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It took me longer than it should have to gather my composure enough to be ready for dinner. I knew I had to go, I couldn’t be missed with everything going on. The facade that everything was normal was critical now.
I walked in, alone, to the great hall, noticing that it was more staff than fae at the moment. The few fae who were there were gathered in their usual cliques. Nicole hadn’t arrived yet, from my quick scan, so I took a plate of food and sat down next to the fireplace. She’d find me once she was here like she always did. Inevitably bringing along Brigette and Lizette for sure. At least I’d have some company soon.
I sat staring at my plate, mixing my food with no intention of eating it. The crackling embers sparked and helped warm the ice that was crawling through my veins.
What would war look like?
Who would be casualties?
People I knew?
“Penny for ya thoughts?” Nicole’s accented voice accosted my ears in comparison to the silence.
I cocked an eyebrow at her and shook my head, trying to smile as I did.
“You know you’ve been here long enough that you really should be friendly to other people. You don’t need to be a loner eating by yourself,” she said as she flung her leg over the bench and took a large bite of her buttered roll.
“Hmmm,” was all I said in response.
Nicole rattled on about some cleaning she had to do to help Ms. Trapsbury for most of the day. Her idle prattle drowned into a slur of noise and I stopped paying attention. I brought a bite of food to my lips and tried to eat it. It tasted like sandpaper and scratched my throat the entire way down as I swallowed.
A jostle from my right made me lean over and catch myself on the bench next to me.
“What?” I turned to look at Nicole, who had been the culprit of my near fall.
“Earth to Cora,” she said. “What are you so quiet for anyway? Gloomy ’cause you’re bored out of your mind?” she teased me.
“Tired maybe,” I said as I shrugged and attempted to cover up my weirdness by gulping down more food.
Nicole didn’t seem to care, or if she did maybe she knew I wouldn’t say any more.
“Why’d you have to clean?” I asked, trying to take her attention away from me and back on herself.
She leaned in closer to me. “Another staff member was taken by the guards. And didn’t return.”
My eyes widened. One girl missing was strange. Two was eerie. How many more had there been from other parts of the castle that maybe we didn’t know about?
I tensed. Things would get worse the minute war was announced. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
Brigette walked by the table solo, without Lizette for the first time since I’d been here. “Ms. Trapsbury needs us to stay behind today,” she said. Her giggling, free spirited nature that Nicole had barked about the first night I’d had dinner with everyone was all but gone. “Something about wanting to address everyone.”
With that Brigette walked to the next table, repeating the same lines she’d just told us.
“She doesn’t seem well,” I said.
Nicole nodded but kept right on eating. “She’ll get her ridiculousness back as soon as this passes. It’s who she is. A little ruffling by the royal guard won’t change her forever.”
Nicole let me be the rest of dinner, focusing on her own plate. I was grateful for not having to cover where I’d been all day or what I’d done. Granted, she had no reason to think I wasn’t doing my normal thing with Prince Noah. I needed to stop overthinking. It would lead to acting suspicious with no reason to be. That would only draw unnecessary attention.
What few fae were here left the dining hall slowly. Laughter followed them and the more that left, the fouler the atmosphere became. It was obvious that there was an issue among the staff. We weren’t the only ones hearing rumors. And at the rate people were being interrogated, it wasn’t hard to understand why the tension ran so thick.
Ms. Trapsbury entered the hall with a gaggle of staff behind her. They came in and sat at the empty spaces around all of us, filling in the seats until all the staff in the castle seemed to be gathered here together.
The woman who had marched me into the castle all those weeks ago pinched her nose, right at the bridge and took a deep breath before clasping her hands behind her back and pacing in front of us.
“As you all are aware, there have been rumors of a spy here at the castle.” She paused, facing us. “The standard is to interview everyone inside for any helpful tips or potential leads. This is fair practice, and you must know that cooperating is best.”
Nicole leaned forward onto her hand, appearing bored of this pep talk already.
