“You have no right to speak of such treachery,” she hissed. “Not when your mother practically funded the rebellion.” Alison tried to protest, but Elaina kept her pinned against the wall. “And do not speak of the prince as though he is in any way yours. He is far, far too good for the likes of you!”
“She’s in here, Mother! Trying to kill Alison!”
Elaina had a lot more to say to the spoiled brat, but before she could, she was yanked back and thrown to the floor. When her vision cleared, she found herself looking up into the face of a stranger.
“That will be quite enough,” Matilda growled, stepping out from behind the strange man. “I leave the house for ten minutes, and this is what I come home to?”
Elaina tried to roll away, but the man grabbed and held her wrist firmly.
Matilda moved so that she could stoop in front of Elaina as the man pinned her arms behind her back and held them there securely.
“I warned you before. If you do not have the strongest will, someone else will impose his will upon you.” She patted Elaina on the cheek. “You’ve served me well, Cinders. You’re a strong girl, I’ll give you that. But I am stronger. Enjoy your time with the Shadow.”
Elaina jerked down as hard as she could, a new sense of urgency filling her muscles. She succeeded in breaking free, but as she scrambled for the door, Dinah closed it. The man caught her again and squeezed her arms so tightly she thought they might pop out of place. This time, he heaved her up onto his shoulder and headed down the stairs. With each step, the stubble on his cheeks rubbed Elaina’s arm, and the smell of body odor made her nauseous.
“Come, girls,” Matilda called from the bedroom. “We have a boat to catch.”
Elaina continued to struggle as the stranger hauled her out of the manor, but it was to no avail. Like a sack of flour, he tossed her in a wooden trunk on the back of a cart. Then he slammed the lid shut, imprisoning her in darkness. The only light came from a small keyhole, nearly the size of her eye. Elaina screamed as she kicked and punched the lid, but it was no use. The lid was too heavy. Barks and bleats sounded from the yard as the man clucked at the horse and the cart began to bump along.
Elaina continued to shriek and push against the lid. But no one heard her, and even if they did, no one came to her rescue.
Eventually, her strength gave way to anger and then despair. After more than two years of forced servitude, insults, and loneliness, this was how it was going to end. Elaina would be subject to whatever evils the Shadow had planned for her. Nicholas would find a new wife, and the world would continue on without her. Curling into a little ball, Elaina felt hot tears running down her face.
Never in her life had she longed for something so much. Someone. But that someone wasn’t here, and his arms weren’t around her and the safety of his gentle smile would never bless her again. They would be given to another woman, one it seemed, that he was about to choose.
Well, if it was another woman he wanted so much, then he could have her.
Darkness fell as they left the main part of the city to travel up a rough dirt road. There were few other travelers that shared their path. Only the constant clip-clop of the horses marked the passing of evening into night.
“Why?” she whispered through the keyhole as the world fell dark. “Why bring me through all of that just to reach this end?”
Don’t despair. You’re approaching a rut!
Those were strange words of comfort. Elaina frowned, sure she’d heard the stars wrong.
Before she could ask again, the whole cart jarred, knocking Elaina’s head into the side of the chest. Then she understood. Unfortunately, her revelation came too late, and Elaina realized as she rubbed her sore head what they had wanted her to do.
She nearly fell asleep as she waited and listened for more instructions. But when they whispered the same words again, she was ready. Positioning herself as best she could in the bottom of the trunk, she waited for the sound of the front wheels hitting the rut first. Throwing herself against the trunk’s side, she felt the world around her begin to spin.
Her landing was painful as the heavy trunk tumbled on top of her before bouncing off and rolling down into a ditch on the side of the road. Elaina lay on the cobblestones, feeling as though all of her bones had been smashed and that she would never walk again.
Get up, Elaina! the stars called out. Before he sees that you’re gone!
“I can’t,” she whispered. Aside from the pain of falling off a moving cart and having the trunk land upon her, the effects of hunger, thirst, and being cramped up in the trunk for so long had taken their toll.
Instead of hearing a response from the stars, however, Elaina felt something wet nudge her. Turning, she found a familiar face licking her hand.
“Dog!” she whispered.
At the sound of her voice, he began nuzzling her face and neck. Not to be outdone, however, a familiar bleat sounded to her right. Thanking the Maker, Elaina reached up until she was able to wrap her arms around the dog and goat’s neck. By leaning on them, she managed to move from the middle of the road into the bushes at its side. Once there, Elaina stumbled into the soft summer grasses.
“What do I do?” she whispered, as much to the animals as to the stars. “He’ll find out I’m gone. He’ll come back for me.”
Elaina, you must stand.
Elaina squeezed her eyes shut. “I told you, I can’t.”
Elaina!
But Elaina didn’t want to get up. Instead, she curled up into a ball. Sleep. If she could only get some sleep, all would be well.
Elaina, you need to go north.
It was Barker who forced her up in the end, goading her with his short little horns until she’d been bullied into standing.
“Remind me to sell you to the first market we find,” she grumbled at him. Her answer was another bump to the backside.
Once she was steady on her feet, she fought for enough balance to make out the constellations above her. Slowly, so slowly, she found north and began to follow it.
How far they walked or for how long she couldn’t say. She could only focus on putting one foot in front of the other to the rhythm of the stars’ constant chorus of north.
When the sky began to gray, however, Elaina couldn’t go on. Her knees buckled, and she tumbled to the ground. The animals pushed and prodded her with their noses and horns. Dog whined and Barker bleated pitifully, but it was no use. Elaina couldn’t move another inch.
49
Details
“Conrad, have you seen Alastair?” Nicholas called through the door. As much as he disliked talking to Alastair’s assistant, who still remained under close watch, Nicholas was feeling ambitious this morning, and a missing spy was not going to deter him.
“Pool Garden,” came Conrad’s monotone response.
“Really? What’s he doing there?”
“You think he tells me anything anymore?” Conrad’s reply was acidic.
Nicholas almost felt pity for the man as he headed downstairs. Two and a half years was a long time to spend in a small set of rooms, only let out under close supervision. It might have been enough to drive Nicholas mad. But the memory of Elaina’s face at her trial still kept Nicholas’s word firm. Until she was safe once again, Conrad would remain under lock and key.
The morning was lovely, despite the summer heat that sent sweat rolling down his back and the bugs that seemed determined to eat him. The way the yellow sunlight blanketed the earth was a reminder of the dream that still haunted him. If he closed his eyes for even a moment, he could still see her hair covered in the same soft light like dew on a yellow rose.
Focus, Nicholas.
It wasn’t a long walk to the Pool Garden. The inn where the Pool Garden was located was just a few streets down the palace’s main road. It struck Nicholas as an odd place for Alastair to spend his morning. But then, Nicholas had also used the garden’s lush greenery and quiet pools to occasionally escape the madness of the pala
ce, which had far exceeded the level of ludicrousness that his sister’s wedding had ever raised. Perhaps Alastair, too, had simply needed time to think without being asked a question about the infernal ball.
Nicholas waved to the innkeepers as he walked in and headed for the back. The old man and his wife, well acquainted with Nicholas by now, simply smiled and waved back. They had long ago stopped asking him how they might be of help. For Nicholas, the escape provided by the exotic red maple trees and tranquil ponds with spotted golden fish was the greatest gift they could give.
But Nicholas wasn’t there to relax this morning. The night before, he had made the decision to tell Alastair everything about Elaina. After all, the ball had largely been Alastair’s idea, and Nicholas knew this was his last chance at finding her. And for that to happen, Alastair needed to know everything.
Nicholas had just begun down one of the meandering wooden paths when he heard the very voice he’d come in search of. He turned and followed Alastair’s voice until he heard a second voice. Then he stopped in his tracks.
There, to his right, he could see Alastair’s form, partly hidden behind a group of ferns. With him was a thin woman, though Nicholas couldn’t see her face to try and recognize her.
“But I sent you the money!” he was protesting. “Do you know how hard it was to scrape together the hundred thousand gold pounds? And now she isn’t even here?”
“You mean in addition to the money you still owe me? Besides, you can’t seriously think I would bring her with me,” the woman was saying.
Wanting to keep Alastair in view, Nicholas ducked behind a large pine tree.
“This is the daughter of Admiral Baxter Starke,” Alastair snapped. “You don’t think she’s clever enough to escape the moment she sees light the size of a pinhole? Your guards have managed to keep her under control for years now. Why did you think them incapable for a day’s journey across the bay?”
“Because I learned that she was just that,” the woman retorted. “She never told me her name. I didn’t even know who she was until you told me who you were looking for.” She huffed. “The girl is clever. She would have found a way to escape if I’d tried to bring her myself on a ship. Isn’t that where the wench grew up? At least this way I was able to hire a man who could focus solely on her and not on the safety of myself and my daughters as well.”
“You should know, then, that I got a message from your hired hand this morning. Elaina has escaped.”
Nicholas couldn’t have moved if he’d wanted to. Instead, he dug his fingers into the bark of the tree until they hurt. Elaina was alive, and somehow, she had managed to break free.
And Alastair was all to blame.
Nicholas closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the trunk. He’d been so careful, or so he’d thought. But every move he’d made had been not only seen by the enemy, but handed to him on a silver platter. Nicholas had invited Elaina into Alastair’s very company and practically given her to him through the exile. Then it dawned on him with a jolt of horror. Could Alastair be the Shadow? Or was he just a lackey like Conrad?
“This all could have been taken care of if you had simply told me she was in your home!” Alastair said.
“I didn’t know she could speak to the stars until just recently. And as soon as I did, I hired the mercenary and sent word to you. What more could I have done?” The woman paused. “I’m still not sure why we’re even having this discussion. I am not the one in the wrong here. You have yet to deliver on your promised payments.”
“You can’t demand payment on something you haven’t delivered!”
“I gave you the war! Besides,” the woman scoffed, “it wasn’t my fault that the mercenary couldn’t keep track of a tiny, battered, half-starved wench.”
At these words, Nicholas was loosed from his shock. Searing anger shot down his spine, and it was all he could do to keep himself from leaping through the ferns and beating them both senseless.
“Really,” Alastair said, “I should just have ignored your advice and not started this fruitless war in the first place. I would have had her by now and been free of you.”
“Don’t blame me for all your woes. I was in court the other day to watch some public proceedings. You were quite helpful to the king. You’re doing yourself no service, you know, by sharing so much information with him. Why keep up the charade?”
His voice was acidic. “In order to gain information for your war, I must be indispensable to the king. And to be indispensable to the king, I must continue providing good leads.” He paused. “I told them once that lithorium was a grave concern, but that was the biggest falsehood I dared try. The prince is sharp and starting to reach out to others besides me for information.”
“Well, if this girl is as dear to the prince as you claim,” the woman continued in a more collected tone, “then she will definitely be at the ball. She had even managed to find a gown the day I discovered her gift. I will know better than anyone else what she looks like, if she shows up. She’s changed in the last two years. Even the prince won’t know her as well as I do.” She paused. “New arrangement. I will help you find her, and you will secure the prince’s hand for one of my daughters in return.”
Nicholas was wondering if this might be an appropriate situation in which he might gag, but a little voice inside told him not to. That Alastair was the Shadow, he was now absolutely convinced. And the Shadow, as he had seen personally, had powers that Nicholas was rather sure he could not defeat on his own. As much as Nicholas wanted to do to Alastair everything that had been done to Elaina, and more, he restrained himself. If he had learned anything from his time at war, it was the value of patience.
“I do have the king’s ear,” Alastair muttered. “It shouldn’t be too hard to turn him toward one of your daughters. This means that while we’re at the ball, I will watch the prince, and you will search the crowds for her.”
“I will also make sure my daughters are introduced to the—”
“Let me take care of that. Now for goodness sakes, woman, go! Before someone sees us here. You may be a mere woman of business, but I have an image to uphold.”
Nicholas stayed pressed against the tree for a long time even after they left. His head was spinning, and he wasn’t quite sure he wouldn’t look inebriated if he tried to make his way home at that moment.
His initial instinct was to go directly to his father and tell him all he had heard. But as ever, he knew before the thought was complete that his father wouldn’t believe him without proof. Over the years, Alastair had become one of the king’s favorites, and when he wasn’t undercover in Solwhind, he was very rarely away from the king’s side.
In fact, it was he that Nicholas had tasked with venturing to Matilda Winters’s home as soon as the rebels had surrendered. Only when Alastair had come home empty-handed had Nicholas thrown himself completely into planning this ball, hoping that if she was still alive . . . Rather, if she was still in the vicinity, she would understand his invitation and come.
No, Nicholas would have to find help somewhere else. The guards? Possibly. Nicholas had a good number that he knew would follow him without question, and the soldiers even more. But the more people that knew, the more likely his secret was to get out.
He was going to need someone with unquestionable loyalty not only to him but to Elaina as well.
Almost immediately, the answer was clear even in his muddled head. Thank you, he said to the Maker as he headed back into the inn.
“Master Chan?” he called.
The old innkeeper removed his spectacles and gave Nicholas a pleasant smile and a quick bow. “Yes, sire? How may I help you?”
Nicholas pressed a gold coin into the man’s hand and closed it before he could protest. “I need a writing desk, quill, ink, and parchment. And I’m going to need to borrow a horse.”
If the innkeeper was surprised, he didn’t show it. Instead, he only glanced around and then motioned for Nicholas to follow him in
to the personal chambers the innkeeper shared with his wife.
“No one will bother you here, sire,” he said, pulling a little stool out from beneath an old, battered writing desk. “My horse is out in the stall. Her saddle is hanging just beside her. Use her as long as you need.”
Nicholas gripped the man’s hand tightly, wishing words could properly convey his thanks. As soon as he was alone, he prepared the quill and began his letter, a letter his father would surely order burned if he ever laid eyes on it.
To His Most Excellent Majesty King Everard Fortier of Destin,
I have found her. I think. But I am going to need your help . . .
50
My Gift
Elaina rolled over and snuggled more deeply under the covers. The aroma of fresh bread filled the air, and she even caught a faint whiff of cinnamon. She wanted to sleep forever, but the rumble of her stomach eventually forced her eyes open.
Only then did Elaina realize she had no idea where she was. Someone had placed her in a soft bed and piled upon her quilts of every color and design, which she was still buried beneath despite the late afternoon sun that was creeping in through the windows. Two thick hunks of bread slathered in butter lay on a plate beside her, as well as apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon. A mug of something hot steamed up beside the plate.
Cautiously, Elaina propped herself up on her elbow and looked around. The room she was in seemed to make up the entire cottage, as there were no doors but the two that led outside. The windows were large, though, and covered in colorful curtains of reds, yellows, and blues. The dozens of pillows lying around, the apron hanging on the door, and the quilts she was wrapped up in were made of fabric bits of every shape, color, and size pieced together in mosaics of beauty.
Cinders, Stars, and Glass Slippers: A Retelling of Cinderella (The Classical Kingdoms Collection Book 6) Page 34