Extol of Agnatic Dreams (The Extol Series Book 1)

by Jennifer R. Kenny

  She had hesitated for only the barest of seconds before she pushed the door open to find Glais and Luella in an unambiguous embrace. The afterglow of sex, or what she assumed was the afterglow because really what could Evangeline know of such behaviours, was still apparent on Luella’s face. Glais held the servant wench but was watching Evangeline. She had never seen him look so wild before. His hair was free to fall carelessly over his face, however his eyes pierced her still just as they had the first night they had met. If he meant to scare her off, it wouldn’t happen. She had no plans of leaving before she got her revenge.

  Thomas walked quietly beside her with only the best of intentions of delivering Evangeline to her room. He could tell that she was troubled, and yet he lacked the knowledge on how best to handle this situation. A small allowance on the young man’s part that Evangeline gave no indication of the thoughts of her own mind, and Thomas could not bring himself to ask. and she couldn’t offer him a word as the scenario kept flashing past her eyes. Evangeline could not go to dinner, and she did not try and communicate with Wick when Thomas left her at her door. Evangeline blamed the sunburn and it was a convenient excuse for her to stay locked in her room. Many times she had imagined the scenario of confronting Glais and his infidelity. It changed slightly but every time she was a force to reckon with. The reality was much quieter. She did not confront Glais on his actions. She did not hunt down the girl to have her thrown from the castle.

  She did not remove the ring from her hand either. Evangeline was still fully dressed for the day but lay on her bed with her hand above her head so she could see the ring Glais had presented her with. She stared up into the onyx and she tried very hard to find that hatred she knew she should feel but it didn’t come. What Evangeline felt was betrayal, but there was no following shot of hate to give her fire. She had experienced her moment in the barn where Evangeline had imploded because she would never be so aggressive in her real life regardless of how Evangeline imagined it, and now she was lost as to what to do.

  Evangeline sat up but paused. There was no letter she could write that would be safe. Should it fall into the wrong hands, it would be a terrible thing. Infidelity was common in court, but never with so much evidence of it. Even if she could trust a messenger to get to Crimah and deliver the letter to Viviana and Teagan, their reply would be dated before they even read it. New tears threatened, the tears of a lonely woman. Wiping angrily at her eyes Evangeline cleared her throat. “Wick. Come to me.” Her voice sounded broken and seemingly underused, cracking even though she was trying to be strong.

  Wick approached, opening the door that separated the sleeping quarters from the sitting room. In one hand she carried a small bowl with something sticky and green in it.

  “What is that?” Evangeline asked, but of course, Wick gave her no answer, not even a mime for the concoction she was preparing. Evangeline sighed. “Help me dress in my night clothes. I wish to retire early.” Wick set the bowl down, not even nodding and just started working. Her face a blank stare, eerie still and so unsettling for Evangeline to witness. She had to admit defeat and go to staring at the wall instead of watching how Wick moved around her.

  She gave no warning but when Evangeline stood nude, she fetched the bowl, dipping two fingers into it.

  Evangeline took a step backwards. “No. Whatever it is I don’t want it.” She said but Wick ignored her. “Can you not hear me?” Evangeline almost felt feverish with Wick and her inability to speak. It was a choice, and that only made it all the worse for Evangeline to deal with. “Stop it, Wick.” Evangeline demanded, but Wick’s hands were faster than her blocking and she smeared the green goo on her red arm. Instantly her skin felt cooler and Evangeline looked down at the spot, amazed.

  “Wick, you should just tell me.” Wick looked up at her and applied more of the extract to her arm, saying nothing as was her way and still giving little indications of her desires non-verbally. “I should just trust you.” Evangeline sighed, letting Wick now apply what as in her bowl over her sunburn. “You are one more thing about Braykith that makes no sense to me. Will that mystery ever end Wick?” Wick gave no answer but Evangeline kept speaking.

  “It has been but a day, not even yet a full cycle and here I am a mess. I have found out things that both hurt me and somehow enhance my life. I have seen beauty and felt the cold touch of fear. Everything here makes me nervous. Will it someday become the norm? One morning I will wake and you will present me with a Braykith secret that I welcome without a fight?” Wick gave her nothing and Evangeline sighed.

  The bowl was close to empty now, but it didn’t seem to matter because Evangeline had it covering every burn she had on her body. She couldn’t move, and her body itched but she didn’t say so as Wick disappeared and returned with ribbons of fabric. Evangeline didn’t ask and Wick didn’t even demonstrate to her what they were for. She just started wrapping them over her exposed skin, covering her.

  Wick left Evangeline again and this time, she did not return. Wick put the unused strips of fabric away knowing she would need to use them again since Evangeline did not seem to realise how sensitive her skin was to the sun here. Being prepared will help in the future. If Evangeline would just stop with her resistance to Braykith and accept that Wick was there to assist her living routine, then everything would go much smoother. None of these thoughts showed on her as she went through the motions of preparing the bath.

  Although Evangeline had not told Wick what was wrong, the girl had reason to believe that the sunburn excuse was simply that. An excuse used to avoid the family dinner. It was a wild guess, but Wick was confident that Evangeline had discovered some evil secret of Braykith and was still dealing with that. Although Wick was just as sure that it was only the beginning. There were far worse things to know. Evangeline’s skin was blushed pink but it was hardly the worst burn she had seen. Wick was sure after only one bath that most of the sting would be gone and the colour a faint glow.

  As the tub grew warmer, Wick added some oils and a dried herbal remedy. Wick didn’t like tormenting Evangeline with her silence and she was well aware that it did leave the other woman out of sorts, but there was nothing to be done about it. If she started giving Evangeline gestures towards what she thought, then perhaps, it could all finish before it started. Wick had a responsibility to herself to keep her thoughts private. She was empathetic that Evangeline needed to learn how to handle her, but not sorry enough to change that.

  She knew the moment Evangeline entered the room, felt eyes on her back as she ensured the herbs and oils dissolved in the water. Wick did not turn, and there was no shift in her stance as Evangeline approached. Satisfied with the water temperature, Wick helped the bandaged Evangeline get into the bath and made sure all of her was submerged. The water needed to soak into the bandages, and she took the time now to pin up Evangeline’s hair to keep it from getting too wet. She had no problems with using the coals again but overuse could ruin the hair.

  “How do you know Glais?” Evangeline’s question was spoken so quietly that Wick scarcely thought she heard it at all. There was no competing sound beyond the crackle of the slowly dying fire but Evangeline knew the subject was a delicate one and she hoped her tone was respectful. True to form, Wick hid her reaction to the question. There was no change in her. Her eyes didn’t move from their fixated stare. Wick’s hands worked without faltering. She stood half hunched because of the height of the bath and she struggled some days with her posture but Wick was a master at hiding this from those around her. “His mother claims you grew up together, barely months between your ages.”

  Wick let the silence stretch out between them, taking Evangeline’s hand out of the bath water and started slowly running her hands over the soaked bandages. Small circular motions pushed the water out and ensured that the balm was being absorbed into Evangeline’s skin. Feeling the familiar slide of bandage over the skin, Wick started working on removing the bandages slowly.

  “If you don’t tel
l me, Wick, I am going to find out anyway. I thought you would want the opportunity to speak.” Evangeline’s threat seemed to just fall on deaf ears even though Wick was very aware of not only her words but the growing tension between them. She wouldn’t be the first person who tried to make the mute girl talk. Wick believed Evangeline when she said she would find out, but that did not make Wick want to share it. In time, all of it would be told to Evangeline. Perhaps then she would better understand her self-appointed silence.

  It all meant nothing to Wick because there was no way for her to change the way her life was now, and clearly no one was too concerned with letting her live out her days in servitude. After what she had witnessed with Glais, finding out the truth behind the crown, Wick would never speak again. She had paid her price to Braykith and she was well aware that her life could have been much worse than it was.

  She wore the effects of the royal legacy every day and knew that people who remembered her avoided her now. There were those who were new to the castle and they would stand there and look at her for too long because she made people uncomfortable. Wick was aware of her skeletal frame and sunken eyes made her seemingly frail to the slightest breeze although the opposite was true. She was short and she appeared to shuffle instead of walk. Growing up had been tough for Wick and silence was her only reward. It kept her safe because people knew that Quintus was not above removing those with a loose tongue. Daily she was witnessed by the castle staff and still she was yet to see justice for what had been done to her. Fear for her life kept her silent for years, and it remained that way as finally Evangeline relaxed and gave up on her.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The morning came and still Wick had not given Evangeline any answers. The poor communication of their first night was over and Evangeline woke with sticky tear stains still on her cheeks. She had cried herself to sleep, and it seemed she had barely slept at all. Evangeline had not been expecting an answer from Wick but she had been hopeful. Being denied, even the smallest of recognitions, had still hurt her. On top of her already stressed emotions, it had been enough to ruin her mild pain and let Evangeline fall into a troubled sleep. She was starting to realise that some of the Braykith rumours were indeed true. This was a place where hope did not belong.

  Wick had dressed her, still in silence with was deafening as she moved around the room and assisted Evangeline in layering her garments. Today she was in a soft lemon, the fabric falling off her shoulders and covering her arms in loose ruffles. The bodice was tight, and while Wick appeared far too frail and weak, she had managed to tighten the laces to make the illusion of womanly curves that Evangeline just did not have. Wick had broken into a fine sweat as she completed her corset but Evangeline was satisfied with the end results.

  Jewels decorated the bodice, drawing the eye towards her breasts, even though they generally lacked volume even after Wick had tightened the bodice. The sleeves ruffled perfectly and stayed symmetrical even after a couple of swings to test it. Whoever had made this dress had been quite the seamstress. Evangeline wondered again if she would ever meet this person. The hems swept the ground with each step and yet there was never fear of tripping over herself. A true talent in this world.

  Wick fixed her hair down, as was the law, and decorated her hair with what appeared to be free strung diamonds. Evangeline did not know how they stayed where they were left. However, she did like the effect they made. To her, they seemed to be tiny pieces of broken glass. They made her feel dangerous and perhaps that false ambition was all that would get her through today. Once her look was completed, she was once again pushed from her doors by Wick. She had been told that Wick had appointed herself to the station and yet it seemed that she valued the times they weren’t together the most.

  Evangeline didn’t understand it and yet no answers were coming from Wick. The only answer Evangeline had was that she must be older than she had originally thought. With her distorted appearance, Evangeline had thought that Wick was barely fourteen. It wasn’t only how high she could stand but the way she conducted herself. Besides her intelligent eyes there seemed to be something youthful about her. Something unworldly and innocent. It wasn’t easy to explain it beyond that.

  Finding out of her shared past with Glais meant that Wick had to be closer to his age of twenty-two. It meant so little in the grand scheme of things, but it was a clue to the final puzzle and Evangeline prized it ever so much more. Those were the thoughts that consumed her as she approached the breakfast table that morning. This was only her second breakfast, but Evangeline was more anxious than she had been at the first. Entering the room, she did nothing to draw attention to herself. Evangeline did not greet anyone even as Baxter rose to pull her chair out for her. She sat, ignoring the food and stared somewhat directly in front of her without making eye contact.

  Glais sat to her left, dressed in head to toe in black. It seemed he had decided the best course of action was not to react to her either and so it was stony tension between Evangeline and Glais. Though she barely looked at him, Evangeline did admit that he was good looking and she was not surprised to see that his clothes were made with the same attention to detail as her own. Everyone at the table wore their finest, Adeline and Kyleigh showing off their unique crystals and diamonds while the men were formidable even without their armour.

  “We missed you at dinner,” Adeline said although she gave her parents a worried look as if she wasn’t sure if she had permission to speak. Kyleigh just smiled while Quintus was looking between Evangeline and Glais as if the answer was somewhere written between them. Adeline’s demur attitude towards her warmed Evangeline’s heart and she realised while Glais and his adultery had hurt her, it seemed childish to take that pain out on his family who had been just welcoming to her.

  “I fell asleep in the sun by the barn. I am afraid that it made me very uncomfortable.” Evangeline apologised.

  “We are glad you could be with us now.” Quintus was addressing Evangeline but his eyes were on Glais. His son gave him nothing back. His gaze was blank, and if it had not been for her two days with Wick, then Evangeline might have thought it was impressive. Instead, she knew that people were capable of further composure than what Glais was showing his father.

  “Wick had some kind of healing balm,” Evangeline answered as Glais offered nothing to Quintus. Did they know about the barn? Had someone done the confrontation that she had not been able to do herself? Evangeline did not dare ask, half sure that it was still a small family mystery and she would be offering gossip that did not need to be shared with their other two children. “I am feeling much better now.”

  If it had been handled privately before, it was obvious that this was not over and in there would be a discussion in Glais’ future. Evangeline was both terrified and enticed by the idea of witnessing it. “I heard you were interested in one of the horses.” Kyleigh took her husband’s hand and he seemed to back down a little on Glais at the simple gesture.

  In her grief and silence, Evangeline had forgotten about the dapple grey horse from the stables. “Oh yes. I was told though that someone may have claimed her.”

  Kyleigh shook her head. “No dear, that horse had been brought into the stables for you.”

  “For me?” Evangeline asked, trying not to sound as shocked as she was sure she looked. With all the emotional distress, it is possible she had heard Kyleigh wrong. “That must be a mistake.”

  “You do not want her?” Quintus asked, with just enough teasing that Evangeline recognised the same tone which often came from Baxter. It continued to be difficult to picture Baxter and Glais as his sons when he seemed much more like a brother. “Is there a defect to her being that we missed?” This was a treat to see where Baxter learnt his ways from. It was also nice to be reminded that not all Evangeline had discovered about the Royal family in her first visit had been for show. Quintus seemed almost jovial.

  She shook her head quickly, eyes wide at the very idea that there could be something wrong wit
h the beautiful creature who had shielded her so perfectly last night when she needed it. “It just seems odd that the horse meant for me is the one I chose.” Evangeline tried to explain herself in an attempt to keep from offended anyone who had a hand in this decision.

  “Some would call that fate.” Kyleigh same, stroking the back of her husband’s ageless hands. They shared a look which quickly became a polite kiss. Evangeline was struck by how opposite they looked when together. Kyleigh had all the markings of a Queen, and should you ignore his physical features, Quintus was the perfect example of a King. Fair rulers, and yet Quintus seemed to be barely old enough for all the knowledge he had for the land. Kyleigh looked good for her age, but she was indeed looking her age.

  For the first time since meeting Kyleigh and Quintus, Evangeline forgot all of this and noticed the love between them. She didn’t even have such evidence of devotion from her own parents. They would never kiss in front of their children or touch each other in such a matter. They loved each other, Evangeline did not question that in her parents but they were far more discreet in showing it. She wondered if she could have these kinds of relationships with Glais, the kind where love mattered. It gave Evangeline a new spark, a different fight for her relationship. It did not need to be over simply because of one thing she had witnessed.

  She would prove to Glais that she was worth staying loyal to and her love and respect was worth more than any other harlot within the castle that would lay with him. She did not know exactly how to prove this to him but she would find a way. Evangeline would put herself into his life and force the man to take notice of her in ways his father noticed his mother. She was not a loss to him, but rather a powerful partnership could be formed if they both gave it a fair chance.

  She could not just take his hand, as it seemed like she was being to forward and she had no desires in creating more distance between them. Instead of forcing him to move to accommodate her, Evangeline put her hand next to his and allowed the back of her palm to rest against him. Glais stiffened and looked at where their hands touched but he did not pull away and neither did she.