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“And if her memories return?”
“Then we’ll be right here, monitoring her,” Endora reminded me. “Wouldn’t that be better than letting her go where you have no control over her at all? This is the best solution for everyone.”
She did, as usual, rouse a valid point. Something had brought the fae to my protected property, even if she couldn’t remember the details now. It would be good to know what, and this way, I would have a front-row seat to understanding the reason.
“All right,” I agreed. “She can act as Lacroix’s shadow, but she needs her own guards—constantly.”
Endora beamed happily, as if I’d gifted her a personal victory. “I’ll let her know.”
But before she could disappear, I yelled out, “And have her pick a name for herself! We’ll have to call her something, won’t we? I’m sure ‘the trespasser’ won’t bode well with her for very long.”
The enchantress’ smile broadened. “Yes, Alpha,” she replied in a singsong voice, and I whipped a hand towel at her as she disappeared in a puff of blue smoke.
Chapter4
Mirielle
Mirielle.
That was my name for now.
I couldn’t be sure where the name came from exactly, but it was the first one that popped into my head when the enchantress, Endora, approached me with the proposition of a lifetime—or so I assumed it was. Living in Silverhold Tower as an apprentice, doing a job which I was clearly quite adept at doing—what else could a fae aspire toward in life?
Maybe knowing my real name? Or where I’m from?
“But the king insists that you choose a name for yourself,” Endora informed me before any formal plans were made. “I think he finds it unnerving that we have no background on you at all.”
She looked at me meaningfully afterward, like I was suddenly going to announce I remembered everything, but I could only return her stare, shrugging my shoulders in my castle-issued hospital gown, the tattered remains of my clothing piled in the corner of the infirmary.
“Mirielle,” I offered, the moniker falling from my lips even before I could think of another one. Maybe I’d seen it somewhere, one of the nurse’s nametags or heard it in passing, but the enchantress didn’t seem familiar with the name when I said it.
Endora’s eyes widened with interest. “Is that your name?”
I pursed my lips and hung my head, the limp strands of red falling over my cheeks, dry now but lusterless, hanging at the curve of my breasts over the front of the blue and white print gown. “I’m not sure,” I answered honestly. “Maybe?”
“Don’t worry,” Endora told me with a chipper confidence. “I’ll enact some old memory spells, and we’ll get your mind back in no time. Meanwhile, you can train with Lacroix. He’s half-deaf, but charming when you get through the outer crust.”
If it’s that simple, why hasn’t she done it already?I mused, but I didn’t put it to a question.
I frowned at the revelation.
“Can’t you fix his hearing?” I asked slowly. “The healer who worked with me, Jorga—I was told she’s the best in Silverhold.”
At least I knew now that Silverhold was the kingdom in which I sat, one of four on the continent of Mystara. The information did little to jog my information passages, but at least I was learning more about my surroundings.
Endora snorted loudly and pushed herself off the wall where she had been lounging, her folded arms dropping as she approached me. “Lacroix prefers it this way. He likes not being able to hear. He can fully filter out who’s talking, he says. He really is a curmudgeon, but he’s got a lot to teach if you’re willing to learn. Like everyone else, he’s the best in the kingdom, if not the best in Mystara. He was a personal favorite of Malinda’s.”
“Malinda?” I echoed, my brow knitting more.
Endora balked, as if she’d said too much, but she answered my question, anyway.
“King Zen’s mother. Her pride and joy were the gardens. Do her proud. It will fare well with you in the king’s eyes.”
“I will do my best,” I vowed, and suddenly, the idea of being in the greenhouse exhilarated me.
That means something to me. It might trigger a memory once I’m in among the greenery.
For the first time since waking, I felt a sense of purpose, of near happiness.
