut me out… Yeah. You do.”
Rude.
“Maybe he can help. Maybe I can get him to tell me where the dungeon is.” Something twisted in my stomach at the thought of using him for information. I didn’t like it. But I had to try.
“Think he’ll take you on a romantic stroll through the dungeons as a date?”
“How do I block rude and imposing birds from my thoughts?”
He went silent. I was pretty sure I hadn’t blocked him; he was just ignoring me now.
Miss Melda came into the dining hall toward the end of breakfast and informed me I’d be helping in the kitchen today since someone on staff was under the weather.
“I’ll do it!” Nella jumped in before I could say anything.
I gave her a wry smile when Miss Melda agreed.
So she stayed in the kitchen, and I left for the laundry room. I loved Nella, and working alongside her helped pass the time, but it would be good for me to be alone and think through what I needed to do next.
Because, like always, I had a plan. A part of one.
The library.
It was worth assuming that somewhere in the library’s archives, there would be a blueprint of the castle from when it was being built.
If I could convince the prince to show me the blueprint, I could find the dungeons and then…
Well, I would have to figure out how to sneak down there later, once I knew where they were.
Because Noxie was right, which I hated to admit. The prince, for sure, would not take me there.
So I’d need to wait for Varyn to make good on his promise to get me into the library.
After the breakfast linens were folded, I headed toward the dining hall for lunch with the other laundry ladies, only for our procession to be stopped halfway there.
“Make way for Their Majesties, King Caedryn and Queen Malvina,” I heard from a mousy royal guard ahead at the front of the approaching group.
Was it really necessary to be announced to your own mortal staff? I supposed it was a reminder of their power over us.
Everyone in the hall shuffled out of the way to the side walls and dropped their heads. This was the first time I’d ever seen the monarchs. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.
As they drew nearer, I caught the first glimpse, which raised the hair on my arms. The king was an enormous male, nearly a head taller than the queen beside him. His brown hair was peppered with gray and white under the thorny crown, and his eyes were pale red with gleaming silver pupils.
It was the cheekbones that resembled his son’s. The high cheekbones and full lips were a mirror image of Varyn’s. But where the prince’s face held warmth, the king’s was cold, calculating, the look in his eyes menacing. He looked pale, leeched of color.
The queen, contrarily, was radiant, glowing in fact.
Her black hair, so dark it seemed to absorb the surrounding light, was pulled into an elaborate braid around her head and under her crown of gold and emeralds.
The blue of her eyes was the opposite of the king’s.
Where his were pale, hers were electric and bright.
She was stunning, smiling vaguely while the king looked brooding beside her.
She seemed almost familiar, though I couldn’t place why. It was as if there was a hazy memory just out of grasp, trying to come to the surface.
But when I locked eyes with the king, the heat in my chest flickered and built, every nerve in my body on edge. It was unsettling.
His eyes lingered on my face and my scars for a moment before the royal guard who had announced them appeared in front of me, breaking my stare-off with the king.
“You will bow when in the presence of the king and queen,” he bellowed, inches from my face, making me flinch.
I looked back at the monarchs, catching the queen’s eye for a moment before dropping my head in a bow. Something like recognition had crossed her face, but I couldn’t be sure.
The guard’s sword at his side looked sharp, and I wasn’t interested in having it poke holes in me for disrespecting Caedryn. So I kept my head bowed as the king, queen, and half a dozen guards continued by.
With my eyes pointed down, I could only see their royal green and gold regalia. But I could feel their eyes on me, the beast in my chest still at attention and ready for action.
Then I felt Miss Melda’s eyes on me from my right.
After the last steps of the procession turned the corner at the end of the hall, she rounded on me, fuming.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed? Surely, you’re not so dim-witted that you thought you could remain standing, openly staring at the king and queen?
Foolish girl. You must behave if you want to keep your head attached to your neck. ”
The heat in my chest dissipated, but embarrassment had my cheeks warming in its place. I didn’t like being reprimanded by Miss Melda. She was always kind, even motherly to Nella and me.
I realized I’d been too bold, too brazen—if Nella and I were going to survive here, I needed to keep my emotions in check.
“Yes, ma’am. I won’t let it happen again.” And I meant it. I couldn’t risk Nella’s safety.
“Good. Now go eat and get back to work.”
* * *
After recalling the events in the hall to Nella over lunch (to which she reacted nearly the same as Miss Melda), I returned to the laundry alone once more.
I knew I’d been foolish, but I couldn’t shake the feelings of unease even hours later. The king seemed to radiate evil. And the queen… Why did she look familiar, and seem to think the same of me?
How could someone so beautiful and seemingly kind stand next to such a wicked man? I felt sorry for the queen.
Thinking of them made me think of Varyn. He looked so very much like his father, but I saw little resemblance to his mother except maybe the eyes, though his were a slightly lighter shade of blue. I just hoped his heart resembled hers more than Caedryn’s.
I passed the hours folding towels, bed linens, and dinner napkins, thinking of my mom and the rebellion. Were the rebels all mortals, or did they have some fae on their side? I wondered.
While I generally didn’t trust the fae, I also knew that a rebellion of mortals never stood a chance against a kingdom of fae that despised them.
“Have you ever seen Elyndor?” I asked Noxie.
“Oh, hi, Naci. Great to hear from you. I’m doing most excellent, thank you so much for asking.”
“Hilarious. Sorry if I’ve been irritable with you. This castle makes me…well, irritable.”
I felt his sigh, followed by a significant improvement in his mood.
“I haven’t seen Elyndor. Or any other continent other than Ashenholt, for that matter. Crows don’t usually cross the oceans.”
“Would you cross with me once I get my mom out of here? To join the rebels?”
“Of course I would. Wherever you go, I go.”
“Careful, Noxie, I would hate for you to become a sap.”
“Too right, thanks for stopping me.”
I laughed to myself. He was growing on me, and I thought it would be nice to have him, my mother, and Nella crossing the Elyssar Sea together to Elyndor.
A proper family.
“A proper one indeed. Hang in there. Keep your head and find your mom so we can get all three of you out of there.”
It was comforting that he also believed she was alive and here.
It was bitter, too, though. Because if this were true, every day I spent in Ashthorn Castle was another day my mom was held prisoner in the dungeon.
I needed to get moving on my plan.
“Any news in Dolvenar? About the rebellion…something?” I asked.
I knew better by now than to expect much from Noxie’s recon in the capital.
“Nothing much, just unfortunate stories of some mortals on a ship from Greymore.”
My heart dropped. The mortals we’d overheard in the barn were from Greymore and were boarding a ship hoping to reach Caelithar. Was it them Noxie had heard about? Had it been a trap just to lure mortals and kill them, as the man had guessed?
“What happened to them?” I asked, sure I didn’t actually want to know the answer.
“From what I heard, they were stowaways on a ship that was raided by the Royal Navy. Killed on sight.”
Gods…killed on sight just for trying to find a way to a better life than Ashenholt could offer. The mortals had said they were sneaking onto a friend’s ship. This had to be them—Baritone and Squirrely.
I said a silent prayer that they were with their friend Marv, at least in the Vale.
“Sorry, kid.”
I didn’t have words to respond to Noxie.
* * *
Nella returned with me from dinner after having spent her whole day in the kitchen.
“So? Tell me all about your day with your little boyfriend.”
I laid down on her bed beside her, the way we used to growing up when we shared a bed.
She smiled. “He has a name, Naci. It’s Halden. And he’s really sweet.” Her cheeks reddened.
This was Nella’s first boyfriend. I couldn’t bring myself to tease her at all; this was a big life moment for her, and I was so happy.