21. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Calista
T he castle was quiet when I left my room. I couldn’t tell what time it was for them, or when the goblins began their duties, but I waited until the sky had reverted back to grayish lavender before I set off to roam. After using the dinosaur of a bathroom, I got a shock in the mirror while splashing water on my face. My hair was back to normal, not that I was complaining. The faded colors looked awful, but I hadn’t seen this shade in years. Why did he do this? I stared at the stranger in the mirror until I saw bits of my younger self hidden within the mature features of my reflection.
You know why.
I shoved the icky thought away, but it nestled in the back of my mind. I knotted it on top of my head so I wouldn’t have it see it or think about it, and I dressed in shorts and one of my favorite worn-out band tees. Was it an illusion, like the items in my room were, or did Astaroth actually move all of my clothing here? They felt the same as they always did, but I didn’t understand magic. For all I knew, I was wearing a thin scrap of material that only looked like my clothes.
I paused at the tapestry on the stairwell and leaned back against the wall, clutching the edge of the platter from yesterday’s breakfast to my chest. It was nearing nightfall when I awoke, and Astaroth was gone. At first, I was saddened by his absence. I had been so lonely trapped in my room and in my head with nothing but my overwhelming grief to keep me company. I felt so weak and stupid for asking him to stay. He was the cause of all this, and here I was seeking his comfort. I hoped he didn’t misconstrue my actions for something more. I also hoped his actions wouldn’t sway me in the future.
The tapestry wove him with the sharp planes and edges of a king out to conquer whatever stood in his path. I saw that version of him when he brought me here. Even more so when the pixie flew free. That was scary. The Astaroth on my balcony was an entirely different being—relaxed, soft spoken, and somewhat forthcoming. Genuine. It was hard for me to mesh the two together, but I had to in order to find my way home.
Thankfully, the dining room was empty when I reached it. I sat in my chair and looked around the room as I sifted through my mixed emotions. It was so different here with natural light filtering inside, creating a more vibrant and colorful atmosphere compared to the stone walls I traveled, draped with silks. The candelabras were crammed on a side table looking a lot like how I felt: half-burned with waxy tears dried to their lengths. Dollops of wax hardened on the surface beneath them.
The tapestry covering the kitchen opening hung next to it. A gnarled tree with widespread branches and lumpy roots was in the center, with the labyrinth walls surrounding it. Ancient . The word whispered through my mind. I didn’t remember it from my first visit.
I walked over to it, remembering how the goblins ran through to the kitchen. I needed to do something. Eating my feelings sounded good right now. It was pretty much the only thing I’d done since I got here. Eat, sleep, shit, repeat. I was about over it, and my curiosity was winning out. How did the tapestry work? Was it an illusion like the walls in the labyrinth? Only one way to find out.
I went to walk through it, and the platter slammed into my ribs.
“Ow!” Not an illusion.
Gripping the fabric, I pulled it to the side to discover a door much like the one to my room. Go figure. After I wrestled with the tapestry, I got the door opened and entered the kitchen.
It was a mess.
Gruel-crusted pots haphazardly filled the counters, releasing a stench worthy of roadkill.
“Do they not clean?” I swallowed the gag working up my throat. With my appetite gone, I set the platter atop a pot and went to work finding the sink.
By the time Ziggy arrived, my frustrations had gone a long way to cleaning this pigsty. I had found the well outside a tiny kitchen door I had to crouch to get through, brought in buckets of water to clean, and had most of the dishes washed.
“Milady! What are you doing?”
Elbows deep in sudsy water, I looked over my shoulder. A cloth napkin tied around my head hid most of my face. “Exactly what it looks like. How do you guys not get sick from the filth?”
“No, no, no,” he chanted as he ran to the sink and pulled on my calf. “You mustn’t be here. Leave!”
I shook his weird, calloused hands from my leg. “I’m almost done. Let me finish, and I’ll grab some breakfast and leave.”
“I’ll make your breakfast.” He pushed at me. “Please go.”
I dropped the soggy cloth in the grimy water and spun around. “What’s the big deal?”
Ziggy crooked his head to the side and stared at me with those large amphibius eyes. It was unnerving.
“Why can’t I be here?”
“If sire finds you here doing the servants work, he will punish us.”
“You need to be punished for allowing this.”
His chin dropped and what little shoulders he had drooped with it. “Everyone was catching up on sleep from hunting and doing other chores.”
Goblins hid outside the door, their dark eyes peeking fearfully around the doorway. That meant Astaroth was probably up and about, too.
“Sire will be back soon. We came to prepare breakfast for him and you.”
I returned my focus to Ziggy, and he grimaced. No, smiled. He had a face only his mother could love. They all did. “Did he go out hunting for the pixie again?”
“He doesn’t share those things with me. I’m but a cook.”
I crossed my arms. “Well, you all look tired, Ziggy.”
“We are, milady. Between hunting and preparing food yesterday, we haven’t caught up on our rest. That’s why we left the dishes for today.”
“This dirt is not from one day.”
Crestfallen, he said, “We will do better.”
Gripping his shoulders, I turned him around. “Go to bed. I can handle breakfast.”
“Milady!” He dipped out of my grip and backed away from me. “This is our duty.”
“Ziggy, you might as well get used to seeing me in this kitchen. Starting now.”
“But—”
“No buts.” I called to the others. “Come finish your chores.”
They scurried inside and got to work finishing what I had started.
“And you.” I looked at Ziggy. “Let’s make some French toast.”
Curiosity got the best of him. “French toast. Sounds strange.”
“And pizza didn’t?”
He laughed revealing blackened teeth. “That was stranger.”
I explained what it was, and he grew animated. “Sweet wheat! I know what that is and can prepare it quickly.”
“Sweet wheat,” I murmured, and he nodded. “Makes more sense than French toast.”
“Indeed. Now, please, go.”
“Fine. I’ll wait for breakfast at the table.”
As the door closed behind me, I smiled when he sighed with relief, “Finally.”
It didn’t take long for Ziggy to appear with a plate of sweet wheat topped with what resembled plump blueberries. Once again, he waited for me to take a bite. I scooped some into my mouth and froze. It had a slightly different texture but melted on my tongue, and the berries were to die for. I hummed, and he clapped his hands.
With a bow, he said, “Enjoy.”
“Oh, I will,” I said around a mouthful.
I couldn’t eat it fast enough. Every bite elicited a moan. Ziggy’s chuckles floated in from the kitchen every time. I took the last bite and felt sad there wasn’t more. A second of contemplation was all it took. I lifted the plate and started licking it clean, giggling when the sticky syrup got all over my face. I didn’t care. I wanted more.
That’s how Astaroth found me. Tongue out, spinning the plate to get every last drop.
Astaroth
“Another one cast over,” I said to Mergle after we tucked her safely away in a locked room. The woman couldn’t get away from me quick enough.
“I expected it to happen much sooner after….” His unspoken words hung in the air as we walked away from the guards we stationed at her door.
Calista didn’t need to see her or raise questions as to how she got here or why. Not yet. Adjusting to her new life was difficult enough.
“Me too. Unbeknownst to them, they are only creating a larger army.”
“The only difference is she’s telling them about you before they enter. Painting you as a tormentor. A villain.”
That’s how they would view me when I learned to cross the portal and bring war to their doorstep. “A perception that will aid us when we reach their realm.”
“That doesn’t aid us now. Persuading the newcomers to your side takes time and effort we don’t have and would be better spent training them.”
I understood his frustration. Calista and the stone were my own challenge. He would have to deal with the others. “You have it in this moment. That’s all that matters. See to it she is converted.”
Mergle gave me a knowing look before we parted ways. I knew what I had to do and was doing it. Magic pooled around me, and I reached out to connect with the wishing stone. This time, instead of feeling bereft, pure joy coursed through me. It soothed all my frustrations from the previous day. It also left me with a lot of questions, the most important one at that precise moment being who was making her so happy after I had made her miserable. It wasn’t me, and I wanted it to be. I needed the answer. Now.
I found Calista at the dining table barely clothed, tongue flattened to her plate, and moaning. I remained still, listening to her, because if I moved, I would splay her out on the table and have her for my morning meal.
Her eyes opened as she turned the plate and froze with her tongue out. She quickly dropped it onto the table with a clatter and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Good morning.” It came out muffled, and she laughed.
A smile tugged at my lips. “Good morning, indeed.”
She turned away, flipping her plate right side up.
I moved to her side and squatted down next to her so she couldn’t hide from me. Calista’s gaze flicked to mine nervously, remnants of her breakfast stuck to her face. It was endearing and incredibly tempting to get a taste of what she’d enjoyed so much.
“I see Ziggy made something to your liking.”
“He did. It was delicious.”
“I regret that I wasn’t here to share it with you, Calista.”
“Ziggy is making yours now.” She started to laugh again, then whispered, “Don’t tell him, but he almost had a heart attack when he found me in the kitchen this morning.”
Her laughter turned into a giggle fit. Her smile spread wide, her teeth gleamed, and the balls of her cheeks became more pronounced as they reddened. Her sound was infectious, and I found my own face hurting from smiling. It was a strange sensation, but one that I welcomed.
I’d dreamt of her this way, I imagined lazy days in each other’s arms, talking, laughing, touching, kissing. Becoming one.
“In the kitchen?”
“Yes,” she breathed, trying to stifle her laughter. “I don’t know why I’m laughing. It’s not even that funny.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to cook breakfast for us, but his little face…” her words trailed off into another giggle fit.
I reached up and cupped her cheek, wiping a crumb away from her mouth with the pad of my thumb.
The movement startled her. “Oh!” She grabbed my wrist, then laughed a little harder. “Sorry,” she gasped between breaths.
Calista released my wrist and pulled away, severing the physical connection I ached for. The sleeve of her shirt darkened with little damp spots where she dabbed at her eyes.
“You have nothing to apologize for.” I, on the other hand, had many things for which to make amends. “You wanted to cook for me?”
That question seemed to sober her. “I just thought I’d be nice.”
Warmth bloomed in my chest. She wanted to care for me. Not out of service or duty, but because she wanted to. No one did that for me. Had we overcome an obstacle yesterday?
She focused on her hands and picked at her nails as her breathing slowed. “Did you find it?”
“Find what?”
“The pixie. Ziggy said you went out again this morning.”
I sighed. I didn’t want to discuss the damned pixie. I wanted to hear her laugh again and see her smile directed at me. “No.”
Her voice softened with a tinge of sadness. “Will you tell me why you trap them?”
Trust was a road that hadn’t been built between us, yet. I couldn’t reveal knowledge that could damn us all. Anything else she requested I would give. Not this.
I stood up. “One day.”
“Astaroth,” Calista pleaded when I went to my end of the table.
My heart thudded faster; in a rhythm I had felt in my youth. I loved hearing my name on her lips. I was certain it tasted much sweeter if she moaned it. It would take strategic moves on my part before I could find out.
“How did you break your fast?”
“Huh? Oh! Ziggy made another recipe of mine.”
I propped my elbows on the table and rested my chin on my folded hands. “Did he?”
“Yes. French toast.”
French toast. Sounded strange. I wasn’t sure about her pizza, but it turned out wonderful. As much as she enjoyed it, it had to be delectable.
Jessandra strolled into the room, excited as always with her ever-present glare. After Calista confessed her loneliness, I requested she spend time with her and take her outside the castle walls. She reminded me again that she wasn’t her babysitter.
“The market awaits.”
Calista’s mouth dropped open. “I get to leave the castle?”
“Yes. You’re being fitted for dresses.” Her grimace nearly made me laugh.
“The quicker we go, the quicker we return,” Jessandra said.
“Take your time, Calista. Get whatever you’d like.”
Jessandra pursed her lips but remained silent. The day she learned to follow orders to the T would be the day the entire labyrinth froze over.
Calista pushed back her chair, shot me one last look, and then followed her to the hall. Her pants only reached the very bottom of her butt cheeks leaving most of her bare for my perusal.
“Jessandra, see to it that she puts on pants before you go.”
Calista looked down at her nonexistent clothing. “What’s wrong with my shorts?”
She could wear those “shorts” all she wanted around my room, but she would wear them nowhere else.
Jessandra responded with a nod and nudged a confused Calista into the hall.
I relaxed in my chair listening to the two argue as they left. She would push my patience, but I would love every single moment.
“G’morning, sire.” Ziggy exited the kitchen with a covered dish.
“Good morning, Ziggy.” I took it from him and set it on the table, realizing it actually was a good morning. “The moan-worthy French toast, I presume?”
“No.” Ziggy laughed. “Sweet wheat.”
My gaze jerked to his. A mischievous grin pulled at his mouth. Calista’s joyful behavior made a lot more sense. And now she was going to market with Jessandra. I barked out laughter that rivaled Calista’s and Ziggy joined me.
“This should be interesting.”