She gestures around her. “The old queen lived here,” she reiterates.
I scowl. “Obviously. Does the king sleep in this room as well?” The giant sovereigns didn’t sleep together before the queen’s death, but all I know about Enduares comes from battle songs. The Butcher and his Cleaver, killing thousands of humans, giants, and elves. The traitors. The gore-lovers. “Am I destined to be the Butcher’s whore?”
Liana whips around, and deadly power leaks off her in waves. “Do not call him that,” her voice echoes through the room, causing a sharp sound to pierce my ears. It's more shocking than painful, but the fragile trust beginning to bud shatters around me.
I scramble back into the corner of the bed, holding my hands over my head in a feeble attempt to block her out. The nauseating waves of power subside.
“Drink, human,” she says, now more irritated.
There’s a knock on the door, but I don’t move from my curled up position. I can’t see anything but the insides of my eyelids. I feel nothing but the rush of air into my lungs and the rapid flutter of my heart.
"Estela.” Arlet’s voice is painted with worry, and I unravel to find her and I alone in the room. She’s already on the bed, crawling toward me. It hurts to see her and not Mikal. My eyes start burning when she wraps her arms around me. “Are you in pain? Mother Liana said she made you a potion. Here, take this.”
She holds out the golden goblet, and I grimace. “Put that down,” I say, pressing my hand against my chest to stop the spasms. “I’m… fine…” I pant. The smell of roasted meat draws my attention.Food. Gods, I’m so hungry.
“The gem looks pretty on you," Arlet says, her eyes landing on the wide scoop of my gown’s neck.
"What?" I croak, my head pounding.
She tilts her head to the side. "The crystal. A few days ago, after you were attacked, they offered homes to anyone who wanted to stay under the mountain. They told us we’d have to perform a ceremony,dual’moraan. They say that most Enduares do it when they reach maturity, but it was fun. Did you have a hard time hunting for your Fuegorra crystal? There are only two of us who have done it so far. Well, I suppose you too. How exciting! I know you were—"
"I didn't ask for it to be put in, and I sure as hell didn’t go hunting for gems,” I snap, rubbing my pounding head as I eyeball the tray on the table. Her face falls.
"No? Well, I heard about what happened when you tried to escape... I haven't been allowed to see you while you were healing. They finally allowed me to bring this for your breakfast." She lifts the tray with the delicious-smelling food a little higher, gesturing to what I'm supposed to eat.
My stomach hollows out. "What?" I snap. "That could be poisoned... or better yet, they could have cooked Sergi."
“Honestly Estela, listen to yourself,” Arlet groans and grabs one of the glowing lights floating over my head, and I get a full view of her improved appearance. Her hair has been washed, pleated, and twisted above her head in a pretty, swooping bun. Her color has returned, and she no longer wears the clothes of a slave. Her new furs are finely sewn with stones stitched all over them.
“What the hell has happened to you?” I ask, pushing away from her.
Her brows furrow. “What do you mean?”
“You are dressed up like a doll, freely visiting me in the queen’s suite.Look at your hair,”I shake my head, my eyes burning. “Have you become a comfort woman?”
She looks horrified, her hand flying up to her hair. “What? No. They haven’t touched me. This is how Enduar women wear their hair.”
I ignore her words, instead thinking of Liana’s nauseating power. Then I remember the king ripping my attacker in half as if it were nothing. I can still feel the splatter of blood on my skin and smell the putrid scent of innards. It’s a scent I will never forget.
Arlet takes my hand. "My friend, I know that you fear them. But you've been sleeping for nearly three days, and nothing has happened to anyone but proper meals and baths to scrub away decades of dirt. No one has been killed. This," she gestures to the tray again, "came from something they call aruh’glumdlor, or a cave bear. I helped them prepare it."
She does look healthy.Clean. But…
"The Enduares are the enemy," I say.
She shakes her head. “Not our enemy. The giants’, maybe.”
I press myself into the wall and point to the crystal in my chest. “This is how it starts. How do you know this won't control you to do awful things? What if their hold is so great that you kill someone? Me, even?"
She shakes her head. "That would never happen."
The lightness with which she treats my statement doesn't sit right. "How do you know? They will use their evil songs to lure you into submission, ravage your body, and eat you after becoming their willing pets. How could you forget this?"
She gives me a pitied look, which I hate. "I grew up hearing the tales, too. But I... I don't know if they are real. They told us we could leave, get the crystal, or linger a little while we decide."
My eyes grow wide. "Why haven't you left, then?" I demand. I had been grasping for threads of freedom since the instant Mikal left. She had been offered a way to walk right out the door and ignored that?
"Estela, my sweetest friend, you nearly died. It's not safe to go out of the mountain alone. Besides, I would rather die healthy, with a belly full of this warm food, than return to our old masters and die of a broken back."