He brushed a tendril of hair from my cheek. “You know what he’s like. The things he’s done. I am only concerned for your safety.”
One of the officers shouted from among the ranks, announcing the army’s imminent departure and saving me from having to respond.
Alrec cupped my face, pressing his forehead to mine. “I have left a surprise for you for each day until I return.”
Alrec and his surprises. I managed a laugh despite the heaviness swelling inside my heart. “Be safe. The kingdom needs you. I need you.”
“I will,” he promised.
I watched him mount his horse, already counting the hours until he returned.
* * *
The robin’s-egg blue walls in my bed chamber had been edged in pure gold leaf. My bed’s scrolled headboard resembled the crest of a wave, enriched with more gold. But the most beautiful piece had to be the chandelier dangling from the coffered ceiling. At night, I would lie awake and stare at the moonlight playing on the crystals like rambunctious stars.
My mother hummed from the adjoining sitting room, likely reading on the balcony. A soft breeze flowed through the open window, marking another fine day in Vellana.
Alrec had left for Southbay six days ago. He’d sworn he would be home well in time for the wedding. We still had four days before we would walk down the aisle in the castle’s small chapel. Even so, I stared out the window toward the castle gates, growing more anxious with every moment that passed, searching for a handsome prince riding a white horse.
Perhaps Lowri and I could go for a ride this afternoon to take my mind off things. My toes flexed on the cream and blue carpet. Then again, if I went for a ride, I’d be expected to put on stockings and shoes. The stockings were bearable, but I’d despised shoes ever since I was a girl. My mother used to have to bribe me with sweets to put them on.
Lowri withdrew yet another fabulous gown from the oversized armoire. “He is most kind. And have you seen his eyes?”
Of course I’d seen Caiman’s eyes. They were in his head. She hadn’t stopped swooning over the evil prince since she’d set her sights on him. “He’s not the man you think he is.”
“How would you know? You haven’t spent any time at all in his company. He doesn’t say much, but I imagine it won’t be long until he announces his intentions.”
I sat up straighter, clutching my skirts. “He is courting you?”
“Not officially. But I have made my desire plain.”
“How plain? Lowri, you need to be careful.”
The dress’s chiffon skirts gently swished as she swung it toward me. “This one is absolutely divine.”
“Yes, it’s gorgeous. But Lowri—”
“Gorgeous? You will be a vision.” Lowri hooked the hanger on the edge of the oversized gilt-framed mirror standing against the wall.
I rose to my feet, needing to explain to her Caiman’s dark past so that she would realize she was far better off pursuing someone else.
A woman’s blood-curdling scream shot through the open window.
Lowri and I rushed to where the lace curtains fluttered. In the courtyard below, a swarm of soldiers in red uniforms pushed through the gates. Women toting children and carrying baskets of laundry screamed and shouted when three of the men collapsed onto the cobblestones. More men in soiled breeches and bloodied shirts hauled in bodies, helping their fellow comrades limp to the castle steps.
My mother burst into the room, her silver hair flying behind her.
Fear and terror settled in my stomach next to the pear tarts we’d eaten for our tea. “What’s happened?”
“I don’t know. But we must hurry. We need to help if we can.”
I didn’t bother throwing on shoes, following my mother’s billowing skirts into the hallway with Lowri close at my heels. Servants and guards poured from rooms, all headed in the same direction. A tall, balding man in a baldric and leather pants barked orders at the doors, calling for water and towels, needles and thread.
When I hit the top of the steps leading down to the courtyard, the roaring of my heart in my ears stilled.The stench of gunpowder and coppery tang of blood washed over me like a rogue wave. There were bodies everywhere. Soldiers with bloody head wounds, gashes in their sides, missing limbs.
Someone grabbed my arms.“Roisin, look at me.” My mother’s voice was as sharp as a blade. “Heal as many as you can. If your magic is blocked, move on. Do you understand?” She squeezed my arms to the point of pain. “Roisin!”
“I understand.”