Tinderbox Under Winter Stars

by Emma Sterner-Radley

  She massaged her temples.

  It has been a long, cold season this year. Literally and metaphorically. Too bad it is not over yet.

  A familiar voice, complete with terrible Arclidian, could be heard from outside the door. Under Lieutenant Anders Dahl was on duty again today. She was glad that he never managed to keep his voice down, that way she knew when he was there.

  He seemed to like her but was still wary. Guilty as she was about using his friendship, she intended to bind him closer to her. To do to him what the Queen was trying to do to her: win affection and trust against all odds. The difference was that the Queen was convinced no one could resist her for long, while Elise was well aware that the real world didn’t always go her way.

  Oh, and my motive is less morally bankrupt. That is an important difference.

  She looked out her window, to the statues lining the turret. The gargoyle was there, ever grinning. She wasn’t sure why she had hallucinated about that particular statue coming to life. Perhaps because the others were so pretty and harmless. If she was to come out of this with her sanity intact, she needed to awaken the beast in herself. Not to rage, but to be cunning.

  Her gargoyle served her well there. It suggested that she bide her time, make the Queen think she was being docile but not won over, all to keep the Queen preoccupied with wooing her. It had also suggested making Dahl like and pity her enough to free her. Its third bit of useful advice had been to charm the servants in case she needed their aid or maybe even to escape dressed as one of them. She had no coin to bribe anyone, like Hunter had when the Queen was interrogating him, but she had her likeable personality. Hopefully that would be enough.

  Elise rubbed her throbbing temples in wider circles. Yes, she had plans brewing, but she needed to find the perfect time to enact them. She needed the castle to be as empty as possible when she escaped.

  Finding out when that might be would be easier if my mind was not muddled by the cursed shrooms and this hunger!

  The shrooms had made her too distracted. She would be planning or eavesdropping, and then she would be distracted by how cold the floor was, or how her gargoyle friend was flirting with the unicorn statue next to him on the turret. It was most vexing.

  Even more vexing was the fact that when she had turned down the shrooms, they had begun sneaking them into her food. The shrooms were usually ground down and mixed into every course she was offered. They were invisible to the naked eye, but the taste came through, no matter how they tried to hide it with spices or honey. Thus, to stick to her plan, she only ate when she absolutely had to.

  Which meant her delirium was caused as much by hunger as the shrooms, but at least the hunger kept her angry. And focused. They could take away her freedom, but they couldn’t take her mind.

  She rang the bell and waited for a servant to bring clothes and breakfast. Her empty stomach cramped. She would allow herself about half of the food today, then throw the rest out the window. The blasted gargoyle could eat it.

  Later, when she was cleaned, partly fed, and dressed, she called for Dahl. He opened the door and stepped into her bedchamber, smiling at her with brotherly affection.

  “Hello. Gotten some sleep, yes?”

  She beamed at him. “Some. Now, let us not waste time. Tell me a fairy tale before the shrooms kick in and my mind wanders.”

  His brow knitted. “I wish they’d stop giving them to you. There’s no need. You shan’t run away.”

  “I wish they would stop, too. The shrooms make it increasingly hard to know what is real and they make me feel plain dreadful. Nothing I can do about it, however.”

  Not yet anyway, she added to herself.

  She saw Dahl’s lower lip wobble. Then he composed himself. “I’m sure the Queen will stop giving you those when she gets what she wants.”

  “Yes, although I believe myself to be too strong to give in to unreasonable demands. I think you are the same. Our fathers taught us that before they were taken from us, would you not say?”

  Using their grief to win Dahl over didn’t sit right with her, but if no else played fair, neither would she. He had to let go of his blind faith and loyalty to Joiners Square. He had to do the right thing and help her escape.

  He was fidgeting with his sleeve while his eyes flitted to the door.

  Quick, make him comfortable before he finds an excuse to leave again!

  “Oh, I meant to enquire, Under Lieutenant. Did you manage to ask the other soldiers how the Queen found me? She refuses to tell me.”

  This was a small but important test. Would he go against the Queen’s, and by extension his superiors’, wishes and answer her? Had he even asked around on her behalf?

  His eyes lit up. “I did, Miss Elise! Apparently, the Queen got all the passenger lists from all Nightport ships for the night you left. She had staff reading them until all names similar to yours were found, yes?” He looked so excited now, like a child recounting the story of a treasure hunt. “Then she had people hunt down every name. Elise Glass was in Charlottenberg, so she sent letters to her spies there and they began looking for you. After a long search, they found you in Skarhult, yes? Don’t know how. Perhaps it was one of the civilian spies who informed that two strangers were in this woman’s house and Joiners Square connected the dots? Bad luck, yes?”

  “Yes,” she murmured.

  “Perhaps you should have hidden more. Gone farther into the country or kept on the move. Maybe having a different name, leaving the name ‘Elise’ behind, yes?”

  Elisandrine hung her head. As she suspected, her own overconfidence and panicked impulsivity had caught her out. She remembered a conversation with her captor three weeks ago.

  “Your Majesty, may I ask how exactly you found me?”

  “Ha! Is that not obvious? I have power, sway, and reach. While you, sweet Elise, you are too recognisable, too exuberant, and too impetuous to hide well.”

  Elise had been forced to press her nails into her palms to keep her fury under control then, but now, she was resigned to it being true. She swallowed hard and then smiled at Dahl, as warmly as she could manage.

  “I see. Thank you for telling me. Now, how about that fairy tale?”

  He pulled up a chair and began to tell the story about the troll princess who married a human. He’d already told her this one last week, but she liked it and didn’t mention his error. Instead she laid back and let the fairy tale world take her away from her situation for a while, hoping the shrooms from her half-eaten breakfast would be enough to dim her regret.

  Hours later, Elise was alone in her room. The shrooms had made her warm, relaxed, and giddy.

  Now you know. Half the breakfast is enough to have this effect. Unless they have increased the amount of shrooms?

  She shrugged to herself and stored the information for later. Now she was too pacified to care. It was so peculiar to not be able to detect any trace of her usual fits of anger. She stood by the window, watching the last rays of the afternoon sun hit the turret outside.

  The gargoyle rested its gruesome head in its hands. “Let us talk of the Queen.”

  Elise made a disgusted noise. “No, thank you.”

  “Now, now, she is crucial for any planning, you know that. What is she thinking? What is she going to do next? And most of all, how can you use it to your advantage?”

  Elisandrine sighed. “Fine, Mr Gargoyle. We shall talk about the Queen.”

  “Splendid!” the statue said, licking its sharp teeth before carrying on. “So, what is her next play to win your affection? She has been serving you your favourite foods, playing the board games you two used to play, spoken of your favourite books, and, of course, massaging oil into your hands in that way you like.”

  “Yes, the only time she has touched me so far. Good thing, too, my temper would not stand for anything more intimate.”

  “No. You would explode.”

  “Mm. Anyway, I am not certain what is next. She has tried being kind.”

>   The gargoyle swung its tail. “Yes.”

  Elise began to pace back and forth past the window. “And, as you pointed out, attentive. Remembering my favourite treats and pastimes.”

  “Without fail.”

  “The shrooms are clearly to keep me docile and happy.”

  “Yes, yes. No need to cover what we already know. What weapons does she have left in her arsenal?”

  “Continuing to play on my insecurities and faults. At some point, she will ramp this up from simple mind games to… brainwashing.”

  “Well, yes, obviously,” it agreed.

  Elise paced faster. “Perhaps using my past?”

  “Ah! Now we are talking. Do you think she will use the loss of your father? Or perhaps bring your mother to the castle to talk sense into you?”

  Elise stopped cold in her tracks, looking at the gargoyle. “Do you think the Queen would do that?”

  “Yes. Unless she has told everyone that you are dead. Then it would be hard to let your mother see you.”

  Elise pointed to the statue. “Right! There is no way my mother would buy that she could speak to me if I were dead.”

  “No. Very discriminate, your mother. Only speaks to living humans. Not like you who has so kindly befriended me.”

  Elise scrunched up her nose. “Well, I mean to say, that might have something to do with the hallucinogenic shrooms.”

  The gargoyle shrugged what little shoulders it had. “Still, you picked me to have a heart-to-heart with. Out of all of those statues. You could have chosen the pretty unicorn or the proud gryphon. You chose me, I am very happy about that.”

  Elise returned to pacing. “I am glad to hear it.”

  The gargoyle dipped its head. “I am glad you are glad.”

  There were voices outside of Elise’s door again, the ever-loud Under Lieutenant was speaking to someone. But it wasn’t in Arclidian.

  “Not Dahl’s fellow guard, then,” Elise whispered to the gargoyle. “I am going to move closer, meaning I cannot speak to you anymore. Go back to being an inanimate object.”

  It stared at her with pupil-less eyes. “Well, I mean, I never actually stopped.”

  Elise waved at it, annoyed. “You know what I mean. Shush!”

  She snuck to the door and listened. It was definitely Sundish. She concentrated, clearing the shroom-fog as much as she could, trying to remember her Sundish lessons with Anja. Her ears pricked up when she heard who Dahl was addressing, High Captain Nordhall, the man Elise had come to know as the visiting Joiners Square emissary. Throughout her weeks here, Elise had picked up that he was staying here indefinitely, trying to get something from the Queen, who was being unaccommodating.

  No surprise there.

  When Elise had mentioned Nordhall and Joiners Square to the Queen, she had scoffed and muttered, “Frost-trolls. Ice in their heads, hearts, and between their legs. No fun at all!”

  Now Nordhall was outside her door and she heard his voice for the first time. It was clear and demanding. She translated it in her head as much as she could.

  “Dahl. I want you to stay close to this girl. She might still be the key to making the Queen tell us about…” Then there was a word Elise didn’t know.

  She heard Dahl reply, “Of course. I believe she can be an asset. She is not like the others Arclidians. She is not backwards, gossiping, lazy, or only interested in bedplay and fun. She has depth. She can be of use to our nation.” He paused, allowing Elise a moment of pride at his words. When he picked up again, his voice was shaky. “Perhaps… when we have what we want from the Queen, we should bring her back to Storsund? The people of Skarhult will miss her scented oils. Moreover, her creativity, ambition, and sharp mind can be used to further Joiners Square’s goals.”

  Elise wasn’t sure that the last word really meant ‘goals’, but she thought it a likely assumption. She was squinting her eyes closed, hoping with all her might that Nordhall would say yes.

  Please agree. Come on, taking me away with you would be a slap in the face to the Queen, showing your power.

  She knew it would be easier to escape there than try to outfox both Joiners Square and the Queen in this castle. Or at least she would find it easier because she was close to Nessa there. And their friends. She wouldn’t be stuck here, behind enemy lines with nothing more than an imaginary statue to rely on.

  FOCUS, ELISANDRINE! She shook off the distracting thoughts and listened closer.

  After a few sentences regarding their squadron and clothing supplies, she heard High Captain Nordhall scold Dahl for not attending last week’s Visitors Dinner, a dinner that the Queen apparently threw for Nordhall and his soldiers every week.

  “It’s the one break you’re allowed from guarding the Queen’s feral pet. The nerve of having my scarce soldiers stationed outside her unwilling courtesan’s bedchamber!” There was a bang. Perhaps from a fist against a wall or a boot against the floor? “What’s even more galling is that she only invites us all to a feast when she can spare nearly all her Royal Guards to watch us. To keep all us ‘violent Northmen’ from assassinating her over the winterberry pie,” Nordhall spat.

  Elise’s heart was racing. If she had translated all that correctly, most of the Royal Guards and all the Joiners Square soldiers were in the castle’s vast dining hall on the same evening every week. An unmissable opportunity! She had to try to plan her escape for one of those nights.

  As long as the Queen does not stop having the dinners before I have won Dahl over enough for him to help me.

  Nordhall muttered something else that she missed, then he said farewell. Dahl replied and thanked him.

  Elise, wobbling slightly from the shrooms, snuck back to the window. She looked out at her gargoyle and whispered, “Did you hear all that?”

  The statue raised his imaginary eyebrows. “No. My ears are made of marble. But you did, so yes, I suppose we can claim I did.”

  “Excellent! Now, we have a weekly event during which we must stage the escape. And we have Dahl and the servants to recruit. So, we have the when and the whom. Now we need the how. Any thoughts on methods?”

  The gargoyle shrugged. “You thought about dressing as a servant and sneaking out before.”

  “Yes, clever of me. That is a viable option. What else?”

  “Well, you could ask Dahl for a long rope and climb out the window and down the castle wall?”

  Elise slumped onto the bed, staring at her hands.

  The gargoyle winced. “Ah. Too reminiscent of your escape from Silver Hollow Castle when you and Nessa first met. Clumsy of me, must be the marble brain. Please accept my apologies.”

  Elise sighed. “It is fine. It is only that I… miss her so much. I never knew how much strength she gave me. She always needs me to be brave and bold. That in combination with her infinite faith in me makes me able to achieve anything.”

  “Then achieve this escape and return to her. After that, if I were you – and I am – I would sit down and ask myself why I keep being locked up in the top floors of castles.”

  Elise scoffed. “Easily answered. In Silver Hollow Castle, Prince Macray had me locked up on the instructions of his sister, the Queen. This time, she has done it herself. Well, given the order at least.”

  “Mm. Well, you might want to ensure that royalty stops imprisoning you in castles. The lady-awaiting-rescue look does not suit you.”

  “Stop being rude.”

  “Make me.”

  “Ha! That appears impossible. If I could shut your stony mouth up, I would have done so a long time ago.”

  “No. That would leave you all alone. You do terribly with being alone, the Queen is counting on that to break you. Little did she know that your shroom-addled mind would invent me. Would you like me to keep you awake by singing lewd songs about busty women again tonight?”

  Elise glared at the statue. “No!”

  “Suit yourself. Where did you learn that song anyway?”

  Elise stood up to walk away. “
The groundskeeper I lost my maidenhood to. Gods, she was stunning, strong, and beautiful. But with the decorum of a mud-covered toad.”

  “Ah, yes. I can see that in your memories now. Oh my, you allowed her to take quite a few liberties there!”

  “Oh, shush. I will not be shamed for my sexual exploits by my imaginary friend, I get enough of that from society. Anyway, we are meant to be planning my escape.”

  They were silent for a while.

  Then the gargoyle hummed pensively before saying, “Was that bit in the winterberry bushes really sanitary? Had she washed that thing first?”

  Elise growled, slapped her own head to make him shut up, and went to pour herself some of the brandy she had been allowed.

  She had to sleep, and tomorrow she would not allow herself any of the laced breakfast. Preferably not the midday meal or supper either, if it could be done. She had to try to come up with other escape plans than the two she had thought out. She needed options and meticulous planning. There was no Nessa to help her this time. No Hunter with useful connections. No Anja with her practicality. Elisandrine was alone and had to rely on only herself. And for that, she would certainly need a clear mind.

  Chapter 31

  Tinderbox Under Winter Stars

  Nessa stood on the deck, looking up at the twinkling winter stars. She wore two layers of clothes, stretching her leather coat to the maximum, and had her fur over her shoulders. Despite all that, she was shivering, and her teeth clattered. She still preferred it to being inside. Inside they were laughing and chatting, getting on with life.

  It made more sense to be out here, turning the tinderbox over in her frozen, gloved hands.

  Does it even count as a tinderbox if it doesn’t have tinder material in it? I bet Elise would know.

  Nessa let her tears fall. She shoved the box in the pocket of her leather coat and wiped hot tears off her cold cheeks. She looked out at the black sea. The crescent moon reflected in the water, bringing a line of light across the dark waves. Normally it would’ve looked like a ray of hope to Nessa, but tonight there was nothing hopeful to be ignited in her.