by Aleah Raynes
So, why didn’t she want to talk?
“I’ve tried,” I answered. “She avoids everyone.”
“Then see to it she can’t avoid you,” Vander stated. “Eventually, she’ll have to say something.”
“Tell her you know the truth,” Caspian said. “Tell her you’re here to help her. Don’t start with the pleasantries. Don’t give her a chance to ignore you.”
The truth? The truth had been muddled in the legends and tales somewhere between fact and fiction. If King Vaskell hadn’t killed the queen in a jealous rage and sent his daughters to this camp, then who did? It would be easy to lay this at Arolan’s feet and say he concocted the whole charade, especially with the turmoil the realms were facing, but couldn’t all of this be a by-product of King Vaskell’s sickness?
“Which part of the truth? Her father wasn’t a raving lunatic as Arolan proclaimed or that someone stole the throne from them and it’s our sworn duty to help them reclaim it?” I rubbed the back of my neck and grimaced at a slimy trail of mud sliding down my skin.
“All of it.” Caspian’s tone hardened. “Admit you’re not sure. Tell her you’re confused by what’s happened, as is everyone. But if they continue to sit idly by while others suffer and die, their blood will be on the princesses’ hands. Not King Arolan.”
“Perfect.” I threw my hands up. “Call them criminals, too.” I shook my head. This wouldn’t work with Ayla. The minute I laid the ultimatum at her feet, she’d storm away and I’d never get another chance to speak with her.
“Well, you can’t give up,” Vander stated. “You’ll figure it out once you’re standing in front of her.”
Jaden added, “All she can do is continue to ignore you and the knowledge that you tried to get her to help her people.”
“It’s truth where you least expect it.” Caspian squeezed my shoulder. “If she won’t listen or refuses to respond, we’ll escape without them. We’ll spread word the rumors are true and fight alone.”
His statement twisted my insides. I wouldn’t take his version of the truth. We couldn’t give up on the sisters. Not yet, anyway. “Fine. I’ll try one more time. If our conversation goes nowhere, we escape, and move on.”
“Good.” Vander handed the shovel to me. “Get to work. We’ll distract the guards soon enough for you.”
We separated and I went back to work. I tried to formulate a plan, but my mind wandered. I had all these questions inside me. Some I couldn’t voice without drawing attention to my brother and our friends. Like, if the king hadn’t gone mad, why would he have sent his daughters here? Why would he have made these slave camps for children? Or killed our parents? Why did he keep some in the dungeon?
If this was King Arolan’s doing, I suppose I had the same questions. By all estimates, Arolan saved us from the mad king; however, we were dying. I glanced up as the hay had been rustled. One of the guards held a body over his shoulder while another gathered up a pile of the straw.
“You, boy,” the guard snapped, drawing my attention. “Get over here and help.”
I dropped the shovel and did as he asked. I feared the boy in the man’s arms had been the one crying only a short time ago. My heart sank. No other children should have to die like this. Today had to be the day Ayla listened to me.
As Caspian noted, the clouds parted a short time after the guards had set fire to the death bed of the boy who’d died way too soon. While Vander, Caspian, and Jaden distracted two of the guards near us, I proceeded to the small hovel where Ayla stayed most of her days, weaving rope.
I peered into the tiny space, the lone candle sat on the floor to the side of where she worked, lighting the area. In front of her sat coils of finished cord, several feet in length. To her left, the straw needed to complete the task.
The flame flickered in the breeze, causing her shadow to dance upon the walls. The thin, holey shawl covering her shoulders couldn’t protect her from the freezing air, nor would the patchwork dress she wore. Most of the girls wore bonnets to keep their heads dry. She’d pulled her dull white hair into a bun. A few of the icy-blue tendrils framed her heart-shaped face. Her bottom lip had been caught between her teeth while she concentrated on the intricate pattern she wove.
I stared at her, dumbfounded by the sheer innocence of her work and her beauty. Dirt smattered her cheeks, nose, and neck. She released the pillowy pink flesh of her lip and my heart skipped a beat. This princess had cast a spell on me, even though, according to rumor, her abilities had been bound—along with gossamer wings.
Clearing my throat, I stepped inside. She didn’t stop working. She continued to stare at the length of thickly corded twine. I’d begin my speech again, and if it didn’t work, I wouldn’t consider what would happen tomorrow. In a last-ditch effort, I might send Jaden. Perhaps he’d have more luck with this beautiful, stubborn princess.
I took another step toward her, and this time, her hands stilled. She lifted her cobalt gaze in my direction, and my steps faltered. My mouth dried. My throat closed. Whatever I’d been about to say vanished. For the first time, I witnessed her loss. Her suffering and pain. I saw the disillusionment and the acceptance of her fate. It left a nasty taste in my mouth.
A bolt of determination shot through me. I’d see to it she never feared another thing, that she smiled again. We’d escape from this place and take back what rightfully belonged to them, setting all the realms within the kingdom right. But first, I had to find my voice. Had to dig deeply to find the courage to finally grasp her attention and make her believe what I spoke, and yearn for a future my brothers and I dreamed of.
“Ayla?” Her name rolled off my tongue like a soft melody. She continued to stare at me as I crossed to her. “We should finally talk. Don’t you think it’s time?” I took the liberty of sitting closer to her. Then I waited, as always, to see if this time the princess would finally speak with me.
Can Boys Be Trusted?
Ayla
Why was he here? Again.
My pulse quickened when he sat next to me like we were friends. No, we weren’t friends. The move told me he wasn’t leaving until we talked. Well, he was going to be disappointed. I had nothing to say. My sisters and I didn’t need friends. And we didn’t need people knowing our plan to escape.
His golden-brown eyes pled with me, so I averted my gaze and focused on the twined rope, not liking the way my heart fluttered in his presence. Nor the way his warmth seeped into me.
If I ignored him, he’d leave. Please, just leave.
After several long moments that turned into minutes, he sighed loudly and spoke. “I don’t believe the rumors.”
I stilled my hands from twining the straw for a brief moment, then started again. My sisters and I worked hard to keep the others from knowing who we really were—the daughters of the insane King Vaskell, who killed his wife and sent his daughters to a slave camp. Oh, how wrong the rumors were.
My father hadn’t gone insane nor had he an illness like Uncle Ievos Arolan claimed. I refused to acknowledge any relation to that monster of a king. He’d always been jealous of his older sister—my mother—being heir. When she had married and claimed the throne, naming her husband the king, Ievos raved about a commoner being royalty and threatened them. Mom had no choice but to banish her own brother from the kingdom.
“I know who you are and you are looking for a way out. My friends and I know how to escape. And how you can seek your revenge for your parents’ deaths.” Dain’s voice was a whisper.
My heart fluttered and fear burned my belly. How did he and his friends know? Or was he lying to get me to talk to him? Either way, I had to find out more. The curiosity would eat away at my insides.
I lifted my gaze again and glared into his golden depths. I expected to see lies and deception. Neither was there. Only desperation and sorrow. And a hint of magic. Odd.
His brows were drawn in a frown. The cugs—Arolan’s minions that ran the slave camps—might have bound our magic and tied our wings
, but we still had our intuition and empathy. Dain was not lying. At least, he believed what he was saying.
“I’m listening.” I didn’t stop twining the straw.
He let out an audible breath and sagged in relief. “My brother and our friends were sent to find you, help you escape, and help find a way to defeat King Arolan.”
I fisted my hands as the anger rose at hearing Dain call my bastard uncle the king. “He is no king,” I said through clenched teeth. “And sent by whom?”
“Our parents before we were taken from them.” Dain inhaled slowly, then exhaled. I swore there was a shutter in his breath, like he was fighting back a sob. My own loss for my parents stuck in my throat.
After a moment, he continued. “He must be stopped. You and your sisters are the only ones who can take back the throne.”
I laughed, humorless and bitter. “I doubt that.”
After gathering the twined rope into my arms, I stood. “I’ll talk it over with my sisters and get word to you.”
I pulled my bonnet tighter around my head and darted out of the hovel before he could say anything else. My heart pounded and ached at the same time. So many questions whirled in my mind. Who were the boys? Why would they willingly come to this awful place?
The part of me that still clung to hope wanted to believe they were there to rescue us. Luna’s warning rang loudly in my head to not trust anyone. Ievos had spies everywhere.
I crossed the muddy field to our small shack made of sticks, crushed rocks, and mud. The roof was made of straw overlaying branches of a weeping willow. It was far from the palace, but it was our space and far enough away from the center of everyone else.
The tension in my shoulders softened as I entered and saw my sisters. I caught my twin’s concerned gaze immediately. The gold in Pyria’s eyes lit up as she felt my swirl of emotions. We’d always shared a connection, knowing when the other was hurting or happy or fearful. She had her bonnet off and her red hair flowed around her shoulders with bright orange tips that blended with the rest.
Pyria and I weren’t identical. In fact, we were complete opposites. She, a fire fairy, and me, an ice fairy. And we were the babies of the family at fifteen.
Luna stepped around the other two, crossing her arms. She looked the most like our mother with waves of lavender hair and violet eyes. After a moment, she eased her stance and opened her arms. I dropped the rope and rushed forward, wrapping my arms around her waist and hugging her. She hugged me back, careful not to jar my wings tied with the magical binding to my back.
Our wings were bound after they locked away our magic. It was painful to not be able to stretch our wings. The guards weren’t opposed to grabbing them as punishment for not moving fast enough or whenever they saw fit to reprimand us.
We all hated it here. We needed to be out searching for those who were loyal to our father and who would believe he was innocent from all claims of insanity.
“The guys know who we are.” I felt Luna stiffen, but she didn’t let me go.
“I thought I told you not to talk to them.”
I pulled out of her embrace and wrapped my arms around my waist. Pyria came over and looped an arm with one of mine and we stood there, shoulders pressed together. Meeting Luna’s stare, I answered, “I didn’t tell Dain anything. He told me they knew and they don’t believe in the rumors about Father. He said they were sent here to find us and help us escape.”
Luna twisted her mouth as she did when in thought. “What do we know about the boys?”
“Not much,” I said at the same time as Pyria. Then I added, “Two of them are obviously twins. The oldest one looks too old to be here, which is suspicious. None of their names sound familiar. Unless they lied about them.”
Ena scoffed. “They are always watching us. It’s creepy. They could have been sent here to kill us.”
Luna moved to the small table we used for writing and eating. We took turns writing letters to the outside world, hoping someone would find one and free us. But we’d feared our sorry excuse of an uncle intercepted the notes. Because no one came. Until now.
“What if they found one of our letters?” Pyria looked hopeful. “It is possible they are telling the truth.”
Luna nodded and sat at the table, pulling a sheet of paper from the hidden drawer we made after arriving. “We can’t take our chances.”
I moved closer to peer over her shoulder. “What are doing?”
With a crooked smile, Luna glanced up, meeting our gazes. “I’m making a list of demands. If they can follow them, then we’ll hear them out. See what their big escape plan is.”
Oh, I loved how my eldest sister thought. At age seventeen, her days here were numbered. In less than six months, she would turn eighteen and the guards would come for her and take her to the adult camp. Or worse.
We couldn’t be separated. Our survival counted on all our strengths. “I think we should just find out how they plan to escape and then ditch them on the outside.”
Luna sighed, knowing where my thoughts were leading me. “That’s my plan, too, but we’re not going to tell the boys that. Besides, if they do prove trustworthy, then they could be useful in building our alliance against Ievos.”
I shivered. The wind outside picked up and it started raining again. It was mid-winter and there should have been a pretty white blanket of snow on the ground. Instead, it rained. And was unseasonably warm one day, and the next, cold.
Another tell that the realm was dying and taking down the four kingdoms within it.
We couldn’t allow that to happen. Wouldn’t allow it.
Gods, I hope we weren’t making a mistake by placing our demands on four complete strangers.
Gaining a Princess’s Trust.
Dain
Three days passed with no word. I’d lost hope. Vander remained cautiously optimistic. The truth is never easy to decipher, Dain. They are probably deciding on the hardest tasks to give us to prove our worth. He had a point, I suppose. It wouldn’t be a test of loyalty if the requests were easily dispatched.
Thankfully, the rain had ceased. The ground didn’t suck the shoes from my feet, and I wasn’t chilled to the bone when finished working in the field. The bright sun warmed my skin, chasing away the nippiness of the morning. Perhaps, today would be the day I’d see Ayla again.
I broke off a patty of hay and threw it into the horse’s stall before moving down the line. In the time we’d been there, I’d befriended all of them, and if the gods were favoring us, we’d be able to steal them for transportation. I feared, though, Caspian had other ideas.
As I came to the last stall, Ayla stepped from the shadows. Had she been following me? How long had she lurked within the shadows while I worked? She shifted from foot to foot. The nervous energy surrounding her made my heart quicken and my palms sweat. The dull haze of despair lifted from her eyes, and for a moment, I glimpsed a bit of hope.
“You came,” I whispered, astonished by her arrival, and the amount of trust she’d placed within me.
She lifted her chin. “I did.” She pulled a small bit of parchment from the fold of her dress. “I have a list for you.”
I placed the remaining hay onto a barrel of feed, then wiped my hands as I crossed to her. “Thank you.”
“You haven’t read it yet. Why are you thanking me?” Her hand trembled as she held the paper out to me. My fingers brushed over hers and a tingle of awareness sparked where we touched.
“Because you, at least, trust me enough to continue our negotiation.” Leave it to me to use words only our parents would be accustomed to while feeling as if a thousand bolts of electricity passed between us.
Her lips twitched, and I swore I saw the beginnings of a smile, but it was gone before it began. “Well, I will leave you to it. If you can give us the four items listed, we will listen to your full confession then determine if you can be fully trusted with our lives.”
She left me there, gaping at the paper. Four tasks. Four days in wh
ich to complete them. The first item, four-leaf clovers, four of them to be exact. The girls wanted protection from the evil surrounding them. I tended to agree. Second, a book of stories their mother used to read to them, not an easy task, considering there were no libraries or books lying about. The third, to be rid of this slave camp and gain freedom. We could accomplish this task. Fourth, to go home.
Two of the four would be easy. We were meant to do these things even before they wrote them. The other two, not so much. However, I suspected they knew as much and were testing us. After folding the slip, I placed it in my boot and went back to work. When I finished tending the horses, I’d find my brothers and discuss our next plan.
* * *
“What do they mean for us to do? Escape, come back with four-leaf clovers and then leave once more? Are they daft?” Vander scratched his head. His features were screwed up as though he’d eaten something bitter. “This doesn’t make sense.”
“Doesn’t have to,” Caspian replied. “This is their test to see if we are brave enough to attempt it while also proving to themselves they cannot trust us.”
“It’s a trap,” Jaden added. “An unwinnable situation.”
“What’s the point?” I wondered aloud to no one in particular. “If we can’t give them what they want, then what?”
“Nothing,” Vander stated. “They understood the predicament they’d put us in with a note like this. They don’t want our help.”
“Oh, they do,” Caspian muttered. “The hard way, I believe. They want us to prove we’d die for them if need be.”
I frowned. Die? If we died, then how would it further their cause? How would it free the kingdom or dethrone King Arolan? “They’re daft.”
“Too right,” Vander agreed.
“We have something they’ll want, though.” Caspian grinned. “Since this is a negotiation, we should counter their offer with something better than what is written there.”
