Lord Reynald slammed the door behind himself, The door bounced back. Swinging on its hinge with a screech. He sucked in a breath and slowly went back to the door, pressing it closed with two hands, and turned back to pace towards her lone window.
"You are useless," Lord Reynald said to her, throwing his hands in the air as he went by. "I can get an entire army to track and kill Folk, but I can't get a girl to get close to one old pathetic worm of a woman to get me what I need."
"I thought having your brothers would be enough to persuade you, or at least breaking them a little would get it done, but obviously you do not care enough for them. I don't see why I expected any differently from a another peasant," he said. "That Folk male was just another distraction ontop of everything."
Flora stared distantly at Lord Reynald. His figure blurred in her sight as she took in the truth in what he said.
She hadn't found a way to escape. Had gotten so pulled into the games of others that she hadn't truly worked to find a way for them to escape. She could have escaped by now, had she been more forceful. She knew she could. In regards to the Folk, she did not want to even think of how he distracted her—she hadn't put her family first.
"I am almost out of time," Lord Reynald said nearly to himself, his eyes on Flora as his fist clenched and unclenched. Flora tracked him across the room. "Miranda leaves in days—You don't have the right to be sad, staring at me, looking like that," Lord Reynald said again, spittle now flying from his mouth as he worked himself into a frenzy.
"What do you want me to do? You have me locked up. I didn't even know what you need. " Flora said back.
"But you know something now. Must I hold your hand! That woman and what she wants is dangerous to everyone," he screamed.
Flora rubbed at the back of her neck while she swayed back and forth, wondering if she should tell Lord Reynald what Vander had said to her. But Vander had trusted her with it.
"You want to run free, you don't even know how important this is, how it affects all of us," Lord Reynald said, his hands now pressed against the frame of the window, staring out to the city below. "I know you have learned something, do you really think you are doing the right thing in keeping it from me," he finished quietly.
Flora was silent as she looked at him.
"You are the criminal here, remember. I pulled you off the streets. Me, an educated man, I know more than you could ever hope to," Lord Reynald said again. "I have tried to work with you, to persuade you to try. Maybe I'll have to change that."
Lord Reynald stalked towards her, lifting his hand as he came. Flora backed into the corner dragging the chair in front of her. One shoulder blade hit each wall. It braced her, and the chair kept her from falling.
"That is enough," came a stern voice she knew.
It was Lady Willa at the door Keys in her hand with her faithful manservant at her back. She hadn't even seen it open. Another escape route to freedom she hadn't been aware of.
"It is enough when I say it is enough," Lord Reynald said, though his hand drifted slowly down.
"Lord Reynald, time and again I have told you that this is not how you get your way," she said stepping from the doors entrance, leaving enough room for Lord Reynald to pass by her. "Can't you see she is barely listening to you. She is in a panic. Even you did not notice me and I have been here for long enough to see enough."
Lord Reynald shook his head. His weight rocking back from his heels.
"Go torture someone else," Lady Willa said to Lord Reynald as he snapped around to her, his eyes bloodshot. Marcus quickly pushed himself between Lady Willa and Lord Reynald, his height taking some of the wind from Lord Reynald who turned back around in the room.
He continued pacing, making only one turn towards Flora. Stopping inches from her His shoulders heaving up and down with his breaths. Then he turned and passed Lady Willa. Flora could hear the outer door slam shut as Lord Reynald exited Lady Willa's room.
Flora walked up to the door that Lady Willa still had open. Lady Willa backed up as Flora grabbed the edge of the door, shutting it herself. She even deserved the sound of the deadbolt turning as Lady Willa locked her in from the other side
Then she went to a corner. Away from the bed, the chair, any surface other than the floor. Her back slid down the wall till she sat on the ground. The smooth floor was too clean, and the shimmering fabric of her dress felt horrible on her skin. She wished for the smell of her old blood riddled clothes. That was who she was supposed to be. At that realization, she couldn't hold the wall back as the first tear fell down her cheek. After that, the sobbing started.
She knew Lady Willa could probably hear her, but nothing could stop the panic welling in her. She stayed sobbing like that until exhaustion took her. She fell asleep there in the corner where she did not want to wake back up. Feeling so alone so almost wished for the company of the castle snakes.
Who Are You
Flora was barely able to push herself off the ground for what felt like her hundredth pushup. Coming to her knees she took a moment of breath as a slight breeze trickled through the broken window. She wiped the sweat from her forehead. Since the sun had broken through the horizon Flora had been working out, she had gotten slack with herself the past few weeks, which was now unacceptable.
She was going to be ready when an opportunity came. Her body ached, but she pushed through. She looked at her pocket watch, she had only been at it for a hour.
She rolled onto her back and lifted her feet into the air. Curling her elbows towards her knees until the sharp knock at the door had her rolling to the wall. She leaned casually against it, as broken as she was the last time that door had opened. Dark black bags still sat under her eyes as she waited to see who her visitor was.
Icy fire swallowed her core as she heard it. It was Oswalds muffled voice that came through the wood. "Open the door, Flora," he said, in a tone that made Flora's heart flinch back. He had not been there since she had been taken to the courtyard.
Flora slowly stood up and went to the door, she snapped the bolt over, and moved back to her wall. Sliding all the way down it to end up on the floor again. After a few seconds of watching the latch fumble, Oswald came in. His blade was belted to his side and his hands occupied with carrying a food tray. He fumbled the tray to snatch it off his knee that he had been balancing it on as the door swung in.
He was biting his lip as he looked at Flora on the ground.
"You left me—you had to have known what had happened—and you left me," Flora said up to him, keeping her eyes fixed on the roof. "To almost think we could have been friends."
"How—" he started, but then had to clear his throat. "How are you after—"
"I am not about to tell you that I am fine Oswald," Flora said, pushing herself off the ground and going to look out the window. She needed to look at anything other than Oswald right now.
The view outside steadied her. The clouds that moved steadily and consistently across the horizon. The waved distortion of heat lines rising from the city below as the pavement caught up with the temperature of the day.
"I..I do expect you to," Oswald said, seeming to wander around behind her. Finally deciding to put the tray of food on the bed. He sat next, causing an apple on it to roll to the floor. He ignored it to rest his head in his hands as it thumped along the floor.
"I'm sorry," Oswald said.
That tore Flora's gaze from the horizon and she looked at Oswald. She couldn't see his eyes still covered in his hands. Her heart dropped. "For—"
"I just..." Oswald stuttered. "I just thought you being here would help move this problem forward."
"Which problem Oswald?" Flora said, her fingers tapping on the window seal between her spread hands. Hr feet shifting to line up with her shoulders.
"The war," Oswald said. "The slow war we were born into that seems like it will never end."
"It might not," Flora said, the breeze carrying her voice back to Oswald.
Oswald dropped h
is hands from his face. "I can't believe that," he said, his eyes wide and shining as he looked back to Flora. "The scandals, assassinations, break-ins, murders, it is every day, you should see the reports," Oswald paused. "Where is the tipping point?"
"How did you think I could be the tipping point?" Flora asked, crossing her arms and turning back to Oswald. Leaning her back against the window ledge. "What did Lord Reynald tell you that makes you think I could do something like that? What does Lady Dells have of actual importance that I could possibly be the answer to figuring it out?"
Oswald shook his head, tearing his eyes from Flora now to look at the window. He was silent for a long time as he watched the sky.
"Lady Dells is the key to how magic is coming back. That's what Lord Reynald believes. That Lady Dells and whatever she is doing may have already started to bring it back. He is old. He was young when this began, and he is smart. I think—he does not want magic to come back."
"But why me?" Flora asked again.
Oswald shrugged. "This isn't the place for you. None of this feels like it is going to turn out okay."
"Do wars ever turn out okay?" Flora asked, her nostrils flaring.
"The West side of the castle has a lot fewer guards than the East side," Oswald said continuing on.
Flora felt tears building in the corner of her eyes and a tingling that gave her entire body goosebumps as her back peaked straight, no longer leaning against the window. Was he telling her what she thought he was telling her?
"What—Oswald—" Flora said.
Oswald lifted up his hand to stop her. "I'd rather you go that way," Oswald said, dropping his hand to look at Flora. "Rather than take whatever part of you Lord Reynald leaves behind," he finished, before he turned and left the room. Closing the door behind him.
The door tethered Flora to the spot as she thought. She turned around to look out her window. Looking East to the mountains in the distance.
She would only need a little more time. A little more time to find a better way to her brothers. For as much as Oswald got her out of this tower, if what he said was true, his tales would not lead her all the way to the prison and out again. She needed a little more time then she would be gone.
Scrolls
Lord Reynald showed up smiling with Prince Fergus the next day, as the sun approached over the castle wall, both dressed in their finest clothes. The Prince's were all white and they glistened compared to Lord Reynald's dark red uniform. Oswald no longer stood guard at the door, and Flora missed his presence.
"Cousin Flora, how are you today?" Lord Reynald said through grinning teeth clenched tight.
Flora stared at him as Lord Reynald continued. "Prince Fergus has asked if he could escort you through the gardens. I am sure that you wouldn't mind."
Flora tore her eyes from Lord Reynald. "But of course your highness. I am at your disposal," she said automatically with a curtsy. She had known this was coming. Lady Willa had already gotten her dressed for it.
The dress was another delicate torturous skin that Lord Reynald had to decide to put her in, she didn't think Ambrosia would have been so cruel. Ambrosia would have taken sympathy to the heat and given her something that breathed. Though Ambrosia had not let her wear her boots, and insisted on slippers, moving her boots away from her this morning, and Flora did not know how to protest.
"Oh by the way cousin, I ran into some mutual friends of ours down at the market. You do remember Lorcel and Roanan don't you? They send their greetings," Lord Reynald said while one of his brows slowly rose. "They aren't too well I am afraid, but we are working on that," he finished as he gave a final bow to Prince Fergus. "Your Highness."
Prince Fergus held out his arm as Flora tried to steady her heart, steading her hand as she gripped his skin tight between her fingers. Her hand just below the rolled cuffs of his sleeve. Stopping her from covering her mouth. Her toes clenched in her silk slippers as she held herself to the floor. Lord Reynald soon disappeared and she had to turn her body away from the corridor. Away from the man who walked farther away, dragging tendrils of her heart with him, along with any hope for her brothers.
"Um, where would you like to see today? We do not have to go to the gardens. Everyone is there," Prince Fergus said while he bit his lower lip, his voice shaking, though his posture was perfectly straight.
"I don't want to be a bore, your highness," she said with a stutter of her own. Reeling in her mind to get her to a state where she could deal with His Majesty after the two brothers she had thought safe were now certainly in danger. "Where would you prefer to go?"
"We could go to the riding arena? Or watch the guards courtyard at their boardings? Lord Reynald often takes some of them on outside his office and it is quite something to see," Prince Fergus finished with eager eyes.
Flora's eyes dove into Prince Fergus's as the next words rushed out of her. "Watching a bunch of men brawl would be something to see. Does Lord Reynald always participate?" She thought as her mind spun. Wondering if she could find news of her other brothers in the castle.
"Usually. He takes them one after another until he gets too exhausted or loses. He does not often lose," Prince Fergus said.
"Well then, maybe today is the day," Flora said relaxing her grip on his arm.
It was a quiet walk with Prince Fergus. He said more to the guards that walked past him than to her in the entire time they walked the winding paths. She could hear the yelling and shouting of young men long before she saw them. Soon she saw dozens of men. Half naked with gleaming rays flickering of the sweat that poured down their bodies and soaked into their brown pants. They stood on a small rise looking down on the group, and there was nothing impeding her view as she saw Lord Reynald's fist connect with a younger man's jaw. Laying him into the dust and dirt below, which clung to his sweaty upper body like a jacket.
"Ooo—" Prince Fergus said beside her, lifting his hand to rub his own stubble along his jaw.
"Have you ever beat Lord Reynald, your highness?" Flora asked, her memories fading back to dark days in an alley when she had first met the young man beside her, looking only to see what the man was like, discovering little before she got caught lifting whatever had been in his pockets as he pressed a willing woman against a wall. His hands distracted in a woman's hair. Even after spending time with him, she knew so little.
Prince Fergus scowled, pulling her down into the crowd. "He won't fight me properly," Prince Fergus said as his cheeks that turned red. "Your cousin won't even train me properly really—and he doesn't let himself win when he fights me. I half try and I always win. I stopped challenging him. It is nothing like what is being done to that poor boy down there. But maybe you could persuade him otherwise? Use your family's pull with him?" He asked.
Flora saw the boy throw up his arms in defeat as Lord Reynald was about to come at him again, but Lord Reynald pulled short and backed away to stand squarely above the boy with his hands on his hips as his chest rose from his exertion. He soon reached down a hand to bring the young boy back to his feet. Still intact with the exception of the blood that ran down from his nose.
"Do you think—" Prince Fergus began.
Flora let an elbow in the crowd slide between her and Prince Fergus, using the momentum to get herself pulled away. Only to be pushed farther and farther out of the circle of rambling men. She ducked her head down and pulled a light cloak off of one of the men she passed. Tying it around her neck to cover her dress but leaving the hood down, the smell of the man's body odor clinging to the fabric like a burr, she ducked her head as she backed towards the familiar open door of Lord Reynald's office, willing the brown cloak to blend her into the rough wooden wall.
She tried the door and let out a breath as it opened. It must have only been because he was right outside. She had been sure it would have been locked, and then she would have had to find another route.
His office was still meticulously clean. The chairs and quills all placed perfectly so, with an inch of sp
ace between everything. The same plant sat on his desk, though taller not and dripping with more sap that oozed along the polished wood floor below.
Flora shut the door behind her enough that the desk was hidden from direct view. She walked around the simple piece of furniture and opened the first drawer she saw, to a scattering of different items all lumped together without thought.
"You are full of lies Reynald," Flora mumbled under her breath as she rummaged through the drawer with one hand looking for papers.
She found nothing. She moved on to the other drawers and paused only when she opened a drawer and saw a familiar scroll lying on top. She quickly opened it and bent down behind the desk out of full view of anyone and began to read.
She skimmed over her own story. For now, it was unimportant. Her eyes were on the lookout for the names of her brothers. There was a small mention of when they had been brought to the orphanage, probably supplied by Harriet, but that was nothing new.
Her shoulders tightened as she kept reading. It was nearly all about her, with no history on Perry and no mention of the others. She kept rolling the scroll down, the information he had gotten from Harriet was immense, but it was finally at the bottom that she saw the names. She slumped against the desk, while her head rested against is and her eyes closed, as a sigh of relief left her lips.
Thren and Dawson's names had large checkmarks beside them, while Lorcel, Perry, and Roanan all had question marks. Lord Reynald had lied. Her other brothers were still safe.
Flora peeked around the desk, and saw that no one was near the door. She stood and tucked the top of the scroll into the top of her chest, but a creak of hinges had her head bolting up.
"Flora—" Oswald started looking in the door with wide eyes, before looking over his shoulder. He moved into the room and shut the door fully behind him with a click. "You are going to get yourself killed," he said with heavy breaths, and caught sight of Flora's hand down her blouse. "Damn it—" Oswald moved over to her and pulled Flora yanked her hand out with the scroll in tow. "What are you doing" Oswald whisper yelled as he snatched it out of her fingers first though and threw it back on the table. "We have to get out of here."
Flora Page 20
