by Kaylin Lee
Was he embarrassed to be speaking so plainly? I smiled at the thought, but then a niggling doubt chased my smile away. “If you want me, then why did you …?” I gestured to where he stood, several steps from the bed.
He broke into that same smile I’d found so aggravating earlier in the day—arrogant, cocky, and far too handsome. “I have my reasons.”
I waited for him to explain, but he didn’t continue. “Fine.”
“Oh!” He went to the corner where he kept his pack and rummaged through it. “I almost forgot. I went out while you were gone and picked up some supplies. Nothing much, a little something to help out with your food.” He came toward me with a bowl, a thermos, and a dented tin canister.
I didn’t respond. I was still reeling over his words. He’d already escaped in broad daylight, and then he’d come back for me? I’d thought I was generously providing shelter to keep him safe. Perhaps he didn’t need me as much as I’d thought. Was he truly staying because of some sort of affection for me? The thought was absurdly tantalizing.
He sat beside me on the bed again and shoved a bowl filled with thick, gray paste into my hands.
I fingered the spoon and used it to carve a path through the paste. Provisions. Interesting. “What is this … substance?”
He laughed. “It’s called victus. Creator mages in Asylia make it for the poor and give it away for free so no one in the city has to starve when times are lean. It doesn’t taste like much, but it has all the elements your body needs for nourishment and none of the ones it doesn’t. Unlike that nasty bag of old food they’ve given you.” He jutted his chin over to the food that was still on the floor beside the canvas sack, his lip curled.
“Well … the food isn’t nasty, exactly …” The food from the canvas bag tasted quite delicious, especially when I’d gone several days or longer without fresh food.
He smiled, and it occurred to me that I very much liked the shape of his lips. My thoughts must have been betrayed on my face because he stood and backed away, shoving his hands in his pockets.
But his smile widened. “Cheese slices and herb rolls taste better than victus, I’ll give you that. But you need consistent nourishment—three bowls a day—morning, noon, and night. And extra to refuel when your body has been treated harshly on an … outing.” His smile faded, replaced with a look of concern. “It will take time to build your strength so that you can resist your mistress’s power. Without proper fuel, it will never happen. But if you feed your body well, you have a chance.”
A chance. Better than anything I’d had in a long time. I shoved the first bite of victus into my mouth and choked it down. The victus was not exactly delicious, but as it sank down into my stomach and settled, I felt nearly full already without the greasy queasiness that normally accompanied the feeling of satiety. I shoveled down another bite and a third as Darien grinned. “Oh,” I said, wiping my mouth with my hand. “Um … thank you. For this.”
He bowed gallantly. “You’re quite welcome.”
I laughed, and the sound tickled my ears with its strangeness. Here I was, sharing laughter, kisses, and food with a handsome man in my tower. I barely recognized my own life. What would I do once he left?
We spent the rest of the daylight hours talking, and I ate another thick bowl of victus before bed. He spread his bedroll on the floor beside the bathroom, his pack hidden inside the bathroom just in case he had to hide his presence quickly. Hopefully, the Wasp would not deign to visit me tonight.
I turned down the luminous dial beside my bed and snuggled under the covers, sinking into the memory of his body pressed into mine. “Good night, Darien,” I whispered.
“Good night,” came his reply. It sounded as though he was smiling.
I was nearly asleep when the throbbing of my ankle reminded me of the one thing I hadn’t dared mention that afternoon. Unless my ankle healed, I’d never be able to escape the Wasp.
Chapter 6
I’d been awake only long enough to bathe and devour another bowl of victus when the Wasp’s commands reached me through the window.
I dragged my feet as I crossed the tower to let the ladder down, glancing anxiously over my shoulder to make sure Darien was well hidden in the bathroom and no trace of his pack remained. He gave me a wink before shutting himself in the room, and even with the command settling around me, I still felt the butterflies in my stomach at his smile.
I shook my head, hoping to clear it. I couldn’t be thinking of Darien, not when I had yet another outing with the Wasp. I had to focus on survival.
The Wasp made Helis dress me as a lady’s maid again, and when she saw me limping to follow her toward the window, she stopped and smiled widely. “I could have your ankle healed, you know.”
I tensed and tried not to let the hope show on my face, but she saw right through me.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I have some of the best healer mages in the city at my disposal.” She paused and cocked her head to the side as though considering it. “But I do enjoy the sight of my dear pet limping along so slowly. I have a feeling it will cut down on your obnoxious escape attempts.” Her smile faded, and her eyes took on a strange gleam. “And I need you, little pet, now more than ever. Now, come along, Rapunzel, and follow me.”
~
The sound of something thumping against the tower wall jolted me awake. I’d been in that tingly cloud again, floating and relaxed. Another thump. I tried to sit up, but my body wouldn’t move. I cracked open my eyes. The bright, white light filtering in from my tower window blinded me, but gradually, my eyes adjusted.
There was another thump, and the sound of a gruff, masculine voice uttering a string of curses.
What was happening? Was Darien in danger? Was he fighting the Wasp?
I flicked my eyes wildly around the room and finally convinced my head to move along with them, increasing my field of vision. I found him standing with his back to my bed, his shoulders heaving, his fists clenched, a pile of books on the floor by the wall.
I tried to open my mouth, but no words came out. How long had I been asleep this time? And just what was he doing to my books?
He grabbed another book from the bookcase, reached back, and flung it to the ground with such force I thought it might bust open the spine. Another curse. Then he ran his hand through his unruly hair, standing it up on end.
“Darien?” My voice worked, but his name was only a hoarse whisper.
He whipped around and rushed to kneel beside the bed. “Zel? You’re awake.”
I’d never seen him so wild-eyed and frustrated. What had happened? I tried to nod, but my head only jerked awkwardly. “I’m awake,” I whispered. “How long was it this time?”
The last several days, we’d developed a sad, bloody ritual. I’d return from an outing with the Wasp, half-dead from her machinations in the ongoing clan wars, and he would tend to my wounds with the mage-craft salve, saving my life each time. I would sleep forever. Then she would return, and we would start all over again. And somehow, he still hadn’t given up and left me.
He reached for my hand and pulled it to him, pressing his forehead against the back. “A day,” he said, his voice hoarse. “A full day. If she follows her pattern, she’ll be here—” His voice cracked, and he pressed his forehead harder against my hand. “She’ll be here any moment for another outing.” He spoke the last word like it was a curse.
I brushed my fingers against his face, and he shut his eyes. “Darien, I—”
“Rapunzel.” The Wasp had arrived. Her voice held that strange, excited energy I’d seen in her so much in the past few days. “Let down your ladder. And Rapunzel, do no harm.”
I sat up and leaned away from Darien, but he pulled me closer and buried his face against my shoulder. “I’ll kill her this time,” he mumbled against my skin.
I shook my head and shoved him away as her command tightened around me. He stood, and so did I.
Was he serious? He couldn’t be. “Darie
n … you can’t. If she finds you, she’ll command me to kill you. I know she will.”
He clenched his fists without answering, his face a study in pure torment and frustration.
“Promise me.” I walked backward as my feet carried me to the window. “Promise me!”
He let out a breath, and his shoulders deflated. He didn’t promise, but I took that as a yes. I let down the ladder as the bathroom door clicked shut.
Helis followed the Wasp Queen over the window, still shifty and fearful as she hovered against the wall of the tower. How had she lasted so long?
This time, she dressed me in the skin-tight, dark green uniform of a Snake clan servant girl. I glanced in the mirror and despised the costume immediately. My skin was covered from neck to toe, but the tight, glimmering mage-craft dress left little of my figure to the imagination, and a long slit up the side of the skirt revealed the rest. Whatever the Wasp had planned for today, it wouldn’t be good. I just hoped I made it back to the tower afterward.
Helis wound my golden hair into a twist up the back of my head and lined my eyes with a wave of her hand, spreading black kohl around them until my face was completely overshadowed by my eyes.
“Helis, are you finished or not?”
Helis stepped back and nodded hesitantly, and the Wasp beckoned to me.
“Rapunzel, follow me. And Rapunzel, try not to limp so. You look foolish, and you’ll attract too much notice.”
The command forced my spine straight, and a shooting pain darted up my leg from my foot as I spread my weight evenly between my hurt ankle and my good one. I kept my face blank to deny her the satisfaction of knowing how much pain I was in. How I hated this woman.
I followed her out of the window, turning back to see Helis still huddled by the mirror and, behind her, a slight crack in the bathroom door. Darien had better not make his presence known.
There was nothing I could do now. I struggled down the ladder, followed the Wasp across the garden, and entered her waiting fomecoach, sharp pain stabbing at my ankle with every step.
After an eternity in the coach, we reached the Snake compound. The Snake clan was on high alert with dozens of armed guards standing at the main entrance, but the bored guard at the servant’s entrance only nodded me through. I sighed inwardly, keeping my face blank. How long would the Wasp be able to get away with these tricks?
The Snake compound was lush and fragrant, overflowing with trees, shrubs, and flowering plants in thick patches and courtyards, filling nearly every open space between the villas. As the Wasp had commanded, I entered the largest villa, picked up a tray from the kitchen, and joined a stream of green-clad servant girls carrying food to what I assumed would be a dining room.
After twisting and turning through narrow, dimly-lit hallways that reeked of incense, we reached a massive dining hall. Loud voices echoed from the wooden rafters as Snake clansmen and women laughed and argued with each other. I served the middle of the long trench table, setting out dishes of pickled fish, cabbage, and spongy-looking loaves of bread. The Snake clan diet wasn’t any more appetizing than my bag of greasy, week-old food back in the tower, but it looked a bit healthier.
What was the Wasp Queen planning to do? I knew my orders—wait until she created a distraction before I took out the clan leader and her second-in-command at the head of the table. But why? Why did she keep striking down the clan leaders? What purpose did it serve? The other clans were still stronger than hers, and if they ever discovered who was behind all of the murders, the clans would unite and overpower the Wasps in a heartbeat. What was I missing?
When I was done serving, I joined the other girls against the wall. Their made-up faces looked eerie in the flickering light of deteriorating luminous sconces, and their tight dresses made them look truly snakelike. I avoided looking down at my own dress. The sooner I could get this over with and get out of this sorry excuse for a dress, the better.
I watched the head table. The Snake clan leader was young and energetic, seated with her legs sprawled out beside the table. She laughed uproariously with the other leaders at her table every few moments, tossing back huge gulps of whatever was in her goblet. Did she even know she was in a clan war?
My power pulsed toward her, the Wasp Queen’s control cinching around my will as I waited, on edge, for the Wasp’s signal. I tapped my fingers against my thigh and tried to keep my mind off the pain in my ankle as my weight bore down upon it.
“Attack on the compound! Guards, to defense positions!” A man’s shout tore through the dining hall, and chaos erupted.
At the head table, the Snake leader leapt into a defense position, her sword at the ready, her muscles tense and eyes alert.
My stomach sank. Her casual demeanor had been an act. The others seated at her table circled around the Snake leader and her second, forming a protective circle, and I groaned.
They must have known I was coming. Would I survive this one? How long would Darien wait for me, if I never came back to the tower? I hoped he would escape safely and not waste precious time trying to find me.
The many guards in the dining hall rushed from the room, and the remaining clansmen drew their swords and followed. Soon the room was empty save for cowering servant girls streaming to the side door where we’d entered. The circle of leaders remained at the head table, swords at the ready.
I took one step toward the head table and then another. My ankle throbbed. When would they notice that I was the only green-clad servant girl not running away? I counted their number. Four armed guards plus the two leaders at their center. I’d never taken on so many at once, and I had certainly not approached a group so well guarded against me.
Had the Wasp known she would be ordering me to my death today? A pitiful voice in the back of my head cried out in frustration. Didn’t she call me her pet? Didn’t she say she needed me now more than ever? Why was she so quick to throw me away?
Five more steps, and then one of the guards cried out, “You! Halt!” He pointed his sword at me, and the others followed suit.
I kept walking, wishing the Wasp had provided me with a defensive weapon of some kind. A shield. A sturdy piece of wood. I’d take anything. I scooped a chair from beside the table as I drew closer. It would have to do.
The guard stepped forward, glaring at me. “I said, halt! Who are you? And who is your master?”
I didn’t answer. As usual, I couldn’t speak. I hoisted the chair higher as I walked closer. One girl and a wooden chair against six swords. And Darien waited back at the tower. Would he be able to patch me up again? Would I die in his arms, too far gone for the healing salve? Or would I meet my end here, alone, bleeding out on the stone floor while Snakes hacked at me?
Three more steps.
The guards raised their swords higher, and the Snake leader bared her teeth.
A tear escaped my eye and rolled down my cheek, no doubt taking some of the obnoxious black eye paint with it.
Two more steps.
One.
And then the first guard swung at me.
~
A callused hand caressed my cheek and was replaced by warm lips and a scratchy beard.
I groaned and leaned into Darien’s face. “I’m alive,” I whispered.
He nodded against my cheek, lying down on the bed beside me without speaking. I rolled toward him and pressed my face into his shoulder. Every bone in my body ached at the movement. I pried my eyes open. The tower was dark except for the soft glow of the luminous by the bookshelf. I shut my eyes again. “How long?”
He pulled me closer in a gentle embrace. “Two days.” His voice was rough. “The Wasp came to the tower but couldn’t rouse you to put the ladder down. She left. No doubt she’ll try again tomorrow.”
“You saved my life again,” I said into his shoulder, my words muffled by the fabric of his shirt. “What is that, ten times now?”
He laughed softly, and I felt the vibrations through his chest. “At least.” He stroked my arm
with his hand. “You should sleep. Rest more. For tomorrow. Then eat when you next wake.”
At the suggestion, a dark, heavy cloud pulled at me. I wanted to sleep, but I didn’t want to leave him.
The question bubbled to the surface of my slow-moving thoughts, and I asked before thinking better of it. “Why don’t you fear me? I’m a …” I didn’t bother finishing. He knew what I was.
Darien pressed me closer, and I relished the movement of his breaths coming in and out of his chest. They were slow. Steady. Unafraid. “I know your will,” he said softly. “I knew from the moment I saw you in that ballroom at the Wolf compound—you don’t want to do this. I trust your will.”
“My will?”
“You’ve never used your power accidentally, have you? Not even when you were younger?” His voice was gentle, and he rubbed my arm as he spoke.
“No. Never. But what does that matter? I have no will of my own.”
“A mage’s power is driven by will. Your power doesn’t rule you, Zel. Your will does. And your mistress’s will is only a temporary shroud over you. It doesn’t change who you are or what you want. And you, at your core…you don’t want to take lives. I know you don’t. I trust you.”
I love you, spoke my dazed, tired mind in response. “I trust you, too,” I whispered instead.
He was still and silent for a moment.
Had I accidentally spoken the first words aloud?
“I … You should sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s light so you have time to eat before she comes.”
I must not have spoken out of turn.
Then he pulled himself up from my bed, and I curled into the warm covers he’d vacated. I loved him. When had it happened? How? What was wrong with me? Why did I persist in dreaming of things I’d never have?
~
I’d just finished scarfing down a gritty bowl of victus when distant screams reached us.
