by K.N. Lee
One of the soldiers spoke to a servant in hushed tones. Nala paid them no heed. Her attention was locked on the place that would become her new home. Paintings of landscapes and battlefields hung on the walls.
Lit torches brightened the palace, casting a haze of enchantment. Plush carpets lined the floor. A staircase wide enough to fit ten broad-shouldered men led upward several floors the wound up to the vaulted ceilings.
As a slave, Nala had never seen such opulence. She did not need the fine dresses and jewels. Armor, and simple pants and blouses under a worn apron had been all she’d needed. As she walked through the palace, it became clear just how starkly different her life would now be.
The servant nodded, almost bowing to the soldier and scampered away. Not even a minute passed before he returned with a young lady trailing behind him. Ignoring the soldiers, the servant bustled over to Nala.
“Please follow me if you would.”
Nala pursed her lips. “If I must.”
The servant blinked his close-set, beady eyes a few times, startled and dismayed.
The servant, dressed all in black clothes without a speck of lint although the color was faded a bit, turned and motioned for her to follow.
Something in his movements reminded her of a rodent. When he glanced over his shoulder to see if she was following, he even wrinkled his nose. She could imagine whiskers fluttering on his small face.
The young lady trailed behind her. Nala grew more and more uncomfortable, especially as the servant brought her to a different staircase. This one was not as grand as the first one she had seen, but this one was not in the kitchens. It was not the staircase reserved for servants.
Or slaves.
Wordlessly, she followed the man up several flights of stairs. He brought her down a hall lined with shut doors of a deep, dark coloring. Toward the end of the hall, on the right, he opened a door and gestured for her to go inside.
“What is this?” Nala asked. Peeking inside, she spied two already lit torches, a made bed, and two trunks for clothes and other objects. A mirror stood near the back of the room. The flattened animal hide window would allow little light to filter through in the morning.
“Why, your private apartment, miss,” the servant said. “This is Edna. She is to be your handmaiden. She’ll tend to all of your needs.”
Nala gaped at the young lady. “I don’t need a servant.”
“Perhaps,” he said. “But, the king insists.” He then turned on his heels and left them alone, quietly closing the heavy door behind him.
Edna wrung his hands. “Are you hungry? I can have one of the cooks prepare you something fresh. Otherwise, we have some fruit or bread or cheese, some wine or ale…”
“Nothing for me. Thank you.”
“Do you wish for me to bring you up some water for a bath?” Edna asked. She was soft spoken, her eyes large, and the shape of almonds. Dressed in a simple dress, her golden hair was tied back into thick braids.
“That would be lovely, actually.”
Edna nodded, gave a swift curtsey, and left to fetch the water.
Nala sat on the edge of her new bed, running the palms of her hands along the embroidered maroon blankets. She did not know what to expect, and that worried her. The moment she lay down on her bed, her mind raced with worry of the future. She shoved those thoughts away.
Tomorrow, she could worry again. For now, all she wanted was some peace…
…and a hot bath.
Chapter Fourteen
The next day, Nala stood at the window of her room, dressed in a clean nightgown that felt smooth on her skin. Her bath had been better than any she had ever had. Edna had scrubbed and washed her hair, and slathered thick creams on her body that smelled of jasmine. She couldn’t remember ever smelling so good, or feeling so pampered.
The closest she could relate it to was when her mother would add milk and honey to her bath, and braid her hair into two thick plaits that reached her lower back.
Those days were long gone, and she shook her head, trying to rid herself of thoughts of her mother and how she’d faired since they’d been taken.
Gazing out the open window, she leaned her elbows on the sill, letting the crisp morning air lift her crimson hair. Below, the palace was alive with activity. Servants rushed from one end to the next, preparing for what the day would bring, doing their chores, and tending to the lush gardens.
The mountains stretched across the horizon, gray and white, glistening in the sunlight. Thick forests stood before them, opening up to the palace grounds.
Her heart ached for a closer look, but she was unsure how far her freedom extended.
A tapping on her door made her turn to see Edna enter with a tray of food and pitcher.
Relaxing, she met her half-way, taking hold of the heavy tray.
Edna seemed surprised. “You didn’t have to do that, miss.”
Shrugging, Nala took the tray to her round table and set it down. “It’s nothing,” she said. “So, what are we having for breakfast?”
She sat down, and pushed out the other chair with her foot. By the horrified look on Edna’s face, she’d never had someone she served invite her to share a meal.
“Sit,” she said, pouring herself a cup of piping hot tea.
“I don’t—”
“Sit.”
Her eyes widened at the sugar and cinnamon cubes. She popped two of each in and poured a drop of fresh cream. The first sip was divine, warming her from the inside out. While Edna stared at her, she stuffed a chunk of cheese in her mouth, followed by salted meat.
Nodding to the food, she chewed and drank more tea, washing it all down. There were three types of cheeses, sausages that emitted savory-smelling steam, red and green grapes, and brown bed slathered with lots of butter.
Brilliant.
“Go on,” she said. “Eat up. Try the cheese. It’s fantastic.”
Edna gulped, glancing at the door and back to Nala as if she feared someone would burst in and strike her for dining with her mistress. Cautiously, she took a piece of cheese from the platter and nibbled a corner.
“See? Isn’t it good?”
She nodded, her shoulders losing their tension. When a small smile came to her pink lips, Nala had hope that she’d found a friend.
To survive this ordeal, she was going to need one.
Chapter Fifteen
The gardens quickly became her favorite location. The flowers bloomed fully, and the aroma wafted to her the moment she entered the courtyard. Here, she felt somewhat at peace. She could at least pretend that her life wasn’t a chaotic, terrible mess.
Dressed in a long, ivy-colored gown, she made her way through the weaving, cobblestone paths that encircled a fountain that sprayed glistening water, that sprayed her with mist whenever she stood at the edge.
She favored a vine-wrapped wooden bench. She claimed it and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. The fabric of her dress felt too light. When she had arrived, the dresses provided had been too large. Edna had altered them, and now they fit her snug.
Footsteps sounded on the white stone path behind her. Nala stiffened, and her eyes flew open.
King Tristan stood before her. Dressed in a cobalt-blue jerkin and gray pants with thin lines of gold, he wore a golden cape secured at his throat. With a small smile on his lips, he truly looked youthful, and she wondered just how old the king of Cedonia truly was.
She gulped. It was the first time she’d seen him since she’d arrived days ago.
“Afternoon, Nala. How have you adjusted to your new apartment?”
“I… It’s fine,” she murmured, uncomfortable under his heavy gaze.
He sat beside her, and she tensed. Their arms touched, sending shivers up her spine and filling her cheeks with heat.
Why couldn’t she act normally around him?
“I’m glad to hear it. I wanted to make sure you were well provided for. I wish for you to remember that you are not my slave, or my prisoner. You a
re my apprentice, and a guest in my home.”
To avoid looking at him, she stood and crossed over to a rose blossom. The wind blew the stalk. The creamy white petals were soft and feathery. And, as she ran her hand across the silky, creamy, white petals, he joined her.
To hide how he made her tremble, she bent over to smell the flower.
The flower’s delicate scent was overwhelmed by King Tristan’s. She swooned. He smelled of mint and lavender. It tickled her nose, making her wish she could turn and bury her face into his chest.
Such a thought made her cheeks burn.
“I’ve been thinking that we should begin your training soon. Without proper practice, your abilities could be quite dangerous.”
She continued her study of the rose bush. “Its not like I have anything else to do,” she mumbled, and he chuckled, surprising her.
“I do love your honesty.”
She twisted her mouth, biting her tongue for what other honest ideas flittered into her mind.
“We will discuss plans over dinner this evening,” he said.
Nala jerked to a standing position. “Dinner?”
Why would he ask such a thing?
“That’s right. Join me. I’d like to become friends. Allies. As your teacher, we must learn to trust one another.”
With that, the king walked away. As he did so, it became clear that the invitation was not a request, but an order.
Whatever peace Nala had enjoyed in the gardens vanished. She plucked the rose from its stalk, noting just how similar their lives had been.
Plucked from her home, kept as a prize.
After a few moments of contemplation, Nala smoothed the wrinkles from her skirt and swept out of the gardens. It tore at her that the king had defiled the one sanctuary she had here in the palace. She would have to find another location.
Head down, Nala made her way back to the palace. She raced up the stairs to her room, heart thumping in her chest. Once she reached her apartment, she flung herself onto her bed, sinking into the plush blankets.
That evening, Nala awakened to Edna storming into her room, followed by two clothiers who were prepared to dress her.
Such a fuss for dinner.
Then, again, she was dining with the king of all of Cedonia.
The abnormally thin elven woman and her tall male companion, presented gown after gown for Nala to approve or disapprove. The gowns were all lovely. She had never worn the likes of them, and she had no notion which to pick. Several were fancy enough to suit a queen, which left a terrible sinking feeling in her stomach.
Finally, she gave up and turned to Edna. “You pick. I don’t know which to choose.”
“But, my lady—”
“I am not your lady,” Nala said, in a tone firmer than she’d intended.
To her surprise, Edna met her tone with a similar one. “You are.”
“Whatever,” she said, rubbing her temples.
Clearly, Edna had accepted her role in life a long time ago. Nala hadn’t meant to upset the poor girl. So, she dropped the matter.
“Fine,” she relented. “Your lady wishes for you to choose.”
Edna glanced up at her, a smile curving her lips. “Very well, my lady.”
Edna went through the dresses and settled on a royal blue gown unlike anything Nala had ever seen. The bodice had white lace, silver beadwork, and jewels that lined the bosom.
The silk fabric was unlike the smocks she wore beneath her strap dress and armor. Almost too soft.
She worried that if she ran in the dress, it would tear, especially given the gown’s train.
Edna bid her sit once she had tugged tight the gown’s strings and fastened hundreds of tiny buttons. Swiftly, Edna’s fingers expertly styled and pinned up Nala’s hair. She placed a beaded circle upon her head, and stepped back, pleased by her work.
“Stand, my lady.”
Standing before the mirror, Nala beheld herself in a new light. For once, she saw beauty—such beauty that she almost didn’t believe that she truly looked back at her own reflection.
Edna grinned, placing a cloak with border stitching over Nala’s shoulder and fastened it with a trilobite brooch. It seemed a bit much to cloak oneself for a short walk across the palace grounds, but the king kept an entire wing to himself that was separated from the rest of the towers.
Finally, the handmaiden halted and nodded. “Yes. You look presentable.”
“Just presentable?”
Edna’s eyes widened. “What I meant—”
“You are fine.” Nala inhaled and released the tension in her chest. “It is I who is not fine.”
“No?” Edna blinked. “Did I do something wrong?”
“It is not you. It’s me.” She once more sank onto the edge of her bed. “It is the king.”
“I have never heard of him inviting a lady to dine with him privately. You must be very special.”
“I’m not.”
Nala turned her head to gaze out the window. The sun was setting over the land, casting pinks and purples over the horizon.
She closed her eyes, the memory of the king’s kiss when they’d first met came to her. Her fingers went to her lips as she became lost in the memory.
As Edna laid out her slippers, she found herself secretly wishing to feel his lips upon hers again, and that terrified her most of all.
Chapter Sixteen
As swiftly as her bulky skirts would allow, Nala hurried down the hall to the stairs. At the fork where the left turn would take her to the gardens, she hesitated. Something lifted her hair, tugging at her scalp.
She gasped, spinning around to see whoever had touched her.
When she was met with nothing but the empty staircase, her heart began to thump in her place.
A wisp appeared, a ball of ghostly white light surrounded by a translucent green-bluish bubble.
Her eyes widened, lips parted as she watched it dance before her eyes.
She had seen a few wisps before in her youth, usually at night while hunting with her father near the swamp. Her father always had his back turned when the wisps appeared. He used to tease her, saying the wisps weren’t real.
At the first appearance, she hadn’t minded that he didn’t believe her. After the second and third similar occasions, she grew rather upset with her father. That was when he claimed the wisps wished to befriend her, but that he was too old. That was why he hadn’t seen any.
Such things had faded into her memory as nothing more than fairy tales, her imagination. But, now, as she watched it beckon her, an unsettled feeling filled her gut.
Fairies, wisps, mermaids. Perhaps they were real.
“Don’t you go and follow them through the swamp, though,” he had cautioned her. “They may like to play and tend to be benevolent, but not all are good. Some may lure you out to the deepest parts of the swamp to drown you.”
The wisp hovered in the air as if waiting for her. Did she dare? Her father never could quite explain what wisps were, but maybe there was another reason for her to see them.
The king and his dinner all but forgotten, Nala eyed the wisp as if daring it to speak.
It floated higher and lower in place before dashing away.
She followed, running from the palace and out the archway that led to the gardens. It was too beautiful to deny, its bright colors stark against the darkness.
As if the wisp sensed her thoughts, the bluish bubble surrounding the white light changed to an orange shade, captivating her. Even the white light altered its hue, now more of a bright yellow like the golden sun.
No. Of course the wisp hadn’t altered its coloring because of her. She was being ridiculous. Perhaps she should turn back.
Nala did glance over her shoulder. When she looked ahead again, the wisp was directly before her. A strange warmth radiated from the light, and she reached out to it.
The wisp darted out of reach and wiggled up and down as if to scold her. She giggled like she had as a little girl
, eager for whatever game the wisp played.
The light called out to her, and followed until she was far from the palace at the edge of the grounds, just before the stone wall that separated it from the forest. The ghost light led her all the way to the gardens, to the very spot where the king had approached her earlier.
Just then, the wisp changed its colors again third time, now wholly red. As if blinking, the wisp disappeared before her eyes.
She froze, the enchantment fading as she realized just how fast she’d gone. She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly cold, and feeling exposed.
Startled, Nala jerked back as the wisp returned, materializing out of the darkness, and morphing into that into a woman with translucent wings, blue eyes, and golden hair. She smiled, a gap-toothed smile that perplexed Nala, for the look in her eyes wasn’t a friendly one.
Before she could utter a word, the fairy darted into the sky.
The movement was so powerful that her cloak slipped off her shoulder. The snap of a drawn string and the whoosh of an arrow whistled through the air. She knew that sound.
Someone had shot at her.
Before Nala could react, the arrow went through her shoulder. She cried out as agonizing pain rushed through her.
Gasping, reaching toward the shoulder, Nala glanced up in the direction from whence the arrow originated. Someone slipped back into the shadows, having shot the arrow over the wall.
Where was her fairy wisp? Has she betrayed her?
The truth hit her all at once. She had been lead astray.
This had been a trap.
Her vision dimmed, bile rising from her stomach, burning her from the inside as it did so.
Nala staggered. It took everything in her to remain upright. The arrow was black-feather tipped, the likes of which she had never seen before. She had been grazed by an arrow once before.
That pain had been nothing like this. Her insides were set ablaze, and her mind clouded. She could hardly concentrate, could hardly think.
Sharp pain stabbed her in the belly. Her throat filled with heat, blood bubbling out of her mouth.
