“Dear.” Someone shook Brea’s shoulder.
Her eyes slid open, and for a moment, she didn’t remember where she was.
The healer. Finn. Lochlan. Rubbing her face, she looked to the man laying still on the bed wrapped in bandages and ice.
“Lady Brea,” the voice said again.
She lifted her eyes to find Captain Donovan standing next to her chair. “You should go back to your rooms.”
She shook her head, her eyes finding the empty bed where Finn had been resting. “Where’s Finn?”
“I had a few men help him to his rooms where he’d be more comfortable. My son was unharmed, just exhausted. We do not yet know the extent of their journey, but it took a toll on him.”
She nodded, settling her eyes back on Lochlan. “Will he wake?”
“The healer said his fever broke. We need to remove the ice.”
“I can do it.”
He shook his head. “You need sleep, my lady.”
“No.” She stretched her neck to the side. Sleeping in a tiny wooden chair wasn’t fun. “I can’t leave him alone.” She didn’t know why. Lochlan wasn’t her friend. Most of the time, they couldn’t stand each other. But he did this for Alona, was injured searching for her. Maybe Brea felt some sort of connection to the girl she’d been switched with, or maybe she just wanted to pay Lochlan back for saving her life when she was the one injured. She didn’t like owing him anything. After this, they were even.
“Lady Brea.” Captain Donovan sighed. “Your mothers would be vexed with me if I let you stay here all night.”
She snapped her eyes to his. He knew? This man she’d never met before this day. “How?”
He seemed to understand her question. “I have been in this palace since I was a young man at the queen’s side. There is very little that goes on I am not aware of.”
“Does Finn know?” About her. About Alona.
He shrugged. “I do not know. Lochlan and I have been under strict orders to share our knowledge with no one, but my son is shrewd. Alona is like a daughter to me, my lady. I was with her when she was taken, and I have to live with that. But you I can protect, even if it’s just from yourself. The healer and her assistant will take care of Lochlan. I’m ordering you to go get some sleep.”
She sighed and pushed to her feet. “Yeah, okay.” Unable to take her eyes from Lochlan’s distressed face, she released a breath. “Just…”
“I will have them inform you of any changes.”
“Thanks.” Turning, she made herself walk from the room and into the waking palace. Early morning sunlight streamed through archways, lighting the stone underneath her feet.
She was due at the stables soon, but she couldn’t fathom being so far from Lochlan right now. Master Arturo would understand.
Sleep wasn’t an option with the worry coursing through her, so she hurried to the courtyard she visited every morning to make a wish in the fountain. The wishes ranged from going back to the human realm to seeing Myles again to Lochlan returning.
This morning, there was only one.
She didn’t have a coin on her, so she bent to pick up a pebble near the base of the fountain. Holding it in the palm of her hand, she closed her eyes.
Let Lochlan live.
Releasing the stone, she watched it hit the water with a satisfying plunk. This palace couldn’t take another tragedy. For a month, they’d walked around in a fog of despair, trying to ignore the things they refused to talk about. Alona, gone. Finn, gone. Lochlan…
At least Finn was back with them in one piece.
But Lochlan… What would happen to her mothers if they lost another piece of themselves? The family in this palace had what Brea had always dreamed of. Two parents—three if one counted Captain Donovan—who truly cared about those under their watch. Alona grew up with Lochlan as the sibling Brea always wished she’d had.
And Finn, good, kind, Finn—the boy who could make anything better.
Alona may have been taken from her home as a baby just like Brea, but she got the better deal.
Brea trudged back to her room to find Rowena waiting for her with a too-bright smile.
“May I draw you a bath, Lady Brea?”
Brea grunted. “No.”
“I’ll fetch you something to eat then.” She ran out the door before Brea could tell her not to come back.
Yanking off her boots, Brea took off yesterday’s clothing and slipped on a comfortable sleeping gown before curling up on her bed. She slid the Humantales book toward her.
Reading stories that held some basis in human history brought tears to Brea’s eyes. Would she ever see her world again? The cars and technology. People who didn’t treat her as some fragile princess.
Netflix. Man, she missed Netflix.
And Amazon two-day shipping.
If she wanted to buy something she had no use for here, she’d have to make the effort of going to a shop. And everything was just so dang useful.
“Don’t they know how to waste money?” she grumbled to herself.
It was probably the weariness speaking, but she hated this world of magic and kings and queens. Her magic sizzled underneath her skin, but she was too tired for it to become more than that.
She curled in on herself and hugged the book to her chest. Rowena returned with a silver tray laden with food.
“I brought you Eldur Brew.” She winked, a satisfied grin on her face. “The queen’s lady’s maid told me you enjoyed it, so I snuck some up. We don’t have to tell anyone of your lowborn tastes.” She laughed as if it were some giant joke.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Come now, Lady Brea. A good breakfast makes every morning brighter.” She set the tray on the table next to the bed. “I’ll even allow you to eat it in bed.”
With a sigh, Brea rolled over and reached for the cup of Eldur Brew—coffee to her. “Is there any sugar?”
Rowena lifted a tiny silver spoon and scooped sugar into the Eldur Brew.
“More.” Brea stopped herself. “Please.”
Rowena nodded. “Today, I think you’re going to need it.”
###
“Lady Brea,” Master Arturo snapped. “That is not your job.”
She rolled her eyes and continued stabbing clumps of hay with a pitchfork. She’d planned to avoid the stables, but the longer she sat in her room with Rowena staring at her, the more restless she became.
“Chill. It’s all good. We won’t tell the queen.”
He yanked open the stall door and crossed his arms. “A woman of your station does not muck stalls.”
“Then what am I here for?” She threw the pitchfork, and it cracked against the wall. Her chest heaved. “Please, tell me why my m—the queen would allow me to work with you if there are so many freaking rules.”
“My lady.” Emmet jogged toward them. “Are you okay? I heard a crash.”
“Wonderful. My babysitter is here.” Brea was throwing a tantrum, but in her exhaustion, she didn’t care. Working in the stables took her mind off the man who still hadn’t woken, despite his fever breaking. It let her forget about this new crazy world she lived in where nobody left her alone.
She’d tried to sleep after breakfast, but her mind wouldn’t quiet. Now, here she stood with no more than an hour of sleep in an uncomfortable chair, and Master Arturo and Emmet staring at her like she was back at the Clarkson Institute.
Magic sparked in her fingertips, but not enough to do more than tingle along her skin. Man, she needed rest.
She calmed her breathing. “I’m sorry.” She ran a grimy hand over her sweaty hair. “I know I shouldn’t be here doing this.” Which seemed nuts to her after growing up on a farm and doing the dirty jobs her mom refused to do. She couldn’t count the number of stalls she’d mucked with Myles.
Master Arturo bent to pick up the pitchfork she’d thrown. “Lady Brea, the queen allowed you this apprenticeship against the judgement of others, so you’d have something to occupy your time. But she was very clear. You are to learn about our breeding programs, the pride of Eldur. I can’t have you going home to the palace each day with your clothing in dirty tatters and your face streaked with grime. It isn’t proper.”
She didn’t care what was proper, but she realized it mattered to her. “I understand.”
“Emmet, show her ladyship back to the palace. I think she’s done for the day.”
Emmet looked to her nervously.
With a sigh, Brea walked past him. “Let’s go.”
By the time they rode along the now familiar road, the sun had started to sink on the horizon. She wasn’t sure where this day had gone, but she clicked her tongue, nudging the horse into a trot. The quicker she got back to the palace, the sooner she could check on Lochlan.
At the back gates near the kitchen, she dismounted and ran inside, weaving through the halls until she stood on the threshold of the healer’s quarters. Glancing down at her dirty boots and pants, she cringed, knowing she probably smelled as bad as she looked.
Tucking an errant lock of hair behind her ear, she approached Lochlan’s bed. His face was relaxed in sleep, but it had much more color than earlier in the morning. A breath rushed out of her. He was going to be okay.
“Lady Brea.” Rowena stepped up beside her. “You just missed Finn. He was here speaking with Lochlan.”
Brea’s eyes widened. “Lochlan was awake?”
The maid nodded. “He’s been in and out of consciousness all day. The healer claims that is quite normal.”
“What are you doing here, Rowena?” She wasn’t aware her maid knew Lochlan well.
Rowena shrugged, red creeping up her neck. “I’ve stayed most of the afternoon so I could give you a full report when you returned.”
“Wait… you sat here for hours… for me?”
“Of course.”
Brea stared at her maid with this new knowledge. She knew the woman had been with Alona for many years, but how had she so easily developed affection for Brea too?
“I think you like me, Rowena.”
Rowena frowned. “Well, yes, you are my lady. I remember holding you in my arms on the day of your birth. No amount of grumbling or childish outbursts will erase that.”
“Childish outbursts,” Brea grumbled. No, she didn’t grumble. Rowena wasn’t right. Except, she sort of was.
“Come, Lady Brea.” Rowena put a hand on her arm and guided her into the hall. “You need to bathe.”
“Are you telling me I stink?”
“Yes.”
A laugh burst out of Brea, a foreign sound after such a lousy day, but it felt good. She followed the strange maid without another protest.
###
Brea jerked awake, and cool water sloshed across the floor. She’d fallen asleep in her bath after telling Rowena to give her some peace. The woman tried to bathe her. Brea would never get used to all the nudity the fae thought nothing of.
The same thud that woke her sounded at the door again. Her brow creased. She stood, letting rivulets of water stream down her weary body. Every muscle ached as she stepped from the tub onto the cold stone floor, a puddle forming at her feet. She reached for the bath sheet and dried herself before shrugging on a silk robe. Twisting her hair in the towel, she approached the door and gripped the handle.
She wished Rowena was here to tell whoever it was to go away. How long had she been asleep? Moonlight filtered through the window, casting shadows across her bed.
Pulling the door open, she jumped back as a body rolled in. Someone had been slumped against the door. It only took her a moment to realize it was Lochlan staring up at her with hazy eyes.
“Loch.” She shut the door and crouched down at his side. “What on earth are you doing here?”
“Had to…” He sucked in a breath. “Talk.” His eyes slid shut. “What’s wrong with… hair?”
“Huh?” Oh. She touched the towel on her head, suddenly self-conscious. “Come on, douchey Loch. Let’s get you up.”
He let her wrap his arm around her neck. “I needed to find you.”
Her lips curved up as she heaved him to his feet. “Well, you did. In my room. In the middle of the night. Good job.” Stumbling under his weight, she crashed into the bed. He fell onto it, and she sighed. “Good a place as any.” Noting his bare feet, she shook her head. Why would Lochlan escape from the healer and come to her rooms in the middle of the night? She highly doubted the healer let him go.
Straining, she pushed his legs onto the bed and checked his bandages to make sure they were still in place. “You shouldn’t be here,” she whispered.
His eyes slid open and fixed on her. “Brea.” He tried to lift a hand, but it fell back to the bed. “It’s Myles.”
Her entire body froze. What could Myles possibly have to do with this place? With where Lochlan had been? She hovered over Lochlan, willing him not to say the words she feared more than anything.
But that was the thing about wishes. Whether they were made in a sparkling fountain with gleaming coins or in the darkness of the night with nothing but desperation, they rarely came true.
A wish was nothing more than a lie one told themselves.
Myles was okay.
He’d remain safe and alive.
She didn’t need him.
All wishes. All lies.
Lochlan’s voice cracked on his next words. “He’s in Fargelsi. Queen Regan has him.”
And all those wishes shattered, slicing through her heart like the fragile glass giving false protection to their hope.