by LJ Rivers
“Please, Princess, do sit still.”
I bit my lip but burst out laughing when she tickled my toes. Eventually, it seemed she had given up on my feet, and a few minutes later, my bath was over.
Wrapped in a linen towel, I stood on a pedestal in my room, while the four Fae kept circling me.
“What about green?” Hildy asked.
“That is the queen’s colour,” Cherise scolded. “Princess Ruby will need something that is more representative of her.”
“Perhaps red to match her beautiful locks?” the one named Silvani asked.
“Not sure that would send the right kind of message.” Cherise put her chin in her palm, her eyes travelling up and down the length of me.
“Gold?” Freydana offered.
“Too elaborate for a casual meal.”
Freydana placed a heap of fabric by my feet, and the four Fae began sifting through it, holding up each colour and comparing it with my skin tone and hair.
“That’s nice.” I gestured at an indigo piece of fabric.
“It is, though it’s still not right.” Cherise grabbed a piece next to it and held it up to my face. “Now, this will do.”
The other women nodded, and a man swaggered into the room.
“Ladies. Princess. At your service. My name is Berlomis, and I am about to make you shine,” he said to me, then looked at Cherise. “Is she ready?” he asked, silver wings lightly stirring behind his back. A needle, already threaded, was pinned into a chest pocket on his knee-length maroon tunic. Gold rings connected around his waist as a belt and an assortment of leather pouches hung from the chain.
“Everything is prepared.” Cherise showed him the fabric they had picked out, and Freydana opened a wooden box full of ornaments. Before I knew it, the women had dressed me in a plain linen dress, and the tailor got to work.
I felt like a live doll. This was so not my scene. A princess? Me? I almost laughed every time they used my new title. It was too surreal. Besides, all I wanted was for them to wrap it up, so I could see my friends.
After what felt like an eternity, Berlomis stood straight and took a few steps backwards, admiring his work. “A masterpiece,” he proclaimed.
I glanced down at my outfit. Silver clasps connected the wide sleeves to my sapphire blue dress, a perfect match for my ring. A wide waistband in silver was tied above my hips while matching bands embellished both the neckline, sleeves, and hem of the dress.
“Something is missing.” Berlomis crossed his arms, tapping his foot.
“She looks divine,” Cherise said.
He raised a finger in the air. “Aha.” After rummaging through the wooden box, he retrieved a silver necklace with a sapphire stone pendant. Carefully, he slid it around my neck and fastened it. “Perfection.”
“Are we done?” I asked.
“Yes, Princess, we are. I will have one of the Crimsons escort you to where you need to go. Morgana’s castle is a big place, and we wouldn’t want you to get lost.” Cherise winked, then shooed the other women outside.
“My work here is complete,” Berlomis announced. “How does the princess find it?”
I grabbed the skirt in my fists, testing the weight of the fabric. “It’s lovely,” I said. “Don’t take this the wrong way, though, but I don’t have to wear dresses all the time, do I? I mean, I’m sort of a,” I tried to say jeans, but the words wouldn’t escape my lips, “trousers kind of girl.”
He cupped his chin, then nodded to himself. “There is no challenge too great. I will prepare a hunting outfit and a few more casual garments along with some dresses. Do not worry, Princess. Berlomis will take good care of you.”
“Thank you!”
He pondered me for another moment. “You look so much like her. It has been a privilege dressing you, and I look forward to our next session.”
“Who?” I asked when Berlomis spun around and strutted out the door.
Chapter Fifteen
I still had a long way to go before I got used to the dress, but at least I was able to walk without continually thinking about hitching it up. Of course, it helped that the walkways and cobbled paths of the inner parts of Morgana’s castle were kept as immaculately clean as the marble floors inside. I shuddered at the thought of how close I had come to dying at Captain Aranos’ hands.
“Princess Ruby,” a woman called as I walked under an archway and entered yet another large square. It seemed there were at least ten of these surrounding the castle. The woman wore a light blue dress, fastened over her shoulders with copper chains. Around her neck, she had a necklace that matched the copper chains, and the pendant glimmered red and orange in the shine from the lanterns. Her dark brown hair had strands of yellow, and it fell in front of her face as she bowed to me.
“My Lady,” I said, “you don’t have to bow to me.”
“Oh, but I do, Princess, or your guard will scold me.” Her voice was soft and warm, almost like she was singing.
I glanced at the Crimson guard, walking two steps behind me. He drew a crooked smile.
“She is right, Princess,” he said firmly. “A citizen of Avalen must show respect to a royal. It is how it is supposed to be.”
I cupped my hand under the woman’s chin and raised it so I could face her. “I venture you also respect each other enough on this island, and in this city, to look a person in the eye while talking to them?”
And what eyes. They looked as if some jeweller had made them fit with the rest of her copper accessories, burning like a dark, hazel fire. She was young, perhaps no more than a couple of years older than me. She was stunningly beautiful.
“How are you today, milady?” I said, trying my best to sound regal.
The woman seemed to want to bow again, but bit her lips and held her head high. “My Princess honours me. My day has started very well, thank you, and has now turned into a special one indeed, courtesy of Your Highness.”
Oh, please! While I had decided to keep up appearances, for the time being, these titles almost made me sick to the stomach. I guessed it had something to do with the paternal side of things.
“You flatter me, milady. Might I ask your name?”
She tilted her chin up, the fire in her eyes increasing and accentuating her pride. “I am Leona of Isoldia, daughter of Marcellus, wife of Ovidan and loyal servant of Queen Morgana.” She blinked rapidly, and a red flush showed on her cheeks. “A—and of Princess Ruby, of course.” Again, she threw her head forward, obviously embarrassed by her omission.
“We are all loyal servants to the queen, Lady Leona. You have no obligations to me, I assure you.”
Technically, that wasn’t true, but not a single bone in my body could see how the people of Avalon should think of themselves as my servants.
I placed a finger under her chin, and this time she gladly raised it without my help. “And I am pleased to meet you, Lady Leona. What brings you to the castle today?”
She tilted her head, a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. “Princess?”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to pry,” I said. “It is, of course, none of my business.”
The guard stepped forward, clearing his throat. “Excuse me, Your Highness. Lady Leona lives here, under the queen’s protection.” He pointed at the door behind the woman. It was half-open, and a little girl stood in the dimness inside, peeking out. She had the same bright golden eyes as her mother, perhaps even more brilliant.
“I see. Pardon me, Lady Leona. I’m not acquainted with this place yet.”
Leona made a curtsy and lowered her head. “Your Highness, it is I who should apologise for not making it clear. Queen Morgana has graciously offered me lodging while her masons and carpenters rebuild my home.”
“Who’s living here with you?” I asked. “I assume those yellow beacons of curiosity belong to your daughter?” I gestured behind her.
Leona turned and gasped. “Xandra! Get inside!”
The golden eyes vanished instantly, and the door slammed shut,
but not before I could pick up the tiny giggle. It was as refreshing as a tall glass of iced tea on a hot summer’s day.
“I beg your pardon, Highness. I was not aware—”
“Oh, please. She was just curious, as children should be. To be honest, we could all learn a bit from children in that way. How old is your daughter?”
The guard cleared his throat again, a habit that was beginning to annoy me. “Excuse me, Your Highness, but it might be best if we kept going. Your friends await you.”
As much as I was dying to see them, I couldn’t help but want to know more about Leona and her family.
I nodded at him. “In a moment. Thank you, Valet Anwinar.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” The Crimson guard retreated so fast it looked like he was fastened to the spot behind me by a steel spring.
“So, Leona. I have to get going, but it was so nice to meet you. Give your daughter—”
“She’s not my daughter.” Leona gasped. “I—I’m sorry, Princess. It was not my intention to interrupt.”
How could anyone get used to this? “Think nothing of it.” I sighed, sick to my bones of how she felt she had to grovel like that. “She’s not your daughter? Your baby sister, then?”
Her head came back up, tears brimming in her eyes. “Pardon me, Highness. I should have told you immediately. Xandra is my brother’s youngest daughter. She and I are the only ones left of our blood after the Battle of Isolden Village.” Her voice had reduced to a trembling whisper. “Please excuse me, Your Highness.” She started walking backwards to the door, bowing so deeply that I feared she would tip over.
I didn’t move or speak. Leona’s words played on repeat in my head, the consequences of them starting to take shape. Leona entered the dark blue door and slipped inside, joining her giggling, curious little niece, whose father had been killed in the Battle of Isolden Village.
Among how many others? Hundreds? Thousands? Was Leona’s husband one of them? Her parents certainly were, as she was the only one left of her blood—she and Xandra.
“Take me to my friends, please, Valet Anwinar.”
I swallowed, wiping a tear from the corner of my eye, and followed the Crimson guard across the square. There were dozens more doors like Leona’s lining the yard, and outside several of them, more women sat and stood. Some were playing with children, or at least watching their kids run around. An exceptionally tall woman was sweeping the yard outside her door. I stopped for a moment in the middle of the plaza.
“Your Highness?” said my guard.
“How many has Morgana given shelter to like these?”
“Thousands, Highness.” Anwinar grinned, and his eyes brightened. “Queen Morgana has the biggest heart in all of Gwyn Fanon. She won the war against the usurper by letting our women fight after the false prince slaughtered our frontline soldiers. These women—there are over eight hundred inside the castle walls alone, with several thousand inside Avalen’s walls—lost their husbands and brothers. As the crops diminished after the darkness came, the queen has provided them from her personal supply to feed her people.” He leaned close. “Not all nobles are happy with the law of sharing.” The Crimson guard suddenly shook himself. “Forgive me, Your Highness. It is not for me to get involved in politics.”
I held my hand up. “I appreciate your candour, Valet Anwinar.” I had also lowered my voice. “I just thought of something regarding that tall woman. She must be taller even than the ceiling of her house.”
Anwinar made a sound similar to a neigh, more suitable for a horse than a person. “Not at all, Highness. The queen, in all her wisdom and compassion, had the masons remove the ceiling altogether. Her house is now the one on the bottom, and the one above—joined. Fajorah of Vivenne walks just as proud inside as outside. And, like Leona of Isoldia,” he nodded back to her house, “there is a child in her belly.”
“I see. So, the women have found new men since the war?”
Anwinar squared his gaze on me. “They are volunteers, Your Highness. Proudly serving the queen and her effort to repopulate Avalon. In fact, I believe Her Majesty herself picked the Crimsons to seed both Leona and Fajorah. Well, at least Fajorah, as I know the Crimson personally.” He patted himself on his ridiculously muscular chest. “Now, if you please, Your Highness. Your friends await you, and my orders are to bring you to them before the eleventh awr.”
He bowed, showing the way with his arm. I gave him a clumsy curtsy in return, then turned to continue our walk, and almost tripped when my foot caught in the long dress. I couldn’t wait to get into the hunting outfit Berlomis had promised me.
We left the square after I had smiled and nodded to a group of women standing near the archway—standing until they fell to their knees when I came along, that was. Strolling a six-foot-wide hallway along the base of the castle wall, heading for another archway, I wondered if perhaps Commander Taryn was one of the Crimsons chosen to seed the widows. That there existed such a policy, or effort, as Anwinar called it, hadn’t shocked me as much as I would have expected it to. The war must have claimed thousands upon thousands from Morgana’s queendom, and it made sense to rebuild more than just the houses.
“There she is!” shouted a voice I knew and loved, and I gladly let it wipe away the thoughts of war, for the time being. Charlie erased the distance between us, arms outstretched, but just as she was about to embrace me, Anwinar stepped between us, spear in hand.
“Halt!” His voice echoed off the walls.
I placed a hand on his bulging hipbone. “It’s all right, Valet Anwinar. Thank you, but these people are my trusted friends, and I don’t want you to protect me from them.”
“But my ord—”
“I am giving you this order,” I said, the words rolling with surprising ease from my tongue. “As your princess, I’m telling you, these people are no threat to me nor the queen.”
The guard drew in a breath, then lowered his spear. “As Your Highness commands.”
Charlie, who had been joined by Jen and Erica, threw her arms around me. The others joined in, and we stood for a long while in a group hug.
“I shouht thasha it,” Jen mumbled into my neck. Or someone’s neck, I couldn’t be sure, as we were all so tight.
“Say what?”
We all let go, laughing. “I said: I thought that was it,” Jen repeated, waving a hand in front of her flushed face. She took another step back, measuring me from top to toe as she did. “Merde, Red! You are rocking this royalty affair something fierce.”
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Brendan and Jack were talking with two Juniper guards, whom, I guessed, were assigned to protect my friends. It looked rather silly, as both of them lacked at least three inches on Brendan and Jack. Then again, where Jack had his wolf powers to rely upon, chances were Brendan would be in danger against most of the people and creatures on this island.
“Hello! Earth—I mean, Avalon to Ruby. Are you here?”
“Hm?”
Jen crossed her arms, giving me a hard stare. “I have spent days in a dark dungeon, and all you can do is look at your boyfriend’s behind?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
She burst out laughing again. “Relax, I’m only pulling your leg. Now, if it pleases Your Highness.” She bowed dramatically. “Could we return to your dress? And feel free to express how you, pretty as you look in it, are no match for the Gaulantian daughter of Gwyn Tala.” Jen twirled, showing off her dark red dress with white stripes. It was not as elegantly accessorised as mine, nor did it have the same luxurious quality, but Jen made it look fifty times more sophisticated, as she had correctly pointed out.
“You all look stunning,” I said, gesturing at Charlie and Erica.
They had similar dresses to Jen’s, only different colours. Charlie’s was brown and yellow, while Erica sported black and silver. Morgana’s tailors had found the perfect colours for all of them, as they had done for Brendan and Jack. The latter turned and waved, nudging Brend
an to make him aware of my presence. They inclined their heads to the guards and joined the rest of us.
“Good to see you again, Ruby,” said Jack. “Heard you gave Morgana quite a show.”
“I have my moments. How is everyone?”
“Since yesterday, amazing.” Charlie shook her head slowly. “The days before, not so good. But still better than the Baker boys’ basement.”
Brendan smirked. “Way better.”
I took a moment to admire him. The light brown tunic and the leather jerkin couldn’t conceal the ropes of muscles on his skin. When he smiled, his dimples deepened, and a few strands of his hair fell over his mesmerising eyes. There was a fire in that gaze that I hadn’t seen in a long time, if ever. It reminded me of the look he sometimes got when fencing, only more intense. It was as if a part of him had lain dormant and was only now pushing to the surface.
I looked around the square. It was much smaller than the one housing Leona and the other widows, but still at least thirty by twenty yards. “Where’s Kit? Did he come here with you, Brendan?”
He nodded. “Somewhere by the armoury, at least last I saw of him. The Junipers ran like crazy to catch him, but they had to give up. Besides, I’ve told them he’s one of us.”
Jack pointed at an hourglass on the wall. “They said we should wait here until eleven. Anyone able to interpret time from that?”
The hourglass was six feet tall, hanging on a heavy wood beam with a sturdy metal clamp around the frame. A man wearing a leather apron, a hammer in his grip, appeared from under a canopy just as the last grains of sand left the top half. He dropped the hammer and put his hands on each side of the hourglass. His muscles strained as he turned it slowly upside down.
“Eleventh awr,” he called and returned to pick up his hammer. He looked at our group, gave a quick nod, and returned to the red glow of his smithy.
“Elwood,” Brendan said. “According to the Junipers, he’s the best weapons smith in all of Gwyn Fanon. I got to hold one of his swords and can attest that he knows what he’s doing, at least. It was immaculate, like—”
