“That’s, um, quite the makeover, angel,” he said.
I winked at him and ran to the house. My feet did not hurt at all.
Will and William stared at me when I entered. They stood on either side of Gerta, holding her hands. Gerta blinked away tears and rubbed her eyes. Estrella stood in the corner of the room slicing bread. She crossed her arms, and the knife glinted. She had dark circles under her eyes, and bits of hair stuck out from her braid.
I handed Gerta the bag of coins. As she took it, I realized I hadn’t kept any to pay for transportation to the palace. Too late now. Gerta weighed the bag in her hand and raised an eyebrow. William’s eyes grew wide as she pulled gold coins out of the bag. They clinked together. Will remained stoic.
“Where did you get that?” Estrella asked. She pointed the knife at my chest.
“What?”
She snatched the charm out of my hand and examined it.
“It makes hair grow faster.”
She laughed.
“What is so funny?”
“Who gave it to you?”
“Madame Delilah, as part of the trade for my hair. It will make my hair grow, won’t it?”
“Yes, but not much faster. And it won’t grow at all while you’re wearing the charm. When you take it off, the growing will happen all at once. Your hair will be longer than it would have been otherwise, but not by much. You’d better put it on.”
I groaned and combed through what was left of my hair. My arms flew through the few inches, used to combing feet of raven tresses. I fastened the chain around my neck and fought back tears.
“You’re lucky Delilah didn’t make this charm herself,” Estrella said. “She’s a decent wig maker, but a terrible magician. When it was decided that all Salara’s companions should be blond, many courtiers hired her to dye their hair with magic. It never went well. My mom made these hair charms for a friend of mine after a Madame Delilah dye job went horribly wrong.”
“So the hair could grow back?”
“So it wouldn’t grow under his wig. The hair was permanently damaged.”
I swallowed. Estrella examined my head.
“She did this with normal scissors. You’ll be fine.”
“And dark hair suits you better,” Gerta said.
She brought me a piece of polished metal. Some sort of farm equipment, I think. I stared at myself in it and gagged.
Beauty had never looked worse. Hair stuck out all over my head in uneven clumps. It didn’t even reflect colors onto the wall anymore. There must not be enough left! Tears rolled down my face. I couldn’t go home looking like this. I pulled off the charm and counted to ten.
Nothing happened.
“Perhaps it is out of magic?” I said.
Estrella shook her head.
“This charm draws energy from the person wearing it. My mother’s trick. I’d recognize it anywhere.”
Gerta retrieved a pair of scissors from her desk.
“Let me even it out for you. I have lots of experience from cutting William’s hair. He is very particular.”
“I can’t help it if I need to look my best,” William said. He combed his hair with his fingers. Will and Estrella rolled their eyes.
“She cuts mine too,” Thomas said. He ran his fingers through his hair, imitating William.
I laughed through my tears. Gerta cut bits and pieces of what was left of my hair. When she showed me my reflection again, I looked much better. She had coaxed the front piece of hair into lying across my forehead like a bird’s wing. You noticed my face more with all the hair gone. My eyes looked larger than ever and twice as luminous. And my skin seemed pearlier with dark hair to contrast.
I glanced around the room and noticed a faint purple spot on the wall. It moved when I turned my head. So my hair did still reflect colors. At least they were faint. No one noticed.
“Would you like me to look at your feet?” Estrella asked. “I don’t have much magic left, but I can ease the pain.”
I shook my head.
“Were you trying to heal the field?”
“Yes, and the village well went salty. The water purification spell backfires sometimes. I fixed the well, but the field won’t grow anything for ten years at least. I didn’t know it was possible for the ground to hold so much salt.”
“Let me finish lunch, dear,” Gerta said. Her eyes sparkled as she handed each of us a slice of bread and a Salara egg.
“Are there any eggs left in the palace?” I asked Will.
He smiled at me and shrugged.
“Thomas, can you and Samuel take this to Castlemont and buy supplies?” Gerta said. “You’re my best traders.”
“It’s because I’m so charming,” Thomas said. “But I was really hoping to stay here and help.”
He watched for my reaction as he said it.
“You can take the horse,” Gerta said. “You’ll need him to help you carry everything back.”
“Alright!”
Thomas ran out the door, then turned to me.
“Don’t go anywhere, angel,” he said. “I’ll be back soon with supplies.”
“And smelling like a fish,” William said. “The market stinks. Estrella still smells fishy when she sweats.”
“You’re fishy,” Estrella muttered with her mouth full of Salara egg. She swallowed and turned to Will.
“The soldiers set up camp in the village. They’ll be there at least another day.”
“They’ll be searching the surrounding areas then.”
She nodded. Will turned to me.
“I hope your feet really are feeling better, Rook. We need to take another walk.”
Chapter 14
I spent the rest of the day helping William and Estrella around the farm. Will stayed in the house with Gerta.
The wind chilled my bare neck and rustled my hair like grass. When no one was looking, I took off the hair growth charm and counted to ten.
Nothing happened.
I would have a few choice words for Madame Delilah when I found her. Better yet, I would send Lady Alma and the poets after her. They would be ready to fight when they saw me with short hair. The thought of Sir Quill and Sir Inkling chasing Madame Delilah around cheered me up.
The moment the sun began to set, Will packed food and supplies into his bag. A fistful of stars twinkled above us as we walked into the early evening light. My feet did not hurt at all. At least one of Delilah’s charms worked.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“The soldiers will search the surrounding area for us first thing in the morning. We need to hide before then.”
“How do you know that?”
“They’ve done it before. Our royal troops are nothing if not predictable.”
We did not cross the salt field. Instead, we walked towards the mountains, following paths between rows of crops.
“Was losing one field really that bad?” I asked. “Gerta has plenty of crops here.”
“These aren’t Gerta’s. We’re crossing through Roslynn’s farm now.”
“Ah, the elusive Roslynn.”
Will raised an eyebrow.
“Elusive?”
“William has been looking for her since we arrived. She seems very mysterious.”
He laughed.
“She’s a farmer’s daughter. The most exciting thing she does is come to town to help Elsie and Edsel at their shop. And she won’t even be doing that now that they have you.”
“Oh.”
It was silly to feel disappointed, but I did.
The fields stopped at the edge of cliff. Far below us, sluggish water carved a deep, muddy scar through the land. It smelled like rotten fish. Across the river, trees grew in clumps. In the dark, they looked like groups of courtiers gathering to gossip. The moon was up now, and the dirty water reflected slivers of light.
“Welcome to the Ghone,” Will said.
I took another look. There was no way this could be the Ghone. The poets had
compared my hair to Salaria’s mightiest river a thousand times, and the curving water I saw shining from my tower could not be this muddy.
“We’ll find a safe place to cross,” Will said, mistaking my silence for nerves.
“We have to cross?”
“Our hiding place is on the other side.”
We walked along the bank. Had any of the court poets ever seen the Ghone? Actually seen it? Or did they secretly think my hair was disgusting? Soon there were trees on our side of the river. They stretched across the water on both sides, blocking the moonlight. I stumbled over roots and rocks, but Will continued as if it were daylight.
A twig snapped in the forest. Will and I stopped. I heard voices.
“Soldiers?” I whispered.
“Impossible.”
The voices grew nearer.
“When we find her-” a man's voice said.
I stiffened. Will looked up into the trees.
“Can we climb them?” I whispered. “They won’t look for us in the trees.”
“We are not climbing the trees.”
He pulled out a knife, sliced through something, and handed it to me. I grabbed it. Some sort of rope?
“We’ll swing across,” he said, just as the men appeared.
Will jumped, and the vine carried him across the river. He hopped off, landing on the other side. The men yelled and ran towards me. There were three of them. I recognized the crests on their armor: Salaria’s royal guard.
I lost my footing and fell forward. My hands tightened around the vine as I swung over the water. Will reached his hands out to catch me, but I didn’t have enough momentum to make it all the way across. I came within feet of the bank before swinging back towards the soldiers.
This was good, right? Soldiers could take me back to the palace. Soldiers would obey their Princess. I twisted on the vine to see them and gulped. They had pulled out their swords and pointed them towards me.
I swung over the bank, nearer and nearer to the gleaming guards and blades. They looked ready to slice first and ask questions later. I aimed for the nearest head and kicked.
Years of ballet training served me well. My foot connected with the soldier’s helmet, and I swung back across the river. The force of the blow made me spin. I saw Will at the river bank, holding a stick over the edge. I reached for it, but spun away before I could grab it. The soldiers grew closer and closer as I whirled out of control, dangling from the vine by one hand. Desperate, I swung my body around and tried to get my other hand around the vine.
I lost my grip and tumbled into the river.
From the bank, the Ghone looked lazy. From my new vantage point, it seemed ferocious. The current pulled me towards the sea with a force too strong to fight. My head bobbed under as waves pushed me and my skirt soaked up water like a sponge. The soldiers stood on the bank, too heavy in their armor to dive after me.
Will had disappeared.
My boots filled with water. Every kick took a tremendous amount of effort. I looked for something to grab, but saw only streaks of moonlight against the inky surface. I inhaled water and spit it out.
Salt.
Behind me, something large splashed. Light danced in the ripples. What sort of fish lived in the Ghone? I kicked harder, not wanting to find out.
Something touched me. I inhaled to scream and gagged on salt water.
“Relax,” Will said.
He swam closer. I could make out the outline of his head bobbing in the waves. His arm wrapped around me.
“Stay still, or we’ll both drown.”
I coughed and tried to obey. His bare foot brushed against my leg as he kicked for both of us. I focused on breathing, trying to regain my calm.
We hit solid ground, and Will pulled me onto the bank. We lay on our backs gasping for air. I coughed up salt water.
“Thanks,” I said.
I felt him nod.
“They’ll try to follow us,” he said. “Can you walk?”
I pushed myself up to a sitting position, shaking.
Above us, the bank turned into a sheer cliff. The ledge we sat on was barely wide enough for two. We were trapped.
“I can’t climb that,” I said, gesturing to the smooth rock above us.
“Can you crawl?”
“There’s nowhere to go.”
I shivered as a breeze blew past me. I turned to Will, but he had disappeared.
“In here.”
He stuck his head out of a hole in the cliff. I gathered my sopping skirts in one hand and crawled towards him. The hole was a tunnel. I followed the sound of Will’s knees shuffling against the rocks. It was completely dark.
“To the right,” Will said.
His voice echoed. I felt the wall and found an opening. I entered and collided with Will.
“Sorry.”
“Close your eyes.”
“What?”
“Just do it.”
I closed them and heard a snap. The darkness behind my eyelids lessened. I opened my eyes and blinked. The cave walls glowed. Not much, but enough to show we were in a small room with sloped walls. Will leaned against one side. I crawled over and took the other.
My skin itched from the salt water, and my clothes clung to me. Hair plastered Will's face. He wiped it to the side. I did the same with mine.
“Where are we?”
“A mining tunnel. Not quite the hiding place I had in mind, but it will do the job.”
“You know magic?”
“All miners learn the basics. Mines are the easiest place to work magic since you’re surrounded by fairy salt.”
I sat for a moment, just breathing.
“I kicked a guard in the face.”
It seemed funny for some reason. I giggled. To my surprise, Will joined me.
“He’ll never live that down,” he said.
“Sir foot-to-face.”
We smiled at each other.
“They shouldn’t be out after dark,” Will said. “They never search after dark. Too dangerous.”
“Yeah, they might get kicked in the face by a girl swinging on vines.”
He smirked.
“I’m serious. Did you steal anything when you left the palace? Besides the egg?”
“You’re one to talk. You took way more than I did.”
“I’m just wondering what they’re looking for. It must be something big. Something important.”
“Just the costume and the wig I was wearing. Oh, and these bracelets.”
I showed him the thin silver bands. My face flushed as I thought about the opera.
We sat in silence. It was comfortable in the mine, warm and still and dry except for us.
“So you’re a miner?”
Will opened his palms, showing me hands lined with white scars and calluses. I clenched my own smooth hands into fists and hid them in my wet skirt.
“I worked with my father. The salt scars can’t be healed.”
“So you wear gloves.”
“In polite company.”
We lapsed into silence again. I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes.
“How long are we staying here?” I asked.
“A day at least, but most of our food got lost in the river. We’ll have to sneak out to get supplies if we stay too long.”
“So I have time for a nap?”
He chuckled.
“I mean it.”
I leaned forward and looked at him.
“You’ve saved me twice now. Thank you. I will repay you somehow.”
“No need. Just don’t go back to the palace and get yourself killed. You saw how those guards were ready to cut you down for no reason. You’re not a noble anymore.”
I ran my fingers through my short hair. It was dry already. The salt made it stiff, and it stuck up in spikes.
“I suppose not.”
“Will you stay with Elsie and Edsel?”
“For a while.”
“And after that?”
“I don’t know.”
Will nodded.
“You won’t be able to join Elsie and Edsel until the guards leave. I can’t go to town either. It makes sense for us to stay together.”
“I suppose.”
I watched him, waiting. Where was he going with this?
“I have things to do, Rook.”
“Running out of Salara eggs?”
“Important things, and I think you can help. If I can trust you.”
“Will, I’m no good at farm work. I know how to dance and paint and sing. I can speak all the courtly languages and spot a Lady Alma design from a mile away. I’m not sure I’ll be much help.”
“Oh, you’ll be perfect. How are you feeling towards Princess Salara now that her guards tried to kill you?”
“She didn’t order them to do that.”
“Not that you know.”
I knew.
“Let me try a different question. You committed one crime against the Princess. How would you feel about a few more?”
“I stole an egg.”
“Would you do it again? Maybe take something larger?”
I narrowed my eyes.
“What are you trying to ask?”
“I’m trying to see how loyal you are to the Princess. Some people think everything she touches is sacred. Are you willing to cross some lines?”
I shrugged. He had no idea how many lines I had already crossed.
“This is important, Rook.”
“I don’t mind taking more of Salara’s things if that is what you are asking. What’s next? Her oatmeal? Her hair ribbons?”
“Rook, please.”
“I said I don’t mind.”
Especially if we had to go to the palace to get those things. Not right away though. I was still hoping the hair growth charm would do some good.
“So you want to help?”
“Sure, Will. I’ll help you overthrow Salara through petty theft.”
I smiled. Will did not. He reached out his hand, and I shook it. The calluses etched across his skin pressed into my palm.
“There’s one more thing you should know.”
He leaned his head back, a bit too casual.
“My name is Shadow.”
Chapter 15
Shadow?
The Shadow?
I stared at him in the blueish cave light, searching for a sign of the notorious bandit of song and legend. I saw nothing new. Just a pale boy about my age with dark hair and scars on his hands. His eyes looked black in the strange lighting, and they were focused on me.
Rook and Shadow (Salarian Chronicles Book 1) Page 11