Page 28 of A Fable of Riddles and Redemption

Before she could usher him out the door, he asked, “May I walk you home again?”

She scowled. “After this inquisition? Absolutely not. Go away, Herrick. You’ve served your purpose here.”

And with that, she all but shoved him out of the shop and locked the door behind him.

Huffing out a sigh, Herrick made his way back to the castle, his thoughts continuing to swirl around him.

Zorina

Zorina fumed as she finished tidying up the pottery shop for the morrow. How dare Herrick practically accuse her of lying? Granted, she hadn’t told him the entire truth, but she had been honest with him regarding the masked piper. Perhaps not forthright, but still honest. She couldn’t share all her secrets with the infuriating man, after all.

Her magic was one secret she refused to tell anyone—especially not a nosy guard who kept pestering her with unwanted questions.

Once she finished her work for the day, she waited another ten minutes to ensure Herrick was long gone before she left. When she opened the door to leave, she did so cautiously to verify that he was, in fact, gone.

Seeing no sign of him in the vicinity, Zorina exited the pottery shop and locked the door behind her. With a sigh of relief, she headed toward home.

As she approached the city border, Anala waited just on the other side of the barrier, chirping and bouncing with excitement.

Zorina laughed at the red panda’s antics, which lightened her burdened heart and mind. “I’m glad to see you, too,” she said with a smile.

Anala joined her once she passed through the barrier, climbing up her skirt and across her back until she nestled her face in the hair at Zorina’s neck. The sweet affection was exactly what Zorina needed.

“Missed me?” she asked with a laugh as she ruffled the soft fur on top of Anala’s head. The red panda chirped in affirmation. “I missed you, too. Let’s go home.”

With Anala snuggled up on her back and shoulder, Zorina traversed her way through the woods to her vine-covered home. She made a simple dinner of bread and cheese with a side of fresh fruit. It was nothing like the fancy meals she’d enjoyed as a merchant-turned-nobleman’s daughter, but it met her needs nonetheless.

Part of her missed those elaborate dinners, but she enjoyed her freedom from her overbearing mother far more. Her father, however, was another story, and her heart ached at the thought of him. If only she could have remained at his side. But no—in her naïveté, she had followed her mother’s counsel, and she deserved to pay the price for it.

Admittedly, not even her mother had told her to commit the worst of her crimes. Even though Zorina hadn’t realized what that particular spell would do to Princess Odette, and the princess had graciously forgiven her, guilt still wracked her conscience after all this time. How could it not when her magic had nearly taken the life of another?

The fact that Zorina was given her freedom was far more generous than she deserved.

Her mother, on the other hand, had not been pardoned, and still remained locked in a dungeon somewhere. Treason was apparently a far greater crime than almost murder.

As she ruminated on her less-than-pleasant past, the wisp of a song whispered on the wind. She listened for more, though the music only remained a faint hint of a melody. It was too far away to discern properly, but what little she could hear was beautiful.

Was it Caliban?

It sounded like it could be a flute…

Zorina furrowed her brow. Who was that masked man? Was his name truly Caliban as he’d claimed?

Her stomach clenched with dread as a horrific thought struck. Could this Caliban be the man Mother conspired with in her failed attempt to put me on Caledonia’s throne?

Both men were tall and wore black hooded cloaks. Their voices had sounded different, but voices could be disguised.

But the man she and her mother had met in the garden had not worn a mask.

Yet…that could also be part of a disguise.

Desperately, Zorina hoped he was not the same man. Even worse, however, was the chance that they were two separate men working together as allies.

She shuddered. If either possibility were true, she was far from safe.

Herrick

Herrick was extra cranky the next morning at breakfast. After being so thoroughly dismissed by Zorina after he’d thought they’d come to some sort of truce, his mood was far from cheery.