5. Evanee
Evanee
I tossed and turned all night, waking several times in a panic over my new surroundings. When I finally slipped into a deep sleep, I was roughly shaken awake, the room still dark.
A lady’s maid had come to dress me in a velvet green gown with long, itchy sleeves, and large bracelets on either wrist to cover my tattoos. The bracelets were made of gold, a rare commodity, even for the wealthy. Something that would come in handy if I escape. No, not if—when.
The maid didn’t hide her distaste for me as she pulled a golden sash across my midsection and tightly latched a matching cloak to my shoulders. The heavy dress was foreign—suffocating and hot—another strategy to keep me from running away, no doubt.
Then there was my hair. I'd always kept it in a simple braid, but today the maid put several braids in place, pulling tightly as she pinned them around the back of my head. My scalp throbbed from the pokes and pulls, several feral sounds scraping out of my throat with obscenities muttered beneath.
“You are beautiful once you take off the rags and scrub away the grime, aren’t you?
” Cressida purred as she appeared in the doorway, clad in a skin-tight black dress that trailed dramatically behind.
The torches in the hall cast shadows around her, making her look like royalty herself.
It took every effort not to roll my eyes. Bitch.
The maid curtsied low before Cressida, wrinkling her nose at me. I flashed her an obscene gesture, making her frown and stomp off. It gave me a remarkable flashback to the kitchens.
“When do we leave?” I scowled, kicking the heavy dress as I tried to walk. Impossible task as the material pooled around my feet.
“Soon enough,” Cressida crooned, circling me slowly—a lioness assessing her prey. I warily followed her movement.
“Aiden requests your presence downstairs.” She smiled. Clearly, she thrived off the discomfort she caused.
A snap of her fingers, and black smoke, like shadows, swallowed me before I knew what was happening—then I was falling to the floor, landing on my hands and knees with more foul language spewing as it jarred my back.
I glowered at her as I pushed off the ground.
The Queen sat at the same desk as the night before, her expression already soured. Aiden stood to her right, a smirk on his face as he assessed me with a look of approval. Fuming, I looked anywhere but him.
“Why is she dressed like that?!” The Queen barked. I held my head high as I swatted off some dust.
“My Queen,” Aiden started, “I commanded her attire to be better suited to that of a high lady. Per the orders of the King,” he said unabashedly.
My eyes slit as I glared his way.
The Queen leveled him with a cold, lethal stare of her own, angling her head, almost at an unnatural angle.
“You don’t make commands here, captain.” Her words were clipped, nails digging into the arm of her chair.
I fidgeted with a bracelet, the tension suffocating.
“Fine,” she spat, flicking her hand in dismissal, her bracelets clinking together, when he didn’t respond. “Leave.”
I gaped at her, hoping—what? That she’d fight to keep me here?
After all my thoughts about escape last night, I'd concluded that this wouldn’t go well.
Not with the new spell that tied me to Aiden.
With Queen Valentina’s outburst yesterday, a very small part of me thought she’d demand I remain here.
It would seem that even she was scared of her husband in the north after all. Great.
Aiden offered his arm, but I brushed past him, stomping toward the door. I paused at the threshold. One look over my shoulder, and I met the Queen’s eyes. She bristled—but something else lurked beneath her hard demeanor—fear.
Aiden ushered me to the front of the castle, where the carriage bearing the royal crest—a pair of swords crossing each other, cutting through the moon—waited.
Two royal guards sat at the front of the carriage, holding the reins.
Two more sat atop their horses behind the carriage, and one of them was the largest male I’d ever seen.
His dark skin gleamed in the fading moonlight.
Tight, sleeveless fighting leathers made his skin sleek and muscles defined.
A leather strap held back his multi-braided hair, sharpening his features.
As captivating as he was, it was his golden eyes that ensnared me, pinning me in place as if he could see straight through me.
My fists tightened at my sides. His gaze narrowed until Micah came around the corner—breaking the tension—leading a black stallion whose mane and tail shone from the cleaning and brushing he’d given it.
“All ready, captain,” Micah called to Aiden as he handed over the reins.
Aiden walked straight to the large rider, the stallion trailing behind him, speaking in hushed tones. I nervously searched for the grisly male from the night before—there was no sign of him.
“Looks like I won’t be seeing you for a while,” Micah said with a tight smile.
“I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone, but I’ll miss you. You’ve always made me feel like I’ve had a friend here.” I reached out and hugged him. He embraced me back, making my heart ache.
He tugged me closer, speaking barely above a whisper.
“Be on guard, my girl.” My stomach dropped. “Don’t trust them. I don’t know who you were or where you came from, but when you arrived, there were whispers of how you came to be here. And it wasn’t a family of rebellion. You fell—”
“We need to go,” Aiden shouted as he opened the door to the carriage for me, shooting a look I couldn’t discern at Micah. A warning? But why? There’s no way he heard us from all the way over there… right? Micah cleared his throat and stepped away. His weathered brow creased as he watched me.
I hesitated.
“We’re leaving, my Queen.” I startled at the title, whipping my head to Aiden, who held his hand out and boldly stared at me.
“Why the hell would you say that?” I demanded, my eyes darting around to see if anyone had heard him.
“That’s our cover story. You’re a Queen, visiting from another realm, and we’re assisting in your travels.” He smiled, and my gaze went straight to his fangs. I’m used to fangs—all the Fae have them. But his seemed longer. Deadlier.
My cheeks burned. Traitorous body. While dangerous, that damn smile only made him more irritatingly attractive, and I refused to let that pretty mask he was so blessed with distract me from who he served.
“That’s ludicrous. The lengths you’re going through for a human slave are absurd,” I ground out. “Changing my hair was definitely over the top.”
Amusement tugged at the corner of his lips. “Slave or not, we were ordered to keep you safe in transport. Changing your hair was my idea. It would be advantageous for us to see if any rebels act out, seeing as you look like the Queen from a distance with your hair changed. ”
“So I’m bait?” I deadpanned.
He only shrugged and winked before gesturing toward the opened door.
My jaw tightened as my gaze drifted to Micah one more time. Memorizing him.
Ignoring Aiden’s outstretched hand, I lifted my dress and climbed in. He sighed, clicking the door shut behind me, a lock sliding in place. Unease settled in my gut.
“Wow! Look at you! You really look like a Queen! But your hair looks dumb. That color washes you out. Why’d you change it?
” I jumped at the girl’s voice inside the carriage.
Then cringed as Lyra leaned forward, out of the shadows.
It would seem she didn’t get quite the treatment I had.
Brown hair still poked out from beneath her bonnet, and her tattered clothes barely concealed her ample chest. Freckles dusted her cheeks, highlighting her youthfulness.
“I didn’t,” I said through gritted teeth, glaring at her.
“Don’t be pissy with me because you chose an awful color. Anyway, this is great, isn’t it? I can’t believe they chose us!” She was all but jumping up and down, the carriage swaying.
I braced my hands on either wall, scowling.
“Why are you here, Lyra?”
“Cressida said they needed someone to act as your lady-in-waiting because a Queen would never travel without one.” She pulled on a small rope necklace, absentmindedly rubbing whatever was on the end between her fingers—something she did a lot.
“Though I don’t get why you had to be the pretend queen.
I could’ve pulled that off.” She swatted at the brown strands falling in her face.
“Finally getting away from this hell-hole!” She smiled widely, the glow from the torches highlighting her crooked teeth.
“Who’s to say what awaits us at the end of this journey isn’t a hell of a lot worse?” I grumbled, shoving back in my seat. I flinched as a damn pin stabbed me. I ripped them all out, setting the blonde coils free.
“Yeah, but it’s not like anything will actually happen. Can’t you be normal for once? I mean, I know we’re not exactly friends and you're old. But we’re going to be stuck together for several weeks at least,” she said, her tone mockingly mature.
I shook my head at her and watched the males outside load the remaining supplies.
“Ooh! What if one of the guards with us is a Werewolf? I heard that the King’s guard has Werewolves!” She bounced up and down again. I sighed and looked toward the ceiling. Why is everyone so obsessed with the damn Werewolves?
“Move out!” Aiden’s muffled voice reached us in the carriage. Finally.
“Another plus is that we get to spend all this time with these guards. Especially that captain. I bet he’ll get lonely at some point and—“
“Enough, Lyra!” I shouted as the carriage lurched forward, the crunch of gravel sounding beneath us.
“Whatever. You can mope. I bet you’re just mad you don’t remember if you’re a virgin or not,” she muttered and strained to see out of the carriage window. I blinked in her direction. As crude a subject as that was, she had me there. I couldn’t remember anything, so how would I remember that? Ugh.
As we approached the gate, movement caught my eye. Something dangled overhead…
A chill instantly washed over me, my entire body stiffening.
I sucked in a breath as the torchlight cast its eerie glow over the wall near the gate—it was the male from the night before.
Dried blood covered his black and blue face, frozen in a silent scream.
His throat had been ripped out, his legs twisted at the wrong angles.
And he'd been nailed to the wall with an iron stake through his chest.
The grotesque sight twisted my stomach as the carriage rocked onward. Each bump in the road shook the image back into my mind, making it impossible to forget.
He’s been dealt with.
Something colder than fear settled beneath my skin.
I quickly pulled the curtain over the window and shut my eyes, wishing, for once, that my dreams would find me and remove the images permeating my mind.
We’d been on a bumpy road all day, barely stopping long enough for bathroom breaks, and Lyra would not. Shut. Up.
She talked about how jealous every other girl in our quarters would be of us. How she had considered going all the way with Tristan, but couldn’t find the right place. Thankfully, even if she had, Blanche made all of us take a monthly tincture to prevent pregnancy.
She even talked about her favorite food and why she liked it.
At one point, she spread her legs apart, saying her lady bits needed airing.
Any protest I spewed only made it worse, prodding her to reveal more.
I wanted to claw my eyes out and stuff candle wax in my ears.
Hell, I’d take the pain in my back over her non-stop chatter.
Instead, I pounded on the wall with my fist as hard as I could.
The carriage slowed, and I peered through the curtain just as Aiden dismounted and unlocked the door.
“Is there a problem, my Queen?” he asked, his tone deep, expression sharp. Unreadable.
“Don’t call me that,” I snapped, then cleared my throat as the image of that body stayed fresh in my mind.
“I need some air.” I cut him a look as I pushed past, muttering a stream of curses under my breath as I hauled the dense fabric with me.
“I have to call you that, my Queen. You don’t have to like it,” he challenged, one step behind. I glared at him over my shoulder. Everyone came to a stop, and Lyra hopped out, stretching forward to touch her toes, pointing her ass toward the males.
“We can’t stop here. We need to keep moving.”
My finger dug into my hips. “We have to stop and eat at some point!” Sweat trickled down my back from the stuffy heat in the carriage and the damn dress. I reached for my neck, massaging the new knot forming.
“We will. However, we need to go a little further. There’s a small town, another hour from here, where we’ll stop to rest briefly.
Several hours after that, we should reach an old acquaintance where we’ll be staying for the night.
Here.” He reached into his saddlebag, pulled out a small cloth, and held out a hunk of bread and cheese. “For you and your companion.”
I glanced at Lyra as she hitched her skirts high enough to flash her thigh and took too large a step, nearly slipping into the splits before she caught herself.
I snatched the offering out of his hand and grumbled as I returned to my cage on wheels. “She’s not my companion. She’s my punishment.”
His following chuckle only irritated me further.
“You do know that my ears work just fine. Right?” Lyra chastised, throwing herself down across from me.
“Don’t care. Here.”
I threw all of the provisions at her. She shot me a filthy look along with a nasty gesture, but took the bread and cheese, tearing into them like a ravenous beast. I wasn’t sure which would do me in first—the road, or the company.