“Are they paying you enough to find another place to stay?” I ask.
She nods, her fingers tightening around the fabric of her apron. Aurelia’s eyes shift around the room, unable to hold eye contact for long.
“You’re safe here now,” I reply calmly, reaching out and placing a hand over hers. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Really?” Aurelia finally meets my gaze.
“Yes.” I smile reassuringly. “He won’t find you here.”
She shakes her head, tears threatening to fall. “I don’t want to go back…”
I feel her agony in every fiber of my being. Margaret’s voice echoes in the back of my mind, tormenting me in my dreams.You are as untrained as an alley cat, she would say as I balanced a stack of books on my head and walked to fix my posture. If the books fell, she would make me start over.Fortunately, you have beauty; that wit of yours will get you nowhere.She often degraded me like this, leaving a permanent mark on my soul.Your handwriting is worse than your pianoforte; it is as if you strive to be inadequate, she scolded. Every cruel word is still engraved into my marrow. Margaret tore me down so many times over the years that I lost sight of who I am.
“I won’t let him.” I strengthen my resolve to keep the sisters safe.
“Thank you.” Aurelia inhales a shaky breath, her lashes slick with tears.
“I need your help, Aurelia.” I lower my voice, ensuring that no one can hear us in the hall.
“With what?”
“I’m new here at the castle,” I explain. “If you hear any gossip or anything suspicious floating around, please tell me. And before you do, I want you to use this phrase: ‘The birds are lovely today, Princess.’”
Aurelia’s eyes widen. “Why?”
“It’s so we can ensure no one is eavesdropping on us.”
Women are often overlooked by men of high status, disregarded. I know this from firsthand experience growing up in a castle full of lords and captains who spoke boldly, as if they had no regard for the privacy of information. Aurelia will be helpful for such a task. No one will hold their tongue around asimple kitchen girl. If I were more informed back home, I might have known of my father's plans to marry me off. I may have avoided it by speaking with him before his rash announcement.
I will not make the same mistake twice.
“I understand.” Aurelia nods.
“Very good.” I move towards the door. “Come find me if you need anything.”
Waving goodbye, Aurelia departs from my room. I will check up on her in a few days to ensure she is settling in and can find a safe place to keep Violet off the streets. I exit shortly after her, retracing my steps to the library. I do my best to slip by the guards unnoticed, cracking open the door and slinking inside.
The dim glow of candlelight from within welcomes me, and the familiar scent of old leather fills the air. I scan the space for others, but the library is so vast that it’s difficult to tell if it’s empty. Hoping the shadows will hide me long enough, I search for the history section.
My footsteps echo all too loudly, causing me to curse under my breath. I pull off my slippers and hold them as I walk barefoot. I pluck a book at random off the shelf, opening it to a detailed drawing of pox. Stifling a gag, I quickly close the book and return it to its place. This section is about medicine and disease. Turning the corner, I pick a different row to browse. I pluck a smaller book and open it. As I read, I notice a variety of Elvarran herbs and their uses. Not what I need. I slide the book back into place and continue my search at the back of the library.
A lone text on a stone dais catches my attention. The pages are half-filled with ink, the story seemingly incomplete, so I flip to the front of the book. There is an image of a woman clad in armor. Her long, pale blonde hair flows behind her as she ridesa horse into battle. Hundreds of arrows darken the sky, but the woman charges forward, flames erupting from her palms and devouring everything in her path.
Underneath the depiction, it reads: ‘Queen Isla Azur Izydor of Rykaris, the battle for Grimhold Crossing.’ My eyes widen, lips parting in silent shock as I reread the words once… then again… and again.
My mother.
I read on immediately, drinking in the words about my mother like holy water.
After suffering heavy casualties, Queen Isla Izydor rode into battle with a remaining fleet of 300 Elvarrans. The kingdom of Erynthe, which marched on the border, outnumbered the Elvarrans four to one. Isla’s magic reached unexplainable heights of fury, leading to the surrender and peace treaty offered by King Ulrik Roderick Valantis of Cathros to end the war. Due to her bravery, fifteen years of prosperity passed between the North and South.
Tears well at the edges of my eyes. Here is the truth of my mother’s past I was forbidden to learn. She was a queen who went to great lengths to protect her kingdom, even if it meant fighting until her last breath. I ache to know more, to hear the tales I was robbed of.
I cast so much suspicion on Wrath when he told me I was half-Elvarran, but it is true. Proof bleeds from the pages like an open wound. I must choose to patch it up or leave it to scar my already broken heart. This is a part of me that Ulrik hid, not Wrath. While I don’t trust him, I want to know more about Isla, so I need his help for now.
Returning the book to the dais, I continue my search on the shelves lining the library’s back wall. Rows upon rows of ancient tomes fill each shelf, my fingers trailing along the spines as I search for one name in particular: C. V. Bainbridge.
I spot an encyclopedia, its leather cover cracked with age.Dust clings to my fingertips as I pull the heavy volume free. The book slides out halfway and comes to a stop. I yank on it again, but it doesn’t release. The bookshelf beside me rumbles, and a passageway opens.
