White Rook

by Ingrid Seymour

  “Drink this,” she said, after pouring a clear liquid into the glass from the pitcher.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Water,” she said.

  I frowned as if to say “And what good is water going to do?”

  Nurse Loretta gave me a raised eyebrow, which was perfectly black and contrasted with her silver hair. “You are dehydrated, child,” she informed me.

  Child? I was not a child, hadn’t been one for some time now.

  “It’s the reason you are feverish,” she added. “You should make sure to drink at least ten glasses of water a day. It’s crucial, considering all the running around and sword fighting you all do.”

  I drank the water, handed back the glass and laid my head back down. I stared at the ceiling, lips pursed, remiss to admit that I didn’t make drinking water a priority. Tea had always been preferable at home, and there had been plenty of it throughout the day. Here, however, tea was not an option, at least not for mere Challengers and Pawns.

  Next, Nurse Loretta poured water in the basin that rested on the night table and dipped a cloth in it. Wringing the excess water out, she placed the cloth on my forehead, practically making me sigh in relief.

  After that, she cleaned the cut in my arm, applied a thick unguent on it that she got out of one of her shallow containers, then wrapped strips of cloth around my forearm, securing them with a few expert knots.

  “Now, the leg.” She uncapped the second container from the tray. “This will help with the inflammation and pain,” she said, sticking her index and middle finger in what appeared to be some sort of poultice and proceeding to rub the brown stuff all over my leg.

  At first, her touch was like daggers on my tender skin. I gritted my teeth and turned my face away. After a minute or two, however, the poultice and the swirling motions of her fingers over my battered skin started to ease away some of the pain—not most of it, but her ministrations took away the edge.

  When she was done, she wrapped my leg, from mid-thigh to mid-calf, with white bandages, and elevated my foot by putting several pillows under it.

  When Aurora, a servant girl I’d seen in the dining hall before, arrived, Nurse Loretta sent her to the kitchen with the order to fetch ice.

  I was surprised. Ice was terribly expensive this time of year. It could only be purchased from the traders who transported it to Acedrex at great cost and peril from far away snow-capped mountains.

  But, of course, I shouldn’t have been surprised there was ice at the White Palace. The Queen was rumored to be made of it, after all.

  When Aurora returned, Nurse Loretta packed the ice tightly around my knee, then bid me to drink more water, though, this time, she emptied a packet of white powder in it.

  “A remedy to ease your pain further,” she explained, noticing the question in my expression.

  I figured it was probably something like the powders Papa had used to relieve his headaches. I drank it all—anything to get rid of the infernal pain.

  “You will sleep, now,” she said as she hovered over my cot.

  “I probably shouldn’t...” I said, my voice groggy.

  My vision swam. I couldn’t fall asleep. I had to leave here and go back to my dormitory. I had to...

  Slumber took me to a place without dreams.

  CHAPTER 3

  When I awoke, it was dark, except for the glow of a warm candle next to my night table. I blinked at the ceiling, my mind foggy and slow to remember where I was. Not my dormitory, I realized after a moment.

  I sat up with a start, sending a jolt of pain down my leg. I stifled a moan, then realized Nurse Loretta was sitting on a rocking chair right next to me.

  She set down her knitting on her lap and glanced up. “Bad dream?” she asked.

  I shook my head, my eyes darting around the infirmary.

  “Feeling better?”

  I nodded. The feverish feeling was gone, and though my leg still hurt, the pain was dull and bearable.

  “What time is it?” I asked.

  “The clock just struck midnight.” She pointed to a clock on the wall I hadn’t noticed before.

  Midnight!

  The dormitory would be locked, and it wouldn’t open again until five in the morning. My bloodshade leaves were hidden inside the stuffing of my pillow, and I had to get back to them. I’d been taking them religiously at the same time every day since I’d arrived here. I couldn’t slip, not even one bit.

  One of the Rooks might scent me, and my life would be over. Rook Sanda had been able to do it only two hours after I missed my daily dose.

  Setting her knitting aside, Nurse Loretta stood and handed me a glass of water. I stared at it warily. I couldn’t fall asleep again.

  I pretended to take a sip then grimaced and set it on the night table. She regarded me with narrowed eyes.

  Pressing a hand to my stomach, I said, “I feel like retching.”

  That made her sit back down. No one was a fan of cleaning up sick at any hour of the day and much less at midnight.

  She resumed her work, her wooden needles knocking together. I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep but found my attention drawn to the nurse over and over again.

  “What are you making?” I asked without thinking.

  Unsurprised by the sudden sound of my voice, she glanced up. “A blanket for my granddaughter.”

  “Oh, that’s nice,” I said.

  “How old is she?”

  “Three.”

  The wool she was using was of a creamy color that would be very nice for a little girl.

  “She will love it,” I said, thinking of my favorite blanket, one Louisa, our cook, had made for me when I was little. Papa had been fond of recounting how I’d carried it with me everywhere and didn’t even allow my dolls to rest on it when I played with them.

  My chin quivered, tears threatening to flow again. I fought them back with a big inhale and changed the subject.

  “Have you worked here for a while?”

  “I was born here,” she said.

  That made me pause and blink. “Born here?”

  “My father was a stablehand and my mother a cook at the Palace.” She gestured in its direction, rather than the direction of the servant quarters, which was where lower servants prepared our meals.

  “That must have been strange, growing up so close to the Queen,” I said.

  “As strange as anyone’s home is strange to others,” she responded, going back to her needlework.

  It was clear my comment had bothered her. I glanced away, trying to imagine how growing up at the White Palace would be. Would one often see the Queen? Did one fear being bitten or killed?

  Since I’d been here, I hadn’t laid eyes on Queen Lovina—not once. I’d seen her from a distance in the past, riding through the streets of Acedrex in her carriage, but not here. She was said to love daylight, the complete opposite of King Maximus, but if that was the case, why did she appear to spend all her time locked up in that palace?

  “How is the Queen?” I asked, my mouth moving of its own accord again.

  Nurse Loretta didn’t look up this time but continued weaving stitches together. “Fine, I suppose.”

  “No, I mean... how is her personality?”

  “She’s the Queen,” she said as if that explained anything.

  I sighed in frustration.

  “Instead of concerning yourself with Queen Lovina, you should sleep.”

  With a humph, I closed my eyes, doing the exact opposite. Many times, I’d lie awake at night, thinking of the White Queen and the Black King, of how I’d sworn revenge against my father’s murderer and Talyssa’s abductor, and how I planned to kill Lovina to gain the necessary strength to see my plan to fruition.

  Yet, I knew nothing of the Queen, except for rumors... that she was cold and calculating, that she kept the cemetery diggers busy, preparing graves for the corpses of her many victims. She sounded as cruel as King Maximus, and I had no reason to doubt that she
was, but my conscience would have been more at ease if I’d known this with certainty.

  I yawned, fighting the heaviness in my muscles, the foggy feeling in my head. I forced my eyes open.

  Nurse Loretta’s needles clicked together in an even rhythm. My eyelids drooped and closed. A moment later, I inhaled sharply and scrubbed at my face. Just five more hours. I only needed to stay awake for five more hours. I could do it.

  Sleep took me again with my next breath.

  CHAPTER 4

  I awoke in a panic as if my mind had been clearly aware of the time, but my body refused to wake.

  The clock on the wall read seven thirty. Sunlight seeped through the sheer curtains on the narrow windows. The songs of morning birds floated placidly through the air.

  My heart was pounding as I scanned the room. The rocking chair on which Nurse Loretta had sat last night was nowhere to be seen, nor was she or her needlework.

  Our brief conversation came rushing back. Had it actually happened? Or had I dreamed about it?

  I had to get out of here and get back to my dormitory.

  Slowly, I lowered my leg. The tower of pillows that had propped it up fell to one side. Just one second ago, the pain had been bearable and, now, I had to clench my teeth to hold in a whimper.

  Glancing around, I searched for my uniform, but it was nowhere to be found, so, instead, I pulled the sheet off the bed and wrapped it tightly around my body.

  I held back a curse and dizzily pushed off the cot, putting most of my weight on my left leg. Peering over my shoulder toward the back of the infirmary, I awkwardly hopped toward the door. When I made it there, I twisted the knob and pulled the door open.

  Nurse Loretta was standing outside, her back to me, her gaze set on the White Palace at the top of the hill.

  “Good morning,” she said without looking back. “You shouldn’t be up.” She spoke dispassionately as if she was used to her patients’ disobedience and was tired of trying to talk sense into them.

  “G-good morning,” I answered back. “I... I’ve grown restless of lying down,” I said.

  She humphed. “Get back to bed,” she ordered as if I were a child.

  And I supposed I was acting like one, trying to sneak out, crying, and whimpering.

  I inhaled deeply, letting the cool morning air fill my lungs. It was late August and the day would be warm later, but the morning was pleasant and beguiled the mind, making one forget how hot and humid the air tended to get in the summer.

  Limping forward, I stood by the nurse’s side and regarded the palace in the distance. Her profile was stern with no discernible emotion on her features. She had removed the white cap from her head, and her short hair shone like spun spiderwebs in the sunlight. From the looks of it, it had once been black. She seemed to be only in her mid-forties, too soon for so much gray.

  Maybe all the worry of growing up in the Queen’s palace and one day serving as dessert had done that to her. Though, judging by the forlorn way in which she was glancing at the dazzling structure, she probably missed the place.

  “Well,” I said, stretching my neck up and causing my spine to crack. “I will go bathe now. I am filthy.”

  Nurse Loretta shook her head as I tried to leap forward. I needed to show my confidence was high, but my arms flew out reflexively to help me keep my balance. And I’m sure my face told the story of extreme pain.

  “Wait there,” she ordered.

  A moment later, she returned with a wooden crutch. It was too tall for me but made walking easier nonetheless.

  “Thank you,” I said over my shoulder, headed for my dormitory. After a few paces, I stopped and asked. “You don’t think they expect me to report for training, do they?” I’d assumed they didn’t—not with my leg such as it was—but, in this place, one never knew.

  “Not until I deem you ready,” she said.

  What a relief! I would get some time to rest and heal. That would be nice. I’d been running, sword fighting and riding horses like a rake in one of the novels Talyssa loved to read. Rest would be nice.

  “And...” Nurse Loretta said, “from the looks of it, you should be ready by tomorrow.” She smiled crookedly.

  “I fear not,” I said a bit melodramatically. “I shall be back after my bath for more of your wonderful medicine.”

  I turned away before she tried to get me back in the infirmary. I had to get to my bloodshade.

  When I entered the dormitory, I was relieved to find no one was there. Based on the hour, my Quadrant mates would be running through the woods at the verge of vomiting their breakfasts, lest they got extra stable duties for being last.

  My cot was in order—the sheets perfectly tucked in and the wool blanket folded under the pillow—the way I’d left it yesterday morning.

  Quickly, I took out two dry bloodshade leaves out of their hiding place and stuffed them in my mouth. I normally ate only one, but I was late, and I couldn’t be too safe. I winced at their bitter taste. The tea was much easier on my tongue. I’d grown used to its taste through the years, but I couldn’t afford that luxury here.

  Back in the bath area, I took off the sheet and my shirt and placed them on a wooden bench. Choosing the bubbling hot springs over a bath or shower, I carefully lowered myself into one of the natural pools, relishing its near-scolding warmth. Goose flesh raised on my arms as I groaned in pleasure.

  After a few minutes in the water, I removed the bandage from around my leg and examined my injury. My knee resembled an overstuffed eggplant in size and color. Though it looked a lot worse than it felt. Surprisingly, I found the wound on my arm had mostly healed. It was still bright red and tender, but the lesion had sealed itself.

  When I felt near dozing off, lulled by the sounds of running water and tantalizing warmth, I grabbed a bar of soap from the edge of the pool and scrubbed dirt and blood from all corners of my body.

  When I was done, getting out of the pool, drying myself, and putting on my spare uniform took three times as long as it should have and left me exhausted. I wanted to collapse on my cot but, determined not to give Nurse Loretta an excuse to declare me fit for duty before I’d healed—I retrieved a handful of bloodshade leaves from my pillow, stuffed them into the strip of cloth that bound my chest and left.

  I entered the infirmary, wobbling like a drunkard. Nurse Loretta was back on her tall stool, looking as fresh as if she’d slept on a bed of roses and not next to one of her ailing patients.

  She watched me hop to the cot and lower myself onto it. I attempted to remove my pants, but my arms gave out before I managed, and I collapsed backward. Whatever powder Nurse Loretta had put in my water seemed to have delayed effects of some kind, working in bursts as if to purposely subdue the victim when they least expected it.

  When I blinked my eyes open again, my trousers were off and my knee was wrapped and elevated once more. Nurse Loretta was folding my uniform and setting it on the night table. A light sheet covered me.

  Nervously, my hands flew to my breasts. They were still bound and the bloodshade remained where I’d put it.

  “Had a nice bath?” the nurse asked with a glint in her eyes.

  “Um, yes, I did. I felt like a newborn for a bit until your evil powders came back for a third round.”

  Nurse Loretta regarded me with a frown for a long moment. She seemed to be carefully considering my words.

  “Perhaps,” she said with a shrug, “you have a low tolerance for rosedia. I’ll make sure your next dose is smaller.”

  Next dose? There would be no next dose, I thought as I smiled sweetly, but artificially, at the nurse.

  While she went back to her knitting, I slept again. It was a light slumber that had me waking up when Nurse Loretta set a pile of books on the night table.

  “I will go for now,” she said. “Someone will be back to look after you in a bit. Here are some books for you to read in case you get bored.”

  I nodded groggily, thinking all I wanted to do was sleep, not re
ad.

  She walked away but, before exiting, she said, “And no more baths, please.”

  CHAPTER 5

  As Nurse Loretta had suspected, boredom took hold of my mind once sleep was done with me. At Flagfall House, I’d thought I’d known boredom, being required to do my embroidery and learn my lessons in history and art. But the ennui that came over me after lunch was much worse.

  My body was restless and, to my surprise, I discovered that I already missed training with Vinna and Alben. A pang of guilt hit me, remembering that Alben was gone because of me and Vinna was probably lonely. Sword training would never be the same without him.

  I even missed my mare, which I hadn’t named yet—even after she behaved so valiantly during the race against Skender. I tried to think of a name, but I had no idea how to name a horse. Nothing I thought of seemed appropriate, and I figured something would come to me sooner or later.

  At times, I thought about Nyro and what he had told me that night.

  I couldn’t believe you’d noticed me. The gorgeous girl in the red dress, her skin like honey, her eyes near onyx.

  It gave me a fluttery feeling in my stomach until I remembered he knew I was a Trove and could, at any time, turn me in. Though it had been some time since that meeting, and he hadn’t done it yet.

  A bit of a distraction came in the afternoon in the shape of my Pawn contract. Nurse Loretta brought it for me to sign with instructions from Knight Kelsus to read it carefully. It described my duties and the proper way to challenge my Pawn mates. The process now was easier than it had been as a Challenger. Instead of fighting my way up the line of Pawns, I was allowed to challenge whichever one I wanted as long as they were in my Quadrant. If I won, that Pawn would become Fourth Pawn while I assumed their rank. The contract also mentioned a considerable increase in my salary, which I would fully welcome.

  When I was done with that, the nurse went to the library and brought with her the assigned books for my new rank. They contained more boring Acedrex history that painted the vampire monarchs as worthy rulers and highlighted how awful life had been before their rule. Pure lies.