“The salt charms don’t leave marks?” I asked. “Not ever?”
“Only if they touch blood or the injury would have scarred with natural healing. May I?”
Ethan held the healing charm out to Rosa. She nodded, and he placed the silver disk in her palm. Nothing happened.
“Fascinating. It looks raw, but it isn’t a wound. The Medical Guild can’t do anything about them?” Ethan asked.
“No. My father searched for a way to remove these, but he never found one.”
She pulled her sleeve down and covered the scars.
“The Medical Guild is by far the smallest guild in Castana,” Rosa said. “Guilds accept anyone who can pass an apprenticeship test, but medicine takes a special talent. You have to be born with it. Only large towns and the richest nobles can afford to have a doctor stay with them, and even if they have access to a doctor, some people refuse healing to avoid the scars. But the salt charms could fix that!”
I had never seen Rosa so animated. She certainly did not get this excited about gowns or balls.
“The salt charms work best on small injuries,” Ethan said. “They have to be enchanted especially for more serious ailments. A doctor still needs to examine the patient.”
“Oh.”
Rosa slumped and stared at her food. Ethan pushed back his chair and stood up.
“But there are ways around that!” he said. “I’ve got one in my room. Wait a minute!”
He ran out of the dining hall. The footmen gaped at him, jaws dropped. I raised an eyebrow.
“He was right. He isn’t good at formal dining.”
Rosa didn’t notice the sarcasm in my tone.
“Alma, this charm could do so much good!”
The footmen stood awkwardly, unsure if they should serve the next course while one third of the diners were absent. I motioned for them to wait.
Ethan returned, red-faced and panting, carrying a gold charm attached to a vial of salt. I nodded to the footmen to serve the next course.
“What does it do?” Rosa asked.
He beamed.
“This is a much more complex charm. It takes a lot of salt to power it.”
He gestured to one of the footmen.
“You, there. What’s your name?”
“Rodrigo, sir.”
“May I have one of your hairs, Rodrigo?”
The footman turned to me in alarm.
“Miss?”
“Give him the hair,” I said, curious in spite of myself.
Rodrigo plucked out a hair with his gloved hand and handed it to Ethan. Rosa watched with fascination.
“If a patient is seriously ill, they need a charm especially enchanted for them,” Ethan said. “Sometimes a doctor can’t travel to see them. This charm solves that problem.”
He fastened the charm around his wrist and placed the hair in the center. It glowed and surrounded Ethan with silver light. When the light cleared, Ethan was gone. A footman sat in his place. A footman that looked just like Rodrigo, although he still wore Ethan’s clothes.
I screamed. So did Rodrigo.
Rosa clapped her hands.
“So each town has a handful of a doctor’s hair, and one of these charms, and the doctor can be anywhere!”
The footman that used to be Ethan shook his head.
“These charms aren’t common enough for every town to have one, and I haven’t actually become Rodrigo. Not in my mind, anyway, but our bodies are identical. If he was ill, I would be ill. We could send one of his hairs to a doctor with this charm. He could examine the patient’s body without traveling to the patient and send a cure back to him.”
He spoke with Rodrigo’s voice.
“And you don’t feel anything, Rodrigo?” I asked.
Rodrigo stared at the copy of himself.
“This is impossible. Is my hair really that thin?”
He brushed his hands through his hair, which was thinning a bit in the back. Ethan disguised as Rodrigo did the same.
“What good would that do?” I asked. “It would take too long to get the hair to the doctor. This wouldn’t help seriously ill patients.”
My voice sounded more bitter than I meant it to, but I was still thinking of Mother. Even if this treaty had happened years ago, even if there had been salt magic in Castana, there wouldn’t have been time to save her.
Ethan removed the charm from his wrist. In a flash of silver, he turned back into himself. The real Rodrigo continued to rub his head.
“A hair isn’t heavy,” Ethan said. “There are lots of ways to transport it quickly.”
“This is wonderful!” Rosa said. “Oh, Prince Lorenzo must see this! And the Medical Guild!”
“You’re sure it didn’t link your souls somehow, Rodrigo?” I asked. “You don’t look well.”
“I don’t feel anything, miss. I just didn’t like seeing myself like that.”
I had to agree that it was unsettling. This was more advanced magic than the healing charm. What else were the Salarians capable of?
Ethan continued the magic lesson.
“Look, you can see that some of the salt has run out of magic. This charm takes a lot of fairy salt.”
He gestured to the vial. Some of the silvery salt had gone dull.
“But it could save lives!” Rosa said. “Surely that’s worth it!”
“I think so.”
They stared at each other across the table. I cleared my throat and gestured to the footmen to serve the final course. They stayed as far away from Ethan as possible while they did it.
I couldn’t blame them.
I watched Ethan as we ate. He seemed friendly, but appearances could be deceiving. With a salt charm, they could apparently be changed into something else entirely.
“Does it work on fabric?” I asked.
Ethan and Rosa blinked.
“Does it what?” Rosa asked.
“Salarian magic. Does it work on fabric?”
“We don’t need it to work on fabric,” Rosa said. “The Fabric Guild does fine with soul magic.”
Ethan shrugged.
“It does work on fabric, but I’m not familiar with those charms.”
My eyes narrowed. Feigning ignorance would be the best way to cover up the attack. It would be easy enough to hide a small charm in a rose or tighten corset strings from a distance.
But what would the Salarians gain from it? Did they not want to their negotiations to succeed? The only thing to be gained from a failed dance was a failed treaty.
Rosa and Ethan were completely engrossed in a discussion of medical magic. It didn’t seem likely that I’d find out any more information for the prince by staying at the dinner table.
I turned to Rosa.
“Do you know where your mother put my gown?”
She shrugged and turned back to Ethan.
“Do you have a Medical Guild in Salaria, or do you just use the salt charms?”
At the same time, he said “Are fairy charms common here? I’ve never seen one, but I’ve always wanted to.”
They laughed when they answered each other’s questions at the same time as well. I motioned to the footmen to clear the table and excused myself. Rosa and Ethan didn’t notice my leaving.
Chapter 12
I hesitated once I left the dining room. I was properly dressed now. I could sneak to the castle and look for Father.
And interrupt him at a formal dinner with the entire Salarian delegation? And face the entire court, which would also attend?
I imagined bursting into the castle to find Father, and suddenly I was back in the ballroom in my underwear. The nobles in my imagination pointed and laughed at me. Sweat beaded on my forehead, and I leaned against the wall.
Maybe it would be better if I didn’t go back to the castle. Ever.
Besides, there were other things I could do tonight. Ethan pretended not to know about salt charms for fabric, but was he telling the truth? Had he placed a charm on my gown when we dan
ced? With Donna Senona gone for the evening, I could investigate.
I stayed in the shadows as I made my way to the sewing rooms. It seemed the most likely place to find Mother’s gown. Maybe the salt charm was still there.
Father would come back from the castle sometime before the King’s Trial ended, wouldn’t he? I hoped I didn’t have to wait that long to tell him about the laundry.
When he heard how Donna Senona had treated me, he would-
Would what, exactly? Send her back to the Garden District? They were married. I couldn’t just make her disappear.
I passed a few servants, but no one noticed me. They were too busy with the Salarians. By the time I reached the sewing rooms, the corridors were empty.
Pink light streamed under one of the doors. That seemed like a good place to start. I pressed my ear to the wall. No sound. If someone was in there, they were being very quiet.
I took a deep breath and knocked. No one answered, so I pushed the door open.
A multitude of scents washed over me. Mustache wax, horses, food, sweat.
Pine.
I slipped into the workroom and closed the door behind me. What was left of my mother’s gown hung on a dress form. Someone had cut away the torn pieces and begun replacing them with new fabric.
So much for finding evidence. I searched through the fabric scraps but saw nothing out of the ordinary. No salt charms. No signs of soul magic.
The most interesting thing was a few grass stains on the skirt. Would the Laundry Guild be able to remove them?
A wilted yellow rose sat on a nearby desk. The petals fell off when I picked it up.
If it was the rose from Ethan, I saw nothing unusual about it. I rubbed the petals between my fingers, but I felt no trace of salt or anything else suspicious.
That left the source of the pink light, a vase of glowing flowers.
My Rosas Rojas.
I approached them with caution. The scents grew stronger the closer I got.
There was obviously magic in the Rosas Rojas, but what exactly did they do? Could they have been used to tighten my corset?
Tía Teresa would know, but she couldn’t help me now.
I bit my lip. Donna Senona would notice if I took all of them, but maybe I could take one without her noticing. There was only one I really wanted anyway.
But how could I tell which was which?
I pulled a Rosas Rojas out of the vase and smelled it.
It smelled like a rose for a moment, then the smell shifted until it smelled like hair wax.
I put it on the table and smelled another.
It smelled like sweat.
I sorted through the vase until I found the flower I was looking for. The petals had swirls of dark purple mixed in with the red, and it smelled like pine.
Prince Lorenzo.
I put the rest of the Rosas Rojas back into the vase and tucked Prince Lorenzo’s flower into my sleeve. I couldn’t bend my arm with the rose there, but it would make it easier to hide it while I walked back to my room.
I turned back to Mother’s gown. I hated to leave it here in pieces, but what else could I do? I didn’t know any magic to fix it. I didn’t have anyone around who could help me.
I should get back to my room, but I lingered to study the workmanship on the gown. My mother’s work.
The detail in the stitching was stunning. She had created decorations with her seams, so the fabric had roses hidden all over it. I picked up a tattered fragment of the bodice to admire the embroidery.
The fairy corset sat underneath it.
I poked it quickly as if it were hot and could burn me, but the fabric felt cool and silky as ever. I picked it up to examine it.
The laces were frayed, but the rest of the corset was undamaged. The single drop of fairy blood glowed golden at the bottom.
I tried to form a soul loop and sense the magic in the corset. The loop still wouldn’t form.
I didn’t know enough about magic to check the corset for flaws, but maybe I could find someone who did.
I wrapped the corset in a piece of the gown and stuffed it into my sleeve with the Rosas Rojas.
If anyone had been paying attention, I would have looked very suspicious as I jogged through the house with my sleeve stuffed full. Fortunately, everyone was still bustling around trying to get the Salarians’ rooms ready before they returned from dinner.
I slowed to a walk as I passed the dining room. Rosa and Ethan still sat there talking. The footmen stood awkwardly behind them. They were supposed to stay until all the dinner guests left the table. It looked like they would be there a long time.
But that wasn’t my concern. I made it to my room and stashed the Rosas Rojas and corset under my pillow. I didn’t dare call a maid to help me undress. What if one of Donna Senona’s answered? What if she smelled the pine from the Rosas Rojas and checked my room?
I fumbled with the laces on the back of my gown, stretching this way and that to reach them. The dress hadn’t been that tight to begin with, but it took some time to untie the knots.
When I had loosened the laces as much as I could, I pulled the skirt over my head and tried to squeeze out of the bodice.
I managed to get it to my shoulders, but it stopped moving once my arms were pinned over my head. I wriggled, but it did no good. I gave up and tried to pull the dress back down.
It wouldn’t budge in either direction.
I took a deep breath. There had to be a way out.
A way that didn’t involve me wandering through the hallways half-dressed or sleeping with my arms stuck above my head.
I could still move my wrists. Maybe that would be enough. I grabbed as much fabric as I could and pulled up. The bodice slid, pulling my face with it.
Not much progress, but it was something.
I let go of the dress and grabbed another handful of fabric as far down as I could reach. I pulled it up, squeezing my shoulders through the narrowest part of the gown.
Finally I reached the end. I dropped the gown on the floor and collapsed onto my bed to catch my breath. Was I really so helpless without Tía Teresa? So useless that even undressing resulted in disaster?
I glared at the harmless-looking heap of fabric on the floor. Between that and the fairy corset, my clothes seemed determined to cause as much trouble as possible.
I turned my attention to my feet. The shoes, which had been so difficult to put on, slid off easily.
I walked to my wardrobe and winced when I saw my reflection. My hair was a crazy tangle. My chemise was wrinkled. I had never looked worse.
I pulled the simplest nightgown from my wardrobe and glared at it. Why did it need so many ribbons and buttons? Why were all my clothes so complicated?
I put the nightgown back in the wardrobe. It wasn’t worth the trouble.
I slid into bed wearing just my chemise. The Rosas Rojas and corset made an uncomfortable lump under my pillow.
What if the corset attacked again while I slept? Could it strangle me?
Better not to risk it.
I got out of bed and shoved it under my wardrobe.
I left the Rosas Rojas under my pillow, and the sweet scent of pine lulled me to sleep.
In my dream, I stood in the castle ballroom in Mother’s gown. I twirled in front of the mirror, grateful that I remembered it well enough to dream about it in such perfect detail.
I wandered to the balcony. Prince Lorenzo was there, wearing the same outfit he had worn at the ball. The golden gems on his tunic glistened in the moonlight. He smiled.
“Alma, it is good to see you.”
The dream had recreated every detail of his handsome face. Even the way his eyes gleamed in the moonlight.
“Your Highness,” I said, curtsying.
I shouldn’t forget my manners. Even in a dream.
“I told you, call me Lorenzo. Are the Salarians settled in? Have you had a chance to talk to them?”
“Ethan showed us Salarian magic at dinner toni
ght. They use salt.”
“The fairy salt has an intriguing power. What did he show you?”
At least I could complete my mission in a dream. It was better than nothing.
“Salt magic seems more suited to healing than soul magic is. He gave Rosa a charm to heal my bruised knuckles. She didn’t need any training, and it didn’t leave a scar.”
“That sounds useful.”
“I think so. I also talked with a laundry apprentice today. The guilds are afraid of the change that trade agreements will bring, and many don’t trust the Salarians.”
He nodded.
“They think it will destroy their way of life. Maybe they’re right. Between the conflicts over trade and the concerns about the island colonies, I’m not sure how we’ll reach an agreement.”
“So you already knew all that?”
“It is nice to have it confirmed.”
Even in my dreams, I was a failure. The dream prince could at least have pretended I had told him something new and important.
Since I knew it was a dream, I imagined us dancing.
Prince Lorenzo stayed where he was, leaning against the railing and staring at the rose garden. His signet ring gleamed gold in the moonlight. He was surprisingly uncooperative for a dream.
If we couldn’t dance, I could at least tell him more about my conversation at dinner.
“Ethan had another salt charm that he used to transform himself into a footman somehow. He thought it would be useful for medicine. I’m not so sure.”
Lorenzo stared at me for a moment. Then he shook his head and laughed. His eyes crinkled when he smiled.
This was more like it.
“Are you alright, Alma?” he asked. “Really alright? The corset- I mean, magic gone wrong can be very dangerous.”
This was the worst dream ever. My whole body went hot with embarrassment. I did not want to talk to the prince about my undergarments.
“I’m fine,” I said. “I can never show my face in the castle again, but I’m fine.”
“Don’t say that. Of course you’ll come to the castle again. I-”
“Alma!”
Donna Senona’s voice echoed through the ballroom. I woke to find her hovering over me.
By the roses! Even in my dreams, I was unlucky.
I glared at her. She ignored me.
Lady Alma Page 10