In the highest degree.
So I lounged in my giant armchair, welcoming the familiar soreness of fruitless work. And wrote.
Her tongue tasted like beginnings and ends, and I was stuck in the in-between.
There once was a girl who loved another girl with stars in her eyes and nighttime in her hair.
What the hells was wrong with me? I ripped the page so hard that three more pages tore along with it. I swore loudly, rousing Edge from his reading and Warty from his nibbling. They stared at me unblinkingly and then resumed their mutual morning routine. Luckily, there was an entire shelf full of journals and blank paper—plenty of future kindling.
A knock came from the bottom of the stairs. Hesper’s way of giving me privacy. She had taken up residence in the mushroom bedroom in the end. The library was all mine. But there was no door, so we agreed she wouldn’t cross the first step without me knowing first.
“What?” I called down grumpily.
“We need to go into town today,” she said curtly.
“Why?”
“Because we’ve been holed up at this cottage and we need to get out.”
“No,youneed to get out.Ihave work to do.”
“You either come with me willingly, or I carry you into town, Clara,” she replied coolly.
“I’d like to see you try.” I set my feet firmly on the floor, hoping the stomp said enough about how exactly I would be spending my day. I didn’t even hear her come up the stairs,but suddenly, she was in front of me, wagging her finger in my face and shooing at me to get out of the chair. I hit her hand away.
“I’m not going into town today.” I stood up to look her in the eyes. My nightdress was falling off my shoulders, skirting the tops of my breasts. She didn’t seem to care.
“Yes, you are going into town,” she threatened.
I balked at her tone. Hesper might vex me daily, but she still maintained a modicum of warmth. Today was different. She was different.
“Why are you acting like this? You know I have work to do, a garden to grow, a town to save, and we are already ten days in. Do you remember how little time we have? Or have you conveniently forgotten that?” I said impetuously, stalking up to her. Even with sunlight beginning to pour into the room, shadows bathed her.
She came right up to me, pressing her nose down onto mine.
“You’re going into town with me today, princess. Suck it up.”
“No!” I shouted.
“Yes,” she said in a low whisper.
My heart lurched in my chest. What a traitor.
I attempted to argue more, but Hesper was too close, her breath on my mouth. My thoughts were erratic, my heart more so.
She gently swiped my hair off my shoulders and tugged me in closer by my neck. I swallowed a whimper at the gesture. She leaned down to my ear, her nearness igniting me.
“We are going whether you like it or not. You’re not the only one who can take control,” she rasped.
I shoved her hard, but she didn’t budge an inch. She expectedan onslaught, and she was as unmovable as the cottage itself. Then, she hoisted me over her shoulder like a rag doll. I beat on her back, but it did nothing at all.
“Are you just going to sit there and do nothing?” I called to Edge and Warty. They both looked entirely unbothered by the whole scene.
“This is none of our business, My Lady,” Edge said, his elegant head turned down toward his book. What an almighty coward.
I screamed and kicked and bucked the entire way down the stairs, but Hesper kept on going.
“You can fight all you want, Clara, but you’re not winning this one,” she seethed, her grip on me hardening. “I’m done wasting my time with you.”
