Chapter 25: The Gifts
Day began for the servants just before dawn.
Thrown from his cot, Feliciano was shoved into the crowd as the guards dragged servants from their quarters. Their captors snarled and snapped drooling maws, guttural growls tearing from their throats at the young women they herded.
A soft dawn had taken to the heavens when the group was tossed to the courtyard well. The laundering was piled around them, linens wrinkled and stiff from cold. Ice had caked over the well waiting to be cracked open for the day's chores.
The young Jack let his eyes wander, hoping to take his mind from his blue numb fingers. Every plunge into his bucket of suds was like knives biting into his cracking skin. The courtyard provided a well enough distraction. Light refracted over the ice-coated glass, dancing rainbows over the yard. Closer to the castle wall a garden bloomed; as if a painter had dropped his brush vivid colors of life burst up from the ice. A young man tended to them, an oddity among the population of beast and maiden.
The young man kept his head down as he tended to his garden, and the beasts gave him berth. Occasionally one would stumble towards him, foolishly and awkward. However, they cried out when he turned his fierce eyes upon them and rush back to the flock.
Brave as the young man was though, when he took leave of his husbandry he pulled forth the same crusted rock every maiden had thrust into her hands before work that morning. Feliciano gripped his own through his skirt's pocket, watching the other pluck at the unbreakable loaf. His arms shook, skin too tight to the bone, whenever he reached to scoop up handfuls of snow to press against his lips in exchange of drink.
Quickly glancing towards the guards, Feliciano abandoned his laundering and rushed across the yard. He thrust his arm out, loaf in hand. The young man coughed, choking on his last mouthful before he was finally able to look at Feliciano.
"What do you think you're doing?" He hissed. Lavender eyes held Feliciano for a lifetime.
"Here," the young Jack pushed the bread forward once more. "I insist, please. Take it. Yours is far more important work than mine."
"I-" he frowned. "I couldn't. What would you have."
Taking no refusals, Feliciano pushed the bread into the young man's hand. He left go, forcing the other to scramble to catch it before it fell to the ice and was useful to no man. "I'll be alright. Can you not see the fine banquet before us?"
The other's eyebrows furrowed dangerously on his face.
Slipping the silver clasp loose, Feliciano pulled his shawl from his shoulders. He shook it once with a crisp snap and knelt to smooth it over the frozen grass. "I can already smell the bacon. Steaming hot baked eggs, warm muffins. I can already taste the fruit and tea, can't you?"
The young man was smiling when Feliciano glanced back, sympathy in his eyes.
"You must be one of the new girls," he broke off a chunk of bread, testing it between his fingers before popping it into his mouth. His eyes turned to the courtyard and his shoulders heaved with a sigh. "To dare to be so courageous in the face of such oppression. Just listening to you makes me think I can smell coffee, strong and black. But that's just-"
His bread fell to the ground when he turned back to the Jack.
Sure as the sun, steaming hot food over-crowded the shawl. Polished plates of gold and silver fogged from the delectable spread. Even Feliciano stumbled back; however the bouquet brought a painful lurch to his stomach. Against his better judgment, the Jack knelt and reached for a muffin.
It singed his chapped skin and felt like heaven when he took a bite. Between mouthfuls he cried out, "It's real" and reached for another before he had even finished the one in his hand.
The young man was suddenly in his face, fallen to his knees beside Feliciano in the snow. He grabbed the Jack's shoulders, shaking as concern darkened his face. "Magic? God above, tell me she didn't snare a Queen. What kingdom are you from, does your court kn-"
He stopped when Feliciano slapped a hand over his mouth.
Looking quickly for listening ears, Feliciano's shoulders sagged. "I am no Queen by any means. This," his free hand gestured to the cornucopia on the shawl. "This was a gift. though, I didn't imagine it could do this."
The pair sat still for a moment before they game in and sampled the magic laid out before them. They picked at it with the careful ease of weary adults, but still licked jam from their fingers with childish grins. An easy air had settled around them by the time guards swooped upon them.
They snatched Feliciano up by his forearms and began dragging him across the yard. Another beast grabbed the shawl, shoving the young man away by his face before ripping it from beneath him and following after the first set.
He was shoved through the castle and its twisting dark corridors. Fatty candles spit from their perches on the wall, losing the fight against the dark. Forced up winding stairs, a firm hand between his shoulder blades launched him through the wide oak doors. He stumbled, landing on his knees, his nose a breath away from scraping across the rough carpet that ate his palms.
"Quite an interesting little parlor trick you performed earlier, girl."
His blood turned to ice. Daring to glance up, Feliciano shrank back at the Ice Queen before him.
Seated high in her jeweled thrown, Natasha raised a slender eyebrow. A finger, adorned with a ring fat with rubies, tapped against her cheek. Her eyes narrowed when Feliciano dared to stand, rather than grovel for his life into the carpet of her solar.
"You are no Queen by any means. This is no noble magic but a charlatan's toy." With a wave of her hand, the shawl was thrown before Feliciano. It lay crumpled and bare, listless on his feet.
"Make it work, girl. Let me see this feast first hand."
Feliciano bit the inside of his cheek. He gingerly lifted the shawl, inspecting the patterned cloth for tears or blemishes. Satisfied, he spread it smooth across the floor and at his silent wish the shawl sprung to life with inviting dishes of breads and meat. Steam carried the aroma into the solar, and several guards growled anxiously.
Natasha slipped from her throne. Crystal heels clicked on the marble of her dais before falling mute on the carpet. Feliciano held her gaze as she approached, but she ignored him, kneeling to pluck a single strip of tender beef from the plates.
She popped it into her mouth, and without further words, returned to her throne.
"You will, of course, give that to me, girl." She sat, rearranging her skirts into a graceful river of silver and blues around her. "Such a darling little toy. It will be perfect for my upcoming wedding. Those foul cooks can barely put together a decent stew let alone feed a banquet hall of guests."
"No!"
Natasha's eyes narrowed to slits, predatory intent in her gaze at Feliciano's defiance. He cursed his tongue working quicker than his mind.
"It-" glancing at the shawl, an idea clicked. "It only works for me, your Majesty. I would gladly supply it for your celebration, but I have one request in return."
A chill settled across the room when the Ice Queen raised her chin. "Awfully bold for a servant girl." Tsking softly, she waved a hand for Feliciano to continue. "Very well, what is it, girl?"
"I want to see the Prince."
The guards burst into ugly laughs. Their hyena cackles died quickly as their Queen raised her hand.
"Would you now." Natasha slowly stood. With a thin smile, she entertained the idea. "Has my beloved caught your eye, girl? Fancy an royal escort back to your hovel with the other slaves?" She laughed, a cruel cold noise, and shivers raced up Feliciano's spine. "Very well. There's no harm in it. His eyes are only for me now."
Feliciano was dragged from the solar at a dismissive wave of her hand. Brought deeper into the belly of the castle, he held his breath when brought before winding stairs of the central tower. Out of place amidst the grand architecture, the simple spire was built for one purpose and one alone. Protecting the stolen hearts.
His heart slammed into his ribs and his stomach knotted over and over. Almost there, he could reach him, he could touch him, he could apologize for it all.
And yet, as he crest the final turn, he saw the Queen before the door with a slick smile on her blue-painted lips. Ice plunged into his stomach, siphoning away his adrenaline to replace it with dread.
"Enjoy your visit, girl." She laughed, pushing past him to descend into the darkness. The guards pushed him forward, and the little Jack's fingers shook as he grabbed the handle of the old door. It creaked under his direction and a strong hand pushed him in when his legs failed him.
He whirled around to watch the light disappear as the door slammed shut.
Engulfed in the darkness brought forth a wicked déjà vu.
Hands out before him, Feliciano stumbled forward. "…Ludwig?" As his eyes adjusted, a sliver of light from a balistrariasplit the dark. It arched high across the room, dust dancing in the lone light. It came to rest on a bed pushed far against the opposite wall.
Behind the sheer curtains of the canopy, Feliciano could just make out the form of a man. "Ludwig?"
Trepidation played his heart like a fiddle as he reached out to pull back the curtains. Laying on the sheets, hands folded on his chest, the prince looked as if Death had stolen his heart in place of the Queen. Lowering slowly, Feliciano knelt beside the bed. His cheek rest atop the mattress with a wretched expression.
"You poor man, look what she's done to you." He traced fingers down Ludwig's much larger hand. "If it costs me everything, I will see you freed from this place." Feliciano slipped one of Ludwig's hands free, lacing their fingers together, palm to palm. He took solace in the warmth of the other's hand against his and closed his eyes. "I have a few more tricks up my sleeve. I'll come for you, every night. I promise. It's close now, don't give up."
The guards let him out at the sharp rapt of his knuckles against the door. They sneered and snickered to themselves and Feliciano hardened his eyes. Snapping his eyes on a beast, he relished when it snapped its jaw shut and yowled at biting its tongue.
The next day began the same as the one before. Led from their quarters like cattle, the young women were put to their chores in the courtyard. Despite how often he looked, Feliciano found the garden barren of the young man.
He threw himself into his work instead, plotting as he raked cloth against the washboard. Turning his eyes to the castle now and then, he smiled when he saw the damned gracing her catwalk. Finally abandoning his feverish washing, he approached the well. He dropped the bucket, drawing attention as the old gears groaned when he pulled it back up.
"Come now, ladies. Let's take a moment to breathe and drink." He smiled gently at the hesitant women around him. Turning to the laden bucket, he dipped a hand in and drank from the chilled, clear water. Fingers still dripping, he waved them closer, encouraging a tender spark in them to rebel. "We've worked so very hard after all."
Then, drawing the abalone shell from his skirts, he dipped it into the water.
When he raised it again, ruby red wine spilled over the edges of the polished shell. He brought it to the edge of his lips and savored the wine sweet and aromatic with the splendors of late summer fruit. The women around him rushed to his side, eager to partake in a splendor withheld from them for far too long.
Looking back to the catwalk, Feliciano's smile grew.
The Queen was already gone.
Author's Notes:
This is...long over due. I am so sorry for how long it's take me to post this. I'm working on the next chapter as I post this and am hoping to do a second update this week. Thank you so much to everyone who's stayed with this story so long, I truly appreciate it!