by A Lonergan
She stared at her plate and nodded her head. Her dark hair was pulled back, away from her face. Her sharp cheek bones were on full display, and her cleavage was begging for attention.
“You do look beautiful, though. I know you hate the skirts and now that you’re a free woman, I’m sure it’s even harder, but you still look radiant.”
Willow’s expression changed. It softened. “Thank you.” she whispered. She took a bite of her festerfaust, and closed her eyes. “Madame Colver outdid herself.”
I pushed my plate away from me, no longer hungry. There were important things on my mind and I could no longer ignore them. She sighed. “Finally, we are getting to the real reason you asked me to dinner.”
“What I’m about to talk about isn’t the only reason I invited you to dinner.” I said.
“Oh?” She cocked her head and watched me like the predator she was.
“Did you like the flowers I sent you?” I licked my lips.
She smiled, all teeth. “Hellabores are extremely rare. I’m surprised you got your hands on some. Do you know the significance behind the flowers or did you get them for another reason?”
“I have never seen them before. A florist enticed me with them. He said they would call to your darkness and their darkness would call to you.” Now that I thought about it, it did seem rather strange.
“Hellabores are my choice of poison. I’ve used them several times to kill. I find it interesting that a merchant would know what would call to me and know my magic. What did this merchant look like?”
I leaned forward as I thought back to the encounter. “Why would someone encourage me to give you a poisonous flower? He was bald, and his blue eyes seemed clouded. It’s what we would call cursed in the outside villages.”
Willow made a face like she was struggling before she yanked on the front of her dress. “Or it’s contained. I remember several merchants that looked like that,” she waved a hand in front of her face. “Their eyes seem to have a film over them. It means they have a lower caliber magic, that the Emperor won’t waste too much time on. So, there’s a chance it could be a curse, but I’m almost certain he came from Arinal, or he’s from here and working for the Emperor.”
“Are you worried about him? The Emperor?” If she feared him, I would do what I could to take him out. I would wage a war against the tyrant if I needed to, and I knew I wasn’t thinking logically, but that’s what the woman did to me.
She shook her head. “No, there is nothing to worry with. He’s trying to scare me, if it is him, but I’m not going to lead him on. We have more pressing issues to tend to.”
I took a sip out of my cup. “Yes, you’re right. Armia is pregnant.” There was no use in being evasive about it.”
She frowned and pushed her almost empty plate away from her. “What? Have you had this confirmed by a healer?”
I shook my head. “No, that would be too risky. But i know that it’s true. I could feel it. If her husband knows that she is indeed with child, that’s why he’s coming and he will tear this entire kingdom apart. It’ll be another war of darkness.”
“Have you been studying the elves?” She leaned back in her chair and pulled at the front of her dress, again. I had half the mind to tell her to take the damned corset off, but we had to focus and if that happened, there would be absolutely no focusing happening then. At least not on what we needed.
I swirled the liquid in my glass as I tried to get my thoughts back on the important topic at hand. “Yes, and no. I haven’t had the time yet. I know they have Bone Fairies on their side, and that’s what has me perplexed. If we go to war, our odds aren’t in our favor.”
Willow shook her head. “You have a military, don’t you?”
“Yes,”
“Then we will train them to know what to do. We will show them what you showed me. We will train day and night and give them all the knowledge we can muster. Elves have a raw power. A power that isn’t like any other magical creature. Their magic comes from the ground, what’s deep within it.”
I nodded my head. “We have a few scholars that have studied the elves and their battle tactics in case this happened.”
Willow pulled a pin from her hair and the dark locks cascaded around her shoulders. “Will we be marching into the Mystic Mountains?”
“You should probably-”
I didn’t get to finish. She held her hand up. “If you tell me I’m going to wait here, I won’t be here when you get back. I have power,” as she said it, the darkness wrapped around her hands. “I won’t sit back here like some defenseless princess!”
I smirked and held my hands up in defense. “If you had let me finish, you would have known that those weren’t my intentions. I was stating that you should probably come with. You’re right, and your power is unmatched. If we stand any chance against the Elven Kingdom, it starts with you. I was going to suggest that you should start packing soon.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, like she didn’t believe me. "Okay, well, I was going to go whether or not you permitted it."
I leaned my chair back. "I'm not surprised."
"Good," She pushed away from the table and gave me a scowl. "I'm glad we have gotten all of this out of the way and we know each other's intentions. I have to get this rutting corset off before I die. We will speak tomorrow."
And just like that, she was gone. I sat there for several minutes processing the short dinner and the even shorter conversation. I couldn't say I blamed her for how she was treating me, in fact, I had pushed her to this point. I had refused to be romantic with her, and in turn, she had turned cold with me. Where she had once been willing and pliable in my hands, she was now reserved and rigid.
Nico moved from the shadows like a wrath. "We need to figure out the Hellabore flowers, and where that man came from."
"Do you think we should go that direction with a possible army marching upon us as we speak?" I scratched my head. I didn't know the right way to go about this. The florist with the black flowers had probably been sent from Emperor Hildiguard, and it was meant to scare us into action. But little did he know that we already had action coming from the opposite side.
"I will task a few of the elites to go out into the marketplace tomorrow and ask around, see if anyone recognizes him. All you will need to focus on is the Elven Kingdom, and your sister."
"Don't forget Willow." I rubbed my eyes. Exhaustion pulled at me, and I didn't know how I was going to make it to my chambers now. I had too much wine, and now my body felt sluggish and weak. I wasn't a heavy drinker and I was paying the price tonight.
"I could never forget her, don't worry." Nico grabbed my arm and slung it over his shoulder. "Somehow I'll help you get her back, but you have to work with me, you stubborn troll."
"I will have you know, I am nothing like a troll." I tried to lift my head but it decided to roll instead.
"Your breath resembles a troll's. Your personality does too, sometimes." Nico helped me out of the dining room as my feet tried to fail me. "You kept up a good show for her, how long had you been drinking before I brought her in?"
"A little while. I had a lot to think on." From my ears, I thought I noticed a little bit of slurring, based on Nico's laughing, it was a lot of slurring to his ears. I couldn't win tonight.
Chapter Forty
Willow
My mother waited for me on my bed. She was wearing a white nightdress, and a long flowing robe that was a deep red. She wore little slippers on her feet, and her hair was in a bonnet. She possibly had rollers in her perfect hair. I didn't know why she insisted on using them when we had magic at our disposal with some of the serving class. She liked life without magic. Well, sometimes.
"You'll be pleased to know that the talk would have done no good." I pulled on the laces on the dress. She got off of my bed to help me, before I tore the whole thing apart. She knew I would. I hated dresses, no matter how great they made me look. "We are going into the Mystic Mountains, and somehow I
managed to keep this rutting corset on. You're welcome."
All my mother did was laugh. She helped pull the dress over my head, then worked quickly to remove the torture clothing she had forced me into. "It's not so bad once you get used to it."
"Except I won't be needing it for, hopefully, a long time." The corset fell from my body and I took a deep breath before I jumped out of the material.
"Because you'll be in the mountains, yes, I know." She rolled her eyes as she picked the corset from the floor and straightened it out. She put away my discarded clothing, and I frowned.
"You aren't supposed to do that. I could have gotten to it in the morning." I yawned, and threw myself onto the bed.
"I wasn't allowed to lift a finger for you, your entire life. It's the least I can do now, and while you're in the mountains, I will be here twittling my thumbs, with nothing to do." Mother said dramatically.
"Oh, aren't you animated!" I laughed. "I'm sure you'll find someone to occupy your time with, huh?"
She grew serious rather quickly. "I had my fairytale. Your father was it for me. I don't want love again. I am content with being alone."
"If you're happy, that's all that matters." I pulled the blankets up to my chin and watched my mother pace around the room. She pulled at her robe, then her bonnet before she turned back to me and crossed her arms. "Is there something wrong?"
"No, there is something I have been wanting to give you for a long time, but I haven't known the right moment, and it seems like I'm never going to find it."
I straightened up in bed. "Well, I don't typically like surprises, but gifts are nice."
She raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Maybe in the morning. Nico stopped by before you made it back to remind me that you have training in the morning, and sleeping in isn't permitted."
"Leave it to the redhead to be a killjoy. Goodnight!" I pulled the blankets over my head this time, and ignored my mother's anxious movements until I fell into a deep sleep.
Surprisingly, I woke up to Nico's screaming. I jerked up from the bed, and about hit the ceiling with the shock of it all. I covered my chest with my arms, and blinked a few times to clear the sleep there. "GET UP. I thought I told your mother sleeping in wasn't permitted! COME ON, hustle! Rise out of that bed and give me some push ups."
I gave him a bored stare. "I will kill you where you stand. You would be wise to take twelve steps backwards, and close the door behind you."
My inky magic swept from my bed and coated the floors. The wood had disappeared under it, and if my voice wasn't enough to convince him, that surly was. He closed the door with a soft click, and I laid back onto the pillows. I was already awake now, and my magic was ready to play. There would be no more rest today. I groaned before I rolled out of my comfort and onto the cold floors. I dressed quickly. A tight bandeau went over my chest to keep everything in place. I dug around the bottom of my chest at the end of the bed, and hoped my mother hadn't gone through it. It had what little of my personal belongings I had in it. At the very bottom was a pair of worn britches, and a short tunic that I had cut the previous year when the hem kept getting in the way of my training. The hem now fell right above my navel and showed off my disappointing core. It had once been marvelous when I had gotten up before Nico did and trained till my arms were numb, and my body felt alive. I tied my long hair up into a tight bun, and laced up my boots.
There was a knock at the door before it swung open. Cal and Nico both stood there with amused expressions. Though, Cal didn't look as smug as Nico did. There were circles under his eyes, and his face was pale.
"You sure you should be up this early? You look like you could use the rest." I stretched my arms over my head and then bent over to stretch my back. I didn't want to go into the armory and battle yard without being prepared. I wouldn't go out there looking silly in front of men and women I didn't know.
Except when we made it to the battle yard, there were no women. I was the only one. Back in Arinal, there had been plenty of women in the army. They didn't exactly look like the women most people were used to, but they were women. They were just battle hardened women. From what I could tell, I was alone in my sex.
"Where are the other women?" I asked, self conscious.
Cal rubbed his face. "What do you mean?"
"Don't you have women in your army?" The room was packed and I was anxious to see how this would play out with this many men expected to learn a thing or two about elves.
"No, we don't have women in our army."
I got closer to Cal, right in his face. "And why not? Is there something wrong with women?"
He smirked down at me. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with women wanting to be in the army, but in Rosalia, women don't want to be apart of the army."
"Oh," I didn't know how to respond to that. "Well, maybe that will change when they see me with your men. Maybe they will want to enlist."
"Maybe, except they won't be seeing you."
I was almost certain he was trying to make me angry. "What's wrong with me being seen?"
"You really woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, didn't you?" Nico asked from behind us. I ignored him. There was no use in giving him the attention he wanted. He clearly didn't like being left out of the banter.
I held my hand up to him.
"You are going to be my queen someday, if you'll have me. At least, I thought that was pretty obvious. I can't have you on the front lines. I know you're powerful but you aren't a campaigning slogan. I need you behind the scenes more."
Queen.
The word made me twitch. It hadn't bothered me before, but now? It did, more than anything else. More than Nico's grating voice before the crack of dawn. Rut. I didn't know why it was bothering me so much either. I needed to get my head ons straight. I was falling for Cal, wasn't I?
Nico grabbed my arm and hauled me away from the crowd drawing near to Cal. "What's going on? You have been on edge more than usual."
"I could name a few things that are wrong. Like the fact that you came into my bedroom screaming like a rutting idiot this morning, or the fact that I am going to possibly be Queen someday, no pressure. Or the fact that I am the only rutting woman marching into battle with all of you festerfausts!" I threw my hands up.
"You don't want to be Queen?" Nico whispered. Worry lined his face as he watched me carefully. He was waiting for me to crack like everyone else.
"I don't know what I want. I want to be a free woman. That's what I want. I want you all to just leave me be and let me do things the way I want to, for once. Why is this so hard?"
Nico's brows drew together, before he touched my arm tenderly, right above my swirling tattoos. "You will figure it out, and maybe all of this will be good for the both of you. Nothing says relationship saving like a grand adventure."
Forever the optimist.
"Thanks, Nico. Maybe it will help. How many men are we planning on bringing with us?" I asked. I watched the crowd around Cal. He interacted with his men like he would anyone else. He smacked some on the shoulders and ruffled hair on others. They all trusted him and adored him. Anyone would be able to see it in their eyes.
"As many as we can. It will be expensive, but if we meet up with the other army, we are going to have to be prepared. We are going to have to win or our kingdom will lose. This isn't just a scouting mission." Nico pressed his lips together in a grim line.
"There should be a scouting mission! If we don't scout, then we could all die! We have to be prepared." I wasn't okay with this response.
"You don't understand. You have never gone into the Mystic Mountains. We could be gone for months before we even get to somewhere where we can hunt or drink water. It could be a year before we even get to the Eleven Kingdom's army. Yes, this will possibly end in war, but to send for backup could take even longer. You don't understand." Nico grabbed my hand in his, and squeezed it.
I looked at the dirt floor. "This doesn't seem to be the best answer. It just doesn't s
it well with me."
"Look, think of it this way. If we were to only go scouting, and send someone back to bring the army or the rest of the army. There's a chance that that person may never make it back to get the rest of the men. There's a chance that the men traveling without us, may die before they make it. It's better to travel together in big numbers. We will have a higher survival rate."
I bit my lip and pulled my hand out of Nico's. His hands were rough and callused in all the same places as mine, and even though it was meant to be comforting, I felt strange. Nico was like me in more ways than I wanted to admit, and getting close to him was dangerous. For the both of us.
The workout was grueling. I wiped the sweat from my brow and slapped my opponent on the shoulder. He grimaced as he took deep breaths from the ground. Nico shook his head as he countered Cal's swing, and kicked his feet out from under him. Cal growled and kicked himself from the ground, he landed on his feet, like he had done the move hundreds of times. Sweat beaded on both of their skin, and now Cal's was coated with a layer of dirt mixed with it.
I cracked my neck. "Who's next?"
A small boy moved forward from the crowd surrounding us. "I will."
I tilted my head, uncertain about this little man. "I don't think that's a good idea."
He sneered, and that was when I saw little tusks peaking from his lips. I grinned. He was going to be a strong one to go against. He must have used magic to hid his green skin, though I wasn't sure why. There were plenty of other abnormal skin colors around us. "Fine."
The little goblin wasted no time. He rushed at me with all of his speed. I managed to step around him at the last second, and watched him turn, but I wasn't fast enough to see that that was what he wanted me to do. He ducked down and kicked my feet out from under me. Except, I wasn't as well versed in being bested and I wasn't prepared for the ground meeting my face. My chin met the dirt, and my mouth filled with the taste of copper.
