10. Seven

Seven

Dinner With a Prince

A fter Lily cleaned out the water bucket and put the empty vials away, she found herself standing at her favorite window overlooking the market. The prisoner in the dungeon, Asher, was on her mind. She didn't know what it was like to have a father or mother, and didn't understand how worried he felt not knowing the fate of his father. She could sympathize, but she didn't know.

A young girl tugged on her mother's skirt and pointed her attention to a brightly painted vase with flowers. Two boys with wooden swords rushed past them. Lily tried to remember her own family—her father's eyes or mother's smile. Did her mother sing to her? Did her father tell her stories? But there was a hole where memories should have been. Had she been too young to remember her parents when they died? Or was she still supposed to have something there?

The sky shifted to hues of yellow and orange, and Lily heaved a sigh. It was time for her to make dinner for her and Wester. She looked back down to see a mother desperately trying to soothe her crying child, and a pang of jealousy pricked her heart. Even though the mother was clearly overwhelmed, Lily knew that was a life she would likely never get to experience. Wizards dedicated and devoted their lives to the study of their magic and to helping the kingdom. Not getting married and having babies.

Lily stretched her arms before she took off her robes and hung them in her bedroom, leaving her in a simple faded brown dress. She made her way into the kitchen and began gathering ingredients to make a meal of stew with the roast beef left over from last night's dinner.

Wester descended the upper staircase. He must have heard her pulling out the pot. "Go brush your hair and change into your nicest dress."

She faced him. "Now?"

He smiled. "We have been invited to eat with the king."

Lily blinked. " We ? I'm never invited."

Wester picked a piece of lint from his sleeve. "Would you rather stay here and eat a simple stew? Or eat with the prince?"

"I..." She didn't answer and pushed the ingredients back in place before rushing to her room.

Her "best dress" was purple, and she had received it for her birthday the year prior. She made sure to brush through her brown hair. It really needed a trim now that it reached past her shoulders. She braided it back and put on her only other pair of shoes, which had no trace of horse dung from that morning.

"Sir, do I need my robes?" she asked when she stepped back into the main room.

While Wester wore his robes, he shook his head. "No. Come along."

Lily followed behind him, down the spiral staircase to the top level of the castle.

"How is the boy?" Wester asked.

Lily shook her head. "His shoulder is infected and I am concerned the healing potion is inadequate. The wound will need to be cleaned regularly until the infection is gone, and I will need either more vials or a stronger potion."

"Hm," he hummed. "Then tomorrow you shall have to make a stronger potion." They began down the staircase that led to the main floor where the dining room was.

Lily swallowed hard. "Wester...I did notice he has pointed ears like we do. But he said he can't cast spells."

"That is because the people of Vasha have been touched by magic. This is why they are able to transform into animals."

"They can't be conduits of magic?" she asked.

"Correct."

"But how can an entire race of people be touched by magic, use magic to transform into animals, but not be able to control it like us?"

Wester shook his head. "That is an answer I don't know. Typically, there is only one enchantress in their kingdom at a time. It passes down through generations."

Lily rubbed her hand on her skirt. "Wester? Why am I helping to heal him? Why is he here?"

He looked down at his young ward. "He is a prisoner from the battle in Vasha. The king needs information he has, but he is stubborn and refuses to tell. We can't have him die without giving us this information, which is why you need to make sure that infection goes away."

They stopped outside of the private dining room, the smaller one where the royal family ate when there wasn't a banquet.

Wester looked her over and gave a little smile. "You're growing up quickly. I wish you could see what I see–a strong, confident woman with endless possibilities."

She laughed. "Strong, perhaps. Confident?" She held her hand out and tilted it back and forth. "I need to work on that. I'm trying."

Wester chuckled and opened the door, then gestured for her to enter first.

The small dining room was about the same size as the practice room in the wizard's tower with a table for ten people, an enormous fireplace, three chandeliers glowing overhead, and two doors along the back wall.

Lily barely had time to take it all in before her eyes landed on Prince Liam. He still wore his princely clothes but had removed his jacket and wore only his vest. He smiled at her with the soft smile that made her heart grip her ribs and swing.

"Good evening, Lady Lily." He tilted his head down in a bow. "It is good to see you again. Would you like to sit at my side?" He stepped to the chair beside his and pulled it away from the table.

Lily pulled her braid over her shoulder and looked at Wester. "May I, sir?"

"Certainly." Wester walked around the table to sit opposite of her.

Lily stopped in front of Liam. "Thank you, Your Highness."

"How is your ladybug?"

Lily's face pinched in brief confusion until she realized he meant Percy and she blushed and laughed. "He's a dog again. I named him Percy."

"Perhaps I can meet him. I wanted to invite you so we could talk while they discuss things that are boring." He spoke low, just to her, and chuckled lightly.

"How could such conversations be boring if you are the prince? Shouldn't your opinion be heard?"

He shrugged but didn't reply.

King Barith entered at that moment and stopped at his chair. He made eye contact with Lily.

She curtseyed politely. "Good evening. Thank you for inviting me to dinner."

"You have grown," he commented.

Lily glanced at Wester. "Yes. I just had my seventeenth birthday."

"Please sit," the king requested as he sat.

Lily was surprised when she went to sit and Prince Liam pushed in her chair under her. "Thank you," she said with a blush.

He hung his cane on the edge of the table and took his own seat to the right of his father.

The door opened and a man clad in armor entered and bowed at the waist. "Forgive me for being late." Lily had seen him in the halls and believed his name was Sir Andrew.

"I understand," King Barith replied. "I would like a report on the prisoners."

Liam turned to Lily. "This is the conversation I don't care about."

She smiled a little, but her interest was piqued.

Sir Andrew took his seat. "Are you certain you want to discuss such matters in the presence of"—his eyes settled on Lily—"untrusted ears?"

"She is under Wester's guidance and at some point may be involved." King Barith gestured with an open palm. "I believe she can be trusted. Wester, it is your decision."

"I would not have brought her if I didn't feel she was ready," he answered. "It is time she knows."

Lily tried to keep a straight face, but she knew her eyebrows were betraying her. Ready for what? She wanted to ask what secrets they were keeping, and why only now she was trusted to be included in whatever plan they now wanted her to be part of.

Prince Liam leaned closer, so close his lips brushed her ear.

She felt a shiver of goosebumps prickle up her arms. Her panic was immediately clouded by thoughts of him.

"My father kept secrets from me too until I became of age. I do believe he was right to do so. I was too young to understand, and now I see things differently. I imagine that will be the same for you."

Lily swallowed in an attempt to loosen her throat.

"Wester's healing potions have worked on King Mardai, and we can begin the...questions again." Sir Andrew chose his words carefully. "The boy, Sand, has been helpful, but Mardai has not budged on the location. Now that we have his son, I may be more successful."

Son? Asher? He was the youngest of the prisoners, and if they were asking the King of Vasha questions and...that meant Asher was the prince! But more importantly, that meant Asher's father was still alive! She found herself smiling as she thought about telling him the next day. He would be relieved.

"Your magic could possibly jog his memory." Sir Andrew tapped the side of his head.

"Perhaps bringing them together, one of them will break?" King Barith said, leaning toward Wester.

The servants entered and brought out plates with dainty food. Lily hoped this wasn't their entire meal, because it was barely two mouthfuls.

Prince Liam nodded to Lily. "You don't have to be so formal here. Eat when you want. At the formal banquets, you must wait for Father to begin eating, but he's engaged in conversation at the moment."

"The boy's shoulder is infected," Wester continued with the king and captain. "Lily is going to work on a potion tomorrow to get rid of it a bit quicker. We can't have the infection spread before we get the location."

"Why would they want me involved in this conversation?" Lily asked Prince Liam.

He shrugged and poked his fork into a tomato. "You are Wester's apprentice. If you're going to learn to work alongside him, you eventually have to start taking on more responsibilities. Remember what I said earlier?"

"It's not that I don't think I can take on more responsibility," she replied. "It's that I'm not sure what the responsibilities are. They're already changing, including me now taking care of a prisoner when I've never been taken care of any prisoner before. Clearly, there is something going on because our soldiers invaded Vasha. But until now, Wester told me stories that it was destroyed in a battle fifteen years ago. The animal-shifting people aren't supposed to exist anymore."

Prince Liam lowered his fork and tilted his head. "They've always existed, just like humans and elves have."

"That isn't what Wester told me when I was a child." She looked directly at the wizard and only then realized their conversation had stopped.

"It is true," Wester commented. "I didn't want you to get your hopes up that you would ever meet one of them. You were always a curious child and wanted to know everything. You would wander and daydream and I didn't dare give you hopes that you could wander out into the forest and find one of their kind."

She frowned. "You told me about the dragons. Are they more dangerous than dragons?"

"Almost," King Barith answered. He leaned back in his seat and ate his small amount of food. "I do not know how much Wester has told you about our past with Vasha. You are aware of the blood plague?"

She nodded. "I have been told about it. That's how Prince Liam lost his leg and your wife died. I also know the dragons left after because they didn't want to bond with people who might catch the illness and die."

The king's eyes saddened. "What you may not know was the enchantress of Vasha, Rose, gave me a potion and promised it would heal Liam." He looked at his son and reached a hand out to place it over Liam's. "I put my faith in her that it would. But it didn't. We had to cut off Liam's leg to save his life. My wife was taken swiftly. After the elf king, Sraylin, lost his heir to the throne, he came to me." He let go of Liam and his eyes darkened. "We found evidence Rose was behind the plague to begin with. We couldn't allow the plague to continue and knew the only way to stop it was to eliminate her."

Lily stared at the king. She'd never heard this part of the story before. Wester had always alluded that Rose had betrayed the humans, but never told her Rose was behind the plague. It was no wonder why the humans were so bitter toward Vasha, and it made sense why they deserved to be captured and made prisoners.

Lily glanced at her now-empty plate. "But what does a tree have to do with any of this?" she asked. "Why does a single tree in a forest of trees matter?"

The servants appeared, whisking off the small plates and replacing them with larger plates of fish and potatoes, and Lily's mouth began to water at once. Fish was a rare treat for her, and this looked positively delicious.

Wester stroked his growing beard. "Lily, the tapestry that covers the wizard's entrance. What do you see when you look at it?"

Lily shifted her gaze. "It depicts a sunset. Bloodred. There are bodies all around, but at the center is an enormous tree." She glanced back at her master. "Sometimes when I look at it, I wonder if I see a woman."

He nodded. "That tree is more than a tree. Lady Merete of the elves was a powerful sorceress. During our battle with the Karasha fifteen years ago, she fought against Rose. No one else could get near enough to capture or kill her, so Merete took it upon herself to do everything she could to stop Rose. Merete used the power of nature to stop Rose, by entombing both of them within a tree. Lord Sraylin disappeared during the battle and was assumed dead."

Lily blinked. "You're looking for the tree hoping Merete is still inside?"

The three men nodded.

Lily took a bite of her fish, mulling over this new wave of information.

But it didn't stop there. King Barith cleared his throat and turned to Liam. "We have been in contact with Lord Sraylin—"

"You said you assumed him dead. Lord Sraylin," Lily cut in. "What do you mean you've been in contact with him?"

The king's lips tightened in an annoyed smile. "That is information you don't need to know."

Lily turned her attention to her fish.

"But what you do need to know, Liam, is there is a chance to bring your mother back."

Liam froze mid-chew. His blue eyes were wide and the fork rattled in his hand. "You think you can bring her back from the dead?"

His father nodded.

Liam set down his fork and leaned back. He looked down at his leg that wasn't there. "Bring her back," he repeated.

"And Merete might have enough power to heal you too."

"Don't give him false hope," Wester quickly said. "We do not know that we can do that."

King Barith frowned. "There is always hope."

"I have never heard of a spell to regrow a limb," the wizard said in a low tone, in spite of Liam clearly being able to hear in the quiet room.

Lily hadn't heard of a spell like that ever either.

She then thought about the tapestry with the tree. Lady Merete must have been a wonderful woman to try and save so many races from the plague. She deserved to be free of her prison, if she really was still alive. Lily decided she would ask Asher tomorrow if he knew where the tree was, because maybe he would be willing to tell her.

The conversation drifted to the other Karasha men being kept in the prison for criminals outside of the castle and how one of them had turned into a bird and flown away. Lily noticed that Liam ate and watched the conversation, but wasn't engaged.

"Are you thinking of your mother?" she asked softly.

He nodded and dabbed his lip with his napkin. "I don't know if we can bring anyone back from the dead," he whispered so his father couldn't hear. "It seems so...impossible to me. And I don't know how my father has communicated with King Straylin. The elf was banished in the same spell Lady Merete used to banish Rose. At least, that's what I was told. No one knows where he went or what happened to him. So unless Father is speaking with his ghost . . ." He shook his head. "It still doesn't make sense to me."

"Maybe that is something your father will tell you when I'm not around?" Lily offered.

He finally really looked at her. "Why?"

"I'm . . . not important. I'm just a wizard apprentice." She shrugged.

He snorted. "Like that matters."

Lily had been raised in the castle. She had been taught all about royal etiquette from the time she was a child. She had often seen Liam in the castle when they were little, but they weren't allowed to play. She wasn't allowed to start any conversation with him, or even greet him if he didn't acknowledge her. Because he was the prince and she didn't have a drop of royal or noble blood in her. It mattered to everyone in the kingdom that she was a wizard apprentice and nothing more.

"Does your father mind that you're...associating with me?" she asked with hesitation.

Liam glanced in the direction of his father, then looked sideways at her. "He didn't object when I asked if you could attend the meeting. Of course, I didn't realize he had already invited your master and Sir Andrew. But I imagine if he knew what I truly think of you..." When their gazes met, her heart couldn't decide if it wanted to flip or thunder, and her hands got clammy.

She ran her hands down her braid as a blush burned her cheeks. Liam couldn't possibly have feelings for her. Her ? A wizard's apprentice? Impossible.

She went to say something—she didn't know what—and was grateful the servants chose that moment to bring out the dessert plates with warm pie. This gave Lily the opportunity to get herself centered and calmed.

"What is the plan moving forward?" Sir Andrew asked.

"Lily makes a stronger healing potion tomorrow for the boy's infection," King Barith said. "And then we take him to his father and resume our methods to obtain the location of the tree. If that fails, he will go to Wester, and Wester and Lily can use their magic to pry it out of him."

Lily didn't want any part in torture, even though the king avoided using that word specifically. Even if Asher was from a race of people that had caused so much harm, she hoped this wasn't the new responsibility that Wester wanted her to take on.

Prince Liam cleared his throat. "May I take Lily back to the wizard tower?"

His father glanced at the others. "Is there more we need to discuss with them?"

Wester shook his head. "I can speak with Lily in private about everything else." The corners of the wizard's eyes scrunched as he smiled. "And I will be following shortly." He raised his eyebrows, but there was kindness in his look.

The prince chuckled. "Understood. Lily, would you like to walk with me?" He held his hand out to her.

Lily hesitated. She didn't know the etiquette with touching the prince. If she were a proper lady, she would have gone through lessons to know such things. Still, she accepted his hand and found herself being pulled to her feet by the prince.

Liam did release her hand as he followed behind her out of the dining hall.

"That was a delicious meal," Lily commented.

"It was." The door shut behind them and he cleared his throat. "I hope that wasn't too uncomfortable for you." He stepped up so they walked side by side. "I suppose I shouldn't have assumed you'd want to speak with me when we were supposed to be there for something else."

She scoffed and raised her eyebrows at him. "Your Highness, I—"

"Liam," he corrected.

She glanced around. "Liam." She couldn't hide the blush now and checked to see if she had hair that needed to be tucked behind her ears. "I was going to say that I have no idea what you mean. I enjoyed our conversation."

Liam stopped walking when they reached the bottom of the steps. He set one hand on the railing and used his cane to push himself up the stairs.

"I didn't know all of that about the blood plague. At least, not the part with Vasha."

"I just can't believe she could have stopped me from being...disfigured. Disabled. And she didn't. I could have been normal."

"I don't know if you've ever been normal," she teased.

The prince grinned and nudged her with his elbow. "You're funny."

Lily laughed.

"Such a relief from fancy women," he mumbled.

" Fancy women?"

"You know. In poofy dresses with perfect fingernails and expensive shoes. The kind who won't even step into a puddle, let alone go into a stable to heal a horse." He raised his eyebrows at Lily. "I like that you're different from them. My conversations with you are far more entertaining."

"We barely speak."

He grinned wider. "Which just tells you how terribly boring my conversations with them truly are."

Lily laughed again. "I think you're trying to flatter me."

"I would never lie." He placed his hand on his chest.

"Perhaps." She grabbed the edge of the tapestry to pull it aside. "Thank you for walking me back."

"You're ready to go so soon?"

She paused and eyed him up and down. What else was she supposed to do? He had agreed to walk her back to the tower, and she was at the tower.

He leaned his arm on the wall. "You know, I don't have a personal guard outside of my door all the time. If you ever wanted to visit...I'm always there at night." He winked.

Lily shook her head. "I'm so exhausted at night. Visiting with people is seldom what I want to do before bed. Perhaps we can have tea one night this week, but I often have chores, and now I've got that silly little puppy to take care of, not to mention the prisoner, and—"

Her words were cut off when Prince Liam leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers.

Lily instinctively slapped him across the face and took a step back. Her eyes were wide and she placed her hand to her mouth. "I am...Your Highness, I am so sorry."

Liam rubbed his cheek. "It was my fault. I should have asked." He laughed. "I deserved it. Just know that my door is always open for you." He stepped back and leaned on his cane. "Good night, Lily." He winked.

She curtseyed and then disappeared behind the doorway to the tower.

Dread filled her stomach like she'd swallowed a stone.

She'd struck the prince. If anyone had seen, she probably would have lost her hand. Or worse, her life. This dread sat with her while she waited for Wester to return and then stood immediately. "Did you happen to see Prince Liam on your way up?" she said in a rush.

"Yes. Why are you upset?" He tilted his head.

"I slapped him."

Wester straightened. "Pardon me?"

"He tried to kiss me and, well he actually did kiss me, and it caught me off guard and I just...I reacted and slapped him." She put her hands on her hips. "And now I don't know what to do." She dropped her hands to her sides. "What do I do?"

Wester set his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. "He mentioned to me that you didn't seem to be appreciating his advances. Now I know specifically what he meant. You have no reason to worry. I will speak to him tomorrow and ask him to be more cautious with you." He stretched his arms in the air. "Now it's time for bed."

"Sir," she said as he stepped past her.

He stopped. "Yes?"

Lily fiddled with her hair. "Do you truly believe the queen can be brought back to life? And that Liam can be healed?"

Wester waited a moment before he slowly shook his head. "I personally believe they are hollow promises. But if we can free Merete, it would be good for her and Sraylin to return to their people if nothing else. They've been without a proper leader for fifteen years. The elves have fallen into political turmoil as a result. Now, off to bed so you can get to work first thing in the morning." He stepped around the sleeping puppy and continued to his room.

Lily dampened the candle she'd lit and walked to her own room. She heard Percy's toenails scraping the floor after her, and he hopped right up into her bed. She stroked his fur as her mind drifted back to Liam and the warmth of his lips.