Rich Girl

by Mary E. Twomey

  Bastien didn’t let go of my hand, but gripped it tight, as if he was afraid I’d forget our reconnection and run from it. He wasn’t far off with that assumption, but I was too wiped from the adrenaline rush to push him away with any real conviction.

  “Where are we going, Daisy?”

  Link chuckled. “It’s never going to get old, seeing ye with your lady. Never thought it would happen for ye, Bastien. Thought you’d be alone in your cabin in the woods forever.”

  “You and me both, Link.”

  “It’s nice you’ve stopped fantasizing about me, and finally took up with a lady. I told ye before, I just don’t fancy ye like that, Bastien.”

  “Sure, you do,” Bastien kidded with a genuine smile. It was good to see him happy, however fleeting that might be.

  My gut led me down too many flights of stairs to count, steering us off on a floor that was several stories below the one my room was on. We raced through the castle, whipping through hallway after hallway toward the other end, the soldiers getting thicker and more menacing.

  I dropped Bastien’s hand, and he seemed to understand that we couldn’t be all over each other, since I was going to marry his buddy. The soldiers stood at attention, lining the hallway that ended at the room my gut was screaming at me to enter. I gulped and tried to appear as if I belonged here, like I had any kind of authority with which to command them. Bastien and Link fell in line behind me, playing the part of letting me be the princess I’d been marketed as.

  When I reached the room, four guards were standing in front of the door. “Excuse me, guys. I need to get inside.”

  They looked at each other with grim faces before the one in charge spoke. “I’m sorry, Princess, but her majesty most high is still ill, and requires her rest.”

  I sucked in a tremulous breath with manufactured emotion that wasn’t all that far from reality. “Please move aside, so I can be with my mother while she’s sick.”

  Bastien cleared his throat when the guards didn’t move. “Your majesty, maybe you should call Master Kerdik to see if he thinks it’s okay for you to visit your sick mom.”

  I tried not to grin at the name-drop that forced the guards to step aside with no further argument. The one in charge even opened the door for me. “Apologies, your highness. There’s no need for you to summon Master Kerdik. We’ll stand guard to make sure no one interrupts your visit with her majesty most high.”

  I’d never been inside my mom’s room, which was strange to me. Morgan’s was twice the size of my gargantuan room in the castle. It was bedecked in so much gold, it looked like a rap star had decorated it. There were gold frames on the windows, and useless gold trinkets filling tables and littering every surface. Her body was even laid out on a mattress that rested on a massive gold bedframe. Like, a solid gold bedframe.

  Lane and I had shared a one-bedroom apartment for many years when I was younger. There wasn’t anything better than snuggling up with her and watching cheesy eighties movies while eating popcorn in bed together. On nights where it stormed, I woke up to her holding me. I’d always thought she assumed I was scared of the rain, but after experiencing Avalon’s storms, I knew she was the one who had been afraid. We had no space for gold trinkets, which also meant there was no space between us – sisters at our core. Looking at the opulence that surrounded me, I knew I wouldn’t have it any other way, not for all the shiny treasures in Avalon.

  Rigby and Remy were the only ones in the massive room, hovering over Morgan, who lay motionless on the bed. She looked just like my father, whom she’d sucked the life from.

  Remy stood to greet me, grateful that I’d come to relieve him of his post. “Thank goodness. I need to get out of here. There’s nothing I can do, and I’m inches away from strangling her, just to be done with the evil she’s brought into Avalon. They ordered me to tend to her.”

  “Sorry, Remy. Just a little bit longer.” I cleared my throat, making an executive decision. “Actually, I was hoping for a minute alone with my mom. Would that be possible?”

  Rigby looked up at me, as if just seeing me for the first time. His long nose was red from crying, and he looked lost without Morgan to order him around. I felt for the guy, but I knew he wouldn’t like for me to hug him in front of people who might tattle. “Your majesty, what happened to your dress? Is that blood? Are you hurt?” His mourning turned to panic.

  I glanced down and worked up a convincing scoff at the sizeable crimson stain. “Nah. I spilled tomato soup on my dress. Total klutz.”

  “That’s a relief. Are you well? Master Kerdik’s crown didn’t hurt you?”

  My nose scrunched. “Of course not. Kerdik would never hurt me. He’s my friend.”

  Rigby mustered a bitter laugh. “Master Kerdik has no friends, only subjects. If I live a thousand years, I’ll never believe the sight I saw today. That you tamed such a vindictive and evil creature? Your magic runs deep, your grace.” His words sounded like a compliment, but they felt like caution.

  “Thanks, Rigby. Why don’t you go get Morgan some soup? That way she’ll have something soothing in her belly when she wakes up.”

  “As you wish it, your grace.” He lifted Morgan’s hand and kissed it. “I shall return to your side,” he promised her. Though I’d hoped I could flip Rigby, the slave-master psychology ran deep in this one. While sometimes he despised her, it was clear there was part of him that loved her, even though she was flawed. Half of me was grateful that my mother was loved, dysfunctional as that affection might be.

  I waited until Rigby left before whispering commands to the others. “Link, man the door and make sure no one comes in. Remy, make sure if Morgan wakes up, that she doesn’t see me in here. Knock her back out if you have to.”

  “What are you doing, Princess?”

  “I’ll tell you later.” I ran in the direction my gut pulled me, darting toward her closet in the far corner. Well, I thought it would be a closet, but when I opened it, it was a whole other room she used to store her clothes. It was bigger than our entire apartment, but contained only dresses. Yards and yards of thick, luxurious fabric hung from satin-covered hangers. There were shoes of every color, enough to make even Jill jealous. I tried to picture Jill in here, trying on the “costumes” and donning a high class British accent or something while she pretended to be the princess she always imagined herself.

  I blinked twice to rid myself of the distractions, and kept going in the direction my gut pulled me. I opened one of the doors that had gold embellishments framing it, and found a wide closet filled with hair clips and fancy combs. They had all sorts of jewels secured in the ivory settings. I frowned as Bastien swore behind me when he took in the wealth. “I thought it would be in here, but it still feels like we’re a few feet off.”

  “Maybe there’s a secret compartment or something? You’re sure it’s not one of these jewels in the clips?”

  “I’m sure. Help me find it.” I felt around the different platters and pedestals the hair clips were laid out on, looking like decadent treats at a party. I wished for a noticeable candlestick lever or something that could bend down, like in a Batman movie, revealing a whole other part of the house. There was nothing quite so obvious, so I felt around and tried my hand at finding secret passageways. “Try not to move her jewels around all that much. She’ll know if something’s totally off.”

  “You’re kidding. She has so many things. How could she possibly keep track of them all?”

  “They’re her treasure. Best not risk it.”

  My hands searched until my brain yelled at me that my gut would know how to get where I needed to be. “Hold up, let me try something.” I closed my eyes and blew out my air, trying to push out the glittering wealth, Bastien, and the urgency of the moment so I could listen to the small voice that led me here in the first place. I sunk to my knees and felt around on the floor for something that might guide me to where I needed to be.

  Bastien sucked in an astonished breath as my hands reached
out and felt the wall underneath a doorless cabinet off to the side stretching from the floor to the ceiling. My fingers pressed on the ledge of it, but I kept my eyes closed, so I didn’t get distracted. I didn’t trust my eyes to lead the way, so I kept feeling around like I was blind, and hoped for the best.

  I let out a noise of surprise when my fingertips lighted on a small latch on the bottom edge a few inches from the floor, and hooked on the indentation I never would have seen. I gave the latch a slight tug, pulling out a drawer that couldn’t have been more than three inches deep.

  Bastien and I both swore in unison when the treasure screamed out at us. Large gems almost as big as the citrine glittered up at us by the dozens. Bastien dropped to his knees beside me, his eyes as wide as saucers. “Which one is it?”

  I closed my eyes and placed my hands flat above the jewels like a five-dollar psychic, biting my lower lip to see what my gut had to say about it. “None of them,” I ruled, my shoulders deflating. “It’s here, but it’s not these.”

  I took a chance and pulled the drawer completely out, guessing that the blessed gem wasn’t in the hidden drawer at all, but perhaps resting in the shallow cavity below the doorless cabinet. I laid down flat, hoping my blood didn’t stain through my dress on to the fancy red and gold rug beneath my bosom. My arm stretched out, finally hitting the back as I strained with all my reach. I desperately felt around the far wall of the hollow, gasping when my fingers brushed against a velvet pouch I couldn’t see. My stomach churned with a scream that this was the one I’d been searching for. Though I couldn’t see it to verify, I knew I had the treasure in my hand.

  Bastien tugged on the rug to slide me out, and helped me up like a gentleman. “Is that it? Let’s see.”

  I didn’t bother opening the pouch. “This is it. We’ve got to get out of here, though. We can’t have Morgan seeing us in her closet. I’ve got to get this to Lane before she realizes it’s gone missing.”

  Bastien looked like he wanted to argue, but nodded his assent instead. “Okay. Let’s grab some of these other jewels and give them to the duchesses and dukes who are just getting their land back. They could use something to restart their rule.”

  I shook my head as I bent down to push the drawer back in, cringing at the squeaky noise it made. “First off, we’re not thieves. Stealing from my mother is still stealing. Secondly, Morgan will know if anything goes missing. It’s her way. We need time, and that’s not the way to buy it.”

  Bastien’s eyebrows furrowed. “Are you sure? It’s all sitting right there. I can’t imagine she’d notice if a handful of those rocks goes missing.”

  “I’ll notice if I’m a thief. Right now, I’m only stealing jewels from her to give them back to the people she originally took them from. Righting a wrong. I won’t turn into my mother, Bastien. Don’t make me into a woman who steals.”

  Bastien shifted a few of the combs around so they didn’t look so disheveled on the pedestal. He shot me a furtive look out of the corner of his eye and said quietly, “Did I ever tell you that I love you?”

  It was like being punched in the stomach; all the air flooded out of me in a gust of surprise. There were too many responses to choose from to select the right one. “No.”

  “Well, I do.”

  I blew out a gust of air. “Then don’t ask me to be less than I am. Stealing is less.”

  “I get it now. I’m sorry. I love the way you are. I shouldn’t have tried to change that.”

  I didn’t address his liberal use of the “L” word, but instead tried to tuck the jewel into my bosom again.

  Bastien held his palm out to me expectantly. “You’re bleeding, honey. I can hold onto it for you, and send it off with Link.”

  “You trust him with something like this? Remember, we trusted Duke Henri at the beginning of this whole mess.”

  Bastien blew out a raspberry. “I don’t trust the Council like I trust the Brotherhood. Link’s not even from here, so he’s not caught up in the drama of Avalon like the rest of us. He doesn’t care about the jewels. He cares about loyalty.”

  “Rosie! Rosie, your mother is stirring. Hurry back out!”

  Bastien’s word had to be good enough to clear Link, since we were out of time. “Morgan’s waking up right now. Remy needs us back.” As we ran back out through the closet, our footsteps tried to stay silent, so our transgressions wouldn’t be found out. Bastien held onto my hand as we closed doors as quietly as we could. Then we bolted out of the place no one was allowed.

  When we reached the main bedroom, Remy was standing on the opposite side of the bed, prying at Morgan’s face to keep it angled away from us. “She’s still in and out of it. Drop down and crawl towards the door, so she doesn’t know you were in here. I’ll distract her so you can escape. The other Untouchable is waiting for you just outside the door with the soldiers. Go!

  I gave Remy a thumbs-up, and dropped to the carpet, pulling Bastien down with me. We army-crawled to the door as silently as we could manage, rising up on our knees when Remy rubbed salve onto Morgan’s face, her eyes automatically closing. He cleared his throat to cover over the sound of the door opening. All three of our hearts pounded erratically as Bastien and I stood up and slipped out of my mother’s bedroom.

  26

  Old Friends

  As much as I wanted to doubt Link’s ability to play errand boy without mucking it up, the hard look in his eyes settled a small amount of uncertainty inside of me. “Straight to Lane, okay? Do you remember who Lane is?” We had only just managed to find a hallway where no guards were waiting for Morgan’s next command.

  Link’s mouth drew to the side in thought. “Lane… Lane… Tight arse, double handful-sized tits like yours, and pink, pouty lips?”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Just make sure it’s her before you deliver this to the wrong person.”

  Link made me jump when he kissed my cheek. “I gotcha, wee Rose. I was only joshing.”

  I shoved at him and scrubbed the affection off my cheek. “Dude, I don’t know you.”

  “If you’re Bastien’s lady, then we’ve got nothing but time to remedy that.”

  “Oh, joy.”

  Bastien’s arm coiled around my waist, not in a territorial way, but to focus me on the task at hand. “Go on, Link. Rally the Brotherhood and find a place out of earshot. Rosie’s got a few things to take care of still, and then we’ll meet you there.”

  I touched my forehead, a wave of exhaustion sweeping over me. “I can’t believe we pulled it off before Morgan woke up.”

  Bastien let loose a gust of relief. “Let’s go back to Master Kerdik. He said for you to call him when we were finished.”

  “Sounds good. Water first, though. I’m super thirsty. Let’s stop by the kitchen.”

  “Whatever you say, hun.” He held my hand as we walked, and I was too turned around by the day’s events to separate myself from him. “I want you out of here as quick as possible.”

  I nodded, but when we crossed near the main entrance, Aunt Avril’s shrill voice stopped me short. “Rosalie! Sweetheart, come here.”

  My jaw was on edge as I turned to face her, dropping Bastien’s hand to remind myself that I was engaged to someone else. “Aunt Avril. I can’t imagine why you would want to talk to me after what you did.”

  Her eyes that had been welcoming now turned into slits, dropping the veil of friendliness I’d fallen for all too easily. Her voice was quiet to keep any passing guards from overhearing us. “I took back what was rightfully mine.”

  “And you took three jewels that weren’t yours. Roland tried to pin that theft on me, you know. Not that you care.”

  Avril touched her brow. “Sweetheart, I didn’t mean to pin anything on you. I didn’t accuse you of stealing the gem. I left with the extra ones because it seemed unwise to leave it so unprotected. I mean, if I could steal them, what’s to stop anyone else?”

  “Oh, and you were on your way to deliver them to Province 9, right? Is that wh
ere Roland found you?”

  She stiffened. “My nephew misunderstood my intentions. But yes, I would have given them to Elaine and Roland. I am not Morgan; I wouldn’t steal from my sister.”

  “You stole from your niece,” I countered. It was her that had put it all into motion. Because Roland thought I’d stolen the gem, Bastien had made me strip down to be sure I wasn’t a dirty thief. Yes, Bastien had to answer for his mistrust that I hadn’t deserved, but it was her catalyst that tore Bastien and me apart, and I wasn’t about to brush it all under the rug.

  Avril’s gaze drifted to my hand to stare at my ring finger. “Master Kerdik certainly let you make a spectacle of yourself today.”

  “Take it up with him, then. Kerdik’s my friend, and he lets me be myself.”

  “Yes, well.” She sniffed, as if I wasn’t up to snuff with what the world expected of me. I didn’t argue. “Once word gets around that he’s the one who gave you your ring, my sister will see to it that it’s torn from your finger. You should keep it far away from Morgan.”

  I made a fist to keep my ring in place, but Bastien answered for me. “I’ll make sure Morgan leaves Rosie alone. I’ll be here to keep her safe.”

  “No, you won’t,” I said, though maybe I should’ve saved that conversation for another time.

  Her amused gaze flickered between us. “A fiancé and a Guardien to warm your bed? My, my. Like mother, like daughter.”

  “Shut up, Avril,” Bastien said with a glower.

  Rage steamed in the balls of my feet. “Get out. This is my house, and you can’t talk to me like I’m some stupid kid in here.”

  She tsked me, as if I’d spoken out of turn. “I saw the way your soumettre gazed at you during your coronation. Demi can sure make a girl feel special.” She rolled her shoulders back. “I’ve been away for far too long. Demi was my soumettre for a time, you know. He kept me quite satisfied, though I’m sure you know how adept he is at that.”