When I step outside, the cold morning breeze greets me, moving the loose strands of my hair. There’s a light dusting of snow on the ground, my steps leaving a trail of footprints as I walk to the railing and look down.
The commotion is coming from a pack of excited dogs racing around, nipping at each other in a wooden pen built against a small stone structure. A smile lifts my lips as I watch them roll in the snow, tongues lolling as they yip and spring.
Two men are down there with them, dressed in such thick furs that I’m surprised they aren’t waddling. One of the men disappears into the building that I assume is the kennels, coming out a few seconds later dragging a dogsled behind him.
With a whistle, the shaggy haired dogs rush over to him, tails wagging while he hooks them up to the sled. I realize they’re a hunting pack when I see the other man loading arrows and blades into the back.
Once the dogs are all strapped in, another shrill whistle pierces the air, and both handlers stand upright on the footrests as the dogs race off. The dogsled heads for the mountains standing sentry behind the castle, and I watch them until they disappear.
A pang of jealousy hits me while I watch them rush away. It must be so freeing, to ride off like that. With the wind blowing in your hair, the glittery snow at your feet. I bet it’s even better than standing on the wall to feel the breeze.
Going back inside, I quickly go through my morning routine, getting dressed in yet another gown with a horrible boning bodice, snapping them all one by one. If females were meant to have their waists strangled and breasts shoved up all damn day, we would’ve been born with corset ribs.
With a coat on to ward off the chill, I make it halfway to my bedroom door before my footsteps slow and my conscience falters.
Are you truly okay with the risk of murdering someone? Again?
My fingers tingle beneath my gloves as my teeth worry my bottom lip. But this doubt, this is what he wants. He’s getting in my head, and I can’t let him.
Heading for the door with renewed vigor, I think of all the places I’m going to go today. Except when I grab the handle to leave, it doesn’t turn.
I stare at the golden metal, noting the lack of a bolt on my side. The bastard locked me in. After I agreed to always keep guards with me, he still locked me up.
My back tingles. Sweat gathers on my neck.
I’m suddenly not here, in Fifth Kingdom’s bedroom. I’m back in Highbell, inside my cage, palms wrapped around the bars like a prisoner in a cell.
Barred away. Locked in. Kept.
I’m frozen, an inhale stuck in my throat as that feeling of being trapped presses against my chest like a force of gravity.
But then my ribbons move, their lengths wrapping around my torso, squeezing until I remember to take a breath.
I hold all the power. Me.
With a shaky exhale, I dig down, brushing off the caged animal feeling and instead, I blow a breath against my anger to stoke it to life, using it as a shield. My anger makes me feel better, makes me feel more in control. It reminds me that I’m not the powerless favored he wants me to think I am.
Of course Midas locked me in. I should’ve expected nothing less. I should’ve been emotionally prepared. There might not be bars around me, but this is just another way for him to cage me in. My keeper has a new lock, but that doesn’t mean I’m trapped.
Gritting my teeth, I raise a fist and knock on the door, knuckles rapping loudly. “Excuse me?”
I don’t get a reply, which irritates me, because I know without a doubt that there are guards out there.
Pressing my lips together, I pound my fist this time and shout. “Excuse me!” I hear shuffling on the other side and then hurried whispers. “I know you’re out there! Is that you, Scofield?”
There’s another stretch of silence and then, “Yes, my lady.” I don’t have to see his face to hear his grimace.
“Scofield, my door seems to have jammed accidentally. Can you open it, please?”
“I can’t do that, my lady.” Yep, that’s definitely a grimace I hear.
I stare daggers through the door. “Why not?”
“King Midas’s orders. You’re to stay in your rooms today for your safety.”
“Is that so?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Yes, my lady,” his muffled response comes.
“Scofield, open the door so we don’t have to talk through it.”
“Sorry, my lady, I don’t have the key.”
Anger fumes in my chest. “That conniving prick,” I hiss.
Scofield seems to make a choking noise. “What?”
“Not you,” I say with a sigh as I swipe a hand across my forehead in frustration. “Listen, Scofield, I need you to go get Midas for me.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Goddess, he sure has this one trained well.
“Why not?” I ask.
“Because he said when you asked me to do that, that’s how I was to respond,” Scofield answers honestly.
My eye twitches.
“His Majesty also told me to inform you that this is necessary.”
A scoff accompanies my rolling eyes. “I’m sure.”
Turning, I pace around the room, hands fidgeting in front of me as I contemplate what to do. I could stay put until Midas lets me out, but that option leaves a disgusting taste in my mouth, one that makes me grow increasingly claustrophobic.
I could also try and see what kind of damage my ribbons can do to the door, but the guards would definitely alert Midas if I tried to break out.
My eyes cut over to the balcony. Maybe I can sneak out instead?
I’m across the room before I can second-guess myself, and I slam the door behind me. Walking over to the railing, I assess my situation, looking all around. I’m on the third floor. Not terrible. Not that great either.
There seems to be a couple of jutting stones on the wall that I might be able to use as a foothold if I can lower myself from the railing slowly. That is, if I don’t slip on the iciness and plunge to my death. That wouldn’t be ideal.
Even though I could get hurt, the thought of staying stuck in this room all day already has my pulse racing. I can’t. I just can’t be confined.
I lean further over the railing, trying to scout the best path, but then I lean too far without meaning to. My hands slip, and my center of gravity slips with it. Fear grapples my stomach as I go tipping right over, too fast to stop.
Shit!
A shriek rips out of me as I topple ass over head, and I curse at myself for my own carelessness. I squeeze my eyes closed against the plunge, but then faster than lightning, my ribbons act. They immediately thrust up and wrap around the iron railing, making my golden coat fly off as I fall.
My eyes fly open as my body jerks to a sudden halt, with another shout yanked out of my lungs. The skin at my back jolts in a painful tug as I’m left to dangle, my ribbons keeping me suspended in the air. Chest heaving, I stare at the ground beneath me—a ground that now seems much further away than I’d like.
Blood pounds in my ears from my short-lived plummet, and I swing lightly back and forth, hanging like a puppet by its strings.
The irony is not lost on me.
Straining, I try to reach up and grab my ribbons like a rope so I can pull myself back up, but on my first try, I immediately remember I have zero arm muscles because I became a lazy, complacent twit.
“Idiot,” I hiss, arms shaking as I start to lose my grip.
“Funny, I called you the same thing.”
I flinch in surprise at the voice, losing my hold on my ribbons in the process, and fall back down into my splayed puppet pose.
Not my finest hour.
My gaze immediately lands on the person standing on the ground beneath me. My favorite Wrath is smirking at me in amusement as I dangle. She has smooth ebony skin and a lithe form, hints of her strength buried beneath army leathers and a
thick winter coat. She’s got calf-high boots on and a sword hanging at her hip, and she looks up at me with her arms crossed and her booted feet planted shoulder-width apart, every bit the warrior.
“Uh. Hey, Lu,” I say with a ridiculous wave. “What are you doing?”
She arches a black brow at me as I swing back and forth. “I think the more entertaining question is what are you doing?”
I cross my arms, but then realize that makes me look even more foolish, so I let them hang back down again. “Nothing.”
Her lips twitch. “Uh-huh. Did you need help, Gildy Locks?”
“Nope. I, uh...I’ve got it handled. Don’t try to catch me or anything, okay?”
A snort escapes her. “Wasn’t going to. I want to enjoy watching you fall on your ass.”
“Thanks,” I say dryly.
With great difficulty, I crane my neck to look back at the wall. I search wildly for a solution, my eyes falling to the balcony railing below me that’s about five feet away. I blow out a breath, trying to get my hair out of my face. “Dammit.”
Lu starts laughing at my expense.
Sweat gathers on my forehead, and my spine is shooting in pain. It feels like my ribbons are going to rip right off my back if I don’t hurry up. I grind my teeth and try to concentrate as I remove a few of the ribbons so they can grab the railing of the balcony below me instead.
Except, controlling just a couple at a time is really difficult to do when I have twenty-four of the damn things and I’ve kept them hidden for most of my life and only used them to do my stupid hair.
“Idiot,” I curse myself again.
“Yep. Glad we’ve established that,” Lu calls up.
Did I say she was my favorite Wrath? She’s not. I prefer Osrik.
Slowly, I start to unravel three of them at once, but three more start to join in without permission. Then another three and another three and—
A scream tears out of my throat as I go falling again. This time, my ribbons are too tangled with one another to latch onto anything at all. A few of them attempt to go rigid and help break my fall, but I still end up face-first in a heap in the snow.
Great.
Stunned, all I can do is lie still for a second until I realize there’s a telling metallic taste on my tongue. I’ve only been out of my room for about thirty seconds, and I’ve already made a Divine-damned mistake. I want to strangle myself with my own ribbons, but at this point, I’m not sure I’d even be able to manage that properly.
Shoving my arms beneath me, I scramble to sit up, spitting out snow. My eyes widen when I see my golden faceprint on the ground.
“You alright, Gildy?” Lu asks as the sound of her footsteps draws nearer.
“Fine!” I rush to say as I feverishly wipe the gold away, burying it beneath a clumsy pile of unmarred snow and soaking my gloves in the process.
When her steps crunch closer, I leap up and whirl around at her nearness and try to back up a step, but my ribbons get tangled between my legs, and I almost fall. Again.
Luckily, I just manage to snatch the ribbons out from under my feet before I totter over.
Lu stops in front of me, eyes glittering with mirth. “Interesting way to leave your rooms.”
“I was just practicing using my ribbons,” I reply as I begin to dust the snow off my clothes. “You know. Trusting my instincts.”
“...Right,” she replies in a tone that says she doesn’t believe me at all.
Around us, a gentle snowfall sends paper-thin flakes floating down from the scrawled clouds. The snow gathers on her shorn head, specks melting against the shapes of shaved daggers cut into her black hair, but she doesn’t seem to mind the cold.
I quickly pick up my coat and yank it on, pulling up the hood so that snow won’t gild against my face.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a spot on the ground beside me where I missed some gold snow. I take a jerky step to the side, pulling the skirt of my dress to block it. Lu’s brown eyes flick down before coming back up to my face.
My cheeks bloom with nervous heat, but I try to keep my face as impassive as possible. “What are you doing here?” I ask. “I’m surprised they allowed a Fourth army soldier inside the castle walls.”
“They didn’t.” She shrugs her shoulders while lazily resting a hand on the twisted hilt of her sword. I wait for her to go on, but she doesn’t. Not that Lu is exactly talkative, but she’s usually more forthcoming than this.
An awkward silence shoulders its way between us like an unwelcome visitor. Now that the ridiculous moment of me hanging off the balcony has passed and she’s no longer laughing at my expense, I can tell that the energy between us is different. There’s something in her expression, something unsaid in her dark eyes as she looks at me. And then, with a jolt, I realize what it is.
Disappointment.
I clear my throat. “If you weren’t allowed inside, then how did you get here?” I ask before looking around, but we’re the only ones here. The dog kennel is the closest thing to us, and it sits quiet and empty.
“I walked.”
My exhale comes out like a puff of smoke at her short response. “Lu...”
She tilts her head and looks me up and down. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it, Gildy.”
“Do what?” I ask with confusion.
“Come back to this,” she says with a wrinkled nose as she looks over at the looming castle with distaste. “Doesn’t seem like much of a trade-off.”
All at once, I realize that’s the reason for the stand-offish glare, the disappointment in her eyes. The longer she looks at me like this, the less I can stand it. She doesn’t break the silence, doesn’t back down. The expression on her face is like she wants something from me. An apology? I don’t know.
“Look, I can see that you’re mad at me.”
“I’m not mad,” she replies dismissively. “I just didn’t expect you to rush back under Midas’s thumb. I thought you were better than that.”
I try not to flinch at her scathing tone. Attempt to dispel the hurt that inhales through my teeth and wriggles down my throat.
I like Lu—enormously. I lost a lot more than just my freedom when I chose to come back to Midas. I just didn’t realize until right now that one of those things was her respect. Or how much it would bother me.
The tense silence stretches for too long, making me fidget beneath the judgment I see shining in her eyes. I don’t know what to say. I have no idea if she knows that Rip is actually her king, or even if that would make a difference.
I want to ask about him, to ask if she knows we talked in the cage room, but I tamp down the desire immediately. I obviously severed any possibility of friendship with her as soon as I returned to Midas.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her that I’m not putting myself beneath Midas’s rule again, that I’m going to figure out a way to leave, but I hold back. I’m not sure if that confession would even help, or if it would just endanger my plan.
The fact is, Lu and I aren’t friends. She’s loyal to Rip, not me.
I shift on my feet, unable to stand here under her scrutiny for another second. “I should go. Especially since you’re not allowed inside the walls. I don’t want you to get in trouble if you’re seen with me.”
Lu scoffs. “Ranhold’s security is abysmal. I could break through the walls with my eyes closed and steal King Midas’s crown right off his head if I wanted to.”
My eyes widen. “Please don’t do that.”
“Don’t worry your gilded head about it. I have things to do, but not that. At least, not unless I get bored.”
“Lu.”
Rolling her eyes, she begins to walk away. “Don’t worry about me. Go ahead and do whatever you snuck out to do.”
My shoulders stiffen. “I didn’t say I was sneaking out,” I call at her back.
Turning, she continues to walk backwards as she taps the side of her nose a
nd then points at me. “A sneak can always spot another sneak, Gildy.”
Before I can come up with a response, she disappears around the side of the castle, leaving me alone.
With a sigh, I look up at where my balcony is high above me and shake my head. I’m lucky I didn’t break my damn neck. Good thing there was a pile of plush snow to catch me. As it is, my back is aching and my face hurts from my graceful landing. All because Midas is a controlling, manipulative prick. And now, Lu hates me.
So far, my morning has not been great.
But like Lu, I turn and start walking away, because I do, in fact, have sneaking to do, starting with a layout of the castle grounds.
Chapter 10
AUREN
Sneaking, it turns out, is hard work.
Lu is right about the security though, because if I’m able to sneak around, then their patrols aren’t the best. I don’t exactly blend in. Not that I don’t have to put in effort to not be seen—I do. But the fact that I’m able to get around without being caught is a bit concerning. I’m not exactly experienced at being covert.
I take my time scouting the castle grounds, making note of everything I see. After a while though, I start to just meander around, simply enjoying being outside by myself. It’s peaceful here in a way that Highbell never was, no angry blizzards or wailing winds. There’s just a gentle snowfall that comes and goes, white feather clouds to plume the sky.
Luckily for me, the grounds of Ranhold Castle are vast, so I have plenty of places to wander. I see the kennels, ice sculptures, a courtyard, and rows of greenhouses. I’m able to build a map in my head, keeping particular note of every door that leads into the castle. It makes me feel better to get a layout of the exits, just in case.
Between the greenhouses, I watch my feet as I walk, my mind drifting back to Lu. My shoes crunch over the snowy walkway, the glass panes next to me frosted over in crystallized webs to trap my thoughts. I wonder what she’s doing here and why she snuck into Ranhold. I also wonder if she or Judd or Osrik are doing anything...sinister.
Gleam (The Plated Prisoner Series Book 3) Page 10