Winter's Dream (The Hemlock Bay Series)

by Jaeger, Amber

  “Can I wash your hair?” she asked as I began to drift off.

  I shrugged sleepily and didn’t open my eyes as she poured pitchers of water over my head and worked the shampoo into lather. By the time she was done and I was climbing out of the tub, I was more relaxed and sleepy than I had been in weeks.

  “That was amazing,” I said as she pulled me over to one of the benches in front of a vanity and began pulling a comb through my hair.

  She chuckled. “I’m glad you liked it.”

  “Sorry about last night,” I said after a few minutes. I was surprised that I actually meant it.

  “It’s all right; most of the girls are pretty scared when they get here.”

  I bit my lip, trying to decide on my next question. “Have there been a lot of them?”

  “Oh yes, over time, a lot.”

  I nodded and she shot me a look in the mirror. I was supposed to be holding still while she did my hair. “Sorry. So how long do I have to—I mean, how long do they usually stay?”

  “It varies for each girl. I suppose long enough for the curse to realize that girl isn’t the right girl.”

  My eyebrows scrunched together over my eyes. “And how does it know that?”

  Emma gave a little laugh. “I have no idea.”

  This was not going how I wanted it to. “So tell me what you do know,” I asked. “I got a two sentence explanation before I had to come here.”

  “All right,” she said combing my hair into sections. “I’ll give you the long version.”

  “Good,” I said, settling back into the bench, eager to finally get a real explanation.

  Chapter Twelve

  “A very, very long time ago the master of this palace had a sick horse.”

  I gave a questioning look. “Really? All this is because of a sick horse?”

  The comb stilled in my hair again and she frowned at me in the mirror. “Just listen.” She waited for me to grunt my agreement. “It wasn’t any old horse, it was his favorite mare who had been breed with his favorite stallion and she was due to birth what he hoped was going to be a new, perfect breed. He loved horses, he made money trading and selling them, it was his hobby and passion.

  “So when his mare carrying his precious new breed began to falter he tried everything. New types of food, hay, water from different sources, a larger stall, a larger field, new stable master, everything. But the horse slowly stopped eating and stayed out in the pasture longer and longer until finally she wouldn’t come in at all or let anyone near her.

  “He searched high and low for an answer, for a solution and eventually heard about a human woman living in a nearby village that was especially good with horses. The rumors said she could break wild ones, heal broken and sick ones and calm the skittish with only a few words. So he sent for her. Back then it wasn’t so uncommon for jinn and humans to interact and the village the girl was from knew of him.

  “So he went to her village and found her and asked if she would be willing to come minister to his horse. She said no. He wasn’t stupid, he was expecting that. So he waited until they were all gathered for their Sunday morning worship service and locked them all inside. He called out what he wanted and sure enough within a few minutes she came out.”

  “Wait,” I interrupted. “Just like that? He locked them up and she agreed to go with some big, spooky jinn?”

  Emma met my eyes again. “No. He threatened to set the church on fire with every one inside. Including the children.”

  I shuddered. Was Jordan capable of something like that? Or David? “Okay, so obviously she agreed to his weirdo demand.”

  “She did. And she wasn’t what he was expecting. She was beautiful and brave and kind, even to him. Right away he wanted more from her than just to heal his horse but she politely brushed him off while still submitting to his threat. Very quickly he became enamored with her and wanted much more. In an attempt to soften her to him he promised to let her go as soon as his mare was healthy and birthed a healthy pony. The horse girl, Miriam, silently went to her house where she packed a few things and then left with him. One of the girls from her house couldn’t bear to see her leave with a monster like that and followed along. Miriam tried to discourage her but the girl followed anyway.

  “When they got to his palace—this palace—Miriam went to the horse right away but it ran from her again and again. She ordered several kinds of feed and bedding and told the jinn it would take several days before she would be able to coax the horse to her, let alone get it to eat. She also warned him the birth wasn’t far off and the mare would most likely die from it. He wasn’t dissuaded; he believed she could fix her.

  “So Miriam spent her days out in the field trying to approach the horse and spent her nights in the barn to be close in case the horse needed her. The jinn spent most of his time watching. She was lovely and kind, even to the lowest boy working in the barn and it only fueled his desire to have her at any cost. He even was a little relieved his mare did not improve, as it kept her there longer and longer and he had only promised to release her after she delivered the healthy pony from the healthy mare.

  “But because Miriam was so gentle and kind she was soon able to get the horse to let her approach. For many days that was all she could do but soon she earned the mare’s trust. She had been there for over a week before Miriam realized the reason the horse had stopped eating was because of a bad tooth and had been acting so strange because it had become so badly infected.

  “She had quite a lot of knowledge about herbs and healing and was able to pull the tooth and pack it with a poultice. The next day the horse came to Miriam in the field and let her pet her. The day after that she began eating and the day after that she was running in the field during the day and sleeping in her pen at night.

  “The jinn was very pleased his horse was well but feared losing Miriam so soon. Every night he invited her to eat with him in the palace and every night she refused. The lavish meals he sent out to the barn for her were always eaten but it wasn’t long until he learned she ate only the plainest bread and cheese and fruit and shared out the rest of the delicacies with the stable hands. He was furious but even more enamored. He sent fine clothes, jewelry, perfumes, all of them came back to the castle refused. Finally he went to her one night as she bathed and brushed his horse and asked why she refused him.

  “She wanted to lie as she was terrified of what the truth would cause but she couldn’t do it. She told him she was already in love with a human from her village and would be married to him within a month. Miriam was right that the jinn would be furious but he didn’t let it show and she was left with a false sense of relief.

  “Being the evil creature that he was, he crafted a plan to keep her forever. When the horse went into labor, it had been several weeks since Miriam had pulled the tooth and healed the infection. The horse had been eating, drinking, running and sleeping and was healthy enough to birth the pony. Word was sent to the jinn and he watched as Miriam attended to the birth.”

  Emma paused her story to examine my hair from all angles. I looked up, surprised at the intricate style. I had been so absorbed in the story I wasn’t even paying attention to what was going on around me. Not a good idea in a strange new jinn’s castle. She pulled me out into the bedroom and began pulling an outfit together for me.

  “So what happened next?” I asked as she began handing me clothes.

  “Well, the pony was born healthy and the mother survived as well. Miriam was elated not only for the animals but for herself and prepared to leave straight away. When she turned her back, the jinn slit the mare’s throat.”

  “What?” I cried, sliding the dress down over my head so I could see Emma. “You’re joking, right?”

  She shook her head sadly. “No, I tell you the truth. Miriam was devastated and furious and gath
ered her things to leave anyway. The jinn tried to stop her; he reminded her she could leave when he had a healthy pony and mare. All he had was a healthy pony and a dead mare. Miriam argued against him, that it had been by his own hand but he was unyielding. He threatened to lock her in the castle if she didn’t agree so she gave a false promise and requested to stay in the barn to care for the newly orphaned pony. When it got dark, she ran away.”

  I waited for more but Emma was silent as she fiddled with the back of my dress. “That’s it?” I cried.

  She pushed me back around and finished the last of the buttons. “Not quite, there’s a little more to it,” she said, but her voice was quavering and I heard a sniffle. I whirled back around and saw tears on her face.

  “What is it? What’s the rest of it?”

  Emma shook her head and I folded her into my arms. It was a sad story, but why was she crying? I thought back through the story, going over everything she told me. Finally something clicked. “Emma, how do you know all this?”

  She shook her head and pushed away from me.

  “How did you know?” I insisted.

  She still wouldn’t look at me or answer so I made my guess. “Were you the girl? The girl that followed Miriam here?”

  After a long moment she finally nodded. “None of you girls has ever figured that out before,” she said with a weak smile.

  Revulsion and disbelief hit me at the same time. “She just left you here? Wait, how old are you?”

  “I’m not sure,” she whispered. “Over six hundred years? I lost count.”

  “But why?” I asked. “Couldn’t you just leave too?”

  She shook her head. “He was furious. I can’t tell you how angry he was. The whole place shook when he realized she was gone. I didn’t even know she had left. I was going to the barn to check on her as he was coming out. Right out there in the courtyard he cast his curse and at the last minute he saw me and added me into it.”

  “How do you mean?” I asked, not really sure I wanted the answer.

  “He cast his curse, that he would take one girl from her bloodline from each generation until he found her again and this time he would bind her as his. And he would use me to retrieve each one of them.”

  A gong sounded deep within the castle and we both jumped into the air. “Holy crap,” I gasped.

  Emma kicked a pair of shoes at me and ran for the door. “That’s the morning bell, you’re late!” she cried.

  I slid the shoes on and let her rush me out the door. She raced down the hall and I struggled to keep up in the new outfit.

  Around the corner and down the stairs I followed her and then almost slammed into her when she stopped outside a large arched doorway.

  “What is going on?” I hissed.

  “Breakfast,” she said.”And there’s one more thing about the curse, it’s maybe the worst part—”

  “Good morning,” a cool voice said behind me. Emma froze, bobbed a curtsey and took off down the hall. She threw one apologetic look over her shoulder before she turned a corner and was out of sight.

  I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and turned around.

  Luka lounged against the wall behind me. I craned my neck to look up into his face and found it as numbingly blank as the night before. He casually regarded me, as if almost bored and I noted the gold flecks in his blue eyes as he looked me up and down.

  “Creep much?” I asked, backing away from his disinterested stare.

  “I apologize,” he said blandly, straightening up from the wall. It was hard to believe he was over six hundred years old, at least. He looked only a few years older than me. I wondered how old Jordan was.

  The smell of bacon and toast wafted in from the open doorway behind me and Luka sauntered around me to enter in. I slowly followed him, trying to reconcile evil, horse murdering jinn with young, blue-eyed jinn. After everything I had seen from Jordan it wasn’t that hard.

  He was seated at the head of a long table when I was finally able to force myself into the room. The only other spot with a plate was directly to his right.

  I sat down and eyed all the silverware and glasses warily.

  “Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t understand the dinnerware,” he said suddenly. “Most of you girls don’t.”

  If that was supposed to put me at ease, he obviously failed.

  I said nothing and placed the linen napkin in my lap, confident I could at least do that right.

  He snapped open a newspaper in front of him and I was more than a little surprised to see it was USA Today. I didn’t realize they delivered so far out, I thought to myself and had to stifle a maniacal giggle.

  The jinn edged his newspaper down and peered at me other the top of it. “Are you quite all right?” he asked.

  “Oh fine, all things considered.” My thoughts wandered. Considering you’re a kidnapper, horse murderer, crazy, jealous and a total asshole. I couldn’t stop thinking about everything Emma had told me and my anger began to build.

  A man in a black suit came from a swinging door on one of the walls and brought out poached eggs and toast. Luka served himself and then me while another server came with the bacon and the fruit. A third server poured what looked suspiciously like wine and when Luka raised his glass to me I refused to pick mine up. He ignored my slight. “To your future,” he intoned. “May it be complete.”

  With that my anger boiled over. I was a prisoner—again—to another jinn and once again I had no idea what would happen to me. His blasé attitude was infuriating and hurtful.

  He had already cut into his breakfast before I could form a reply. “Well, I’m sure it will be more complete than Emma’s,” I finally spat out.

  He looked up sharply but said nothing.

  Fear kept me still and I sat in front of my full plate while he methodically cut and stuffed food into his mouth. My silence seemed not to bother him in the least and my anger expanded in my chest that he could carry on with a normal breakfast while Emma had been a slave for six hundred years and I was one of what had to be thousands of my family members to be a temporary slave.

  I watched him shove the last bit of egg into his mouth and wipe a yellow smear onto his linen napkin. He drained his glass then stood up from the table. “I hope you have a good day. Anything in my home is yours.”

  I watched him walk away and then every hot emotion in me boiled over and I jumped to my feet. He was already halfway down the hall by the time I rounded the corner. In a little niche in the wall was a perfectly shaped stone carving. It was melon sized and rounded, a simple carving of a warrior rounded over in submission. I fit my fingers through the arms and legs of it and pulled my arm back, snapped it forward and let go.

  The sculpture shattered against the wall next to Luka’s head.

  “Damnit,” I muttered. Did jinn have some kind of force field around them?

  My head snapped back as I was slammed towards the ground. I braced for the impact but it didn’t come. My eyelids creaked open and I saw Luka’s furious face bent over mine, his arms encircled around my back keeping me a millimeter from the floor.

  “You would attack me in my own house?” he asked, anger livening his flat affect.

  “You would imprison me in your house,” I shot back. “Me among many others. A chunk of stone thrown at that back of your head is the least you can expect from me.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he hissed.

  “I know you kidnap women from my family. I know you’ve kept Emma here as a prisoner for hundreds of years. She told me the whole thing.” I struggled for breath as he increased the pressure on my ribs. He held me up only inches from the floor but it felt like a chasm.

  He was studying my face and I hadn’t even noticed it.

  “You clear
ly didn’t hear the entire story,” he snarled.

  “I heard all the important parts.”

  “No, you didn’t. If you had you would know it wasn’t me that set all this in place, it was my uncle. My cruel and evil uncle. Upon his death that hateful man passed his curse to me, determined one of his blood would finally have the woman, or the closest descendent of the woman that had refused him.” He closed off his face from all emotion and was once again the blank faced man I had first met. “I didn’t do this.”

  And then he dropped me to the floor. It was only a few inches but my elbow rapped so sharply on the stone, tears sprang to my eyes. I sat up holding my elbow just in time to see him turning a far off corner.

  He wasn’t the one who set the curse in place? Was it possible he was just as much a victim as the rest of us?

  Chapter Thirteen

  I couldn’t find Emma or my way back to my room. My elbow throbbed with hot bursts of pain and my hand was numb. Hallways seemed to stretch out endlessly around me. The castle had looked like one giant square from the outside but on the inside it was several circuitous squares. Every time I turned a corner I thought I would make it back to the main room but just found either another grand sitting area or another junction of cool, pale hallways. Finally I stumbled upon a hallway that ended in a huge arch and thought for sure I was somewhere I recognized.

  I was not. Crossing under the doorway I found myself in a library. My breath stopped in my chest as I took it all in. Its walls reached up two stories and were lined with beveled glass windows and warm mahogany bookshelves. A stone fireplace claimed half of one wall alone and the hearth was so large a bed could have fit in it.