Tinderbox Under Winter Stars

by Emma Sterner-Radley

  Highmere. I have arrived. Gods curse it. I have been drugged too heavily throughout the ride to formulate a plan. Or even stay awake.

  She sniffed, tears breaking through, doubling her headache and despair. She sat up and slapped herself, making her cheek sting. It was bracing, so she did it again.

  Get a hold of yourself! You shall formulate your plan now, and it will be even better because you will learn what exactly it is the Queen wants with you.

  Elise breathed deep, replacing anguish with controlled rage, and then rang the little bell by her bed, summoning a servant.

  A young waif of a man entered and bowed. “Milady rang?”

  “Yes. Good morning. I require something light to break my fast. Poached eggs, leaf tea, and fruit. Perhaps some toasted oats?”

  “A small selection shall be brought to you presently, milady.”

  She tried to keep her voice calm, to keep the control. “I also require a hot bath to be drawn, with a mountain-sized soap.” She rubbed at her forehead. “Then I suppose I must dress. I assume that the manipulative, rotten viper has left me whatever clothing she fancies me in?”

  The servant nodded reluctantly, his eyes huge at her words.

  Elise crossed her arms over her chest. “Calm yourself, she cannot hear you. I daresay she treats you monstrously, so she deserves none of your loyalty. Return with breakfast and the clothing as soon as you can. And get someone to draw the cursed bath. Stop staring, boy! Fetch me what I require!”

  He bowed and scurried to the door.

  Elise groaned. “Wait. Before you go… I apologise for shouting. It is not you I am angry with, and you should not have to bear the brunt of my ire. Please forgive me.”

  Was that a smile that flashed past the young man’s lips?

  “No need to apologise, milady. I… understand. Thank you, milady.” He bowed again and took his leave.

  Elise ran her fingers through her sleep-mussed hair. It had grown far out of its perfect length. How long had it been since her last haircut? That had been in Storsund, with her blossoming career, her agreeable new home, her new friend, and… her cherished Nessa. The longing for her was an acute ache in Elise’s already bruised heart. She bit back tears and let her rage fuel her again. She just had to remember to aim that rage in the right direction.

  Elise got up and pulled her travel-worn clothes off. It amazed her that the Queen had spared her the shame of having someone undress her. But then, changing into clean clothes when her skin was dirty would’ve been pointless. She glanced over at the bed which must be filled with road dust and her sweat.

  I shall have to ask for clean sheets.

  There would be no end to how much the Queen would mock her if she didn’t smell completely fresh. A pet should be adequately groomed, after all.

  Elise gritted her teeth, calming herself by imagining the look on the Queen’s face when she, one day soon, would find her tinderbox-maker escaped.

  It girded her spine.

  It made her smile.

  An hour later, Elise felt human again. She was clean, dressed, and fed. Most of all, she had drunk two pots of leaf tea to flush the sedative from her system. She could only hope that was working. Either way, she was much improved. The headache, from the medication and the large amounts of sleep on the ship, still throbbed away, but it had faded to something manageable.

  Breakfasting had certainly helped. She had requested something light, thinking herself too upset and pained to eat. She’d been wrong.

  The Queen had remembered her every favourite dish and had either made sure it was served now or that it had been made into a morning meal version. Like her beloved roast beef with sugared parsnips, which had been on one of the breakfast trays in the form of sweet parsnip bread with slices of roast beef. The vast array of food wasn’t a shock, everything was over the top at court. What was shocking was that the Queen had noticed what food Elise liked and had made sure it was all served. And how Elise had wolfed it all down.

  There was another knock on the door, this one without an ounce of politeness. Nor did the knocker wait until told to enter, informing Elise who it was before she even saw the Queen. She stood and steeled herself.

  The door banged close. “Ah, Lady Elisandrine Falk. Good morning, my pretty little runaway. I trust you slept well,” the Queen purred.

  Elise stood quiet, waiting. But the Queen merely smiled at her. Golden eyes challenged dusky blue. The silence reigned until Elise gave up and asked, “Where is the rest of it?”

  The Queen clasped her hands, still smiling. “Pardon?”

  “Where is the mocking? The triumph? The cruel comments?”

  The smell of purified alcohol and lavender filled the room, spreading from the haughty woman in front of her like mist. The Queen stayed still. So still it was impossible to even spot her breathing.

  “Sweetest Elise, I did not spend all this time and coin to hunt and find you only to mock you. If that was what I wanted, I would simply have sent you a letter and been done with it.”

  “Then what do you want?”

  “You know, I picked out that dress for you because it was said to be comfortable and I believed it would suit your light-brown skin, but now I am unsure. Perhaps something in cream would have been better?”

  Elise stomped her foot. “Answer the question, curse you!”

  The Queen raised her eyebrows. “Now, now. Do not get agitated. You must feel terrible after all those sedatives those cruel Northmen injected you with. I will send my chemist up to give you something pure and natural to help you. Some dried white shrooms perhaps?”

  Elise remembered her mother giving her those when she had a cold. They soothed aches, but most of all they made you happier and calmer. The effect wasn’t huge, but right now, she would take what she could get.

  “Yes, I should like that.”

  The Queen gave her a subtle look and Elise kept herself from rolling her eyes as she amended it to, “Yes, please, I should like that, Your Majesty.”

  “Splendid. I shall have him come to your room after our little conversation.”

  “Thank you. Will you at any point answer my question?”

  The throbbing, pulsing of Elise’s rage was simmering just under her control. But for how long?

  The Queen took a step forward, towering over Elise. “I want to start over. I want what I asked you for that night in the dreadful tavern in Nightport. For you to come here and stay with me.” Another step closer, filling Elise’s nostrils with lavender. “I overdid it that evening, fire-starter. The talk of making you a courtesan was in bad taste. I should not have assumed that you wanted to bed me again… like you so often used to.”

  A shiver ran down Elise’s spine, but she made an effort to remain unmoved.

  “Well, I am here now. What exactly do you expect of me, Your Majesty?”

  “You only have to stay, recover, and… converse with me. I have missed your company. Your, shall we say, unique way of seeing things. Highmere was dim and dreary after you left, you know,” she said softly.

  Elise was confused and not only due to the chemicals still poisoning her blood. The Queen was never this nice, not even when she wanted something. Even if she was clearly lying, she was still being too gentle. Too considerate.

  The clouds in Elise’s mind cleared.

  Oh. She wants me to like her again. Just as I said to Dahl, she intends to win by making me want and need her. Perhaps even love her. Surely, she does not believe all it will take is my favourite foods and some kind words? What mind games does she have in store?

  Dahl – that reminded her. “My Queen, if you plan to have guards outside my door, may I request the young Joiners Square soldier? You can have one of your usual Royal Guards present to keep an eye on him. I should like to keep him close. He was in the middle of telling me a story.”

  The Queen raised her thin eyebrows again. “A story?”

  “Yes, about trolls and forest beasts. You know, tales from the north.”r />
  The Queen seemed to contemplate it. Elise prepared herself for a no.

  “I cannot see a reason to deny you that. I am sure you would not try to use him to… leave again. And if you were to commit such a rude and witless act, the castle is filled with Royal Guards and Joiners Square soldiers. You would not get far. What is his name?”

  “Under Lieutenant Anders Dahl.”

  “Then he shall be on duty as soon as he is located. Anything else you wish to request, my pretty little tinderbox-maker?”

  The Queen’s smile was familiar. It was the intimate smile one only saw after bedplay, in a sated glow and still buzzing with pleasure. Elise ignored the unwelcome tingle that ran through her.

  “No, thank you, Your Majesty.”

  The Queen took another step closer, so near now that Elise could feel the heat from her body. “No? Not even some fragrance oil? The soldiers who accompanied you here informed me that you have begun making your own. Creating quite a name for yourself in Storsund. If you wish, I can have some raw materials brought to you and you can thrill the court with your wares?”

  “No.” Elise hesitated. “Well, not right now, anyway.”

  Perhaps I can use that later as a diversion? Or use some of the materials in my escape.

  The Queen smiled again. “As you please. Well, I have meeting with my councillors regarding taxes. How unbelievably dreary. I wish you could join me and spice the whole affair up somewhat.”

  She reached out a hand as if to touch Elise’s face, but then slowly pulled it back. Instead she said, “I am glad to have you here and to see you looking so well. Despite your ordeal, you are as stunning as ever. I shall send the chemist up to cure the worst of what ails you and return to visit you later in the day.”

  With that, she turned and walked out.

  Elise stood frozen in place. Her heart was pounding.

  How disturbing to see her so kind. As disturbing as her belief that she can beguile me to stay of my own accord.

  Elise looked up at the ceiling.

  She assumes I am still the insecure girl needing someone strong and powerful to want me, needing it so much that I will not mind being used. She will not like the outcome of this.

  Her temples throbbed, the headache returning to full strength. As if summoned by her pain, there was a knock on the door. After she called “enter,” a small man with thick spectacles came in. Elise recognised the chemist. In conjunction with the court physician, he saw to the Queen’s health, preparing any medication or digestive aid that the monarch required.

  He greeted her before handing her a small bowl filled with shards of dried shrooms. Craving the pain to go away and for her mood to lift, she ate them.

  He smiled kindly at her, like a proud grandfather. “Well done, milady. They were dipped in honey before being dried so they should have a more pleasant taste. Especially the tree shrooms.”

  Elise jolted. “Tree shrooms? But those were white shrooms?”

  “Most of them, yes. I added some tree shrooms, to heighten the effect. They are perfectly harmless and natural. Do not fret, the Queen would not hurt you. She merely wants you relaxed when she is not here.”

  Right. She is going to give me mood enhancers while I am alone. Keep me happy and drowsy so I do not plan my escape. Why does everyone want to alter my mind by force? What have I done to deserve that?

  “I see,” Elisandrine said with effort. Her lips seemed to disobey her and want to move in their own way. She giggled at the idea of them running off and starting a new life without her.

  The chemist nodded at her. “Very good, child. Now you are enjoying your stay here. That is what we want, a happy and relaxed young lady.” He adjusted his spectacles. “Now, you have books over on the shelf and you can always call the servants if you desire something to eat. Enjoy your day, milady.”

  With that he took his leave. Elise ambled around the room, her heart light from the shrooms and her mind gliding from subject to subject. She looked out the window and saw one of the castle’s turrets. Lining it were carved fantastical beasts, all made out of the same pink-streaked Centurian marble as the castle itself. Facing her was a gargoyle with a gruesome but comical face, big, clawed paws, and a snake-like tail hanging down. Elise squinted at it, giggling because she was sure it had moved. Just then, the statue turned its face to her and grinned.

  Elise smiled back. “Hello, Mr Gargoyle. Want to help me plan my escape?” she whispered.

  There was no need to whisper as she was far from the door now and could not be overheard. But she was going to be ever so careful and clever.

  The gargoyle nodded its marble head and its sharp-toothed grin grew even bigger.

  Elise pointed at him. “Excellent, Mr Gargoyle. Let us begin with acquiring thicker socks. These floors are cold, and you may scratch them with your claws. I am not sure I have socks to fit you, we shall see.”

  With that she went to fetch thicker socks from a drawer. Her languid mind considered plans just beneath the crazed thoughts about socks for statues.

  “Trust me, Mr Gargoyle,” she said with confidence. “It will take more than shrooms to keep Elisandrine Falk in check.”

  Chapter 29

  Submission

  Marianna sat at her desk tapping her steepled fingers against her chin. She reminded herself not to frown, the last thing she needed now was more premature wrinkles.

  Elisandrine Falk had been in the castle for weeks. To absolutely no avail. She showed no sign of weakening her resistance or of ceasing her coolly civil behaviour. They danced around each other, both pleasant and accommodating. Marianna saw the temper under Elise’s politeness, but it never broke out. And Elise’s resistance never broke down.

  Where was the impulsive and passionate creature that had floated around court, tempting and causing trouble? Always willing to trade a caress for some attention. Always putting fun ahead of sense.

  Marianna splayed her hands on the desk and took deep breaths through her nose.

  Why does nothing I do work? Not kind words. Not displays of power. Not invitations to dance. Not even the offer of bathing naked in the castle’s fountain at midnight.

  Her tinderbox-maker had never been able to say no to that. Now, however… Elise stayed untouched in her bed, growing paler and more closed off by the day. Perhaps it was the shrooms? Maybe she was pining for her farm wench or merely being difficult because returning to Arclid hadn’t been her idea. As if that mattered to a girl like her. Marianna couldn’t understand it, and it vexed her.

  Adaire was right, the light-eyed slattern was not worth the effort. She is not even as beautiful as I remembered.

  Marianna leaned back, gazing into the looking glass on the wall and smoothing away that stubborn frown.

  Nevertheless, I worked hard to get her here. I am not going to simply allow her to stroll out of the castle.

  What if this disgraceful affair got out? Besides, everyone Marianna wanted fell for her in the end. She had had a lifetime of lovers who had either fallen for her charm or for her position in life. Or in some unsavoury cases, her wealth. But they all fell for her. They all became hers in the end.

  Marianna sniffed, sitting up straight. Elise was turning into an unwanted distraction. She should be focusing on the Storsund problem. Joiners Square grew stronger and more predatory by the second. But also more volatile. It wasn’t tenable to have such a big organisation so badly run. It was filled with ambitious but clueless workers, many of them joiners of course, but also rich wasters and boorish soldiers. All Storsund’s actual rulers and politicians had either been bribed into obedience or mysteriously disappeared when they did not support Joiners Square.

  Still, this union-turned-syndicate had the great unwashed masses of Storsund behind them, believing that their uniform-clad maniacs would conquer all four continents. They were supporting Joiners Square with vast amounts of coin, allowing them to stockpile weapons and produce all those cursed new inventions. She shook her head.

&
nbsp; These people are dangerous and unpredictable. No land should be run by an organisation, especially not one without any experienced rulers.

  Marianna sighed. She may not be a loved leader, but she benefitted from generations of advice on how to govern. Tips and tricks learned by trial and error for the four hundred years since the fateful War of Thorns. One important rule was to never bite off more than you could chew.

  Joiners Square ignored this, rushing forward, growing ever larger, like one of their steam trains picking up carriages at every stop. Racing towards disaster. And now they wanted to bite off another mouthful of the orb and swallow Arclid. Well, that was certainly more than they could chew. More than that, if they stuck their pointy teeth into her land, she would end their pitifully short rule. It would be so easy, a fractured nation like Storsund with only a sprawling, badly run organisation in charge… Sow discontent and Joiners Square would quickly wither on the vine.

  Until then, she could keep toying with Nordhall and his desire to learn about magic. And she could keep toying with Elise’s mind. Soon the isolation, boredom, and need for more shrooms would make her more pliable. Then she would submit to her Queen.

  They will all submit to me in the end.

  Chapter 30

  Heart-to-Heart

  One morning, a few weeks into her captivity, Elise woke up with a mind cleared of shrooms but, because of that, once more brimming with anger and helplessness.

  She had asked the maid to open the windows, and now she breathed in the fresh, chilly morning air. She purposely ignored the scent of roses and lavender and focused on the fact that the air here didn’t hurt her lungs as it had in Storsund.

  I would happily exchange this comfortable climate to be in Skarhult again. At least there I was free. Besides, winter is nearing its final weeks now.