So thiswasto be my prison cell.
“What were you saying about my arrival? Something about breaching something?” I asked Betsee.
Betsee’s flush deepened, and she shook her head. “I’m sorry, my lady, but I cannot tell you. However, I believe you’ll be having a visitor in the morning who will be able to reveal more information. But for now, I’m to ready you for bed and provide you with any refreshments you may enjoy before you retire for the night.”
Kole positioned himself by the door, his huge sword rising from his back, which looked as menacing as a razor.
“Do theauthoritiesof this place,” he said cryptically to Betsee, “know that I’ll be stepping away for the night?”
Betsee nodded emphatically. “Yes, they do, and I’ve been told that you may go. I’ve sealed the chambers, and guards will be positioned outside the door, so she’ll be safe until the morning.”
“Authorities?” I frowned at the warrior.
He gazed down at me, his eyes blazing even more despite his expression remaining entirely blank. Hisvery-Kolemask was firmly back in place.
I tried not to react to the alluring planes and angles of his face, but my heart began to thump, and that stupidthingin my chest once again yearned.
The warrior inhaled. “I have to go,” he said gruffly. “But I’ll be back in the morning.”
Genuine shock billowed through me. “Why would you be returning? Isn’t your job done here?”
“Not even close.” With that, he disappeared in a wink of mistphasing magic.
The air swirled around where he’d vanished, and I was left reeling at his cryptic response.
Betsee, however, squealed. “Stars!” She slapped a hand to her chest. “I’d been told he could do that, but I’ve never seen anyone mistphase in real life before. How unsettling.” She shuddered, but then she clapped her many hands together. “Anyway, where were we? Ah yes, we need to choose your sleeping attire and then order whatever you may like to eat.”
The servant busied herself in the room, but I barely heard half of her cheerful ramblings. I was still staring at the air where Kole had once stood.
Kole was gone, and he’d taken the Wishing Stone with him, which meant my uncle was inevitably doomed to whatever terrible fate awaited him.
Betsee insistedthat she draw a bath for me, so I changed out of my clothes into a robe, but when I began to fold my pants, something fell from the pocket. It landed with a sharp ring on the bathing chambers’ floor, and Betsee picked it up.
“What’s this?” She held up Kole’s tracking charm, pinched between her fingers. It was opaque green and the size of a marble.
I froze. Kole had given that to me so he could find me anywhere in the realm. I’d taken it gladly, convinced I could trust him completely.
How wrong I’d been.
“It’s nothing.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness from my tone. “You can throw it away if you want. It’s no longer important.”
She shrugged and tossed it into the trash.
Somehow, not long later, I was standing before the bed in soft nightclothes that had been pulled from the wardrobe that curiously held several pieces of clothing all in my size. Mystomach felt empty, but even though Betsee had wanted to ring for food and I hadn’t eaten in hours, I’d insisted that I wasn’t hungry.
“I’ll turn down the bed for you.” Betsee’s numerous arms all reached out, moving at once in precise and coordinated movements that had the bed ready in my next breath.
“May I ask how long you’ve worked here?” I climbed onto the bed, trying to make an effort in conversation since Betsee had been nothing but kind to me, and so far, I’d been entirely sullen.
“Twenty full seasons, my lady.” She fluffed the covers around me.
“Why do you keep calling memy lady?”
“Because I was instructed to.”
“By who?”
She opened her mouth, but then her cheeks flushed. “Oh dear, you’re quite good, but I can’t reveal that.”
