by Marisa Mills
“We’ve had a bit of an unexpected adventure,” he said. “But obviously we can’t return to Reverie looking like this. I trust you have suitable clothing? My father, the king, will make sure to reimburse any additional expenses.”
“Of course, prince Alexander. It’s been a while since you’ve graced us with your presence. Forgive me for not recognizing you immediately.” He backed away with a low bow, then began shouting orders to his staff. Suddenly, we became the most important people in the world. I was taken to a private chamber, where I bathed in a large oval tub of hot, rose-scented water. At first, it was strange being surrounded by this much water, but I quickly melted into the warmth. After a few minutes, I never wanted to leave.
Women in pink uniforms arrived and washed me, gently coaxing away every bit of dirt and blood with soft sponges. They frowned at the black stitches in my arm, and the purple bruises where Gabriel had grabbed me, but thankfully didn’t comment. They washed my dark hair with shampoo, then combed and dried it with a calming efficiency. I wondered if this was really how a princess was treated every morning. When he wasn’t at the Academy, was this what it was like for Alexander and his brothers? This was bliss.
Completely undeserved bliss. I drew in a sharp breath, nearly choking on the sweet scent of rose petals and exotic oils. I couldn’t allow myself to get too comfortable. After the bath, I was given a pale blue gown made of chiffon, accompanied by an apology that there hadn’t been time to make a gown to my exact measurements. If I’d made prior reservations, the proprietor promised, they’d have had a seamstress available just for me.
“And the clothes I was wearing?” I asked, hoping to return them to Claribel. The proprietor wrinkled his nose. “Don’t worry, we’ve taken them to be burned. A fine lady such as yourself has no need of such garments.” I frowned, but didn’t argue. He was right, but it seemed wasteful to destroy a good pair of pants, especially when people in the Scraps already had so little.
After I was left alone, I drifted through the salon. I wanted to see how I looked, but I was held back by a sharp and sudden fear that I might not recognize myself. I found a mirror and studied the stranger in the reflection. My time in Reverie had filled out my bone-thin face and added luster to my brown hair, but it had been a gradual change. With the bath, and this sequined blue dress with puffy sleeves, I felt like I’d become a different person in the same day.
I prefer you in leather, Lucian murmured. But the blue suits you.
“That’s kind of you,” I said, but I wasn’t sure I believed it.
I wandered down the marble corridors until I found a table filled with fruits, nuts and cured meat. I took an orange and picked it apart, suddenly ravenous. When I returned to Reverie, I could at least continue dropping food to Briar and Sterling. That was something at least. But how long could I keep up the charade that I belonged there, as a mage? Sooner or later, they’d discover the truth and cast me out of their hallowed grounds, but this time, returning to the Scraps and resuming my previous existence seemed impossible.
“Lucian,” I said, my voice shaking. “What if Dorian really was lying about giving me an apartment here?”
Then, we’ll set him on fire.
I smiled despite myself. Setting people on fire was Lucian’s favorite hobby, and a running joke between us. “We can’t set him on fire,” I said. “Besides, he isn’t Gabriel. He’d probably anticipate that and counter it somehow.”
Then, we’ll burn down his estate, Lucian argued. I don’t know why you seem so opposed to the idea.
I shook my head and took apart the orange, slice by slice, savoring the sweetness of the fruit and taking care not to let the juice fall upon my new dress. I wanted more than anything to bring Briar and Sterling here, to a life of comfort and ease, but I had a hard time picturing them getting dressed up in fancy clothes and bathing in rose water. And what about Claribel, would there be room for her as well?
Alexander approached, as handsome as ever. His golden hair gleamed once more, and he’d changed into a pale blue shirt and dark trousers. With a nervous laugh, I realized that we matched.
“You look stunning,” Alexander said, halting before me.
I said it first, Lucian grumbled.
“Lucian thinks so, too,” I replied.
“Ah,” Alexander said. “He doesn’t like me much, does he?”
“No,” I replied, “but Lucian once told me he hates everyone in Reverie. It’s just different levels of hate.”
“I see. Well, I hope he’ll tolerate me, at least.”
I don’t have much choice in the matter, Lucian muttered.
“Did you enjoy yourself?” Alexander asked, holding the door of the salon open for me. I ducked under his arm, into the cool air outside.
“I did,” I replied. “And really, this is too much. You didn’t have to do all this for me.”
“You saved my life,” Alexander replied. “Surely, you aren’t saying my life isn’t worth a day in a salon?”
He leaned closer, pinning me with his eyes, and I could feel the heat between our bodies. My heart hammered in my chest. “Lucian saved your life,” I said.
“Only because you saved his,” Alexander replied. “It’s been…an exciting couple of days, hasn’t it? But we should return to Reverie, before my father gets to the Academy and threatens to behead everyone.”
It was clearly meant to be a joke, but I still winced. I wondered what kind of justice the mages employed, and what the king would do to someone like me if he found out what I really was.
“Is the palace close to the Academy?” I asked, realizing that I’d never really cared to look.
“A day or so away,” Alexander replied. “The royal family lives on a strand of islands outside of the mainland of Reverie. I’m sure you’ve seen them on maps.”
I nodded. “I’m…” I trailed off. “I’m sorry for dragging you through the forests like I did.”
“It’s all right,” Alexander said, smiling. “I will say that it was fairly awful, but I’m glad I was there with you.”
He glanced over his shoulder to make sure we were alone, then leaned in, so close his lips brushed my ear.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” he whispered.
Had I?
“You didn’t see the vision, did you?” I asked.
Alexander shook his head. “No,” he replied. “You just…stopped and stood in the clearing. When Sterling and I tried talking to you, you ignored us, and we—well, I—assumed it was an imprint of some sort.”
“An imprint?”
Alexander nodded. “There’s this…branch of theoretical magic that believes every living being leaves a trace, and if that being is powerful enough, sometimes, it leaves an imprint. So if a particular event is charged with enough energy, another mage might be able to return to that spot and experience a sort of pseudo-memory of what happened.”
“Oh. I guess that makes sense,” I replied. “I saw Guinevere and Nick.”
Careful, Lucian said. Don’t tell him too much. He may be comfortable with one freed demon, but that doesn’t mean he’s on our side. Maybe we ought to keep the rest of this to ourselves.
But I’d already said I saw Guinevere and Nick meeting there. I had to say something else.
Fine, but don’t tell him the truth! I realize you think this princeling is charming, although I can’t imagine why, but you’re a fool to trust him so easily. Don’t show your hand, Wynter.
“I do think they were having some sort of affair,” I said. “They were hiding from Amelia, Countess Rosewood. She didn’t approve of her daughter courting someone from the lower realms.”
Alexander nodded, looking satisfied with the answer. “So you have your scandal,” he said dryly. “I still think—if you wanted a scandal—you should’ve looked closer to home. Starting with Amelia’s death.”
Dorian’s mother had only died a few months before. Officially, she’d fallen down
a flight of stairs and broken her neck, but there were rumors Dorian killed her to take over the Rosewood estate. Surely, if Dorian had wanted to kill his mother, he’d have done something less dramatic, wouldn’t he?
I don’t think subtlety is really your nobleman’s strong suit, Lucian said.
That was true, too. Thinking about Dorian made me think about Viviane. The last time I’d seen her, she was unconscious. Had she recovered from being controlled? Did she remember who had controlled her to begin with? I was anxious about returning to Reverie with so many unanswered questions, and a freed demon.
I glanced up at Alexander through my eyelashes. Would he turn us in? What if they took Lucian away, and banished him into a gemstone?
“Alexander,” I said slowly, “We have to get our story straight. How did we survive a fall from Reverie? We can’t tell them about Lucian.”
“We fell,” Alexander replied, “And you…rescued us. With sigils.”
“And if someone asks me to replicate those?” I asked.
Alexander crossed his arms and leaned against a pillar. Suddenly, he pulled away and offered his arm. “Let’s think about it while we walk. We have some time before the next tram. Why waste it standing still?”
I linked my arm with his. “Where are we going?”
“Wherever you like,” Alexander said. “What is your favorite place?”
“My…” I trailed off.
Was this a trap, or was Alexander legitimately trying to be nice? I couldn’t tell, and worse, I had no idea where anything in Argent was.
“I would prefer to see what places you find interesting,” I said. “I’m sure you’ve experienced much more of Argent than I have. At least the finer parts.”
“That’s likely true,” Alexander said, as we began walking. “I don’t imagine you had much opportunity to wander around. You were probably always at the market stalls selling your embroidery, right?”
“Right,” I said, frowning.
That sounded right. I thought that was—maybe—how being a merchant worked.
“But what about your family?” Alexander asked. “You must be dying to see them. You’ve been away for months now.”
My family. Hadn’t I mentioned something about my family? My head whirled as I tried to remember. I worked for a merchant, and my parents…
“I don’t have a family,” I said softly. “My father died, and my mother abandoned me.”
Maybe the truth would be enough. Just a little of it.
“I’m so sorry,” Alexander replied. “I’m sure that must be very hard to grow up like that.”
I nodded. “Sometimes,” I said.
We drifted through a magnificent garden, paved with marble and lined with more of those pink, flowering trees. I felt like I’d have been happy to spend the rest of my life in a place like this. If Dorian did come through, it could actually happen.
But if he didn’t…
If he didn’t, what? It wasn’t as if I could make him keep his promises. I was playing with fire. Eventually, I’d be found out, or Dorian would get what he wanted and I’d be cast back into the Scraps; to spend the rest of my life digging through mage trash. That didn’t actually sound that bad, if only Gabriel was out of the picture. I knew now, I could never go back, not while he was alive. I was even more valuable to him now. I knew magic, real magic. And I’d kept it from him. He knew I’d never submit myself to him again, and that made me dangerous. He’d rather see me dead than lose something so precious to someone else. Eventually, there would be a reckoning that one of us wouldn’t walk away from.
“But you must have friends,” Alexander said, snapping me out of my thoughts, “or even the merchant you used to work for. If you want to point him out, I might be able to help him. I can recommend a few clients, you know. My father could probably buy out his entire stock.”
Wynter, you have to lie, Lucian murmured. You can’t just say nothing, or he’ll think the worst.
Maybe he already thought the worst and was just toying with me. I looked at Alexander again, marveling at just how much his hair looked like spun gold. Briar had blond hair, too, but it was a muted blond. Muted like everything else in the Scraps. But Alexander…
He really did look like a fairy tale prince. Noble, kind and honest. I wanted to believe I could trust him. I wanted to tell him everything and have no secrets between us. But I knew better than to trust appearances, I’d seen how cruel he could be. Not that it mattered; he already had more than enough information to ruin me. I just had to get him to keep quiet about Lucian, without giving away too much. Hopefully he’d realize, putting me and Lucian away wouldn’t stop whoever was really behind the demon attacks, and we were better suited as allies, after all we’d been through. Plus I didn’t think he’d want to admit he’d been saved by a girl and a demon.
“The merchant I worked for didn’t like me very much,” I said. “No one really likes me that much. I’m sure you’ve seen that from my time in Reverie.”
Alexander frowned. “But people in Reverie didn’t like you because you’re from the Lower Realms,” he said slowly. “There’s no reason for them not to like you here. You’re pretty, intelligent, brave…”
Deflect! Lucian hissed.
“They’re certainly not going to like me now,” I said quickly. “Not if they suspect what happened with Lucian. Surely, there’s some sort of sigil or spell that can stop a fall, isn’t there?”
Alexander grew quiet, and studied me like a puzzle he couldn’t solve. I wondered if I’d been too obvious in steering the conversation away from my past.
“Well,” he said eventually, “there are anti-gravity sigils, but I’ve never heard of them being used on large objects.”
“What about slowing our fall?” I asked.
Alexander pursed his lips together. “I’m not sure,” he said slowly. “The problem, Wynter, is that anything—any sigil, any enchantment—that might have saved us is far beyond our skills. I don’t know what to do with that. No one has ever survived falling from Reverie.”
“But maybe,” I said, “we managed to slow our fall when we fell into the forest. Falling into the trees wouldn’t be as far.”
“Still far enough to kill us,” Alexander argued. “But…maybe…maybe we managed a bit of wind magic. Enough to slow our fall. Or maybe you used the fire, and it did something to the air.”
“We could have tied our clothes together, then filled them with hot air like a balloon. That would work, wouldn’t it?”
Alexander turned and smirked at me.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m just savoring the image. Two naked mages, clinging together as they fell through the sky.”
My ears burned and my cheeks flushed.
“All right,” I said. “Wind magic could work as an explanation—as long as no one asked for a demonstration.”
“They would,” Alexander said. “There might even be an inquiry. Or, we can claim that we were both knocked unconscious, either by the fall or by our use of magic, and that we’ve no idea what really happened.”
“Does that make us more or less likely to be questioned?”
“You tell me,” Alexander said casually. “You’re the one who’s so good at lying.”
***
I flinched as Alexander maneuvered me into a dark alley. When I untangled my arm from his grip, he swept his arm out before me, as if he thought I might run. I realized I was pinned against a column. I shivered as his jacket brushed against the fabric of my dress. I forced myself not to wilt away from his intense, blue eyes.
“You don’t have a favorite place. You don’t want to see your family, friends, or the merchant you worked for. Nobody has approached you or even seems to recognize you. And yet you seemed so close to Briar and Sterling. When Sterling first said that bit about the market, I believed him at first, but then, I began thinking. Why would people like that know a woman who specializes in embroidery? I mean,
they probably wear the same clothes all year round. You aren’t from Argent, are you? You’re from Plumba. And Briar isn’t Sterling’s brother, is he? He’s your brother.”
His lip curled in disgust, but there was also a look of triumph, as if he’d passed some test. For the first time, he could see me, the real me. Behind the pretty clothes and make-up and glowing skin. He finally knew the truth: that I was just a street rat from the Scraps. I dropped my gaze, as if I could somehow disappear and make Alexander look away from me.
“Why would you lie about something like that?” Alexander asked. “What else have you lied about?”
My lips parted but no sound came out. It was over. The lie was too big, and the truth would destroy me. It had destroyed me already.
Wynter, you can work around this, Lucian said. All you have to do is tell him that the nobleman made you lie. Let him explain this all to your princeling.
But I couldn’t do that.
Why not? Lucian asked. He’s expected to associate with a certain type of person. It makes sense that he would want you to lie about coming from the Scraps!
I was so tired of lying, so tired of all this deception. And Alexander still didn’t know I was a fraud, I realized, which almost made this worse. It didn’t matter to him if I actually had magic, if I did belong at the Academy. He still didn’t know I was a thief, or that I’d grown up picking through mage trash. He didn’t know anything about me, but he still hated me. I was embarrassed that the way he was looking at me hurt so much. Meanwhile, I felt like I finally knew everything about him. He was exactly the spoiled prince who’d cornered me in the hallway at the welcome ball to make Viviane jealous.
“Do my reasons matter?” I asked, my voice shaking. “If everything else about me was real, does it matter that I lied about where I’m from?”
“Yes!” Alexander hissed. His grip tightened on my arm, but I tore it away from him and shoved him backward. He stumbled against the brick wall. His cheeks flushed in anger, and for a moment I thought he was going to hit me. It’s what Gabriel would have done. I put my hand on the hilt of my sword.
