Chapter 7

HELGA FOLLOWED EIRWYNthrough the front oversized front door of the castle and into the wide foyer. The grand staircase led up the middle, then split into two more staircases, one going left and one going right.

The downstairs rooms were a flurry of activity. The butler, Hobbs, closed the door behind them.

"Welcome back, your highness. We have all been worried about you."

She beamed at him and nodded. "Aw, thank you, Hobbs. It"s good to be home. Has the Chancellor returned yet?"

Hobbs nodded, his gaze flitting up the stairs to the west wing and her brother"s rooms. A loud crash echoed followed by a roar.

"Yes, but have you heard? There"s to be a wedding, your highness."

Eirwyn gasped and met Helga"s worried gaze. Her heart raced. No, this couldn"t be. Not yet.

She sighed and bit her lip. "Hobbs, would you refrain from telling the king that I"ve returned? I need to tidy up a bit."

She pulled her stained and filthy skirt, and he frowned. "Absolutely, your highness. Will an hour suffice?"

She nodded and turned to the stairs, racing up them as fast as she could and turning to the east wing and her rooms. Helga immediately ran a hot bath, and Eirwyn set her bag on the settee. She pulled out the peach, white, and blue blossoms and emptied her makeup cup on the vanity.

She didn"t even care about the mess and lack of order on her desk. She went to the bathroom and filled it with water, then put the flowers in the cup and set it on her bedside table.

She took a deep breath of it as if drawing strength from the blooms to withstand the storm that was her brother. With a sigh, she turned to the bathroom and disrobed, sinking into the water with a sigh.

"Ah, and this is why I could never live in the forest." Eirwyn absently swirled the white bubbles with beams of light to form a kaleidoscope of colors.

Helga bustled behind her. "We should probably not mention sleeping overnight in the forest to his majesty."

Eirwyn sat up and began scrubbing. "Why not? It"s the truth."

Helga nodded and paused, a wary expression on her face. "I know, but with his temper, I"m afraid what he might do if he found out we stayed with the druid."

Eirwyn took out her braids. "They were nothing but hospitable. What could he possibly do?"

Helga shook her head. "I"m not sure, but you know how he feels about the forest. He blames it and the druids for your parents" deaths."

Eirwyn stepped into the tub, the warmth washing over her. That had always confused her, as he also claimed that Glathen had assassinated their parents. It couldn"t possibly be both. Gastone just used it as an excuse to invade Glathen and ban people from going into the forest.

"You saw how he reacted when he found you in the tavern last month. He almost burned the place down before shipping you off to Glathen."

Eirwyn sighed. "If you think that"s best, then so be it. I won"t say anything. What will we say instead?"

Helga went to her walk-in closet, muttering, so Eirwyn dipped under the water. When she came up and began to lather her hair, Helga was draping a soft, silk white and red gown on the hook by the mirror.

"We"ll say most of the truth. That our carriage was overrun by the forest"s magic, that we were rescued by the Hunter Scarlet and her brother, and that they escorted us home."

Eirwyn hummed as she cleaned, finally feeling more at ease in her own skin now that she had scraped off all the dirt and grime. An hour later, Helga put the finishing touches on her hair. She"d pulled it into small braids at the back of her head, then had weaved the rest of her hair into one long twisting braid down her back.

"When you"re married, you"ll be able to wear your hair up." Helga"s eyes met hers. They"d argued for years about the fashion and rules of society. Helga always said she was the leader of her people, and she had to present herself thus. But not even Eirwyn could change the cultural norms.

Working women could wear their hair however fit their station and job. The baker"s daughter wore her hair up in a bun on top of her hair. So did Bella, her friend who owned the tavern.

But unattached marriageable noble women wore tiny braids from ear to ear, then the braids were pulled back to the base of the skull. The long hair hung loosely down her back. Those braids could be pulled up off the nape only once they were engaged or married. Hair was supposed to cover the nape as it was too sexy to leave bare.

Eirwyn sighed. It wasn"t logical. If she wanted to attract a suitor, shouldn"t she bare more skin to entice him? This was just another reason she hated all the rules that dictated her life. The rules were made up and what was convenient didn"t matter.

Eirwyn had met her gaze in the mirror defiantly.

"I don"t want to get married. You know this. I don"t want to be tied down or have yet another man tell me what to do, dictating my every move."

Helga had glanced over her shoulder and whispered back, as if afraid even the walls of her room would hear them speaking.

"You are a princess. It"s your duty to marry well, remember? This is what I"ve been trying to train you for your whole life. Now, you"re going to go out there, hold your head up high, and listen and learn. Negotiate this to your advantage."

Eirwyn sighed and stood, straightening her spine to walk out the door. "Very well," she said as she opened it. She turned to look back at Helga. "I"ll try to make you proud."

"You always do, child."

Eirwyn snorted at the bald-faced lie and shook her head as she closed it behind her. Helga was the only mother figure she"d ever had. She"d spent years nursing Eirwyn through sickness after sickness.

Eirwyn had just walked a few feet down the plush carpeted hall when her brother boomed her name.

Her heart skipped a beat as she jumped, then she walked faster toward the stairs. Her brother was already walking quickly down the stairs to the west wing as she stopped at the top of the east wing stairs.

"Your majesty." She dipped into a deep curtsy before standing and walking slowly down the stairs. She didn"t want to trip when he was already in a mood. Heavens knew he despised how clumsy she was.

He stopped on the landing where the two stairs met and put his hands behind his back. Whereas Eirwyn used just simple gold colored thread on her dresses, her brother used actual thread made from gold. His buttons were jewels, and his tailored blue jacket fit him like a glove. It had an intricate but subtle gold pattern that matched the gold cording on his shoulder.

A red silk cravat was tied in a fancy knot. It matched his black pants perfectly. She glanced down. Even his boots were shiny and clean, a black that rivaled his perfectly gelled hair.

He was the exact opposite of Knox. Clean, sharp cut, and expensive tastes.

Knox was more down to earth, dirty, and harder to understand. She"d spent two days with the man and yet she felt like she didn"t know him at all, yet somehow she felt safer and trusted him more than her own brother.

"Where have you been? The Chancellor arrived back yesterday and said you refused to take the Southern Road home. Don"t tell me you went through the Feral Forest."

She reached the landing and pursed her lips, nodding demurely. He threw up his hands and turned on his heel to walk down the central staircase.

"What have I told you about that forest? It"s an abomination and should be destroyed. It killed our parents, Eirwyn."

"I thought Glathen sent assassins to kill our parents? Isn"t that why we"ve been at war for a decade?"

He glared over his shoulder, a curl of smoke blowing from his nose. "Don"t sass me, sister. You know that forest is off limits. Do not go near it again, do you understand?"

She lowered her gaze and nodded. "Yes, your majesty."

Gastone took a deep breath and they continued walking down the stairs as he berated her reckless ways.

Perhaps it was because she didn"t have a real voice with her brother that made her to talk too much with everyone else. She followed behind him, maintaining the two steps behind him rule that he insisted on.

She tuned back in to his ranting and followed him down the hall to his office.

"The Chancellor says you almost brokered peace with Glathen. Not bad for your first attempt at diplomacy. I expected worse," he scoffed, a small white smoke tendril escaping his nose as a servant opened the door to the library for them.

She frowned, unsure on why they were going to the library. Every other time he"d chewed her out, it had been in his office. The change of scenery made her bold.

Eirwyn felt the frustrations of his words return as they stopped outside the door. "I could"ve done better. It was a fool"s mission that couldn"t have possibly succeeded without the power to sign a legally binding document."

Gastone spun on his heel, lifting a finger to point at her face. A small flame of fire flickered at the end, and she stepped back, immediately regretting her boldness. She knew what would happen next. If she wasn"t careful, he"d throw a fireball. She went onto the balls of her feet, ready to dive for safety.

"Don"t accuse me of being a fool. You"re the one who has been sneaking out of the palace for gods knows how long to fraternize with the peasants. And when I organize a masquerade, hoping to shift your attention to some more acceptable dalliances, you reject the entire thing! I don"t understand you, Eirwyn."

He extinguished the flame, smoke billowing from his nose as he exhaled heavily. He tugged on his jacket, stood straighter, and entered the library, walking toward the settee under the giant window. Eirwyn frowned to see Bella sitting under it, lounging on a settee as she read a book in a blue silk gown.

She looked up, her familiar brown eyes shining behind her reading glasses. She stood and set the book down, opening her arms wide as she walked forward.

"Eirwyn, you"re back! Welcome home," Bella enveloped her in a hug.

Eirwyn blinked and her heart raced. Bella was her friend in town. She"d met her almost a decade ago when she"d first snuck out of the palace. She owned the tavern and learned magic from the local medicine woman. She"d taught Eirwyn to cook and bake. Hells, she"d even put Eirwyn to work cleaning the filthy rooms upstairs. What was she doing in the palace in an expensive new silk gown?

Bella broke the hug and turned to smile at Gastone. "Did you tell her?"

He stood next to the settee with a smirk. "Not yet, I was waiting for you, dear."

Eirwyn stepped back, her jaw dropping. "Dear?" Her voice almost squeaked.

He nodded, the same expression on his face when he beat her at chess. It was like the cat who ate the canary.

Bella grabbed her hands and pulled her down to the settee. "Eirwyn, we"re getting married!"