2. Keira
W e pass through two more towns before we stop for the night.
At the first, they stare at us in stony silence and not a single missile is thrown.
Their population is mostly low fae, who suffer the most with the magic receding from these dying lands.
At the second town, they toss stones alongside the fruit and the guards are forced to throw up air shields around me.
If Titania didn’t want me alive, I might have died under their hatred.
The entire time, Aldrin’s simmering fury is my constant companion. He keeps me going, with little encouragements and the warmth of his soul wrapped around mine. He stays in my head so I don’t have to endure this alone. I can’t do it without him.
The entire cage rocks dangerously as the litter-bearers bring it to the ground beneath a canopy of immense trees, with sparse starlight seeping through.
Soldiers erect their sleeping quarters out of tree roots, dragging the fleshy limbs out of the ground.
They interweave them at an angle to create a tent-like structure.
Small saplings spring up from the seeds littered all over the clearing, growing until their limbs intertwine with the roots and spread out across the structure.
When their leaves and blooms unfurl, they cover the surface like a canvas, filling any gaps.
A chill seeps into my bones from the cold, sticky fruit juices.
I have nothing to protect me from the elements.
No curtains or blanket. Only piles of rot.
Even my litter-bearers are free to roam by the fire, eat with the others and erect their lodgings.
Some have wet hair. They clearly found somewhere to wash.
Until now, it felt like we were in this together.
In the distance, the voices of soldiers ring out as they build a near-palace for Titania to sleep in.
The trunks and branches of many trees are pulled from their original shapes, weaving together to create the walls and ceiling of a large dome.
Strings of huge, bell-shaped flowers hang over the openings for the door and windows, and hundreds of fire orbs float around the space.
There must be more inside, hinted at by the warm glow within.
A deep hatred for the High Chancellor rolls through me.
She sows discord between her people purely for her own gain. She fans the fires of prejudice. It is disgusting.
I find myself stalking around my cage, kicking the fruit out between the bars.
Footsteps have me whirling on my heel toward an approaching guard.
His long dark hair is pulled up into a topknot, and he has a short-cropped beard.
It is the intensity of his bright blue eyes that forces me back a step.
They flick from my matted hair, to my dirty skin and clothes, to the filthy space around me with sheer disapproval. Like it is my fault I am such a mess.
Our eyes connect as he reaches the door, grabbing the lock. I fumble back until I slam into the bars at my rear. He is a huge bear of a man and could easily overpower me. Fear spikes within me at the thought of being caged and alone with him.
His thick eyebrows pinch in the middle as his expression darkens at my reaction.
“Jasper, my dear,” Titania’s voice rings out. My eyes dart back to her miniature palace, where she stands in the doorway, flanked by Torin and Florian. “Don’t waste good food on the little human. She already has plenty of it in her cage.”
My gaze lowers to Jasper’s other hand. He holds a plate with a thick piece of flatbread piled with juicy meat and curried vegetables. My stomach growls despite the rancid scents around me. Jasper’s body locks up, and death burns in his eyes.
He doesn’t turn back to Titania, but speaks to her in a surprisingly even tone. “The food in this cage is inedible, especially for a human.”
Titania flicks her long black fingernails.
“Then perhaps she’ll get luckier tomorrow, and someone will throw something at her that she can eat.
” She laughs and steps through the doorway as her son holds open the curtain for her.
She glances back over her shoulder, her eyes glowing with eerie flames in the darkness.
“Jasper, I will know if you feed her, and I will be very disappointed. You know what happens when I am disappointed.”
The guard stiffens and closes his eyes for a long time. When he composes himself, he pins me with that imposing stare once more. “This is larger than you or me. But I will get something to you tonight. I, for one, have not forgotten what it was like to live under Aldrin’s rule.”
He motions for another guard to take that steaming plate of food, exchanging a few words with him, and I watch with longing as it disappears.
The lock clicks and the door of the cage protests loudly as it is swung open, drawing my attention to Jasper’s broad shoulders filling up the entire doorway.
Torin is stomping through the campsite, narrowed eyes homed in on the guard.
“Before you say a single damned thing, Torin, I am taking your mother’s captive to relieve herself in privacy.” Jasper shoots him a dark look. “And no, you will not be coming with us to supervise .”
Torin’s lips twist as a nasty gleam flares in his eyes. “The prisoner is not to be disturbed,” he says in a sickly-sweet tone.
“This procession the High Chancellor has designed will get very uncomfortable for all of us if the prisoner doesn’t relieve herself in privacy, outside of this cage,” Jasper bites out.
Torin wrinkles his nose. “You’re right. The Queen of Nothing stinks already.” He stomps off.
Jasper flicks his head at me. “Come. I will take you to wash up.”
Somewhere no one else will see us. Where he can do whatever he wants to me and no one will be the wiser. I remain frozen to the spot, tiny tremors overtaking my body.
Jasper lets out a long-suffering breath. “Am I not the only one who has shown you kindness so far? Who has risked their neck to help you?”
You can trust him. Aldrin’s voice fills my head. He sounds so incredibly tired, still slipping in and out of inky blackness. Jasper will never hurt you. I trust him as much as I trust Silvan.
I follow Jasper, each step unsteady behind him. I flinch as his magic flares up, but he simply douses my cage in a heavy spring rain, washing it clean. A shuddering breath of relief escapes me.
As we push through the bodies of guards drinking and talking around the fire, Rainier materializes and I rear away from him with panic.
I expect him to sneer at me, to pepper me with insults and find an excuse to manhandle me, but I am ignored completely.
He bumps into Jasper and thrusts a bundle wrapped in paper into his hands.
Jasper quickly hides it within his cloak.
We break through the clearing and into the thicker woods, where I can no longer hear the roar of voices or smell the woodsmoke.
Jasper turns on me sharply as we reach a gurgling creek.
“I know you have magic. A decent amount of it. I will wait in the woods with my back turned, close enough in case you need me, and I will let you know if anyone is coming. You can wash yourself and your clothes in the stream and combine your fire and air magic to dry them.”
He disappears into the trees, moving with surprisingly quiet steps for such a big man.
I wait a number of heartbeats to ensure he is true to his word, then slowly peel off my clothes.
My stockings are stiff from dried sugars, which flake off the fabric.
Part of my skirt is torn and the laces of my bodice have broken in multiple places.
I pull my dress over my head, wincing with the motion, then gingerly touch my ribs. A couple are surely cracked. There is a motley patchwork of red, purple and black all over my body.
How many days of this am I to endure?
I step into the freezing, ankle-deep water, trying not to hiss at the shock.
The scab on my lip splits open again and the iron tang of blood creeps into my mouth.
I cup my hands and drink as much of the pure water as I can tolerate, quenching my desperate thirst. The tiniest sprites, mere specks of brilliant blue and green light, dance on top of the water that gurgles over smooth rocks.
“You won’t mind if I heat the water a little, will you?
” I ask them, threading just enough fire magic into it to make it lukewarm as it washes over me.
Another downstream weave pulls the heat back out, so as not to disturb the ecosystem here.
The last thing I want to do is hurt the wildlife.
I squat, splashing water up onto my flesh, rigorously scrubbing myself.
A sprite lands in my palm, weighing next to nothing. Within the orb of bright light there is a tiny silhouette. These creatures are different from the tall, intelligent fire sprites who fought in my realm for Aldrin. Simple. Almost like fireflies. I guess there are many species of sprites.
More of their glowing orbs dart up from the water’s surface, floating around me and bouncing off my bare flesh.
They bring torrents of water up with them, splashing and spraying me.
I jolt and stand abruptly, my heart skipping a beat.
More attack me—except they aren’t hurting me.
A gentle whirlpool of water dances around me at their command, engulfing my body in its embrace.
They are helping me wash.
A dozen tiny hands thread through my hair and more scrub at my arms and legs.
I do my best to wash without knocking them, using my magic of decay to remove the rancid fruit from my skin.
It is an ability of Autumn magic I didn’t know I had until I turned Finan into a pile of ash and dirt.
I cringe at the horrendous memory, tucking it deep within me.
There is a lightness in my soul by the time my skin, hair and clothes are clean and dry again.
“Jasper?” I call out.