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I only breathed easier when I saw Calliver in front of the infirmary doors, standing guard upon our approach. He nodded as Endora swept by him, the enchantress winking at him bewitchingly.
“Hello, handsome,” she purred.
I rolled my eyes heavenward. I wished she wouldn’t flirt with all the staff indiscriminately. Male, female, warlock, witch, fae—Endora was the most pansexual creature I’d ever encountered in my life, and normally, it was just a minor annoyance. Today, however, she was stressing me out. I needed her full focus, not doing a half-assed job.
“Endora!”
“I’m going,” she grumbled, waving her hand dismissively at me, and I had half a mind to tell her not to seduce the trespasser, but the enchantress was gone before I could utter the words.
I remained outside and spoke to Calliver.
“Did the fae say anything on the way back?” I asked.
Calliver shrugged and shook his head. “No. Landon tried asking her some questions, but she clammed up quickly.”
“Hmm.” I was tempted to look around the corner and check in on the fae’s status, but I held back while Endora did her work. “Which healer is with her?”
“Jorga.”
She would have been my first pick. She was the best healer in the castle, in my opinion. Gauging the coherency with which the trespasser spoke and under the healers’ care, I was sure she would be fixed by day’s end.
I nodded, suddenly unsure of what to do with myself. I realized I was still in my transitional clothes. Oddly, I didn’t want the nameless fae to see me in such a casual, unflattering outfit. The unexpected thought surprised me, but I couldn’t get it out of my head suddenly.
“Tell Endora to text me if I’m not in my quarters when she’s done,” I ordered Calliver. “And you can inform Landon I’ve returned.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
I withdrew toward the third-floor suites where only the royal family resided. Once, each of us had our own wing. Now only Cyndella and I occupied the east and west wings of the castle’s third floor, the north and south empty but for the daily cleanings that took place at my insistence. One day, perhaps, my children or Cyndella’s would occupy the wings again, but for the moment, they remained silent save for the ghosts of our parents and ancestors before.
Once upon a time, Silverhold Tower had been a fortress of brick and mortar, formidable to withstand attacks with its lake-sized moat and double-drawbridge entryways. The original castle had boasted four identical turrets on each corner and its own beacon tower on the roof, but modern amenities and common sense had made much more attractive upgrades to the building.
While we all still referred to the place as “the castle,” it was more as a generational colloquialism than a reality.
Chateau or palace was more fitting, although the bare bones of the structure were still evident in a lot of the building. Gone were the ancient stone walls, and heated, marble floors replaced most of the splintered boards that had once borne the brunt of the army’s boots. Some parts of the castle still held some semblance of the old history. Endora’s chambers, for example, probably hadn’t changed in two hundred years, despite my constant offers of an upgrade. I had been told that enchantresses were always strange in their own ways, and mine was no different.
My rooms were as enhanced as anywhere else. Three rooms had been combined into one, only archways to separate the sitting room and dressing room from the main room. The ensuite bathroom had its own door, of course, but the rest of the suite was mostly open, allowing me to walk freely through.
Landon was already standing outside my door when I arrived, a look of relief on his face to see that I hadn’t circumvented his guard again. The memory of my earlier game with them felt foolish now.
“Alpha,” he greeted me with a nod.
Not in the mood for idle conversation, I got to the point. “I understand you spoke with the trespasser?”
Landon tensed slightly, but his face remained stoic. “Very little, Alpha. She didn’t have much to say.”
“Do you recognize her? From Catalonia or the castle?”
“No, Alpha. I would remember someone like her.”
My eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why is that?”
Landon paled and pinkened simultaneously somehow, dropping his head. “I just meant… she’s… I mean…”
I continued to stare at him, ensuring that he knew I was not impressed with his response.
“She has a memorable face?” he sputtered.
Grunting, I pushed my way inside the suite. “Let Endora in if she happens to come up before I’m done.”
