The Lady-in-Waiting
"Idon't know what that means."
"It means I'm too human for Morrath." She set the brush down and dipped the cloth in the basin before pressing it gently against my shoulder. "And too monster for everyone else."
I frowned. “I’ve heard the name. Only stories."
"They're mostly wrong."
"Then tell me the truth."
She smiled faintly. "Ivakars are stronger than humans.
Faster. Harder to kill." The smile faded.
“We are the weaker line of a battle bird native to Morrath. Pharikars. We are not as strong as them. We inherit just enough of their strength to frighten people, but never enough to truly protect ourselves. We were meant for farming and factories. Gentle work. Not killing.”
"So neither side wants you."
"Exactly."
The room fell quiet except for water dripping back into the basin.
"I thought Morrath trapped everyone born here."
"It does."
I blinked. "But you were born in Veynar."
She shook her head. "No. I was born in Tearsar."
That only confused me further. "I don't understand."
"My mother was born in Morrath." She worked carefully through the knots in my hair.
"She was a midwife." She paused. "One winter she delivered a stillborn feeder to a wealthy family.
They feared scandal. The child was illegitimate.
" She reached for a small bottle of scented oil. "They paid my mother for her silence."
"With coin?"
She laughed softly. "No." She met my eyes in the mirror. "With the child's blood."
My mouth went dry.
"Infant feeder blood contains enough ancient magic to cross the Blind Gate." She looked away. "Very little does."
I stared at her.
"My mother waited."
"For what?"
"Until she was carrying children."
"Children?"
She nodded. "My brother and me."
Silence.
"She crossed into Tearsar while she was pregnant."
I swallowed. "So you were born outside Morrath."
"Exactly."
"Which means?”
"Morrath cannot bind me."
I thought about that. "So your mother escaped."
"For us." She smiled sadly. "She gave birth." A pause. "And then she died. The blood she had taken wasn’t enough to keep her alive outside of Morrath.” The words were said without emotion. “I never knew her."
"I'm sorry."
She shrugged. "I was adopted by a family traveling through Tearsar. They brought my brother and me back to Veynar."
I frowned. "If all of that happened, and Colsar requested your return, then how did you end up here?”
Her hands stopped. For the first time since entering the room she hesitated. “The day before I was due to leave the palace, a seer told King Orsin of my origins.”
The room felt colder.
"What do you mean?"
“King Orsin said he had agreed to return me.
" She looked at me. “But he never said that he would return me untouched.” She laughed bitterly.
“I was told I should be honored because King Orsin of Yorali believes I was worth bedding. He had never had an Ivakar before, he did not know if the power was transferrable or not.”
“He wanted to siphon you,” I said, remembering Sadie’s screams and Nox fighting against dampener cuffs.
"He liked beautiful things." She reached for another towel. "But outside of his daughters and some of his wives, he rarely touched them first."
My stomach twisted at the word daughters.
I stared at her. "He had other men for that." Something inside me twisted. "To make certain they pleased him."
"That’s—”
"I know."
She resumed drying my hair. "I never met the first one." I looked at her. "He entered my cell." She smiled. "I clawed both of his eyes out before he managed to say three words."
I could not help it. A laugh escaped me. "You did?"
"He screamed magnificently." She looked almost proud. "The second guard became rather angry."
"What happened?"
"He dragged me to the pit entrance." My smile disappeared. "He threw me in."
"You survived."
"I did."
"How?"
She looked at me with quiet amusement. "They assumed Morrath would kill me."
"It didn't."
"No." She smiled. "It simply sent me home. This land cannot kill me, my bloodline originates from here. All the same, I had never been here. And when they threw me I landed right in The Sorting hall.”
The Sorting Hall. The name meant nothing to me.
"I expected monsters."
"What did you find?" I asked.
“Terrified humans.” She laughed. "And…wealthy looking creatures, many of whom looked human like you and I. And then I met King Axar. And the first thing he ever said to me was—”
She cleared her throat and dropped her voice into something older and drier. "You are not Yorali.”
I could not help smiling. "That doesn't sound frightening."
"No." Her expression softened.
I looked at her. “But this was still your mother’s prison. So why stay?”
She laughed. “It is not a prison in the way you might think. She looked around the dark room. “Many places like this make it feel that way, but there are farmers and schools and hot springs in Morrath.” She paused. “There are even those that practice kindness.”
She sighed. “Moreover, while I was rebuilding my life and preparing to return to Veynar…” She folded the towel neatly.
“Everything changed. You disappeared. Prince Colsar disappeared.
King Sevrin nearly destroyed himself looking for you, apparently.
And Axar's spies reported that Nox had already infiltrated Veynar.
" She paused. "My brother came shortly afterward and visited briefly.”
I frowned. "He came here?"
"He heard they had thrown me into the pit and knew I would survive it.”
She laughed. “He knew exactly where to find me,” she said. “Briavar, near the hot springs.”
“There are hot springs there?”
She nodded excitedly. “Yes. It is not terribly far from the shoreline so the air is clear. Most people think Briavar and they think of Bloodhaven, but there is much more to it.”
“Bloodhaven?”
“A feeding den,” she said. “Supposedly. I’ve never been there, for obvious reasons,” she said with a snort.
I laughed, mostly because her snort was the loudest I had heard in a very long time. "What does your brother do now?"
"He still serves Prince Colsar."
Something about the way she said it made a memory stir. "What is your brother's name?"
"Iavis."
The name struck me like a bell. "Iavis." I looked up sharply. "The soldier. The one who used to follow me into the woods. The one who always pretended he hadn't seen me sneaking out."
She laughed. "That sounds exactly like him."
I smiled before I realized I was doing it. “And now?"
She squeezed my hand. “Well, I suppose I could go back home. But Axar told me about a woman he had loved named Ryaran and how he had promised to keep an eye out for her daughter. He put me here with King Sevrin, who was forming a household of servants for you at the time.”
My mouth went dry. “What?”
“Yes. It was a strange time. You had gone missing. There had been a shipwreck near Alarna covered in undead. Prince Colsar apparently had gone looking for you.” She leaned in.
“There were rumors that when King Sevrin was not sure if you had died, he would have undead corpses sent to Rathmor for inspection.”
I pulled away. “No,”
She nodded. “Sometimes he would dine with them, apparently.” She frowned. “I am not sure how he made that work, but yes.”
I stared. Then burst into laughter. She started to laugh too. Everything hurt but I did not care.
“Anyway, he seemed to have plans for you here in Morrath, the servants were whispering. So I stayed here listening for information, and I asked Iavis to stay in Veynar and listen too.”
Something in my chest warmed at that.
She sniffed. “I’ll admit it seemed unfair that Iavis got to meet you first. I have always wanted to be your lady-in-waiting. Yet Iavis got to walk you to the woods and he is talented at barely anything.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And what are your talents?”
“I am clearly quite skilled at washing you,” she said. “You’ll note I have accomplished the very burdensome task of brushing half of your hair and scrubbing half of one of your arms over the past hour.”
I paused. “An hour?” I looked at the door. “He is still looking for the tailor?”
She grinned. “I told you, the location was subjective in nature.”
We laughed again, and for the first time since arriving in Morrath I did not feel quite so alone.