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I woke with my stomach churning with regret, my chest heavy. I needed Lorian to help Asinia, and yet I’d left him in danger. Technically, he’d only asked me to help him get into the king’s chambers, but he’d been
furious enough that a part of me wondered if he’d choose not to help her out of spite.
If Asinia died because of him…because of me…
No. Somehow, I’d find the medicine Asinia needed. If not through Vicer, then somewhere else. I’d beg and borrow and steal if I had to.
An hour later, I followed the queen on her walk among the castle grounds. The other ladies spoke quietly, conscious of the queen’s bad mood. Hopefully she would decide she needed rest later this afternoon.
I’d taken to wandering the servants’ halls while the queen was napping each day. They stretched through almost every inch of the castle, allowing servants to appear in sitting rooms and bedrooms without disturbing the nobility with their existence. The amount of court gossip I’d learned was incredible. Unfortunately, none of it had given me anything I needed.
“Is something wrong, Your Majesty?” I asked. I couldn’t have cared less. But I needed to know everything about my enemies.
Everyone went quiet. Perhaps I wasn’t supposed to address her when she was so clearly upset.
She frowned at me. After a long moment, she heaved a sigh. “The king insists I attend another dinner tonight.” Turning away, she continued her stroll.
Dinner meant feeling Lorian’s venomous gaze on the back of my neck. But it also meant it was less risky for Tibris and me to get down to Asinia since the guards would be drinking and enjoying the distraction.
Since I hadn’t heard any whispers about the Gromalian prince being arrested, he’d obviously managed to get himself back to his room last night.
That was not a prickle of guilt I felt.
“I wish to go out,” the queen announced. “We will go to the market.”
Anticipation slid through me, and I had to fight not to shift restlessly on my feet. I’d wanted to see the market for some time. Knowing the layout of the city would be helpful as we made our plans.
Madinia nodded. “I will tell the servants.” She hurried away, clearly delighted.
The queen decided she needed to change her dress. Finally, we all followed her out of the castle.
“You look wide-eyed,” the queen smirked, and I bowed my head.
“I had never seen a carriage like this before I arrived in the city,” I admitted.
Madinia snorted. Caraceli sent her a poisonous look. But Caraceli and I obviously weren’t going to bond over the fact that she also wasn’t from the city since the look she sent me was worse.
I slid into the carriage, eager to get away from the castle for a few hours, even if it meant doing it in the company of the queen. We had more than enough room—the carriage likely designed specifically for the queen to travel with her ladies.
The seats were long benches, high enough that my feet barely touched the bottom of the carriage as it began to bump along. Not only were there no horses, but the carriage seemed to know where it was going.
I wanted to ask how the magic worked, but the queen was scowling out the window. She rolled her shoulders and gazed around the carriage at us.
“For the first time, the king has decided to call representatives from each town and village to the city to discuss the corrupt and ensure we are taking every possible step to remove their presence from our kingdom.
They will begin arriving four days from now, and we will have a welcome ball to mark the occasion. Some of them will also likely be invited to stay for the Gods Day ball two weeks later.”
I lowered my gaze, my mind whirling. Which representatives would come from my village? Our village was small. We all knew each other. What if my different eyes and hair weren’t enough? How would I ensure they didn’t recognize me?
I’d need to stay far away from the representatives.
Most importantly, there would be a lot of new people in the castle. The king would likely bring in more guards, but they would probably still be stretched thin. Perhaps either the welcome ball or the Gods Day ball would present us with an opportunity.
The queen’s mouth twisted, and it was clear she saw nothing to celebrate. I’d expected the queen to enjoy any chance to dress in her most ostentatious gowns and wear her most lavish jewels, but that didn’t seem to be the case. If anything, she seemed to wish to avoid both the king and any occasions that called for her to be around large numbers of people.
“You will all need new dresses.” The queen’s gaze lingered on me. I wished I could conjure up a blush. Instead, I just nodded, smiling back at her.
Yesterday, I’d learned that the dresses I’d been given were Katina’s castoffs, three seasons out of date. Madinia had enjoyed letting me know, as if I cared about the latest fashions at court.
Vicer had already arranged for my necklace to be replaced once more, but I would need another one before the villagers arrived. A thin line of my blond hair was also beginning to show, and soon people would begin to notice. I needed it to be darkened again before someone realized I had changed my original hair.
According to Lisveth, the queen wasn’t unopposed to us taking the occasional afternoon to ourselves. The key was to ask when she was in the right mood. I needed to pay a visit to Vicer. And it needed to be soon. Especially with representatives from our village in the castle.
The market was just a few minutes from the castle. The moment we arrived, our carriage was encircled by guards who’d followed on horseback. The queen took one of the guard’s hands, and he helped her out of the carriage.
We all clambered out behind her, and I surveyed the market. It was many times bigger than my village square, with long lines of stalls stretching out in neat rows. That was where any organization ended, the market a flurry of colors and life, of laughter and wails. The air was filled with the scents of spices, cooking meat, sweat, animal hides, wood, and metal.
“It’s the queen,” someone called out, and everyone around us went silent. The queen ignored them all, and we fell into our usual two-by-two formation, following her into the market.
I ignored Madinia’s snort at my wide-eyed gaze, focusing instead on the food stalls and children’s games and jugglers performing for coin and vendors hawking their wares.
Lisveth took my arm, hauling me along with her, and I realized I’d stopped and was staring at the stalls, the people, all of it.
“Sorry.”
“I did the same thing the first time I came here.” I raised an eyebrow. “And how old were you?” She burst out laughing. “Ten winters.”
The queen stopped to inspect some jewelry, allowing us to catch up. The merchant seemed surprisingly calm, considering she was speaking to royalty. When I murmured exactly that to Lisveth, she just shrugged.
“The queen likes to come to the market often. I think she’s…bored in the castle.”
It must be difficult, indeed, for the queen to spend her days being waited on and entertained while her subjects suffered.
The queen moved on, and we spent the rest of the afternoon trailing after her. By the time we left, the queen was in a much better mood. This was my opportunity. She would likely just become annoyed once more as soon as we arrived back at the castle.
I took a deep breath as she was helped into the carriage, stepping forward so I could sit next to her. My heart tripped in my chest.
“Your Majesty?”
She glanced at me. “Yes, Setella?”
“I was wondering—if it’s not too much trouble—if I could take a few hours tomorrow. My brother works in the castle, and I haven’t had a chance to see him.”
The queen studied my face for an endless moment. Finally, she sighed. “I, too, remember what it was to be young. You may have your afternoon tomorrow.” She glanced around at the others, who had all filed in. “You all may. I am quite capable of entertaining myself for a few hours.”
So said the woman who had six of us trailing after her every day.
The other ladies whispered, clearly planning their time off. Lisveth grinned at me.
I smiled at her but addressed the queen. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
We arrived at the castle grounds, and the queen dismissed us. By the time I’d returned to my room, my head was pounding.
Daselis was in her usual grim mood as she arrived to dress me for dinner. Why I had to change out of a perfectly fine dress and into another one was beyond me, but she’d snarled at me when I made that little comment.
When she finally let me make my way down to dinner, my stomach was grumbling, adding to the discomfort of my throbbing head. I scanned the royal table as I walked in.
Madinia’s father was sitting next to the king. Patriarch Farrow was a fit, muscular man with that red hair and hard blue eyes. His gaze was constantly sweeping the room, as if looking for enemies.
And he was one of the king’s most ardent supporters when it came to the corrupt.
Farrow nodded at something the king said, and I took my seat. Madinia was watching them both, her eyes narrowed.
Lorian sat a few seats away, a bored expression on his face. Obviously, he’d had no problem getting back to his rooms last night. He was gazing at a group of courtiers, but I had no doubt he was also listening to every word the king said.
King Sabium raised his hand, and everyone went silent.
“Today marks the start of a new alliance with Gromalia,” the king announced. “Patriarch Farrow?”
Farrow stood, his eyes alight.
“No longer will the corrupt be able to flee Eprotha, hiding among the pious. Now, the Gromalians will return those who would run from the flames of fate back to our lands, where they will be dealt with. Soon, both of our kingdoms will be cleansed of those who would deny the gods their due.”
My stomach churned. That alliance wouldn’t really be happening since Lorian wasn’t the Gromalian prince. But if that was the king’s plan, it was only a matter of time. We needed to make our way to Gromalia and get hidden before that deal went into place.
Cheers sounded. I glanced at Madinia, who sneered at me. “What?” “You must be proud of your father.”
She just ignored me, reaching for her wine.
As usual, I felt Lorian’s eyes on me throughout dinner. I focused on my food and rehearsed the apology I would make myself give him. At this point, I would get down on my knees and beg if he agreed to help Asinia.
Auria had sent me a message inviting me for a cup of tea after dinner. It was too early to sneak down to the dungeon anyway, so the moment the queen left, I nodded to the others and made my way out the door.
Unlike most of the other servants, Auria didn’t seem to despise me for my new role. When they sneered at me, she instructed me to ignore it. “Jealousy is normal,” she’d murmured to me once. “But you did nothing except help the queen. The fact that you were rewarded for it was entirely out of your control.”
I’d just nodded.
“Ah,” Auria said, stretching her feet out in front of the fire. “It feels good to be off my feet.” We were in the servants’ quarters—sitting in my old room. Guilt twisted in my stomach as I glanced at my old bed—and the rumpled blankets that told me some other unfortunate girl had been given the spot beneath the window.
Everyone else was still working, but Auria had finished her duties early. “You know a lot about the people here,” I murmured, and Auria
laughed.
“Well, I’ve worked here my whole life. My mother was born in this very castle to a servant who’d been raped by a guard.”
I gaped at her, and she just shrugged. “It happens. Even now. To this day, I don’t know who my father is. I was put to work as soon as I was old enough to scrub a pot.”
And yet, she was still a servant, while I’d walked in and become one of the queen’s ladies.
“Oh, don’t look so guilty, Setella. I would be miserable in such a position.” She sipped her tea, and I finally relaxed.
“What do you know about Madinia?”
Auria smiled. “She’ll be making your life difficult.”
“She tries. But I was raised in a village, and she was raised at court. She has no idea what true difficulty is.”
Auria nodded. “She must be annoyed that she can’t shake you.
Madinia’s mother was from a village like yours.” “You’re not…jesting?”
Auria laughed. “It was a rather large scandal at the time. Patriarch Farrow was supposed to marry the king’s cousin, but he fell in love.” She sighed. “A love match. Can you imagine?”
Could I imagine the cold, devout Farrow caring about anything except wiping out the corrupt? Absolutely not.
“But then Madinia’s mother died.” Auria’s voice dropped to a whisper. “She’d insisted on traveling back to her village, and along the way, her carriage was attacked by a group of corrupt who’d escaped from the king. They robbed them of all food and water and killed her guards. There was so much blood in her carriage, there was no way she could have survived. And yet they didn’t even leave her body for a decent burial.”
So that was why Farrow was obsessed with wiping out the corrupt. I knew what it was like to hate the people who’d hurt your family. To loathe them with every beat of your heart.
My eyes were growing heavy, and the other maids were slowly drifting in, sneering when they caught sight of me.
“I’d better head to bed,” I told Auria. “Thanks for the tea.” “You’re welcome.”
“Shouldn’t you be in your luxurious room with your bath and furs?” one of the women asked. I didn’t recognize her, but she’d obviously heard of me. I just sighed and walked out the door. The castle was becoming quieter, but it was still a dangerous time to risk sneaking down to Asinia, the guards likely still alert.
But I couldn’t seem to help myself. The thought of her burning with fever…
I didn’t have the medicine yet. I had the beginnings of a plan for that, but it would require Tibris’s help. But I needed to see Asinia. Needed to tell her I was coming back. To urge her to hold on.
I snuck down to the dungeons, my power coming to me quicker than it ever had before.
I kept my gaze on the stone floor in front of me, still unable to look at the empty cell where Wila had spent her final hours.
“Promise me you’ll free them. And one day, you’ll come back and burn this fucking place to the ground.”
Wila had spent her final hours thinking of the others in here. I’d arrived planning to free only Asinia.
Sometimes I thought I’d suffocate on my own guilt and self-loathing. I sucked in a breath, terrified of what I was about to see.
My body froze. My eyes flooded. I let out a sound that might have been a choked sob.
Asinia sat up in her cage, her face no longer pale, her eyes clear as she gazed back at me.
