Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
The Upper Hand
A key in the door jolted me awake. Schula’s bed was warm, and rain pattered outside the window in soothing drops. Puko had been allowed inside for the night, and his only reaction to the key at the door was to conjure up an annoyed croak and burrow deeper into his own feathers.
The door opened, and I was already one foot out of the bedding. “Is he all right?”
Schula closed the door behind her with a yawn. “That took so long! Yes, he’s fine. Go back to bed, I’ll tell you everything.”
By the time I’d reached the apartment after hearing the news of Thain’s return, Schula was already there with the box of tea leaves she had gone to Pearl Street to buy, a steaming hot cup in hand as she sat in the open window watching the leaves fall.
She’d nearly dropped her cup when I’d shouted the news from the bottom of the stairs.
She’d gone to the palace to learn more, and I’d stayed in the apartment until they were done. Because they were the triquetram, and I wasn’t. And it was torture. I had eventually given in and gone to sleep.
I sat back down on the bed, and Schula fell into it with a moan.
“Beds are so good. Beds are a blessing from the Stars,” she mumbled into the covers.
“What happened at the palace that took until the middle of the night?” I asked.
Schula rolled over. “Not a task we have leave to speak about to anyone else, you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I won’t go into too many details, but there is something happening at the borders to the Wyldes. We aren’t sure why, but it has to do with things coming in and out of the wards.”
The wards the witches made. My heart sank; my face fell.
“This doesn’t mean it has anything to do with you.” Schula slipped under the covers. “It’s been happening slowly for the last few years, well before you crossed over. It’s just that now it’s getting worse.”
“When can I see Thain?” I asked.
“Tomorrow. Or is it today? In a few hours,” she settled on. “We’re all exhausted after a long night of discussions. Just let me sleep this off and we’ll get ready to meet at Eb’s place for a late breakfast and some catching up.”
It wasn’t the end of my anguish, but it was an answer I could respect. “Right, everyone should get some sleep first.” I just didn’t know if I would be able to join them, now that I was all riled up.
“Oh, and Baeleon has a message for you,” Schula said, snuggling into the pillows.
“Is it Dwellonmar? Have I caused trouble by leaving so soon?”
“Nothing is wrong.” She yawned. “Baeleon received word from the Winter Court. You are cordially invited to the winter solstice festivities in a few weeks. It makes sense; they probably heard about your invitation to the spring equinox.”
“Oh.” My shoulders relaxed. “Right, we were expecting that. Are you and Eberon coming too?”
“Eberon and Thain will go. We’ll accompany you through all the Wyldes for the next year, but there are places I will not go.”
Lying down on the bed next to her, I nodded. Schula might not have shared the details yet, but I had already guessed as much.
“Is there anything I need to pack for the Winter Lands?” I asked, but I was met with silence. “Schula?”
The snow-white fae had already fallen asleep, her even breaths warming the pillow pressed into her cheek.
“Good night, Schula.” Resolving myself to several hours of quiet and racing thoughts, I folded my hands over my stomach and stared up at the ceiling.
Thain was back, and I could finally resolve things with him. I just wasn’t sure if that meant a pit in my stomach or a lightening of my heart, or both.
The squeak of the wardrobe door roused me. Sun fell across the floor in bright dashed lines where it poured in between the curtains.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Schula said, pulling the sleeve of something from the wardrobe and then dropping it again.
“No, I’m ready. Is it time to go?” Puko was gone, probably already let out for the morning. Schula’s hair was damp, meaning I’d managed to sleep through the sounds of the bath as well.
“Soon enough. I was just looking for something to wear.” Schula’s mild interest in the fabrics before her turned sharp as her eyes darted to the bed. “Actually, if you’re that ready to face Thain . . .”
A wicked grin crossed her lips, her fangs taking on a sharp gleam.
“What are you plotting?” I threw a pillow at her, and she caught it easily, laughing.
“You could strike first. He won’t be ready yet.”
“Strike first? I wouldn’t survive a fight with Thain,” I protested.
“No, no, I mean to catch him by surprise.” She smiled. “Come on, what do you say?”
“Okay, but I want to know what you’re plotting,” I said.
“Excellent.” She clapped her hands together.
“Let’s play a little game of deadly dress-up, shall we?
” She turned to her stash of clothing, throwing the other wardrobe doors open and basking in the fabrics.
Schula’s wardrobe had two sides to it. The front held her everyday clothing.
Her preference for leggings and tunics made for comfort and function.
In the back, however, I saw the eccentric side of her.
“What precisely do you mean by deadly dress-up?” I asked.
The first thing she pulled out was a corset and skirt, not unlike what she’d worn to the River’s Edge. There was no way I could fill out the cups, so I shook my head. Schula just shrugged and dove further in with determination.
“Deadly dress-up is when, if looks could kill, you have the right look for the job.” She shook her hips excitedly as she sorted her clothes. “Take off that tunic and get over here.”
It wasn’t long before she had me stripped down to my underthings and standing in front of her.
She put me in lace, in leather, in things that were mostly straps. Scandalous things that would have had me stoned by the humans, even in Sulls. But I found a small thrill in wearing them all. They made me feel strong. They made me feel like a creature of the Wyldes.
Of course, me being willing to leave the apartment in such an ensemble was another matter. What Schula finally settled on was the closest thing to my comfort zone that she had in the back of the wardrobe.
My leggings were a second skin. Black leather, they laced from my boots to the waistband, exposing a sliver of skin under the black cord all the way up.
The top was little better. It was bloodred and woven from silk that clung to everything.
The neck laced closed, but it stopped low over my breasts, exposing the bit of cleavage I had managed to put on my bones over the past weeks.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before.” I turned, looking at my reflection from another angle. “Where could this possibly be in fashion?”
“The Summer Court. Here, turn.” Schula plucked the ties that kept my hair in place and began to unravel one of my braids.
“What are you—Schula! What are you doing?” I scrambled to cover the other side of my head before she got to that as well.
“Letting your hair down,” she answered, then she paused. “Actually, this is up to you. I’m sorry, Wren, I got too excited dressing you up. I know this is a tender thing for you, and the decision is yours to make.”
Half of my hair was nearly undone anyway.
My fingers pulled the braid apart, making practiced work out of the curls.
The deep brown strands still smelled lightly of soap.
With one side of my reflection still adorned by the braid I used to shield my ears and the other side loose around my shoulders, I stared for a long breath.
“I can put it back,” Schula started.
“Leave it.” Pulling the other tie loose, I set it on a nearby table. “Leave it down; my ears don’t show unless I move it a lot anyway.”
Even through the mirror, Schula’s smile dazzled. “Understood.”
My hair was left loose, still covering my ears but wild and free and foreign to me in the mirror.
I never left my hair unbraided. It was a shield between my secrets and the rest of the world.
But no one here needed shielding from who I was and what had happened to me, least of all Thain with his own scars and his eyes that saw through me anyway.
Schula painted my lips black and put a line of kohl against my eyelids.
“Why am I dressing like this?” I asked. “For a simple breakfast.”
“To throw him off. I’ve been with Thain and Eberon for fifty years, and I know their tastes well.
” Schula had decided today was a day for the back of the wardrobe, and she’d dressed up too.
Tight red leggings with golden buttons and a loose golden tunic that tied at the sides.
Much like the usual Thanantholl style, but there was something sultry about the way she wore it.
“And I’m appealing to his tastes why?” I inspected my neckline in the mirror to see just how much skin was exposed from every angle. A light blush graced my face under my freckles, but I felt very daring all the same.
“Because he deserves a little torment for losing his composure,” Schula answered, eyes crinkling with merriment. “And because I want to see him squirm.”
That I could affect anyone simply with the manner of my dress seemed ridiculous.
But maybe it would be another new experience after so very many realizations since coming to this place.
Wanting things was a dangerous game, promising nothing but disappointment.
That was how I’d viewed the world. What was easily grasped, already at the fingertips of others, would be an impossible stretch for me.
But that was Silver Lake, and this was the Wyldes.
And if I was to be a part of the Wyldes, then whatever was within reach of others was also within reach for me.
“Are we ready then?” I asked.
“Wait.” She ran to the table on my side of the bed. “Wear this.”
The gray stone glinted with polish and care. But it also carried meaning.
“The necklace from Caldon?” I asked.
“Yes, it matches the outfit.” Her too-innocent tone indicated additional motives, but I let it go.