With a single pull of the thick ribbon, my hair cascaded down my back in soft waves, reaching my hips. I immersedmyself in the trough, dark locks and all. It always felt freeing. The silence of it.
Cinnamon came snooping, nuzzling her nose against my wet cheek. I giggled.
Braiding my hair was a task in itself. But there was no such thing as a rest day for a servant. So bound hair and lifted sleeves it was. I cursed beneath my breath at the mess I’d made, touching the wet clothes I was hanging against my underdress. I could see my skin right through the damp fabric. I only shrugged. Everything around here dried quickly anyway.
Cinnamon settled herself in the middle of the stable and I approached, blanket and book in one hand, snacks and water in the other.
“Now, my dear Cinnamon, how about we find out if Frodrick was indeed telling the truth?”
I plopped next to my sweet girl and rested my back on her side, nuzzling my head against her neck. I cleared my throat. Then I read to her, reciting the words.
“It wasIwho was at fault, my beloved. Please, I cannot live another day knowing that you feel no love towards me. My heart beats for you. Will you ever forgive me, my sweetheart?”My left hand was stretched out before me when I emphasised the wordsmy sweetheart.
“You do realise she cannot understand you, right?” a familiar voice said.
No.No. NO!
I jolted upright, clutching the book against my chest. The word “shit” left my mouth and I twisted myself around, only to find Lord Aegir Hailin standing before me. My fluttering heart threatened to leave my chest.
And why was it today that my underdress had not yet dried?
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice coming out as sharp as a blade. His eyes slowly traced the whole length of me, starting from my toes.
“Well, I could ask you the same thing.”
“You shouldn’t be here…Why are you here?”
“If you insist I tell you, when we came back from the south, I scented almond soap and horses, and that reminded me of someone. When the young one brought my lunch, she told me that you were visiting your great-aunt. That wasverysuspicious.” His gaze fell on Cinnamon, then on the blanket. He let out a few tsks, his lips curling at the sides. “And what do we have here, hmm? Let’s see…forbidden fruit.” He looked my way. “Ouch.” Then he set his eyes on the blanket once more. “It pains me, you know? You refused even a tiny bite from my peach, yet here you are eating—oh my—are those? Are those the same sweets from last week’s little incident?” His eyes met mine before he drawled, “Careful not to cut your tongue.”
I helplessly watched as he glanced at the other stalls, the towers of books, the hanging clothes, the water trough, still full and soapy. He even saw the torn strips of cloth, sticky with honey wax and dotted with the hairs I’d just pulled out.
He saw too much of me—both literally and figuratively. But there was no room for embarrassment.
“I…please, you mustn’t tell anyone you saw me here.” I aimed for an assertive tone, but it came out as a beg.
“Secrets. Secrets, secrets, secrets. What else do we have, hmm? You hide the skill of mending clothes, that’s our little secret number one. You have a secret mare, which you visit instead of visiting your great-aunt, and you are indulging yourself with ‘royal food.’ You have made yourself a bathing chamber, a laundry, and what appears to be a library. Oh, I almost forgot, you also have a very filthy mouth. Tsk, tsk, tsk.I wonder what other dirty little secrets you must be hiding, Cordelia.”
I shook my head, my brow furrowed. “You mustn’t tell anyone about this place, please, do not remind them of it. No one else knows about her. If you talk, I’ll know it was you.”
“Is that a threat?”
My grip on the book tightened. “Threat? No. I—it’s just…I don’t care if you tell them that I stole the food, or—or that I don’t really have any family, but please, you mustn’t tell anyone about her. They—they’ll kill her.” The way his eyes studied me had me shun mine.
“Her leg, I assume?” he asked, turning his attention to Cinnamon.
I nodded. “Torn ligament. Her pain comes and goes.”
I wasn’t sure if his eyes softened, but that didn’t make much of a difference. The hairs on the back of my neck still rose and my heart thundered as I watched him pace towards her, then kneel at her side.
“What is this place anyway?”
“It…it’s one of the prince’s stables, Prince Semuel. I used to work for him. When he left, he asked for it to remain untouched and was since then forgotten. I hide her here.”
“The prince asked for it not to be touched, yet you have touched it, a lot. You made it your little hiding place.”
“He—he told me I could still come here whenever I wanted to.”
Aegir moved his hand along the column of Cinnamon’s neck. “Hmm…interesting.”
