Whina and I took the prince’s clean laundry up to his suite of rooms. Along the way, I was introduced to the servant’s passageways, which snaked like a maze through the whole palace.
“They lead from every wing and hall into a complex system through the walls of the castles down into the bowels of it.” Whina explained when I shot her a questioning look. “The royals prefer us to be out of sight when not needed. Down there is where all the other slaves spend their time when not attending to their duties. Well, when they’re not in the city anyway. Their living quarters are there along with spaces to congregate during off hours. The laundry room we just came from is on the floor above.”
The passageways weren’t my favorite. Used to open skies, it felt a bit like being encased in a tomb. No windows, no light beyond the balls of fire that dotted torches lining the passageway. They might have been kept magically burning, but I couldn’t help picturing them going out, leaving me in perfect darkness. Chills rose, and I rubbed my arms as I tried to banish the image.
The passages didn’t even have the splotches of color the rest of the marble making up the palace had. No, these were pitch black, like the Fae didn’t want to waste the fancy marble on this area. Combined with the lower ceilings and narrower halls, less than half the size of the halls we’d passed through before, I couldn’t help feeling like it was closing in on me.
Whina looked over at me, seemingly to make sure that I was paying attention. I nodded my understanding and adjusted the basket I was carrying, trying to shake off my unease.
“Many spend their free time out in the city. As long as they don’t cause any trouble, the royals don’t care what they do. Even if they’re spending their time shaming themselves in brothels and gambling dens, using stolen money or trading favors.” Whina shook her head disdainfully.
I had never seen a city before now, so I’d only ever heard tall tales of such places from travelers visiting the vineyard, or village boys who’d never actually left, but liked to pretend they had. I could only imagine what one of those places was actually like.
A den of debauchery sounded like it might be fun, as long as I could choose what I did, and who I did it with. A night of wild fun with no consequences was definitely appealing. But if the Fae also attended, I very much doubted that would be the case. They took what they wanted and damn the mortals who disagreed.
The explanations from Whina continued, and my head was fit to burst with the constant influx of new information. “Food prep is done in the kitchens, which takes up a large portion of the back of the main floor. Because the halls frequently host lavish feasts, the kitchens must be close by. However, there are many passageways leading up to the different wings containing the castle’s inhabitants.”
Whina showed me all the ones leading back to the crown prince’s wing. It felt like running around in meaningless circles as she took me first down one, then the next, then the next—on and on. Just constant running through these endless black mazes, nothing to see until we exited to the main palace, where color finally came back into focus. This hall was even more outrageous than the rest—expensive ornamentations everywhere I looked.
Tapestries draped from every wall, showing scenes of Fae in all kinds of sexual positions. Some actually made me blush, and I cut my eyes over to the straight-laced Whina, nearly giggling when I saw her attempting to keep her eyes forward, and not on the tapestries. Some of the scenes, however, I noted for later, they’d be fun with the right partner.
We came to an intersection that had several ornate doors with gold trim, surrounded by gold and ruby sculptures lining the walls that I couldn’t help narrowing my eyes at. They were excessive to the point of being unpleasant to look at.
“This is the king and queen’s wing. The king’s rooms are through here—” She motioned to the left door, before turning to the right. “And the queen’s. Aside from the crown prince, the rest of the children are in the next wing I’ll show you.”
Shaking my head at the king and queen’s seeming lack of taste, I begrudgingly entered the bleak slave corridors once more. I found it curious that only Cyrus had his own wing. I wondered how his siblings felt about that.
“You’ll want to be careful among those assigned to the other princes and princesses. Even the ones you may be friendly with.” Whina warned me, raising her eyebrows pointedly.
“Why?” I furrowed my brows at the thought. Emmie is really the only person I know here, even if it’s not very well. Eris, even less so.
“Because only one can be crown prince, the chosen heir. The gods choose, but if an heir dies, it opens a spot for another.” Whina stopped in the hall and leaned down slightly as she spoke.
My eyebrows flew up at what she was insinuating, and she nodded gravely. “Yes. It hasn’t happened yet, but that’s because Prince Cyrus is much stronger than his siblings. They’re keeping an eye out for an opportunity though, I’m sure of it. The kingdoms have had siblings slaughter one another for a chance at a crown before.”
Whina shook her head, tsking at the thought of siblings slaughtering one another for a crown, before looking at me meaningfully. “They will use whatever they can to gain leverage on the prince, including you. They’ll send their slaves to find out information. You can’t trust any of them, even if you want to.”
Her warning was heard loud and clear, but I sighed miserably. Emmie was my only shot at an ally here. Eris was too abrasive and was also assigned to the princess. So that left me with no one to trust in addition to feeling hopelessly lost. That is if I could trust Whina’s words.
“Wait, they’re assigned to the princess. Doesn’t that mean I shouldn’t have to worry? It’s only males that get chosen as heir after all.” I asked Whina, hoping against hope for some good news.
She gave me a pitying look in return. “Oh, child. Just because it’s always been males chosen doesn’t mean the females aren’t all waiting for the day an exception occurs.”
My mouth fell open in shock. Did they really still hope for that? I was taught they’d long accepted the gods’ choice in the matter. I always thought it ridiculous. Women had just as much of a right to rule as any man, but none of my classmates had agreed.
“There’s nothing to say a female can’t be chosen,” Whina explained with a soft sigh. “It just hasn’t happened. There are all sorts of rumors as to why.”
“Like what?” I couldn’t help but ask. That seemed like something I would have heard. Even as remote as we’d been in Sonmathion.
Whina gave me a hard look, her lips firming into a harsh line. “Never you mind about rumors. It’s getting close to dinner time. I’ll show you what’s done and then I believe you will be taking dinner with the Crown Prince. You may want to consider your response to his offer.”
I wilted immediately, but then what she said truly registered. Dinner with the crown prince? What madness was this? Slaves didn’t have dinner with princes! I had no idea how to sit at a fancy table and eat with more utensils than any one meal could ever require. What did they even use all of those for anyway? Did the Fae compete to see who had the best forks?
Actually—maybe they did. They seemed to compete about everything.
I’d already decided not to give in to Cyrus. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. I didn’t imagine this dinner would go very well. Prince Cyrus seemed like he’d never been told no in his entire life—and especially not by a human.
This whole situation was a mess. I was way out of my depth, and I had no one to turn to. At least back in Sunrise, I’d had Soren. He wasn’t alwaysusefulwhen I vented, but he listened. If I could catch them during downtime, my parents were always willing to as well. But now, I had no one at all. I’d never felt so alone in my entire life. I’d always avoided connections to ensure I wouldn’t feel unnecessary pain when Placement Day came.
