The Infernal Crown: Of Roses and Lies

Chapter 13

I was wide awake before dawn but remained staring at the fretwork ceiling, watching the growing light of the sun creep between the drapes of the curtains. I was usually out of the cottage before sunrise—though my brothers hissed at me every morning for waking them so early. If I were home, I would already be in the woods, not wasting a moment of sunlight. Instead, this bedroom and house was completely silent, the enormous bed I lay on empty and foreign. A small part of me might have missed my brothers' warm bodies overlapping with mine.

I buried my face in my pillow, pulling the blankets higher. If Japeth had indeed kept his side of the bargain, my family would be comfortable and well-off now. If Japeth kept his side of the bargain, if those benefits would cease if I returned to the human realm, then my family would likely resent my return rather than celebrate it.

Your skin is ... clean. A pathetic complement. Although, I supposed if he invited me here, to spare my life, he couldn't be completely ... wicked. Perhaps he had just been trying to smooth our very, very rough beginning. Maybe there is some way to let him slip where I might find the black milkweed, to get myself to the Imperial Lord. And if it's not him, someone else ...

I was heedlessly drifting from one thought to another, trying to sort through the scramble, when the lock on the door clicked, and—

There was a screech and a thud, and I bolted upright to find Willodean a heap on the floor. The length of rope I had made from the curtain trimmings now were in two pieces, one on Willodean's ankle while the other hung from the light fixture. I had rigged it to grab anyone's leg when they stepped on it. It was the best I could do, with what I had.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I blurted, leaping from the bed, but Willodean was already up, hissing at me as she brushed off her apron. She looked up and frowned at the rope dangling loosely above her.

"What in the depthless cave of the Alger is—"

"I didn't think anyone would come to this room so early, and—"

Willodean scrutinised me from head to toe. "You think a little bit of rope grabbing my ankle would stop me from grinding your bones?" My blood ran cold. "You think that will do anything against one of us?"

I might have kept apologizing were it not for the sneer she gave me. I crossed my arms. "It was supposed to be a warning bell to give me time to run. Not a trap."

She seemed poised to spit on me, but her brown eyes narrowed. "You can't outrun us either, girl."

"I know," I said, my heart calming at last, "but at least I wouldn't face my death unaware."

Willodean barked a laugh. "My master said to us not to harm you, for you to live and not die. We will obey." She inspected the hanging bit of rope. "But did you have to wreck those lovely curtains?"

Even though I didn't want to, a hint of a small smile tugged at my lips. Willodean strode over to the curtains and threw them open, revealing a deep periwinkle sky, blushing with hues of magenta and orange from the rising dawn. "I am sorry," I said again.