by Chanda Hahn
Evander looked up from the reed, and his face lit up. It became hopeful. “Come join me.” He waited for me to come to his side, but I couldn’t. I was rooted to the spot. “What’s the matter?”
My brain screamed at me to say something, anything, but I was afraid if I spoke he would recognize my voice.
“Oh, are you afraid of water?” he asked in disbelief.
I nodded. I didn’t imagine that his smile faltered. His shoulders dropped an inch, but he kept up a good front.
“Well, then let's head over to the bench by the willow trees.”
My feet were dead weight as I plodded along. Even sitting down, I kept my back ramrod straight.
“What is your name?” Prince Evander was being pleasant.
“Eden,” I answered.
“Eden…?” he prompted for more.
“Just Eden.”
“No last name?”
“Does it matter?” I challenged. “It is something else by which I am judged.”
“Not at all. You could be adopted and wearing shoes that weren’t your own, and it wouldn’t matter to me.”
There he goes throwing out cues from our earlier conversations. He was baiting me.
“That’s good,” I said softly and winced. I rubbed my throat. I didn’t sound like myself either.
“What did you think of the ball?” He gave me a long look, and I didn’t want to repeat the silliness I said last night.
“It was wonderful,” I said, giving him a bright smile. “I have never danced so much in my life.” I may have thrown a simper in there and watched as Evander cringed.
What am I doing? This was going badly. I was purposely sabotaging myself. I was uncomfortable, and Evander was distracted. He was still fingering the reed in his hand and looking back at the stream. I was becoming irritated. Here I was trying to get a second chance and get to know him, and he wouldn’t even look me in the eye. Without thinking, I pulled the reed from his hands, and he tried to snatch it back.
“Not so fast, Your Highness.” I gestured to the ornamental dagger on his hip. “Is it practical or purely for decoration?”
“Depends, are you going to stab me with it?” he asked warily, his hand going to pull out the dagger.
“Only if you say something that annoys me,” I added.
Prince Evander handed me the dagger, but I watched as he adjusted his stance. He faced me but leaned slightly away, his hands loose at his side so as to protect himself or disarm me.
I ignored his body language and began to run my fingers over the dried-out reed, measuring it out and doing some quick calculations in my head. Taking the sharp edge of the knife, I began to carve out a mouth piece, and then, using my knuckle, I measured spaces for six finger holes. My sisters and I had made plenty of reed flutes growing up because they were easy to come by and cheap to make.
When I had roughly dug out the first finger hole, I offered him the handle of the dagger and reed, and he gladly took it from me and began to dig out the rest. He was stronger and more familiar with the weapon, making much faster work of the holes than I did.
And all the while, we didn’t say anything, just sat in each other’s presence. When he had finished, he held up the flute like a child having whittled his first horse.
He handed me the rough reed flute, and I placed it to my lips and gave it a cursory blow.
Pfffftttt!
It made a horrible high-pitched noise like a dying cat. Twenty-one pairs of eyes looked at us, and I didn’t like being the center of attention.
I laughed, and so did Evander. “Maybe we messed up,” he said.
“No, we didn’t. It’s just been a very long time, and I’m not as good as my sister, Meri. It may take me a minute,” I wheezed, wiping the tears from my eyes. I took a calming breath and centered myself, this time focusing on control and the notes.
The second try was far better than the first. It was a low, soft note, and then I began to play an old ancient song of the fae, one that my teacher, Lorn, had taught me.
It was a song of longing and lust and loss—or it would be if one actually translated the fae lyrics that accompanied the melody, but I knew no one here would know it.
It wasn’t played by talented hands, only competent, and I may have missed a note or two. But when I was done, I shrugged my shoulders and handed him the flute. “You try,” I encouraged.
He placed his lips on the reed, and I couldn’t help but watch them as they touched the same spot mine had moments ago. He blew the reed flute, and his first attempts were worse than mine, but he didn’t give up until a long whistle came forth. His look was filled with triumph and joy, and I wanted to bottle this feeling that we shared.
Evander handed me the flute, but I wouldn’t take it. Instead, I stood up and moved away. “You keep it. So that you can get better.”
“I was that bad?” He smiled.
“Well, you couldn’t possibly get any worse,” I teased.
“Thank you,” he said. “This was very enjoyable. I didn’t expect this.”
My smile faltered. What did he mean? Did I do something that was out of the ordinary again? Odd? Wrong? I began to self-evaluate everything I said.
Evander saw my worry and read into it. “We didn’t talk. You didn’t grill me with a thousand questions or flaunt your many talents and credentials. You never spoke of how you’d make a good wife and queen.” He sighed warily and ran his hands through his dark hair.
He must have had the same conversation, or variation, with the last nineteen girls.
“That’s easy,” I said, “because I wouldn’t.”
“What?” His head snapped up. “Are you saying that you wouldn’t make a good wife or queen?”
“Yes, I mean, no.” I looked down at the grass and bit my lip. How could I explain to him that, if he knew who I really was, he would turn his back on me? And if his father knew who I was, he would have me thrown in the dungeon at the first opportunity.
“What is it?” he asked, I could hear the frustration in his voice. He thought I was playing games.
We stood facing each other, and my nerves began to get the better of me. I tucked a stray hair behind my ear. Evander watched my moves like a hawk, and he was about to say something when we were interrupted.
“Your Highness.” Adelle had joined us. Her rouge on her lips made her all the more seductive. Her hands ran down his arm, resting gently on the reed flute. “Let me play for you. I am highly trained and will play you a song that will be easy on the ears.”
I was shocked, appalled at the nerve, and watched as he released the instrument. Anger churned inside me when I saw her fake red lips press against the flute, and rage burned when a note so pure flowed seamlessly from the instrument we created.
She put my flute playing to shame, and I instantly became the third wheel. Evander had his hands clasped in front of him, and he listened patiently. He gave all of his attention to Adelle. And why wouldn’t he? She was beautiful, exotic, and poised—already a queen in stature.
My stomach rolled, and I felt ill. Lowering my head, I silently excused myself and headed back to the group. Tears threatened to spill forth, but I held them back. I refused to show my emotions to anyone, but they wavered, and I saw my dress flicker into the simple blue day dress.
I gasped and looked up. All of the ladies were watching the exchange between Adelle and Evander. If mine flickered, then so did Tess’s. I glanced at Tess, who seemed a bit panicked, her hands running over the ribbon to make sure her glamour was still intact.
No one seemed to have seen the flicker except for…. I felt the glare, the power of a stare that prickled the back of my neck.
Queen Giselle was watching me. Her eyes narrowed, mouth pursed in thought.
Had she seen?
Did she know?
The simple reed flute I had haphazardly made was being played to a height I didn’t even know was possible, and Evander was now fully enraptured.
My emotions were b
uilding, and I tried to ground myself, by tapping into the ley lines of magic when my feelings were so raw was dangerous. I reached deep into the earth so I wouldn’t lose hold of my glamour.
I didn’t care. I just wanted it to stop. I was tired of being second string and constantly shown up. At home it was by my sisters. And even now, moments that were supposed to be mine, Evander shared it with every girl here, and now I was being shown up by my own musical instrument.
A storm cloud rolled in with no warning. The wind picked up, and it started to rain, where minutes ago it was a cloudless sky. Fast and furious, the rain came. The girls ran for the gazebos, seeking shelter from the torrential downpour. Evander pulled Adelle farther into the shelter of the willow tree, and now the long, willowy branches hid them from my view.
Servants appeared with parasols and ran to give cover to the queen, but she didn’t seem to be upset by her dress being soaked, for now the rain and wind was blowing sideways. I stood in the middle of the path, the rain soaking my hair and dress, not moving. Not caring.
The willow branches moved in the wind, and I saw Adelle with her arms wrapped around the prince in what looked like a loving and tender embrace.
I was going to be sick.
“Come, my child.” Queen Giselle stood by my side, her hand resting on my shoulder. Three servants with parasols were sheltering her from the onslaught. “We have much to discuss.”
More servants were rushing from the palace with parasols and blankets to shelter the ladies from the rain and usher them inside. Prince Evander and Adelle were running hand in hand toward a different set of doors farther from us.
Silently, I followed the queen into the palace and into her private parlor, while the other girls were taken back to their rooms. I was shivering from the cold but doing my best to keep my teeth from chattering.
“You’re not like the others,” Queen Giselle stated and moved to sit in a chair by the fire. “You’re different.” She poured me tea in a cup with gold suns around the rim.
“D-Different isn’t bad,” I said, my teeth chattering. I took a sip of the tea. It warmed my mouth as it passed and soothed my still sore throat.
“It can be,” Queen Giselle said. “But I want to know more about you.”
“W-What do you want to know?”
“Where are you from? Not from the Thressia. I know most of the girls from affluent families, and you are not one of them, despite your elegant gown.”
“I’m from a small town on the edge of Candor,” I answered. “It’s barely a blip on the map.”
“You worry me,” the queen stated.
“I don’t understand.”
“Precisely. I know nothing about you or your family, and that can be a problem.”
“I won’t be a problem,” I assured her.
A rap at the door stilled anymore questions from the queen. “That will be all. You can retire to your rooms, and I will see you tonight at dinner.”
I curtsied and backed out the door.
One of the servant girls from earlier was waiting for me. “Miss.”
“Yes,” I said, shivering.
“I will take you to your room now and bring you fresh clothes, although, when I went to your room earlier, I didn’t see any trunks. Have you not had your servants sent to the palace?”
“No, I will have them send my things over later.”
“Right this way.”
My rooms were in the east wing, and I was the last room on the end of the hall. My assigned servant, Cristin, was quite a chatterbox. Adelle had the room on my left, and Harmony was right across from me. Seeing a speck of ash appear on my gloved hand, I picked up my pace and was partially running. It wasn’t that my glamour was wearing off, but that the spell was dying out and, any second, I would be transported back into the locked room. If I didn’t move, Cristin would see me disappear right before her eyes.
She opened the door, and I rushed in, barely giving a glance to the room or the decor.
“Anything you need, miss?” Cristin asked right outside my door.
“No.” I closed the door in her face and disappeared.
Chapter Fourteen
Freezing. I was freezing cold. My fire had gone out, and I was out of wood. I kicked off my shoes, which released the glamour on my dress. I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and curled up on the bed. I was too exhausted from causing the thunderstorm to work a spell.
Moments later, the door opened and Dorian entered with a house elf carrying another tray of food. I didn’t move or open my eyes. I couldn’t. I had a dull ache over all my limbs and heart. The elf placed the tray on the nightstand, and Dorian reached over to touch my forehead then my sleeve.
“You’re freezing cold!” he exclaimed. “And you let the fire go out.”
“I’ll be fine,” I snapped and rolled over, pulling the blanket over my dress as I shivered, praying that he didn’t notice my dress and hair were damp from the rain.
“I’ll have one of the house elves bring you warmer clothes.”
“I don’t need more clothes. I would like my clothes.”
“I’ll go and get them later tonight,” he said.
“Thank you,” I whispered, too tired to fight. The door opened and closed, and a few moments later it opened again.
Through lowered lashes, I could see Dorian as he covered me with a wool blanket. He stacked wood by the fireplace and rebuilt the fire until my room was toasty warm. “Let me go,” I begged, still huddled under the blanket.
“I can’t. Not yet.”
“Then leave,” I demanded.
“I could stay if you want. Keep you company.”
“I already told you. Let me go or leave. I don’t want to be anywhere near you.”
I heard his footsteps move away and door closed, followed by the click of the lock.
I sat up and looked over at the newly rebuilt fire and stack of wood.
I debated going back, when every part of me wanted to crawl into my bed and wallow. But that wasn’t what my mother taught me. Strong girls didn’t hide, they showed their pride. It wouldn’t matter if Evander picked Adelle to be his bride. It wasn’t the least concern of mine who he picked.
I was here to find answers to my past. To find out why the king had my real mother killed.
After giving myself a pep talk, I glamoured my dress, added more logs to the grate and redrew the traveling circle. When the fire was blazing hot, I stepped into it.
The plume of smoke announcing my arrival was not as obvious as before. My maid had stocked the fire to my room and kept it lit, and by the stars of luck, I appeared in my own room. Now I had more time to look over my surroundings. The room was extravagant, with a polished oak four-poster bed, walls covered in a blue and gold fleur-de-lis pattern. Cherubs decorated each of the candelabras and chandeliers. Even the fireplace had angels holding up the mantlepiece. A pianoforte overlooked open double windows that led onto a verandah.
What had happened since I had left? I was about to go out and explore, when Cristin appeared at my door with instructions to bring me down to dinner. So maybe no one had noticed my absence.
The dining room was exquisite. Floor-to-ceiling paneled windows overlooked the garden, and, down the middle of the room, a long mahogany table had been set up with the finest china of blue with a gold sunburst. Lovely gold-rimmed glass goblets filled with mulled cider set at each place setting. I was scared to touch anything for fear of breaking a plate or glass.
Intricate name cards were placed on each plate with our name penned in gold ink. I found the one with my name and glanced at the names on either side of me. Harmony was on one side and Melisandre on the other. Across from me were place cards for Nessa, Adelle, and Sela. But more importantly, the table was only set for ten girls.
Our group had been cut in half just since this afternoon.
When I saw Adelle walk into the room, I immediately regretted my choice of dress. I was wearing a pale pink dress that accented my golden
hair. Adelle had worn a deep purple that made her dark locks look black. Her lips were painted a deeper red, her hair braided and wrapped to look like a crown was already perched upon her perfect head.
Prince Evander entered the room, and we all stood, my chair scraping the floor with a loud screech. Adelle snickered, while Harmony gave me a comforting look.
“Good evening, ladies,” Prince Evander said, gesturing for us to be seated. “I would like to apologize for the interruption to our earlier outdoor excursion, but we all know one cannot control Mother Nature.”
My lips pinched as I tried to hold back my mischievous smile. No, not everyone can, but I could. Sometimes.
I placed my cloth napkin in my lap and glanced at Evander, trying to not be obvious in my perusal of him. In fact, all ten of us were trying to not look at him. He had showered and changed. His tailored jacket had the blue ribbons and the gold family crest of the sun upon the lapel.
Dinner was an awkward affair. The prince would try and direct a question to one of the ladies, but it was frequently interrupted as another would chime in with her own opinion.
“Harmony, what are your hobbies? Do you sing, perhaps? Is that why your family chose your name?” he asked.
Harmony beamed at Evander. She was enchanting in a lavender dress. I found myself watching her. Her enthusiasm and passion was contagious.
“No, my prince. I believe it was my parents wish that I would have the voice of a songbird, but the heavens had their own joke. For when I sing, it is more of a dying crow.” Her comment made everyone laugh, even Evander.
I laughed as well, for it reminded me of my sister Maeve. I looked along the table at all of the preening faces, the glittering dresses, and the food. Oh my, was the food delicious. I was happy to not answer any questions if it meant I could shove more of the bite-sized hors d’oeuvre in my mouth.
“Why, I can sing, Your Highness,” Adelle added. “I’ve been trained by some of the best tutors in Rya.”
I popped a stuffed fig in my mouth and struggled to chew as jealousy filled me at Adelle’s comment.
“I can as well,” Sela chimed in.