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“Slyth, thanks for all of this.”
“Don’t mention it. Get a good night’s rest.”
He exits, leaving me with the first token of hope that this plan may actually just work. I read through the book for a while after that, fueled by the thought of overcoming the tyrant Vippera.
11
AURORA
It has been two days since I was brought to the royal castle, along with the other humans from my village. My night was restless, to say the least.
The room I was assigned to is small and sparsely decorated. But I suppose I should be grateful that I have a room at all, and that I was not left in the cell of the dungeon.
Waking up in this room this morning felt like a nightmare, but there is no time to think too hard and too long about it.
It isn’t even dawn when a human servant, who has clearly been working for the naga royals for a long time, comes to find me.
“Your tasks for the day await you,” she says curtly and I follow her tiredly.
I am taken to a changing room for the servants, where I am forced to change into gray clothing.
“You are to clean these toilets, here and here.” The servant, who is named Maria, points at a colorful map of the royal castle. “And then change into your serving clothes for lunch, because you will be serving lunch to the King and Queen.”
I nod, and my throat goes dry as a surge of anxiety washes over me.
You’ll be okay. You have always been okay, and you’ll continue to be okay.
I speak to myself as if I am trying to reassure a child. It doesn’t work very well.
I take a broom and a mop and walk to the toilets on the third floor of the enormous castle.
At least you have your lessons with Slyth to look forward to later,I tell myself as I start scrubbing toilets.
My mood lifts slightly at the thought of learning how to use my magic, but it is tempered by more anxiety and confusion.
Why in the name of Lodra is the Prince himself trying to help me? Why is a naga trying to help a lowly human?
The questions bother me as I rush through each toilet. I am as thorough as I can possibly be while working as quickly as possible.
Because not only do I need to prepare for a lesson with Slyth, I also need to avoid Vippera.
I cannot get too close to her, in case she senses my magic. Because if she does sense my magic, that will be the end of me.
It has been twenty-three years since my birth and my mother’s death.
Twenty-three years since my magic sparked to life inside me.
Sometimes I cannot believe that this is my life. Sometimes I cannot believe that I am a human with magic.
Sometimes I cannot believe that I have managed to hide my magic this long.
I only wonder how long I’ll be able to maintain the lie. I don’t think it’ll be very long. If the Prince has already figured me out, then Vippera will soon realize what I am.
And then there will be nothing left of me.
* * *
I go backto my room after serving lunch to the King and Queen. Luckily, Vippera does not eat lunch with her future in-laws.
