He bends his neck to sniff one of her leather boots. They are the ones she wore through the portal and her only pair of shoes. We must remember to visit the cobbler after the dressmaker.
I mount Borus, and we take off easily from the stables. She acclimates to the saddle as if she was born in it, but then, Eloise has proven her resilience and adaptability often over the last months. Guilt crushes me in its too-tight grip at the memories. Eloise deserves to be rewarded for what she did for me. She deserves the title of princess that I promised her. Instead, for seven days, Eloise has smiled and navigated life in the castle wearing the ill-fitting dresses that Nevina loaned her and the shoes she arrived in. For seven days, she’s dodged Nevina’s constant prodding and invasive questions. For seven days, she’s eaten food she doesn’t need to eat in order to be a polite guest for our host and spent her days reading on a concrete bench in the garden, hiding from a woman who is far too interested in her every move.
I hate that, once again, I’ve required too much of her. Worse, with her magic still not under her control, she’s had to suffer it all while grieving the loss of the connection she once had with her family. I don’t know what happened for her to lose her magic. I don’t know if she’ll ever get it back. I don’t know how to help her.
Eloise’s beast breaks into a prance, and I nudge Borus to keep up. “See? He likes you,” I say. “Romulus is practically dancing for you.”
“Romulus’s dance is doing a good job of leaving bruises where only you should.” She laughs.
I reach over and help her pull the beast back into a walk. “Better?”
She nods. “Does everyone here travel on these? No cars or buses? No trains?”
“Short distances, we travel by shadow, of course. But when the amount we must transport prohibits it, we use rabble beasts. Royals will often have them pull carriages, but no, we’ve never developed automation as humans have. We have tools but not technology. We haven’t needed it.”
“No one needs a dishwasher or a microwave?”
I shrug. “We use shadow magic. Besides, I learned during my time on Earth that technology interferes with what I am.”
“Was that why the lights would flicker or go out before you arrived in my parlor?”
I give a low growl. “You will never understand how uncomfortable it is to pass through a wall carrying currents of electricity. I don’t know how you humans stand the constant buzz.”
She laughs. “I never knew it annoyed you so much.”
“I grew used to it.” Who am I kidding? I would have suffered ceaseless electric light to be with her, but then, she knows as much. Just as I know the sacrifices to her comfort she made for me. “It’s better here for us now, I think.”
She’s silent for a moment. She doesn’t look directly at me as she says, “I miss Maeve, and I miss the connection I had with Harcourt and my ancestors. There’s an emptiness inside me now, a hole like I’ve lost a piece of myself along with my magic. I’m happy to be here, but I pray I find a way to reconnect with what I’ve lost.”
A dark pit forms in the general region of my heart. I suspected it was harder for her than she was letting on, but now I see she’s been hiding a growing level of despair. “I had hoped you needed only to adjust and regain your strength, but perhaps it is something more. If your abilities don’t return soon, we will travel to Dimhollow and ask the witches for help.”
Immediately, I see her perk in the saddle. “You’ll introduce me to Aurora?”
“If she’s still alive, yes. I am certain her coven will help us if she is not.”
“Witches are mortal?”
“They are, and I’ve been gone a long time. Very powerful witches can slow their aging to a crawl, and Aurora was an extremely powerful witch. It’s possible that she’s still among her people.”
I see her smiling to herself as we ride on. I’ve pleased her. Nothing will stop me from getting her the help she needs.
“So, tell me about where we’re going?” she asks. “And why do I feel like you made an intentional effort to avoid Brahm and Nevina on our way out?”
I sigh. This is where things get tricky. I haven’t told her about my interaction with Tempest, and I hope I never have to. What Eloise needs most is calm and rest. She needs to focus on herself and reconnecting with her magic. I don’t want her worrying about the kingdom or politics. “I thought it was best that Brahm and Nevina not know where we’re going.”
“Do you think that’s wise? I get the sense they don’t exactly trust us. I’ve had to hide in the garden to avoid her. She’s been glued to my side all week.”
“Brahm did the same with me.”
“If they catch us sneaking around?—”
“We’re not sneaking around. We’re reacquainting ourselves with the kingdom. I wrote a note detailing our plans as such this morning and gave it to one of the servants to deliver to Brahm later today when he had a free moment. By the time he reads it, we’ll already be in Bolvet Village, but he can never say I didn’t inform him of our whereabouts.”
She bites her lip. “I don’t know how close you were with your brother before, but I don’t think it’s a giant leap to assume that he and his new wife might feel threatened by us. You are the true heir to the kingdom.”
“I am heir to a kingdom that no longer exists.”
“Still, you must acknowledge that it’s possible they see you as a potential threat. I don’t believe for a minute that the only work Brahm could find for you was in the stables. He’s sending a message. Maybe we should be more intentional about our response. Not give them a reason to distrust us.”
