“Piper,” Cambria responds icily.
The woman glides down the steps, coming to a stop a decent distance away. “How’s flying the coop working out for you, little bird?”
Despite the way her words beg me to hang on them, I step closer to Cambria. She gently brushes her hand over the mark on mine, subtly slipping ear plugs into my hand. As soon as I slide them in place, it’s like a fog starts to lift from my mind and I can breathe easier.
“Quite lovely, in fact,” Cambria responds regally.
She begins to walk towards the steps and my eyes narrow on the step back Piper takes before catching herself, moving to the side and bowing with a mock flourish, as if being so gracious to allow us to pass.
“Yet here you are,” she goads, rising to her full height.
“Yet here I am,” Cambria agrees. “Look your fill, Piper, but they aren’t your toys.”
Her voice sounds stronger, as if keeping us safe in the place of her nightmares is enough to chase away the shadows threatening to pull her back into the mindset of a victim. I doubt it will last the entire evening, especially when she comes face to face with her parents, but I’ll take anything I can get right now. It kills me to see her miserable and suffering. I just want her to realize how amazing she actually is and that she doesn’t need to continue to put up with everyone’s bullshit.
“We’ll see about that, baby bird,” Piper states ominously as the four of us and our guards enter the castle foyer.
They lead the way through a labyrinth of halls before depositing us in a huge ballroom with a single, long table in the center. Two guards break off and stand post at the exit on the far side of the room that leads outside while two more flank the doors we just entered.
“So we’re expected to wait here under watch until dinner, I surmise?” Lucien asks, fitting into this atmosphere better than Atlas or I do to all of his business dinners and events.
Cambria casually walks towards one of the walls, gazing up at the high windows that stream sunlight in at the perfect angle to hit the chandeliers, sending rainbows dancing around the room.
“Yep. Sit still, head down, silent unless spoken to,” she rattles off, sounding detached.
Atlas barely suppresses a growl, but Lucien places a firm hand on his shoulder with a nod towards the guards watching our every move. Atlas shrugs him off with a sigh, running a hand through his dark hair.
“How long until dinner?” he asks.
Cambria shrugs, still not looking at any of us. “Whenever mother’s ready for it, which could very easily be breakfast tomorrow.”
I regret all of the years I’ve spent drooling over the idea that something like this could happen to me, instead wishing I’d spent the time researching how to free a fae from her tether to her world. I just want to drag Cambria across the ring, torch it, and live out our lives where these people can’t hurt her anymore.
“Then we wait.” She tosses me a look over her shoulder and I shrug. “It is what it is. Waiting isn’t so bad. I waited for you my entire life, after all.”
She snorts, ruining the ladylike persona she’s trying so hard to fall into. “You’re a dork.”
Atlas bumps her shoulder. “But he’sourdork.”
Cambria smiles softly and folds her hands behind her back as she goes back to walking the perimeter of the room, running her fingers over mine and Atlas’ marks in a nervous tick to keep herself calm. She’s like a caged bird, quietly searching for an exit without giving herself away so that she can make a break for it as soon as she gets the chance, before anyone knows what hit them.
“So who was that woman? Piper.” Lucien asks, leaning against a wall.
Cambria’s eyes narrow. “My hoe-bag cousin. Don’t think I didn’t see how you were drooling over her. The pied Piper offers to blow your whistle and you’re ready to do her bidding?” She waves a hand in mock apology. “Sorry, sorry. Blowsherflute. I always get that story twisted.”
A warning sounds from one of the guard’s clearing throat and she dials back the venom, catching herself. They have her so conditioned not to appear threatening in the slightest, I’m not sure if she even consciously chose to reword before continuing.
“Piper is pretty talented with compulsion, so mind yourselves around her, okay?” she back tracks. “And she can sleep with whoever she wants, I was just being petty.”
Lucien smirks. “You’re jealous?”
Cambria narrows her eyes at him again. “Should I be?”
“Mind your temper, Ms. Lark,” the same guard warns and she deflates.
She takes her seat at the table and we flank her; Lucien on her left, me on her right, and Atlas beside me. She’s falling back into a pattern and I run ideas through my head as to how we can use that if need be. Someone here makes her sad, we distract her. Guard corrects her behavior, she’s thrust back into the same little girl that grew up here. But as soon as she gets caught up in conversation with the three of us, she forgets where she’s at, falling back into the sarcastic, mouthy girl we know and love.
I won’t let this place kill everything she’s worked so hard to revive.
