My mouth is dry, and my eyelids feel gritty as I finally come to enough to realize that I’ve never slept on anything warm and soft my entire time here at the ludere. That’s enough to send bolts of alarm zinging through my mind, and I open my eyes and sit up with a gasp.
Am I dead?
My head spins and I jerk away from a figure that rises from a cushy wingback chair in the corner of an unfamiliar room.
“It’s okay, Auset. You’re safe,” the female reassures me, her arms out in front of her as though she’s hoping to calm the wild animal in me.
“Safe?” I croak, the word tasting strange on my stale tongue.
I look around, keeping the woman in my line of sight as I try to absorb where I am.
The orange-brown of the sandstone walls and floors I’ve known since I can remember, are missing. In their place are deep gray rock walls and rich umber-hued wood for floors. The fairy light that floats in the sconces all around the room has a purple hue to it instead of the yellow tone I’ve looked at my entire time in Tilleo’s stronghold. A chill runs up my arms as a thick fur pools at my waist, and I realize the air here is heavy and cold and completely different from the arid desert atmosphere I’m used to.
“Where am I?” I demand, my voice parched and panicked as I scoot further back in the massive bed until my back hits the cold wood of an elaborately carved headboard.
A large tunic envelops me, the material thick and fluffy and distracting, but I ignore all the confusion and questions swarming inside of me and watch the tall female as she reaches for a silver pitcher and the matching cup that’s sitting on the bedside table. She offers me a warm smile and the cup of water she just poured, but I stay pressed against the vines that are carved into the wood at my back.
“They’re going to be upset that they listened to me,” she answers cryptically, tilting the cup of water closer in encouragement. “I just convinced them to go clean up and rest. I should have known you’d choose that time to wake up,” she teases, as though we know each other well enough to laugh about something like this.
Her face scrunches up in a way that tells me she smiles a lot and finds joy in her day-to-day life. Her azure blue eyes are soft and comforting, her gray dress drab and made of a thick material I’ve never seen before. Her hair is the same color as her dress, which I realize is the same color as the stone walls, but she has thick white streaks that add a bright dimension that makes her look lovely instead of worn. The rosy hue in her cheeks speaks of good health as does the lean muscle I can just make out under the thick layers of her simple floor-length dress.
I don’t know what to make of her, but she looks entirely too disarming to be trusted. I tense, hoping my legs will support the sprint I’m about to make for the door, but she shakes her head, her kind blue eyes filling with a knowing glint that gives me pause.
“I know you’re scared, Auset, but I promise you’re safe here. Nothing bad is going to happen.”
I’m already shoring up my defenses with wary mistrust before she can finish that sentence. With a resigned look on her face, she unsheathes a long knife from the belt that’s synching her waist. With comfortable and practiced movements, she flips the weapon until the hilt is facing me, and it’s as though she’s just pushed back a cloak to reveal the seasoned warrior hiding beneath her amiable surface. She stretches out her arm, offering me the small dagger, and I snap it out of her hand like a striking snake. She gives me an even wider smile.
“My name is Eacon. I help run the orphanage in the village,” she explains, and my brow furrows with bewilderment.
Why am I in an orphanage?
What village?
As though Eacon can see the questions written all over my face, she laughs softly. “You’re in the castle of Scorpions, my dear. The Order brought you back with them, which I must say was a very pleasant surprise,” she tells me, her benevolent mien warming even more. “You’ve been asleep for three days, and according to the Scorpions, for the two-day journey before that. You’ve been through a lot.”
She studies me in a way that makes me think that the last part wasn’t just about my unconscious travels here.
“Are you not a Scorpion too?” I query, getting the impression that she isn’t, but I never did find out how many members of the Order there are.
She laughs quietly, the question apparently more amusing than I intended it to be. “No, there are only three members of the Order of Scorpions…for now,” she answers somewhat cryptically.
Her revelation surprises me. That can’t be right, but my thoughts are a chaotic whir, and all I can seem to absorb are my strange surroundings. Closed floor-to-ceiling drapes the color of early morning mist cover what I think are evenly spaced windows in the wall opposite the bed. There’s a round table and two matching chairs to the left of me, and a huge fireplace tall enough for a fae to walk right into on the right rock wall. I suspect a closed door over Eacon’s right shoulder leads out into the rest of the Scorpions’ castle, while a darkened entryway to her left probably leads to a bathing chamber if this castle is as opulent as it seems to be at a glance.
I stare, hesitant and unsure, as I catalog everything, and then it hits me…I’m not at the ludere anymore.My gaze bounces around the room once more as though I need everything I see to ground me in reality. I’m not surrounded by sand, and heat, and masters. Somehow I got away.
I pull in a deep shocked gasp and press my palm to my lips. Each beat that passes feels like it pushes against the boulder of captivity and subjection that’s been crushing me for as long as I can remember. The brutal weight of it all teeters and tips until the gray rock walls and the cold air of my new surroundings pull me from the onerous force that’s been bearing down on me for too long. My heart gallops as reality catches up with my drowsy mind. I reach down to clutch the fur throw to my chest, desperate for some semblance of comfort and reassurance as everything sinks in. My eyes prick with tears, and my mind snaps momentarily from worry to relief to trepidation like a pixie that can’t make up its mind where to land.
I made it out.
I don’t know what I’ve made it out to, but I did, and that’s enough right now. I blink back tears that threaten to spill over onto my cheeks, and pull ragged breaths into my chest. Eacon moves a step closer, her arm still outstretched and offering me the cup of water. Shakily, I reach up and take it, swallowing down the cold liquid like it’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted. When it empties too quickly, she takes it back from me, fills it up again, and gently returns it to my palm. I sip slower and try to get a hold of my frenzied emotions. I’m not in the ludere. I’m not in the Corozean desert. But I’m not free either. I’ve been bought by the Order of Scorpions, and I have no idea what that means for me.
Eacon watches me thoughtfully, and just when I think she’s going to start asking a bunch of questions I doubt I have the answers to, she steps away from the bed and starts to pull the tall drapes open across from me. I balk as she goes, staring out at an endless expanse of slate blue water. The sky is saturated with moody dark clouds, and I smell rain on the salty breeze that slips through the glass pane Eacon just opened. I can’t tell what time of day it is, the lack of sun and the unfamiliar setting make it impossible to gauge if it’s early morning, afternoon, or if the day is about to succumb to night’s claim.
There’s a large balcony that a set of glass doors leads out to. The tall windows on each side are framed by deep ledges wide enough to sit on. It’s so different and strange from anything I’ve ever seen; I don’t even know how to process it. Knife still gripped protectively in one hand, I’m out of the bed before I even realize what I’m doing. I touch my fingertips to the clear glass of one of the massive windows and marvel at how it looks as though we could drop into the cresting waves below at any moment. It’s beautiful and alien and terrifying all at the same time.
“The castle is set on the Verdyn peninsula,” Eacon explains, as though I should know where that is. “The village is on the other side of the Tinisk forest. It’s not a large establishment, but we get or make everything we need,” she continues conversationally. “The Scorpions have a small circle of trust, and many of the villagers don’t know that they’re anything more than privileged fae who’ve been given this land to watch over and govern. I ask that you keep that in mind as you find your place here. That you protect them like they will protect you, Auset,” she states, leveling me with a steady, unwavering look. “Don’t do anything that might put the Order in danger. If you do, you’ll have more than them to answer to,” she continues casually.
I say nothing as I watch her once again start to fuss about the room, pulling more drapes open on each side of the gargantuan bed before then straightening the wrinkled and tangled bedding I left behind. She doesn’t seem to expect a response to her clear warning, which is good because I’m not sure what to do or say in answer to it. I’m utterly out of my depth right now, and my mind is a jumble of confusion and wariness.
