by A Lonergan
I nodded my head. “How long did she say she served him?”
“Six months,”
I sat up straighter. “Really?”
“She lied.”
I flicked my eyes to the man beside me. He could pick out lies in the air. It was the magic that I appreciated to watch over me each day. He lifted an eyebrow in question, but I should have been the one to do that. The plot thickened. I trusted Nico more than anyone else, though. He would have a good reason for her getting away with the lie.
“Why did you let her continue in?” I asked, while I picked up a roll of bread from my plate. Eating had been torture as of late. No matter how hard I tried, I no longer had an appetite. I wanted to know about this new creature in my kingdom. It was no coincidence that she had showed up a year after Claudia had left us with her new beau. There had been no questions on where she had disappeared to, though she had warned me that her father wouldn’t be very forgiving on the matter. He appreciated anything that worked in his favor and if he didn’t get what he wanted… he was quick to make arrangements that others would find repulsive. The Emperor Hildiguard wasn’t a man that I had the pleasure of meeting yet, but with this new beauty in my kitchens, I had a feeling I would find out his wrath soon enough. There was no such thing as coincidences when it came to Arinal.
Chapter Five
Willow
I could feel the man’s eyes on me the entire time I worked. I kept my eyes down after our brief encounter and hoped I didn’t catch his eye again. The other girls flittered around him and gave him all of their attention, even when Madam Colver barked at them back in the kitchen. They were star struck. The redheaded guard sat by his side and I had caught his eyes a few times, as well. I couldn’t tell if he was interested in me or suspicious of me. By the look in his eye, it was possibly both.
Ugh, men.
As soon as we were back in the large room for bed, I took in my surroundings again. All of the beds were placed sporadically around the area and my bed was the only one not bunched with the others. I preferred to not sleep next to anyone anyway. I pulled the itchy, heavy dress over my head and the girl beside me gasped.
They couldn’t be that modest, could they? I had never been around such a large group of women, especially in another region. I didn’t think to wait and see how the other girls acted, which was dumb.
I frowned and looked up at her as I set my dress onto the bed. “What?”
“What happened to you?” Her lavender eyes held concern as she looked over my body.
Oh.
I had forgotten that these women wouldn’t have the same body as I. My body was hard from working out daily, and scarred from too many close calls. The small shift, and corset covered most of the worst marks, but I could see that the other girls were noticing that, too.
I had been stabbed, and on my death bed more times than I wanted to count or remember. Now that I had the attention of all the women in the room, I cleared my throat and tried to look as submissive as I possibly could, in case they got any ideas about reporting me. “I escaped an abusive Lord.”
I didn’t know how progressive this city was, but based on some of the women’s clothing in the marketplace, I knew it was more progressive than Arinal.
The woman that had gasped sat on my bed and tugged a piece of honey colored hair over her shoulder, her eyes wide with curiosity. “He did that to you?”
I nodded my head. “It was a long time ago, and I don’t really like to think about it.”
It wasn’t a lie. I didn’t like to think about all the men I had killed and all the assignments I had been used for. I didn’t want to think about my mother waiting for me at home, like she always did. I didn’t want to think about how she prayed to her Gods every night that I would return to her alive… because if I didn’t, she wouldn’t live either. It had been made very clear from day one.
“You’re not from here, are you?” she asked, afraid.
I could have rolled my eyes, what a dumb question. I didn’t resemble any of them in anyway. She was either being polite by asking, or she was as dumb as she looked. I shook my head. “No, and I am thankful that I was accepted by Master Ren, I would probably be dead somewhere if he hadn’t found me when he did.”
I hadn’t expected to share my story so soon, but here we were.
Half truths were my favorite. Most of the things I told my fellow servants was true, but I had to twist a few things to fit my overall lie. After my tales were over, most of the girls had lost interest in me.
Good.
I watched them plait each other’s hair, and bond in a way that I would never experience. I felt a pang of jealousy in my chest, but pushed it away. There was no use in being jealous, the lucky girls were just that. Lucky. The thought made my stomach turn. I couldn’t believe I was doing this. I had justified it within myself that I had had a choice from the very beginning and that I had accepted my assignment, but I hadn’t been honest with myself either. It wasn’t an option to return without the princess, because if I did that, I would forfeit my life… and my mother’s .
Homesickness clutched my heart. I pushed it down like I did with all of my emotions as of late. The kingdom was drafty, and always windy. It probably had something to do with the nearby cliffs hiding the beaches. I missed the sand, and the sun from Arinal. In this place it was dreary and cloudy. The sun wasn’t a usual occurance. I pushed the thoughts away. There was no point in having those feelings, I had never had them before. But, this was an unusual mission. I wasn’t accustomed to having to deal with people or play the long game on a mission. I didn’t know how long this game would last either, and that scared me.
I was usually confident when I went out on assignment. I couldn’t afford not to be. I had to manifest it within myself. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing, until the lights went out and the girls started whispering. I tried to tune it out until I heard, “Do you have powers?”
Many of them said no, but one’s fingers started to glow in the dark and eventually it looked like it was daylight. How odd. No one else said anything and eventually I could hear the girls drifting off to sleep by their snores. Someone tossed and turned in bed, while another whimpered in her sleep. One of the girls had a twitching problem and the sound of her foot against the blanket kept my eyes open. For a moment I wished I had powers so I could mask their noises. There would be no sleep for me tonight.
I crept from my bed and pulled my cloak out from underneath it. I was far too impatient to play the long game and all the sounds were starting to get under my skin. As soon as the hood was over my head, I was invisible. As much as I hadn’t enjoyed working with Ren and using him as a partner, I knew it was inevitable. It didn’t help that he didn’t give up. He was the most persistent man I had ever met. But I knew that I needed him and for whatever his reasons were, he needed me. The invisibility cloak was one of the gifts from him that I was most grateful for. It seemed as though shadows were obsolete in this castle, even with how dark the hallways were, and I couldn’t take any chances.
The door had been left slightly ajar, so getting out wasn’t the problem. The problem was getting caught. Sneaking about the castle and on my first day? I would be thrown out immediately. Or worse. I was as silent as the Maiden of Death as I whisked around the room making sure that everyone was indeed asleep. I didn’t know if the guards checked on us or not, so I shoved a few of my dresses under my blanket and formed it to look like a body. The door didn’t move as I slipped out and into the hallway. I held my breath as I heard a few of the guards talking. This would be the true test.
Ren had assured me that even the most powerful of magic welders in the city wouldn’t be able to sense me in this cloak. It made sense as to why I hadn’t sensed him following me that first night.
“And the dark haired maiden?” one of the guards asked.
“Oh, isn’t she a looker? I would love to sink-” The other man was punched and grunted as he went down.
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��If Madam Colver hears you speaking like that about her girls, she will behead you herself.” the first guard said.
“I didn’t realize that you were such a stickler for the rules, Nico.”
“You know that I’m not,” Nico paused and lowered his voice. I took a few steps forward to hear him better. “If the king has taken an interest in her, then you better be on your best behavior.” On that note, Nico, marched away. I peeked around the corner to see his red hair before he was gone. The other guard turned my way and I straightened up and prayed to my mother’s Gods.
Dark haired maiden? I was the only one in the servant quarters with dark hair. The King was interested in me? When had he seen me?
He shook his head and his beady eyes searched the corridor, but there was something off about his face. It blurred and I couldn’t get a good look at it. I blinked my eyes but I couldn’t get a good look even with him directly in front of me. “Stupid is what it is. As men, it’s our right to take what we want and when we want it.” I stayed glued to my spot, and not because I was scared of him. But because if he came down this hallway, I would kill him. There weren’t many things that I hated more than a rapist.
Lie.
There wasn’t a single thing I hated more than a rapist or a toxic man that thought he was the gift to all women. Yuck. Was he a killer too?
How many women had disappeared at his hand? How many had screamed and fought with no chance of survival against him? How many had felt powerless? I stayed glued to my spot until his duties were relieved and another guard took his post. As I crept down the hall away from the room full of women, I vowed that I would do what I could to teach them how to defend themselves and find out who that guard was. If they wanted to couple, that was one thing, but that man didn’t seem to care if a woman was willing or not.
Hours went by, as I snuck around the palace. The princess was nowhere to be found, though it was late and I wasn’t about to sneak into people’s room, but there was a Prince Adder Hildiguard, the brother to Claudia. Which made me completely and utterly not okay. He came here to escape the Emperor and keep an eye on his sister, and if he saw me he would know. He would know that I was here on assignment to kill someone. It was my only job and the royal family knew it. I was death incarnate.
I panicked and ran from the room. Prince Adder had two girls on his lap and was drinking, what looked to be, a lot of wine, though I had gotten out of there as quickly as I could and hadn’t bothered with the details. Prince Adder didn’t have a clean streak.
Prince Adder and I had a history per se and I wasn’t at all relieved to see that he was still here. He was dangerous and unpredictable. I couldn’t afford his attention now, or ever. But how was I supposed to avoid him? How was I supposed to get him to understand that I wasn’t here for him? He would panic and it would jeopardize the entire thing. I needed to think this through.
I calmed my racing heart and came up with another plan. My head hurt.
Chapter Six
Nico paced in front of me. “Do you know how many pregnancies he has been responsible for?”
I shook my head. I didn’t know if I was ready to have this conversation about one of my guards, when I knew that many were guilty of the same thing. They drank themselves into oblivion and then blamed it on the spirits. But what Nico was insinuating was something different. “Are you saying they weren’t willing couplings?”
“He has taken an interest in the black haired beauty,” Nico waited for my reaction and ignored my question. I wouldn’t give him one. There was no use, the poor woman was a servant, why was he trying to rile me up over her? “You don’t care?”
Oh, I did. I was seething inside, but I couldn’t let my commander know. I lifted an eyebrow. She was a servant. A servant that had a unique look to her. I couldn’t let my armor get pinched because of one girl. But I wouldn’t let one guard spoil her or anyone else again, if it wasn’t willing. “What do you propose I do?”
“You change out the guards that stay stationed at the servant quarters!” Nico’s anger took me by surprise. He was usually level headed and my most trusted adviser. He usually had to talk me down from things, not the other way around.
“There have been too many changes around here lately and when I propose a change, you don’t like it.” Nico crossed his arms over his chest.
“It’s not that I don’t like it, I appreciate it, but we have many servant quarters, how would you propose I handle this?” All of the servant quarters were watched over by guards at night, to make sure they were where they needed to be and that there was no trouble. My sister had started this and I didn’t know how to eradicate it. I knew that there needed to be order, I knew that I needed to enforce it… But, how much was too much? Did they really need guards posted outside of their rooms? Or was that the problem? I had guards posted outside of my room at all times, would it really be that much more of a hassle?
My sister had been Queen Armia for too long and had ruled the people with an iron fist. She had fallen in love with an Elf from a neighboring kingdom and she gave up her reign, saying our Rosalia was too small of a Kingdom for her liking. She was going to bigger and better things. I was happy to see her go after all of her corruption and death that came with being around her.
“Your Majesty, I just,” Nico paused and looked away from me. “I just can’t see such beauty taken from this realm again.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I knew exactly whom he was speaking of and I wasn’t entirely ready to address that. “Please, don’t use such formalities with me.”
“You act like I can be casual.” He shook his head and raked his fingers through his strawberry blonde locks.
“You can be,” I clapped him on the shoulder. “You are my oldest and dearest friend.”
“But you are King now, and I am only Commander.” Nico picked his sword up and gave me a look of sorrow. “Things will never be the way they were before.”
Then he was gone.
I paced the floor. The duty of the King was never easy and I had no idea how I was going to resolve this. I knew I needed to meet with Madam Colver, she would give me an honest opinion, and maybe a smack to the head.
Madam Colver was waiting for me when I got to the kitchen. She bowed her head and gave me a stern look. I waited for my lashing that never came. She had been the head cook of this castle since I was a babe. She had disciplined me far more than what I wanted to admit. She was more of a mothering figure than anyone else.
She leaned against the counter and held out her rolling pin. “How can I be of service, Young King?”
“What should I do about the guard situation outside of the servant quarters?” I gulped.
Her gaze softened and set her pin down. “What has you so distraught? So many new, pretty faces? Or something of the past?”
I shook my head. “It’s not me, it’s Nico that is concerned.”
“A young woman has finally caught his eye?” She crossed her arms over her dirty apron and waited for me to say something. I didn’t. “Or he’s trying to play matchmaker like our little Wyna.”
Wyna was one of my most trusted friends. She was the size of a baby carrot, and quick as a whip. She was one of the most trusted out of my advisors, even if she was a fairy and a tad bit eccentric. She was honest and kind, and currently on vacation in the Mortal Realm, which I tried to not think of, but failed 9 times out of 10. The Mortal Realm was never far from my thoughts, and I hated it. I dreaded every thought that had to do with that place.
I waved my hand dismissively. “This has nothing to do with either of them, it has to do with the missing girls that you report to me and the bodies found on the banks of the Wasted Sea.”
“So, you have been investigating.” She sounded surprised.
I scowled at her. “Of course I am! I don’t like the Maiden of Death anymore than you.”
The Maiden of Death was one of our goddesses. Her name stated the obvious of who and what she did. Though, I didn’t like
to think ill of her or the other Gods.
Madam Colver tsked at me. “Don’t say such things!” She shook her head. “But I agree, many of those girls being dumped there came from our castle and that makes me fearful for my children.”
“What if it was a guard that is doing it?” The thought made sick to my stomach.
Madam Colver looked at the floor and wouldn’t meet my gaze. “I have had my suspicions. Some of them have a taste for blood that the others most certainly do not. But it could be more than one. We have so many that come through, I can hardly remember half of them.”
“Do I increase security or do I relieve the duty of the guards posted at their doors and have a curfew?” I asked. I wished Wyna was here for me to talk to her.
Madam Colver looked up at me then and wrinkled her brow. “It’s funny that you’re coming to ask me of this,” She paused. “One of my new girls came to me this morning and asked if the others could get training to protect themselves.”
Dread coated my body. “Which one?”
“Her name is Willow, she doesn’t look like any of the others.” She waved her hand around her head. “Long dark hair, and olive skin.”
The black haired beauty. My stomach dropped. Something must have happened last night. “What is her shift for today?”
Madam Colver gave me a suspicious look. “She is with the genies. They are shopping in the marketplace then coming back to prepare guest quarters for the upcoming party.”
I had completely forgotten about that. The neighboring kingdoms had been angry with my quick cancelation of the Courting Ball. A party for me to meet all of their daughters and hopefully choose a bride. Which was something I didn’t want to do, but I also didn’t want to start a war, so I obliged, like they knew I would. Until I chose someone.
“Thank you for your advice, Madam.” I bowed to her this time and departed the kitchen.