Another chapter! And only three reviews! But Harey has convinced me to just keep writing! And I am positively wriggling in delight because I know how this will end and YOU don't! And it is a delicious ending, truly! Keep on reading!
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"I sense some negativity coming from you, Myrocia," the Seelie queens voice was calm as she braided a clump of her lovely copper hair, looking at ease. Despite her light tone, all of her other ladies visibly froze and turned an ear to the Queen. My legible bitterness toward her had inspired much musing on when the Queen would call me on it. I kept my eyes trained on the embroidery I was stitching and took my time in answering.
"I have not noted a change in my feelings toward you, my lady." I said, just as light as she. My fingers betrayed my anxiety, trembling as I pulled a stitch through the fabric.
"And how is that, pray tell?" I raised my eyes to her green ones, trying to asses the unreadable depths of the warm color.
"I have always looked to you with awe and admiration, my lady. And who could not? Your mercy and goodness is rare, as most rulers cannot keep that same innocence with such power," the half-lies slipped from my tongue easily. As no faerie could speak an untruth, the lady registered a slight relief. I had always thought her awe-inspiring and worthy of admiration, until recently.
"Well, then, your manners must just be awful, then," the lady resumed her contemplation of a contract, as most of the ladies gasped and the more venomous of them laughed softly. Ethine's light grip on my arm tightened. The lady's distaste over me was a horrible thing to have, and I was distressed.
"How would you suggest I remedy that?" I managed to keep my bitter feelings out of my voice.
"I'm sending you away."
No gasps nor laughter greeted this proclamation, only a shocked silence. Ethine's grip on my arm slackened slightly in her surprise, and anger ripped through my veins.
"Away?" I asked, and now I couldn't keep my rage out of my voice. Exiled! To my horror, the Queen raised her lovely head and laughed her delicate, beautiful laugh.
"Oh, you silly, drastic thing!" she said, laying her elegant fingers over her smiling mouth as if embarrassed by her laughter, when I knew she was gleaning joy from the horror on my face. "Not to exile! I'm sending you to be a companion to my knight Nephamael, as he seems to be quite taken with you."
"Not permanently, I hope," I said, not caring for appearances or how foolish the queen now thought me, with all the color drained out of my face and just barely keeping swears off of my lips and a slap across her cheek. I had avoided Nephamael, never going anywhere alone, staying near the queen as much as I could however much I loathed her, I was terrified of him.
"No. Only for the journey. Why? Are you not as fond of him as he is of you?"
"Nephamael is a fine man and no doubt a loyal knight," I said, bending back over my stitching, evading her question and trying to ignore my panicking heart and Ethines deathlike grip on my arm.
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"Are you excited to leave the Queens court?" Nephamael asked politely as I offered him a cake, which he declined. The Queen was only a few feet away so I felt safe, but the sight of him still filled me with unease. The ghost of his harsh lips on mine made it difficult to speak.
"Only a sort of anxiety to get it done," I reply coolly. He gives me a wolfish grin that fills me with unease.
"As we are leaving within the hour you are in no danger of being made to wait."
"Yes," I say in that cool voice that is not mine. "And in the interest of that, I must go and bid goodbye to the Queen and finish gathering my things." I stand and give a shallow curtsy, which he repays with his yellow eyes rolling.
I stand, and at once the familiar unease that I can no longer see what he is doing fills me. I ignore it and step into the airy cottage where the Queen and her maidens keep their possessions. A half-open canvas bag displays what I am taking with me, a handful of practical gowns, some things to pin up my hair, some rosewater so I do not smell foul, and a small packet of sweet berries Ethine picked for me. She has been marginally more cheerful of late, her step has grown lighter and her recently her eyes have stopped becoming so red-rimmed and puffy as she cries less and less. I am happy for her, but in her leaving of sorrow she seems to have forgotten others can have ailments as well, and whenever I complain she scorns me or laughs her lovely laugh as though distress is a legend.
It has become quite irritating. This message Nephamael is sent to give to the Queens sister is the task Talathain and I were set, only there will be no lady to escort, I suspect she told us that so Roiben wouldn't catch on to the Lady sending him away. Ethine is upset by her source of courtship and of comfort both leaving, but she is friendly with the other maids and in the week we are gone I don't suspect she will suffer lack of company. Talathain appears in the doorway to the ladies wardrobes, and I give a tight little smile as he says what I expect to hear.
"Sister, we are leaving," his cordial tone suggests he is not alone. I give a little nod and take hold of my bag, drifting towards the doorway. I checked my appearance in the mirror by the door, slightly put out by the same features that greeted me each time I looked in the mirror. My violently red hair stood out like a shock against my pale skin, set with two green eyes. I had the same coloring as my lady, but none of her carriage and elegance. I suppose I could be pretty, but what Nephamael saw great enough to brood on I didn't see. I supposed I could glamour myself to be lovely, but all glamour was was illusion, and I didn't want to be magics doll, perfect in every way.
I stepped out of the door and wasn't surprised to see the entire party ready to leave. I was slightly unnerved to be riding with the lady Dulcamara and Nephamael with only my brother, but I shoved the feelings aside and gave an apologetic smile.
"Did I keep you waiting?" I asked sweetly, fastening my bag to the horse that was carrying them.
"Yes," Dulcamara said icily, smiling a thin smile. My brother cleared his throat behind me and I turned to face him.
"I'm-staying-here-with-Ethine," he said, rushing. He looked at me pleadingly, and I could tell he didn't want to leave her alone where some other fey man could woo her. I swallowed my anger, sadness and panic and gave a tiny nod.
"Then it's a smaller party, then," I kissed my brothers cheeks and couldn't force a smile onto my face. Who could I look to for comfort now? When Nephamael pulled another stunt like the other day in the woods, who could I turn to? No doubt Dulcamara would laugh and clap her little hands to see me distressed.
"Let's go then," Nephamael said, and I could tell from the triumph on his face it was he who put the idea in my brothers head to stay. I took a deep breath and smiled engagingly to Nephamael, who returned in kind, and began to walk.
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Firelight glinted off of the metal buckles on suitcases, bags, and the saddlebags of the horse.
Dulcamaras gentle even breathing accompanied the cracks and pops of the fire, and Nephamael turned the page of a book as I turned my back to the fire on my sleeping pallet, so far from the comfort of the courts. The rancid smell of iron and oil tinged the air and the foreign sounds of the humans fearsome vehicles whizzing by on the nearby roads. We were in a thin strip of forest sandwiched between two of those roads, and mostly it was quiet but for the few cars that occasionally came by.
I stood, aching to get away from the oil but only getting closer. Others more adapted to the smell might be just be annoyed, but I was dizzy and nauseated, and I didn't want to lie back down on my pallet for fear of falling into the fire.
"Ah," I said, weakly, and dimly registered Nephamael looking up at me slumped against a tree, and leaves crunching as he came over to help me, gently picking me up and lying me back down on my pallet. Consciousness came rushing back, and along with it embarrassment came in.
"Thank you," I said, completely conscious of his hands sliding out from under me, my cheeks pinking. Dulcamara's breath lost its sleepy rhythm and her eyes didn't look quite closed, and I could tell she was listening in.
"Any time. It won't do for you to feel ill if you are to be my company," Nephamael said, sitting next to my pallet like he was going to stay. "Would you mind accompanying me now?"
"I don't know, I don't feel perfectly well . . ." I said, weakly, closing my eyes.
"I always love to hear the sound of your voice," Nephamael said softly, and at the word love I gave a violent start.
"If you wish to hear my sleepy ramblings, by all means, stay," I said softly, timidly.
"On second thought, maybe I like the absence of your voice better." I had no time to think up a haughty reply to that unendingly rude comment, because once more there was a harsh pressure on my lips, and differently, this time, it wasn't entirely unpleasant, and I didn't even hear Dulcamamra scandalized gasp as she dropped the pretense of even being asleep, or the fact that I was lying the woods, nauseated with oil and pollution and none of the earthy smells I was used to, only the fact that Nephamael was kissing me and I liked it more than I should admit.
