I poured my heart and soul into nurturing the garden back to health once I realized that orem did exist in it. And slowly, the courtyard’s garden came alive, growing more and more each day. By the end of week two, the snow had entirely melted, and the temperature was no longer freezing. The soil grew looser, the rich dirt moister and suppler between my fingers. And by the end of week three, all of the plants were alive, some even thriving. The rich colors and decadent fragrances that each plant harbored bathed the small courtyard in a perfumed cloud of life and peace.
“This is so beautiful,” Daiseeum proclaimed as an entire month of my captivity was upon me. “If only Lord Crimsonale and Lady Wormiful could see this, then maybe they’d stop their ridiculous talks.”
“Who?” I asked, cocking my head as I tilled the soil. “And talks about what?”
A flush worked up the servant’s neck. “Nothing, Ilara. Carry on.”
But despite my world shrinking to the Exorbiant Chamber and courtyard, I still heard rumblings among the servants, when they didn’t know I was listening, about life beyond my confining walls. More commoners had flooded the capital since the prince had left, bringing with them increasing worry over the state of our continent’s crops.
Ice had flooded my veins when Haisley and Balbus had restocked the bar, and Haisley had hissed under his breath, “He was removed, some laborer from Isalee, just like the last two.”
“By who?” Balbus had asked, keeping his voice low. “The prince isn’t here to deal with them, so who’s taking them?”
“No one knows,” Haisley replied. “But it’s best to watch your back. A serving girl in the kitchens has gone missing too. They say she was sympathetic to the commoner’s plight.”
Hearing that made the anxiety within me grow. What exactly is happening in this castle?
Throwing myself back into my garden, I concentrated on the plants, the soil, and the life growing before me. My father would have been proud. I tried to concentrate on that. Despite being a field laborer, he’d taken pride in his work, always boasting any time his crops grew tall and strong. If he were here now, he would have patted my shoulder and told me well done.
Smiling, I closed my eyes and remembered my father’s horrible yet endearing singing every time he’d shoveled snow off the path to the front door. His ballads would be so loud he would scare the nearby nesting owls away despite their daytime slumbers.
And as the soil sank through my fingers, I would think of the softness of my mother’s hugs and the scent of her lemony lotion every time she’d braided my hair. I would picture how she would bump me playfully with her elbow every time she’d beat me at a game of cards, or how we would knead dough side by side in the kitchen while she’d hummed under her breath.
I remembered my brother too, his jokes, his laughs, and how Cailis and I had always teased him mercilessly since he’d had a crush on Birnee but had never worked up the courage to ask her to be his mate.
So despite my captivity and the disturbing whispers filtering through the castle, I worked and remembered as I filled my days with thoughts of Tormesh’s infectious laugh, my mother’s gentle hands, my father’s comforting hugs, and Cailis’s sharp tongue.
Dirt encrusted itself under my nails again, and it was such a welcome return of the life I once led that I kept my hands close to my chest, refusing to clean them properly. Daiseeum was, of course, aghast, but when she tried to scrub it away or insist that I soak for hours to loosen it, I refused.
It was the only remnant of my former life that felt like mine, and I fiercely protected it.
CHAPTER 14
“This is unbelievable! I had no idea such beauty could be grown in this desolate patch of forgotten waste.”
Nuwin’s voice had my head whipping up so fast that a crick formed in my neck. Wincing, I set down the spade that I’d been using to dig into the garden.
“Prince Nuwin?” I blinked, then blinked again just to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
I hadn’t seen the youngest prince in over a month, and considering that solitude bred insanity, well, I figured it was a good sign that I was still questioning if I was seeing a possible apparition.
“Yes, it’s me, and I know, I know. I’ve been quite neglectful in my attention of you.” He sighed and crouched at my side, his black leggings flexing with the movement.
He looked so much like the crown prince that for a moment, I marveled at their similar features. But Prince Nuwin dressed more fashionably than his older brother. A rich-blue tunic covered his upper half, and all of the stitching had been done in silver—the court’s colors on full display.
Nuwin gave a rueful smile. “Believe me, I would have come sooner, but my dastardly brother reworked his wards to keep me out.” He waggled his eyebrows, a mischievous grin streaking across his face. “Too bad for him that he forgot about one of the trap doors, and I finally remembered it and gave it a try.”
I laughed, unable to help it. “Is that why I haven’t seen you? I have to say this is a surprise. I thought you’d disappeared with your brother, and that was why you’d gone missing.”
During the past month, I’d thought of both Nuwin and Haxil, hoping the males would stop by to ease the monotony of my days, but I figured there was little chance of me seeing the guard. If the prince had left, then his four guards had probably accompanied him, but as for Nuwin . . .
I smiled pleasantly up at him.
“This is a good surprise, I hope?” the youngest prince replied with a wink.
“Yes, it’s nice to see someone new.”
Nuwin grinned.
“Does the prince know you’re here?” I asked curiously, then wondered again why Prince Norivun would want to keep his brother away from me. I set my spade down and wiped a piece of silvery hair from my cheek.
Amazingly, the prince’s illusion magic still held, not showing even a hint of weakness. All of my black hair was still concealed.
Nuwin’s grin just broadened as he evaded my question by lifting a hand and wiping his finger across my cheek. “You had a smudge of dirt,” he explained when I stiffened. “Although it did make you look quite adorable.”
My cheeks warmed. “Does the prince know you’re here?” I asked again. Not that I cared about following the prince’s rules, but he did seem extremely concerned about me seeing his brother.
Nuwin rocked back on his haunches, then gave me a cheeky smile. “If he did, he’d be storming in here and bringing the wrath of the realm with him.”
My heart beat harder. I’d strangely felt safe with the prince when we’d traveled here, but it’d been over a month since I’d seen him, and I’d started to wonder if my judgment had been impaired during the two days we’d spent together. The male was a murderer after all.
“That’s ridiculous. Why would he do that? Surely, no harm would come from you?” I smoothed my shirt and wiped at the light sheen of sweat on my brow. Now that the orem in the garden was thriving, the temperature was comfortably warm each day.
The young prince’s lips tilted up again, and this time, when he lifted his hand and wiped his thumb across my forehead, I ducked my head sheepishly. I always got dirty when I worked in the fields, and this garden was no exception.