“Ah,” Auria said, stretching her feet out in front of the fire. “It feels good to be off my feet.” We were in the servants’ quarters—sitting in my old room. Guilt twisted in my stomach as I glanced at my old bed—and the rumpled blankets that told me some other unfortunate girl had been given the spot beneath the window.
Everyone else was still working, but Auria had finished her duties early.
“You know a lot about the people here,” I murmured, and Auria laughed.
“Well, I’ve worked here my whole life. My mother was born in this very castle to a servant who’d been raped by a guard.”
I gaped at her, and she just shrugged. “It happens. Even now. To this day, I don’t know who my father is. I was put to work as soon as I was old enough to scrub a pot.”
And yet, she was still a servant, while I’d walked in and become one of the queen’s ladies.
“Oh, don’t look so guilty, Setella. I would be miserable in such a position.” She sipped her tea, and I finally relaxed.
“What do you know about Madinia?”
Auria smiled. “She’ll be making your life difficult.”
“She tries. But I was raised in a village, and she was raised at court. She has no idea what true difficulty is.”
Auria nodded. “She must be annoyed that she can’t shake you. Madinia’s mother was from a village like yours.”
“You’re not…jesting?”
Auria laughed. “It was a rather large scandal at the time. Patriarch Farrow was supposed to marry the king’s cousin, but he fell in love.” She sighed. “A love match. Can you imagine?”
Could I imagine the cold, devout Farrow caring about anything except wiping out the corrupt? Absolutely not.
“But then Madinia’s mother died.” Auria’s voice dropped to a whisper. “She’d insisted on traveling back to her village, and along the way, her carriage was attacked by a group of corrupt who’d escaped from the king. They robbed them of all food and water and killed her guards. There was so much blood in her carriage, there was no way she could have survived. And yet they didn’t even leave her body for a decent burial.”
So that was why Farrow was obsessed with wiping out the corrupt. I knew what it was like to hate the people who’d hurt your family. To loathe them with every beat of your heart.
My eyes were growing heavy, and the other maids were slowly drifting in, sneering when they caught sight of me.
“I’d better head to bed,” I told Auria. “Thanks for the tea.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Shouldn’t you be in your luxurious room with your bath and furs?” one of the women asked. I didn’t recognize her, but she’d obviously heard of me. I just sighed and walked out the door. The castle was becoming quieter, but it was still a dangerous time to risk sneaking down to Asinia, the guards likely still alert.
But I couldn’t seem to help myself. The thought of her burning with fever…
I didn’t have the medicine yet. I had the beginnings of a plan for that, but it would require Tibris’s help. But I needed to see Asinia. Needed to tell her I was coming back. To urge her to hold on.
I snuck down to the dungeons, my power coming to me quicker than it ever had before.
I kept my gaze on the stone floor in front of me, still unable to look at the empty cell where Wila had spent her final hours.
“Promise me you’ll free them. And one day, you’ll come back and burn this fucking place to the ground.”
Wila had spent her final hours thinking of the others in here. I’d arrived planning to free only Asinia.
Sometimes I thought I’d suffocate on my own guilt and self-loathing.
I sucked in a breath, terrified of what I was about to see.
My body froze. My eyes flooded. I let out a sound that might have been a choked sob.
Asinia sat up in her cage, her face no longer pale, her eyes clear as she gazed back at me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“You’re…better.”
She attempted a smile. “A man came down with a healer last night. They gave me medicine, and the healer looked half dead by the time he was finished with me.”
I handed her the bread and cheese I’d stolen from the kitchen, nodding at Demos as I pressed his bundle through the bars.
He nodded back, falling on the food. Ever since Tibris had worked on his arm, Demos had gained weight, his appetite returning.
Letting myself into Asinia’s cell, I sat in front of her. She looked much, much healthier than I’d ever hoped for. Her eyes were bright, and even as thin as she was, she was sitting up by herself, tearing off a hunk of bread.