AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I scoffed, leaning my head back against the warm leather of the armchair. “I am no princess here.”
Drusilla began on the other boot and smiled. “If you insist, Elara. I’d be glad to call you by your name.”
The second boot hurt as much, if not more, than the first, and tears bit at my eyes as it was eased from my calf. I looked down at my feet, encased now in filthy woolen socks. I had been wearing those boots and those fucking itchy socks for two weeks straight. I almost whimpered with relief as Drusilla peeled the sodden lengths from my feet, fresh air touching my skin.
I sat up and pushed my bare feet into the rug beneath me, then slumped sideways in the chair. “Oh Gods, that feels good.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t get bloody trench foot.” Drusilla clicked her tongue, regarding the socks with a wrinkled nose before tossing them into the fire. “Luckily your body was able to heal fast enough to avoid that. Now.” She regarded me with a kind smile. “Shall I help you with the rest too, My La - Elara?”
I nodded and rose from the armchair, sighing again as my gloriously bare feet sank into the silken pile. “The bindings here.” I gestured to my back. “I need help. The rest I can manage. I hope.”
Drusilla freed me from the leather bodice, of which there was precious little left. It fell apart in her hands as she unfurled it from my body.
“My - my Mate,” I said, the word tasting sour in my mouth. “What did they do with his body? Do you know?”
Drusilla tutted softly. “I’m afraid I don’t know, my lamb. I’m very sorry you lost him.”
My throat threatened to swell closed as I imagined Keir waiting for me, betrayal crossing his face as he realized I did not die as I’d promised to. As I’d sworn to. And now I’d possibly never know what had happened to him; whether he’d been given a proper burial, or if his body would simply rot away on that battlefield in Grixos, surrounded by fallen Velesians and the remainder of the Peyrusian forces. As though he’d been nothing. As though he’d been no one. As though he hadn’t been mine, my Bonded.
Drusilla’s warm hands gently squeezed my shoulders. “Come now, Elara, let’s get the rest of these mucky clothes off you and get you into that warm bath.”
I nodded weakly, and Drusilla proceeded to undress me as though I was a small child. I raised my arms to let my camisole be pulled over my head, and the gashes in my back stung as they yawned open with the movement.
Drusilla wrapped me in a fine silk robe that was cool against my skin and led me into an adjoining room, where a copper tub stood in the middle. A series of golden taps were arranged over the bath, and a heavy scent of lavender hung in the air. A large armoire stood against the wall, holding jars of herbs and tinctures. At least my wounds would be well tended to.
I sucked in a breath through my gritted teeth as I lowered myself into the steaming water. My bones protested, and the water washed over every wound like acid. I slumped against the side of the tub, and Drusilla knelt beside me, removing the gauze from the side of my face.
“My ear,” I said quietly. “My ear’s gone, isn’t it?” I knew it was. I had felt it. But I hadn’t yet looked in a mirror. I hadn’t seen it myself yet.
“Yes, my lamb.” She didn’t say anything else, she didn’t have to. What more was there to say. She dabbed some ointment onto the gashes on my face, the smell of marigolds wafting into my nose.
I closed my eyes as Drusilla unpicked my hair, taking out the braids that had kept it plastered to my head. Once the braids were undone, she lifted a jug of warm water to wash my hair, carefully tipping my head back so it didn’t run over the open wounds on my jaw. I could feel my magic returning slowly, knitting the broken skin back together. It would, however, take days for me to heal completely. I was simply too weak.
“The King,” I said finally, “what does he want with me?”
Drusilla puffed out a breath. “Oh, Elara, I wish I knew.”
I turned my head, resting it on my arms on the edge of the tub, and eyed her carefully. She wasn’t old, maybe in her 40s. Her brown skin was weather-worn, as though she had spent a lot of time outside in the sun. The wrinkles around her eyes spoke of joy and laughter. Her golden eyes glowed as she met my gaze.
“There were whispers,” she said in a low voice, her eyes darting around the room, as though the very walls might have ears. “I shouldn’t tell you this, My Lady. But there was a whisper that he meant to make you his bride.”
A laugh rippled through me. “Me? His bride?” I scoffed, turning my head to look out the window, the light of the day fading slowly into dusk. “Why would the Velesian King want a Fae bride?”
“I don’t know,” Drusilla replied. “It was just what the court was saying.”
Of course they were. The only explanation they could give themselves for the Velesian King to claim a half-dead Fae from the battlefield was to imagine he was claiming her for himself. Nothing could have been further from the truth, I was sure of it. The Seraph detested the Fae, and always had.
Another thought snaked through me, cold and vicious. Perhaps he wanted to claim me, but not as his bride. Theron’s reputation as a defiler of the daughters of the rival royal houses was not a wild fiction, but the truth. My hands clenched into fists on the edge of the copper tub, and I knew that if he so much as fucking breathed near me, I would tear him into bloody ribbons.
“There now,” Drusilla announced with all the warmth of a proud mother. “I can see your pretty face, and all that blood’s out of your hair.” She began to comb the pale length of my hair, and the action made my chest ache as I thought of my mother. My sweet mother, sitting behind me, singing as she combed and combed until my hair gleamed.Like corn silk, she’d say.
I lowered my hands into the water, raising them again to watch the rusty pink rivulets run down my skin.Goodbye, Keir. I bit back my tears, sure I would put a hole in my lip as my teeth clenched down on it.
Don’t cry. You never cry.
I wondered how long it would be before I would start.
Chapter2
