Chapter 34

I t was a few long minutes before I got up the courage to inspect the state of my foot, and when I pulled back the blankets, my stomach dropped. There was no way it would heal quickly.

I had two puncture marks on both the top and bottom of my foot. The ones on the outer side of my foot had torn, presumably when I’d tried to pull my foot free. The edges of the cuts were black, as though they had burned, and the skin around the wounds was a sickly grey-green.

I tentatively poked at one of the holes. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. The black scabbing over the cuts felt solid as rock, and after a moment more probing, I was confident that they wouldn't bleed if I moved too much or put boots on.

Slowly, I set both feet on the carpeted floor. An uncomfortable throb was all that met me, so I stood.

There was a slightly painful pressure on the outside of my foot, but not enough to stop me walking. Carefully, I took a few steps, looking for the bathing chamber.

“Oh, my lady!” Brynja’s voice startled me, and I whipped around, losing my balance and reaching out for a bed post. The maid hurried toward me. “I can’t believe what happened. Are you okay?” She looked down at my green foot, and recoiled. “Oh, that looks…”

“I’m fine,” I told her.

“Really? What can I do for you? I have your working clothes here.” She pointed out into the sitting room.

“A bath would be good,” I told her. Cold sweat had covered my body most of the hours I had been in the bed, either from the snake venom or the overwhelming fear the cursed Prince had caused.

The unexpected flash of rage when I thought about it comforted me. I was moving past fear, into anger. And anger was far more useful.

Brynja helped me bathe without getting my foot wet, and then helped me dress. The headband had stayed on my tangled hair during the struggle with the snake, but Voror’s feather had not survived the incident.

I wanted to see the imperious owl, but I didn’t know when or how. He might have seen who stole my bag, and put the snake in my room.

“Brynja, did you see anyone near my room before the snake?”

“It was a snake?” Her pink cheeks turned pale.

“Yes.”

She shook her head as she tidied my hair, shaking her shoulders like she had something unpleasant on her. “I can’t abide snakes, my lady. I would have clean passed out from fear.”

“I think I did pass out, but from poison. I’ve never been that scared of snakes,” I said, then glanced down at my now carefully booted foot. “Although I suppose I might be now.”

“What scares you then, my lady?”

“Being trapped.”

She gave me a knowing look in the mirror. “I think most thralls fear that,” she said quietly.

I gave her a small smile. “Not my friend Kara. She was born a slave, and her biggest fear is never getting to read a book again.”

“I’ve been talking with Kara,” Brynja smiled at me.

“Really?”

“Yes. I’m the only one who knows who they really are, your friends,” she said proudly. “I take them their meals and small jobs to do, like darning and horseshoes. The big man, Lhoris, he’s handy with a hammer.”

It made sense that if Brynja already knew about me, then she would be looking after Kara and Lhoris.

I reached up and squeezed her hand without thinking. “Thank you.”

She smiled. “I’ll try and smuggle Kara a book. She’s sweet.”

“She is. This is no place for her.”

“Was it any better in the Gold Court palace?” Brynja asked.

The question wasn’t rhetorical; it sounded like she was genuinely asking. “Yes. We had our workshop, and Kara and I were safe from male attention, being rune-marked.”

Brynja stiffened slightly. “Not many thralls have that kind of protection.”

“I’m sorry. For anything that has happened to you.”

She shrugged again. “Not your fault, my lady. Right, that’s you all fixed up.” She stepped back and I got to my feet a little stiffly.

“Thank you. You know, I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

Her cheeks pinked. “You’re welcome, my lady.”

There was a knock at the door, and I heard the Prince’s voice. “Are you ready?”

* * *

The narrow passage through the rock to the shrine was no less disconcerting than the first time. The Prince and I had barely exchanged words, an uncomfortable friction humming in the air between us.

When the little boat emerged into the cavern, I could see the wrist rising from the water, holding the statues aloft over the cascading waterfall below.

We moved straight to it and I took a breath as I clambered out of the boat and onto the stone.

“Do you need help?”

I glared up at him. “No.”

He glanced at my injured foot, then began to walk slowly along the stone arm.

I fixed my sight on him and walked, making an effort to breathe evenly and ignore the discomfort from my foot. I wasn't afraid of heights specifically, but I would have challenged anyone walking over the chasm not to take extra care.

Anyone except the Prince.

A new set of worries flowed through me as I reached the palm of the hand, and the statues.

The gold-vision would descend if there really was gold under the stone, and I was sure there was. And I had no doubt the dark visions would follow. How would I deal with them in front of the Prince?

I would lie to him, of course. Tell him something else was happening, and that it happened to all gold-givers after they worked.

The idea of him knowing about the visions filled me with a dread I couldn’t explain, and it made me wonder if it was connected to my fear of him getting into my head. I wasn’t sure what it was I feared so much about others knowing, just that I had a deep-rooted certainty that it was a secret I had to keep as my own.

He watched me as he set the tool roll that he had carried down in front of the gold-fae statue. “Begin your work.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, before moving to the statue’s staff.

Taking great care, I began to work, painstakingly removing the stone from the gold. The gold-vision flicked in and out as I brushed my skin against the metal underneath, but it never descended fully, taking me into the engulfing trance.

The Prince’s deep voice made me pause. “I must leave.”

“What?” I turned to him. “I’ll be trapped here. I can’t make the boat move back to the passage.”

“You are a prisoner in my palace. You are trapped anywhere you are.”

I glared at him, but was secretly glad he was leaving. If I could complete my work whilst he wasn’t there, I would be alone when the dark visions came.

“Don’t leave me down here to die,” I snapped, not wanting to arouse him suspicion by looking like I’d had a change of heart.

His eyes flashed. “I will be back shortly,” he said, then spun on his heel.