16. Interlude
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Interlude
Ihissed a breath out in pain, pulling at the arm Hester gripped. She had rubbed across the needle site where Al had taken blood from me after he removed me from the glass enclosure.
“We were told to ensure you are scrubbed well. Every inch of you clean,” Vera said, wincing as she also rubbed the soap-riddled cloth across my skin. “Hester, you were not lying. She smells delightful.”
I peeked over at Officer Brandt. He had his back to us, offering me privacy. It was more than any other officer would have offered me, so I took comfort that only Hester and Vera could see me.
Two women who had been Cassiel’s feeders.
Two women he had lain with.
It was a truth hovering in the back of my mind, not of jealousy or ill will toward them. All my emotions about it were firmly leveled at Cassiel.
The . . . beastly oaf was the one who chose it. Unlike women who were forced into these injustices out of pure survival. Like the feeders. Although they had all known what entering the Trials would mean.
I studied Hester’s concentrated features.
I had never followed the feeder selection in the papers, but Miriam had droned on about it enough for me to know the basics.
Vera, Branwen, and Hester were the original feeders who entered the Trials.
Out of many, many women, they had pleased His Highness the best.
A swell of emotion rose in my breastbone. It spiked outward toward my hands. Hester gasped in pain, her features scrunching in on themselves as she stumbled back and fell on her bottom.
“Hester!” Vera and I cried. I crossed my arms across my chest as I stood in the tub. Hester held her arm up, rubbing it with her palm. Her shoulders jerked up and down in harsh pants.
“I feel sick,” she wheezed.
“Help her to the toilet area,” I told Vera. “I will finish bathing myself.”
She nodded hard and ran to Hester’s side. Vera pulled her to her feet, and she leaned against her.
“I am going to vomit,” she mumbled, and they ran faster toward the toilet area.
I sank back into the bath, drew my arms under, and squeezed my hands together. My mind had been overtaken by emotion, and not even a full breath later, my palm stung. That was when Hester cried out.
At that moment, I had been touching her right above her wrist.
It could not have been me that caused that reaction, but . . . I shook my head. That was incredibly silly. I grabbed the soap and finished rubbing it across my smooth skin thanks to the salve that I had reapplied across my legs, underarms, and my sex.
Faint sounds of someone retching the contents of their stomach reached me. I finished my bath and stood to get out of the tub. Each movement caused soreness to run rampant. My arms, legs, and even my toes hurt.
I had to take my time exiting the tub. Water dripped off me and plinked to the floor, so I rushed to grab the towel and wrapped it around myself. Officer Brandt still had not turned, so there was no concern of me being exposed.
Footsteps approached, and Hester and Vera returned.
Sweat dampened Hester’s temples, plastering the tendrils to her skin.
They reached me quickly, Vera veering off to grab something out of the case she had brought.
The gas lamp light reflected off the surface of the fabric. She held the robe open for me.
I slid my arm through the sleeve and took over putting it on both shoulders. Once I was done, I tugged the towel free and pressed it into my hair while Vera tied the sash tightly at the front.
“Come sit on the stool. I must bind your hair.”
“I am happy to do it.”
Vera shook her head. “Lady Drusilla ordered a specific updo that will be difficult to do to yourself.”
I continued to dry my hair as I followed her to the stool on the other side of the tub, then sat with my back to her. Hester remained near the tub, cleaning and setting all the items used into a basin. Her arm, the one I had been touching when she screamed in pain, had a deep bruise.
It was exactly where I had been touching her.
No, that was impossible. I could not have done that. I closed my eyes as Vera began to drag the teeth of a comb through my hair. Based on her maneuvering and how she parted the strands, I could tell she was doing a braided coronet style.
“They never went away,” Vera murmured, touching the side of my neck.
I reached up and touched where she had. The slight bump where the scabs had fallen off remained from Cassiel’s bites. None of them had been magickally healed. Nor the ones littered across my body. They’d become faint scars.
As soon as Hester approached, I motioned to get her attention. Peeking at Officer Brandt told me he was not focused on me.
“Is the plan set?” I whispered.
Hester nodded, and Vera looked at her with pursed lips.
I turned to face Vera fully. “Is it? Truly?”
“Yes, we finished what we needed to, and we have separated the powder . . .” she trailed off, and her glance slid away.
There was something more there. “But?”
“I worry that Ida will not fulfill her part.”
“She will,” Hester insisted. They kept staring at each other silently. They had clearly argued this point many times.
“It is too late to doubt it,” I finally said. There was no undoing what she already knew. “We must have faith in her.”
We had no other choice. Vera’s shoulders relaxed, and she nodded. That was what I wanted. If she displayed concern, it would only draw too much focus. The council held a blueblood with the ability to detect lies, so it was best we remained as inconspicuous as possible.
“We must succeed,” I muttered.
Both girls remained silent, but I felt their trepidation in the way they moved. The gravity of what would occur soon settled like lead on my shoulders. There would be deaths . . .
I rubbed the coldness on my breastbone.
We must succeed.