Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
Sometimes I don’t mind too much being destined to save it.
— From the journal of Violet Andrever
This time, it was just two men in the clearing—the angry older man, Zachariah, my grandfather, and a kindly faced man, slightly younger than Zachariah, clean shaven, his brown hair speckled with gray.
He moved past Zachariah, who grumbled, an exasperated expression on his face, as the man briefly rested his hand on my grandfather’s arm, before coming to greet me first.
His green robes swirled around him as he approached. Taking my hand, he bowed over it and kissed my fingers. “My princess, I am Andrei Guihard. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I understand you go by Lexa?”
I nodded silently, overcome by his courtly manners.
“May I call you that?” he continued.
“Of—of course,” I stammered.
He patted my hand and looked at me fondly. “Excellent. We’re so happy you’re here, my dear. Including my partner there, even if he doesn’t seem it in this moment.”
“Isn’t anyone going to let me meet my granddaughter?” Zachariah fumed.
“Because you did such a good job of it last time?” Andrei said with a smile lightening his words.
Zachariah leveled a glare at him, but Andrei paid him no mind.
Griff and Finn were still guarding my back. As Zachariah approached me, I stepped back, and Griff grasped my elbow. “Easy there,” he murmured, just for me.
“Welcome back,” Zachariah started bitterly, before turning his glare on the twins. “I’ll deal with you two and your antics later.”
I searched his face for anything my grandmother would have been drawn to, any warmth, humor, love.
I found nothing. Unlike the inner sense that had greeted Griff and Finn with such warmth, it now suggested caution toward this man.
I had no idea why, but I also had nothing else I could do besides listen to it.
“You were married to Rose Andrever?” I asked, finding my backbone and stepping forward, Griff moving along with me.
“I was.”
“Father to Thomrin and Violet?”
His eyes went wide, and he attempted to control a shudder. “She taught you their names?”
“Their names, my mother Mireya, called Mira, but the name she didn’t teach me was yours. And before I come into that castle with you, I want to know why.”
Andrei’s lips twitched as if he was holding in a smile.
As Zachariah bristled, Andrei lost the battle and grinned.
“I see a lot of Thom in you—your coloring, your eyes. But that spirit? That’s Mira speaking right now.
You clearly are their daughter.” As I turned to him, his smile broadened.
“Yes, I knew them well. And I would be happy to tell you about them, and anything else you’d like to know while my partner there decides whether or not to get his head out of his ass and treat you like family, rather than a subject. ”
Zachariah gaped at him. “She must be made aware of her duties. There is no time to waste—”
“You can do that just as easily in the morning as tonight,” Andrei countered. “It appears Lexa has had a long day.”
That was an understatement. I brushed mud-encrusted hair out of my face. Gross.
“Let her settle in tonight and then tomorrow you can inform her.” Andrei looked at the brothers behind me. “You can stop hovering, lads. She’s going to be just fine.”
With that dismissal, he held out his arm to me and I took it. Turning, he led me through the gates and into the castle as we left my grandfather and the brothers behind.
My first thought was that it was huge and I was going to get lost instantly.
My second was that it was cold. We were well into autumn, but at home, autumn had a gentle crisp to the air.
This drafty fortress was a temperature I more associated with Ignistar, the winter solstice, than Gaelthine.
Just one more mark against this place’s favor.
We entered through what I assumed were the main doors, imposing structures taller than three men.
Inside was a gigantic entrance; it could have fit the entire Fairhaven main square.
The lighting from that magical source was harsh and cold, so different from the warm torches and candles I’d grown up with.
I looked up at the twin staircases, spiraling in and out of each other, losing track of how many stories they climbed.
Between the staircases were massive doors that Andrei informed me led to the Great Hall, whatever that was.
A few people scuttered about, mostly in uniforms denoting them as staff, but it was eerily quiet for what I assumed was the seat of government, especially considering the crowd earlier.
Maybe they were behind those massive doors, waiting to pop out at me when I least expected it.
We climbed up several flights of stairs, before entering a brightly lit corridor.
My boots slipped on the polished stone, skidding slightly before I righted myself.
Along the way, Andrei made pleasant conversation with me; I think I replied.
As we passed many doors, I became hopelessly confused as we forked this way and that.
I had realized this fortress was a monstrosity in size when I looked at it from the outside, but nothing would have prepared me for the windowless labyrinth it was inside.
At least the shields that Finn had helped me hastily erect were holding. My thoughts were solely my own.
What would it have been like to grow up here?
Running and screaming through the quiet halls.
Skipping in stocking feet over the polished floors.
Sliding down those massive banisters, shrieking as I slid faster and faster before landing in a heap at the base of the stairs.
Running into room after room, surprising the residents before barreling into the next.
I had only met him a few moments ago, but I could already tell Zachariah would have hated it.
Andrei, on the other hand, I think he would have appreciated childish laughter ringing through the halls.
And I knew from firsthand experience that Nana would have indulged, even encouraged, it.
Presumably, my father at least had grown up here. What had that been like?
Andrei flagged a servant in the hall, and although his conversation was quiet, I thought I heard something regarding a bath, which sounded like heaven right at this moment. The color of Andrei’s sleeve caught my attention as he reached past me to open a door, holding it as I passed through.
“Are you a healer?”
“I am. The head healer here, in fact.”
I motioned to his robes. “Healers back home wear the same color.”
He nodded encouragingly. “Green, to honor Erde, the goddess of earth. Although most of us derive our powers from Corff, the god of body.”
I of course knew the name Erde. But Corff? That name resounded in me as though it should be familiar. As if it was something from a distant, half-forgotten past.
I nodded, but lapsed back into silence.
“Here we are.” He motioned to a door that looked like every other door in the hallway. I had no idea where we were, or how we’d gotten here, except we had climbed several flights of stairs, some of them wide and some small, circular staircases, all made of stone.
“You simply need to rest your hand against the doorknob to unlock it,” he informed me. “In time, with your channels, you’ll be able to ward it for who you want, but as of now, only you and a few trusted staff will be able to enter.”
I reached my hand out, feeling a faint spark before the doorknob twisted under my hand.
I stepped inside and stopped, awestruck.
As with everything I had seen here, it was enormous and opulent, befitting a princess.
I was pretty sure our house back home could have fit in this main room.
Nothing this nice was anywhere to be found in Fairhaven.
I couldn’t decide if I liked it or was disgusted by the opulence.
I certainly didn’t need this much space.
Andrei followed me in. “We weren’t sure what you would like, or even what age you would be when you reappeared, so we took some guesses.”
I slowly turned to take it all in. Everything was done in peaceful blues, with accents of gold.
There was a long table against one wall, a few chairs in front of it, a bench tucked behind it.
A couch and two armchairs, upholstered in deep blue, were in the middle, with a desk and chair on the other end.
Andrei walked ahead and opened the door on the right, which led to the bedroom. The door on the left was a bathing room, with a tub already full and steaming.
I was hesitant to touch anything; given the day I’d been having, I was filthy and I was sure I stank.
Whatever. You give a girl no warning before you upend her life, you get what you get.
“I’ll leave you here,” Andrei said. “If you need anything, there’s a rope near the door. This wing is the royal wing, and there will always be staff around.” He left me while I was still frozen in place.
The lure of the bath soon broke me out of my shock.
The bathing room was marble, accented with deep blue and gold.
I stripped off my clothes and left them in a pile—pretty sure I was never going to see them again.
My braid was stuck together like a thick, crusty rope, each strand glued to the one next to it with a mixture of sweat, dirt, and Erde knew what else.
This was the problem with my typical triple braid—it kept my hair out of my face, but it really didn’t like getting muddy, sweaty, or anything else.
I started slowly unraveling it, stiff and unyielding as dried leather, starting with the main braid and then each of the individual three that went into the primary one. My hair was gross.
I sank into the bath and watched the mud flake off of me. I hadn’t looked in the mirror since—gods, was that really this morning? I touched my face and—yep that was dried mud across my cheekbone. Some first impression I’d made.
By the time I had finally gotten my hair clean, the water was filthy.
As the sludge struggled to drain, I sat at the mirror on the small stool.
It was the same turquoise eyes, black brows, and pale skin staring back at me.
Given the events of the day, I’d almost expected to see a different face.
I located a comb and started the arduous process of detangling my dark hair.
Nana had commented several times that it would be easier to manage if it was shorter.
Lighter, too, given how thick my hair was.
They were fine strands, but I had a lot of it.
But for some reason, I’d always resisted cutting it, and put up with the hassle of having it waist-length.
When it was rebraided, I stood up and attempted to locate clothes.
Hoping no one was in the room that was now my bedroom, I walked into it naked.
I was in luck—it was both empty and someone had left a nightdress on the bed.
Not what I usually wore, but I guessed they didn’t normally let a princess run around in pants.
Deciding that today had been long enough and finding pants could be a problem for tomorrow, I climbed into the biggest bed I’d ever seen.
I thought I would promptly fall asleep, but as I lay on the massive, soft bed, there was no noise, other than the sound of my own breathing.
No sounds of Nana rustling around. No crackle of the fire.
No owl hooting into the night. And in the silence, my mind whirled through all the changes this day had brought.
Had it really only been this morning that I had stepped past the warding stones?
I flung an arm over my eyes as images flickered through my brain.
Nana’s face, bidding me farewell. Cormac’s hug.
Seeing the behemoth I was supposed to now call home.
My grandfather’s expression of disappointment.
And all those feelings that had assaulted me the moment I appeared: confusion, joy, hope.
The weight of those emotions pressed down on me, especially the hope that I had no idea how to fulfill.
The overwhelming uncertainty and loss washed over me, and a tear slipped out.
Then another one. And before I knew it, I had curled up around a pillow, attempting to muffle the cries that rang through the too-quiet room.
I prided myself on my ability to handle anything thrown my way, but I was only just starting to realize how sheltered I had been in our small town.
How I had never had to deal with the unknown like this.
Why hadn’t Nana prepared me? She’d had twenty-two years to slip it in somewhere. And instead, here I was, having never even known magic existed until today.
In the center of my chest, a golden warmth spread, as if some power was trying to tell me everything would work out.
But how could it when everything I’d ever known was a lie?
The warmth persisted against my doubt, gently but stubbornly continuing to spread, as if it was refusing to let me drown in despair.
With that comforting glow in my chest and my pillow soaked with tears, I finally fell asleep.
I was dreaming. At least I hoped I was as I stood on an oddly familiar battlefield. A woman in golden armor stood with her back to me, her white-blonde hair whipping in the wind. She spun around, and her golden eyes flared in recognition.
“Protect Starfire!” she instructed me. “At all costs. If it’s lost, we’re lost.”
A massive figure wrapped in shadows approached, and she whirled away to face him.
“Is this your plan, Solais?” He laughed, a hauntingly cruel sound that sent shivers down my spine. I knew I should flee but was frozen in place, as though my feet were encased in the ground. He looked me over, and I felt something slitter through me.
“This is the best you can do?” He laughed again as shadows caressed the nape of my neck, tender and threatening at the same time.
She raised her sword. It blazed with an inner light, and words in the ancient language flared along the blade. Her eyes flicked back at me. “Go! And remember!”
Her voice had to be obeyed. The scene faded into the distance as I rolled over and fell back asleep.