Did I dream? I awoke feeling heavy, oppressed by the heat that lingered and the feeling that I had failed everyone. With nothing else to do, I stood to dress.
"You have no concept of time. It cannot be past 3. You fell asleep at 8 last night." Avery was constantly aware of the passage of time, although as one who neither slept nor ate, it was a mystery how. “You stay here,” she whispered, not that her voice could be heard by others if she shouted. “I will ascertain whether it is wise to go anywhere.” She crept through the door stealthily, and I looked through my clothing options. They all looked the same in the lamplight.
“He looked right at me!” she whisper-shrieked, jumping over me to crouch on my pillow.
“He could not have,” I whispered back. “He would have—I don’t know, made a noise. Called for a mage, or tried to banish you.”
“That’s true,” she nodded. But she did not move from the fetal position, or look comforted.
“What was he doing? What time is it?” I pulled some fabric over my head. It seemed right--the holes were in the right places, in any case. Only when I was fixing my hair for the day did she say, “It’s not morning. It’s full dark out there.”
“But the Captain—”
“He’s burning a lamp. He looked possessed, with the light casting shadows and a fierce expression like—” She struggled to explain and gave up. “Oh, I’ll just show you.”
The Captain from her memory did not look so much possessed as demonic, with fire coming from his eyes and a grimace like—not to mention his veins and muscles popping out—We agreed to take a sick day.
Midway through the afternoon I opened the door once, out of boredom or hunger or some desperate need for interaction.
The Captain picked up a bookbinder and viciously attacked his files. “Your good health is remarkable,” he said, in the same tone he might have used to speak of a violent crime. “There is a bell for service. But then, there is no reason to use it when you could go yourself. It is not as though you are in danger of becoming a pawn in a plot to overthrow the king.”
Irritated and weak, I lost sense and self-control. “Who around here but you has the time or resources? You’re the one with direct access to-” I stopped, remembering the bookkeeper’s words. “Who are the King’s Advisers?”
The Captain answered automatically, “He has five, one from each of the Great Families: Adaia Mistler, Loremaster, Rainora Atheron, Guildmaster, Wistar Thalin, King’s Priest, Zaphar, King’s Mage, and myself.” His eyes narrowed, but he turned away from his thoughts and from me.
Numb, I asked, “Zaphar does not have a Family name?”
The Captain shrugged, “I suppose he does, but no one ever uses it. He is a Fulvor.”
My shock kept my irritation frozen on my face, and it held until I was safe in my little prison. Zaphar Fulvor, King’s Mage, had access to the Saliz Family book. The same book that listed the names of the four royals who could be used in a plot to overthrow the current king. What chance was there that he did not know who I was?
Had he been at the wedding?
“We would have noticed.” Avery paced on the bed. “His face is unbelievably handsome.”
But he knew who I was, both the original bride and a daughter of House Saliz. Had he told anyone?
Was he supporting his Family, my Family, or someone else entirely?
I was not safe in the Captain’s quarters. Zaphar had said it, and I had been too distraught to understand his meaning. Perhaps he did not know of the change in plans, or perhaps there never was any. The Count was waiting for the moment of greatest impact.
I would not wait in a small closet to find out who he intended to use in his plot.
I’m with you. Let’s get out of here.
The Captain managed to not leave his study for the rest of the day, and I was unwilling to try to pass him. He could not stay sitting in that desk forever.
Or perhaps he could. He did that day, and halfway through the next. I was nearly ready to walk by him, ire and all, when Avery finally announced, “He’s going out.”
It was a trap, or he had forgotten to tie his shoe. He stood in the hallway, arms folded and face unamused. “Going somewhere?”
“I—”
“There you are!”
“—was going to visit the contessa.” I smiled at Anna as she slipped her arm through mine.
The Captain opened his office door. “Visit here,” he said, not bothering to produce his polite mask. He clearly intended to follow us in, but Anna stalled him.
“Eliot, I am afraid we have delicate matters to discuss. Do be a gentleman and leave us.” Her expression was sweet and insistent.
He did leave, but insisted that we remain in the room. Anna agreed as though it were the most natural thing in the world, but as soon as he left, she looked at me questioningly.
Soon, there would be no more secrets. “Remember the man I told you about, that I met in the forest?”
“My brother! I am sure of it. If only I could see him,” she sighed wistfully.
Well distracted.
“Wait, that is not what this is about. But I need your help, and I need his help. The Captain and I have been searching for the members of House Saliz.”
“What?” she was amazed.
“He fears that someone intends to harm the King through them.”
“I had heard rumours, but…is there truly a lost family of Royals?”
I nodded.
“And Eliot is searching for them. And you…He told you?”
“Did he?” I tried to remember. “I think I guessed it, and then he trusted me with the rest.”
Anna looked at me with new eyes. “Then you…Eliot is keeping you sequestered here because…”
Avery laughed bitterly. Did he ever trust you?
“He…doesn’t. Trust me. To keep my mouth shut. Seeing as I know too much.”
“Oh,” she laughed. “It was that? I can see why. You told me very easily.” She shook her head at me, laughter still in her eyes. “For a moment…” She laughed again. “You need my help, you said?”
“I believe the Captain would approve, if he was the type to ask for help.”
“What can I do?”
“I will explain, but, please, you cannot tell the Captain. He…He doesn’t see the value in subterfuge.”
“It is not in his nature,” she agreed. “I will help in any way I can.”
“There are four Royals. Ah, one is not in the country. The Captain has found two and is…”
Keeping one locked up while he spoils the other.
“He said that…if the Royals were seen as united, as House Saliz, they could not be used against the king. The man in the woods, your brother, he knows where the other Royal is. I think if all the Royals come to the ball…” Then we would be publicly exposed. How many more assassination attempts could we survive? Had there been four, five? Before mother sent us to Master Thorne, they had been a regular part of life. Perhaps if she had persuaded him to take Kiva as well, this all could have been avoided.
Anna nodded, unsurprised. “You need a dress or a suit?” She, too, followed the Captain's logic.
They don't understand. How can they? They grew up here, in this place of order and reason.
But at least the Count would not have a chance to quietly remove whichever ones he did not need. “Two suits.”
“My brother…?”
A sliver of dread crept up my spine. “The Captain will return soon. Did you come to speak to me of something?”
“The ball—”
I shook my head. That was not a safer topic. “How is your woodcrafting? Will you apply for Mastery?”
She sighed. “I believe I may have to give it up. Grandmother does not like me woodcrafting.”
“What? But..it’s in your blood.”
She smiled. “So is Grandmother.”
We were talking about clothing when the Captain returned and politely sent her away. He did not question it when a parcel came for me from her barely an hour later.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“The office is empty!”
How long had I waited to hear that? It was the night before the day before the ball, and I was feigning sleep in bed, having slept most of the day. Again.
“Did you see Kiva?” I rearranged the blankets to look like I was still under them it at a glance. Not that the Captain had ever opened my little closet door.
“She is still in the crafters quarters, but her disguise as a weaver is weak, and with the number of people going in and out...The Count must know where she is.”
“He would not be fooled by a change of clothes,” I agreed, silently cursing the Captain’s insistence in keeping her close by. I understood his logic, but I also knew the Count. Why catch her himself when the Captain could do it for him, and keep her conveniently nearby for his big moment? “Is anyone likely to be in the way?”
“No. She has her own little room. He would be able to spirit her away easily.”
He would wait until the just before the ball. “How much time do I have?”
“Two hours to high tide, then probably four more before the Captain will be suspicious of your continued silence. You should have gone out today--it would have bought you time.”
I slipped out of the office while Avery watched the Captain through his open door. “He’s sleeping, but lightly. We will have to take a horse to return before dawn.”
I wilted at the prospect, but I was not going back to my closet. I tried to walk out confidently as though it was not strange to be going out in the middle of the night.
“You look suspicious.” Avery followed.
There were guards here and there in the hallways, far more than I expected to see, but with Avery keeping watch I was able to avoid them and make it out to the stables. But because of all the Family members and important foreign guests staying at the palace, there were extra guards there as well. The regular stableboy’s late-night post was performed by a burly stableman.
Plan B, we run? I looked at Avery.
“No. It’s too far. And you’re not a good runner.”
I hated that she was right. She could not help it, having never learned to lie.
Avery walked the stables twice and came back to where I was hiding in the gloom just beyond the reach of the stable’s lantern light.
“There is no way to get in and out without being seen, and that’s without a horse.”
If the Captain had not been so unreasonable—!
But I could understand his viewpoint. By keeping the royal exiles out of sight, he thought he could prevent any plot against his king. He did not know that Grandfather's magic was in me, did not know that I was destined for that same fate.
I motioned Avery closer so that I would not have to speak aloud and told her that I needed the path with the least number of people. Avery directed me to a familiar fierce black stallion in a private stable at the back.
Reaching the small stable required passing by the other stables and the excess of guards milling about. Worse, most of the guards were not from Saliz. They would not know me from a common thief.
But there was a clear path from the horse’s stall to the castle wall and the woods beyond.
If only there were some reason for the guards to gather to one side…
Avery created a distraction by approaching the horses. The closer she went, the more they pawed at the ground, shook their heads, and muttered curses. When she reached for one, he bucked back away from the gate. At his frenzied neighing, the guards forgot their posts and went to investigate.
I sprinted across the yard and slipped into the doorway of the last stable. Catching my breath, I checked my surroundings. There were two guards in Saliz uniforms playing cards and one stableman sleeping in the loft. Unlike many guards before them, these two were positioned so that one could see the door and the other the horse's stall, and both were alert. They stood and pulled out swords the moment I stepped through the door.
“State your business,” the closer one spoke coldly.
I had never met either of them before, and somehow I needed to leave with the king’s horse? I burst into tears.
They both waited dispassionately.
“You’re an idiot.” Avery slipped through the open door behind me.
“I’m feeling distressed!” I wiped my eyes and had a sudden inspiration as the two guards traded a glance at my outburst. I took a deep breath to calm down, but I could not stop crying. “I need to see the Holy Man.” I looked directly at Avery. “I have a p-problem and he’s the only o-one that c-can help me.” I wished I could speak normally. Where was my courage gone?
The farther guard moved next to the other and spoke softly.
“He said, ‘isn’t that the Captain’s assistant?’” Avery had moved closer to eavesdrop.
The two talked while I tried hopelessly to stop my eyes from leaking. My nose was starting to run.
“The taller one thinks you might be on the Captain’s business, but the other says you’d have said so. ‘It could be a secret, you know the Captain.’ ‘At this hour?’ ‘It’s happened before.’ The first thinks you’re amazing to have lasted this long,”
“Thanks.”
“and thinks you’re trying to run away.”
“What? I’m not r-running aw-way.” My words were all wobbly. “I’ll be b-back by mornging.” And nasally.
“You have very good hearing,” the taller one said to me, speaking softly.
Although I heard him then, I asked Avery aloud, “What did he s-say?”
“What, that’s your plan? You’re going to the Holy Man to get rid of a ghost?”
“A Holy Man can get rid of a ghost. If you won’t leave on your own, at least tell me what he said.” Believing in ghosts was not uncommon, but everyone had different ideas of what a spirit was and what it did.
“They’re going to laugh us out of here. He said you have good hearing.”
“Oh. My hearing isn’t very good,” I said, relieved that I had stopped crying.
The two guards discussed this. Avery looked unhopeful. Sighing, she said, “Fine, since this is what we’re doing,” and walked over to the horse, reaching up to pet it.
Animals are sensitive to the unnatural. Horses, we had discovered when Thorne insisted on teaching me to ride, were spooked by Avery.
This black beast was no exception. It shied away from her hand and snorted and danced in its stall. Both guards observed this and changed their tune. Avery moved closer to them, allowing the horse to relax and her to listen.
“Taller says it’s hardly surprising. The other blames the Captain. Taller agrees, ‘Annette always said the Captain was haunted’.” She folded her arms and glared at me. “You’re welcome.”
“We wouldn’t even be here if not for you,” I muttered, refusing to be grateful. My nose was still running.
The stableman jumped down from the loft, wondering what was upsetting the horse. One guard asked him to prepare the saddle while the taller one came to me.
“Are you alright? Do you need anyone to go with you?”
I shook my head, sniffling. “I have to be back before the Captain wakes.”
He nodded pityingly and offered me a handkerchief. “With all that the Captain’s done, it’s hardly surprising that he is haunted.” He patted me awkwardly on the shoulder. “It’ll be alright. The Holy Man’ll know what to do. You know the way?”
I nodded and offered him back his handkerchief, but he politely did not want it. I did not notice that he was leading me to the horse until I was almost touching its black side.
Avery stood a safe distance away. “You’re on your own.”
Fortunately, the stallion was well-trained. Even sensing my fear, he stayed still while the taller guard assisted me in settling in the saddle.
The half-conscious stableman opened the stall, and the taller guard walked along with us to the back wall. Hidden by ivy and design was a gate made for the king on his horse. The guard unlocked it and promised that it would be open again in 5 hours. I thanked him and the horse walked toward the forest.
Avery followed. “You’re going to need to go faster than that.” As she neared the stallion, he remembered how to run.
I held on for my life, eyes closed. “I thought you were going to stay back.”
“I want to see the Holy Man.”
“How are you even keeping up?” I tried to distract myself.
“I’m dead. What is distance to me?”
“Couldn’t you have gone by yourself to talk to the Holy Man?”
“He might have tried to get rid of me.”
“Go check on Keagan or find out what the Count is up to. Do something useful with all that speed and strength you have.”
Avery did not respond, and I cracked open my eyes to look at her.
“I cannot.”
I had used up my courage, so I did not ask for an explanation.
“I do not trust you to stay alive on your own. Focus on the path.”
Fortunately, the horse knew the way. Perhaps I was not the only one to take this steed for a late night visit to a haunted house in the woods.
As soon as I reached the small clearing before the house, the stallion stopped and I nearly fell out of the saddle.
The Holy Man calmly caught me, and the horse went on his own to a small shed behind the house.
“Did you reconsider?” the holy man asked. He did not seem surprised at our midnight arrival.
Avery folded her arms. “Nice to see you, too.”
My head was foggy and my vision swam.
“You do not belong here,” he told her, not unkindly. “You must see that.”
“She needs me.”
“She believes she needs you. It is not the same. Will you not rise, Aevlin?”
“I can’t.” The world was dancing around me, and there was a rushing like wind in my ears.
“Aevlin? What is it, what’s wrong?”
“Aevie?”
“Aevlin, can you hear me? It is a full moon, and high tide. I am going to carry you indoors.”
Their voices drifted far away as a memory overtook my senses.
I was only five years old, halfway to six.
Father was away, as usual. Mother had taken Kiva to the local market to sell vegetables and buy supplies. Jaiden was sleeping in the house.
Avery and I were playing hide and seek in the orchard. She was extremely proud of her hiding place, half in a tree with only her face visible, and did not see the man that walked the grove, crackling with strange energy.
But he found me.
He sat in the dirt next to me, very unlike any grown man I had ever seen. He looked at me very seriously. “What is your name?”
“Aevie.”
“How old are you, Aevie?”
I tried to count, then held up four fingers.
“What are you doing here, Aevie?”
“I’m playing.”
“Playing? With whom?”
Mother had once whipped me for speaking of my imaginary friend. I pointed to myself.
“Just you, playing by yourself?”
I nodded solemnly.
“Do you play alone often?”
I nodded again.
The man suddenly lifted his head, looking into the distance. For a moment, he seemed to see her. “Do you hear that?” he asked me.
There was only the wind whistling through the grove.
I shook my head.
“The wind says you have a playmate.”
“The wind?”
“The wind. Surely you knew that the wind spoke? But not everyone can understand its words. They are hard to hear.” His amused eyes watched me.
I scrunched up my face and listened, but the wind was just wind, a noise without meaning.
“Can you hear it?”
I shook my head and his face fell. Frowning, I said, “The Cherry Tree says it is not worth listening to.”
“Does it?” his eyes lit up and he looked from me to the nearest tree. “What else does the Cherry Tree say?”
I listened to the Cherry Tree again. “It says the wind speaks of rain. It says the sunshine is warm and the ground is soft. It says there will be a lot of cherries.”
The man laughed musically. “The Cherry Tree is very wise.”
I shook my head. “No. The Oak is wise. The Cherry is very boring, very self-” I could not think of the word. I had heard Jaiden say it recently, but I could not remember how it went.
“I see,” the man said gravely. “What does the Sycamore say?”
There was one very tall Sycamore tree between the cherry grove and the house.
“I cannot hear it. It is far away.”
“Shall we move closer?” He rose and smiled down at me. “I should like to know what the Sycamore says.”
Delighted, I skipped towards the house. On the way, I stumbled and fell.
“Are you alright?” he offered me his hand and we walked together to the Sycamore tree.
“Mother says I am hopesslely clumsy.” I stumbled over the big word. I listened to the tree. “It says ‘grow roots, be green’.”
“And what do you say?”
“I have hope.”
The man experienced a momentary confusion, before laughing and asking, “And what do you say to the Sycamore?”
“I am not a tree.”
He laughed harder, but I did not see what was funny. He stopped, but his eyes still twinkled. “What if you could be a tree?”
I looked at the vivacious Cherry Tree that would not live long and the dry Sycamore that lived forever. “I like being a girl.”
“You do not wish to be more than a girl?”
I looked at the trees. “I like to move, but they only dance with the wind.”
He looked about to speak again, but another voice spoke first.
“Horatio.” Mother spoke more coldly than I had ever heard. “Child, come here.”
I went to her and waited. I tried to hold her hand.
“Go inside.” She pushed me towards the house.
The man laughed. “Callily, do not tell me you are afraid for her? I should never harm that one.” He laughed again, and somehow the sound was not quite so pleasant. “Did you See her? Little Chaos, run along!”