Page 15 of King of Storms and Feathers

She laughed. “No. It’s fine. I was playing it up for sympathy.”

“Devious,” I replied, grinning back at her.

Opening the wardrobe, I found a row of gold tunics, similar to the ones the servants in the hall had worn, hanging on a bar. I threw one to Grendal, then tried to struggle into another, the chain between my wrists making it impossible.

“I’d prefer not to be an exhibitionist,” she said with a grin, “but I think we’re going to have to wait for the Sayeeda’s help.”

As she poked her head into the bathroom, I tried out a bed, surprised by the comfort of the mattress and the soft woven blankets covering it.

“Tell me honestly, is it really true that you have no idea where you came from or even who you are?” Grendal asked.

I nodded.

Sighing, she flopped on the other bed, bouncing her hips to test the mattress. “Well, I’ve never seen you before. So I can tell you with certainty that you’re not a gold chaser from the north.”

“When I eavesdropped on the fae who brought me here, I remembered quite a few of the things that they mentioned. Most things so far in the palace make sense, not elevators, though, which probably confirms that I lived a basic life, perhaps in a forest. But nothing the fae said sparked any significant memories.”

I took a breath and swallowed. I wasn’t sure why, but I knew I shouldn’t tell Grendal that the Storm King himself had bought me from the gilt market. At this point, no one needed to know that little detail but me. And of course, Raiden and Esen and several guards who had seen me with him.

The door swung open, revealing the Sayeeda on the threshold, her face a solemn, golden mask. Over her pointed ears, she wore elegant cuffs with bony ridges, as if they’d been cast from the vertebrae of a small animal—perhaps a winged desert rat or a bat.

“Get up.” She made an impatient hand gesture.

Snapping a golden bracelet around Grendal’s bicep, she said, “You both look reasonably intelligent, so you’ll begin work tonight scrubbing the dinner pots. I hope you will make the most of the opportunity and not try anything foolish.”

“Of course, Sayeeda,” said Grendal, bowing slightly, while I stared at the wall ahead.

“And you,” the Sayeeda continued, enclosing my arm in a bracelet, “if you blink so much as an eyelid without my permission, it will be the fires for you or worse.”

I rubbed my arm as the bracelet’s inner teeth pricked my flesh, the feeling like being pierced by scores of tiny needles.

“Underfloor, you swore allegiance to me. If you meant what you said, now is the time to prove it. Both of you.”

“I do swear to obey you, Sayeeda,” I said, forcing myself to hold her golden glare.

After Grendal promised the same, the Sayeeda nodded, then unlocked the shackles and removed the chains from our wrists.

“Good. And should you break your vows, know this… those bracelets are topped up daily and release small doses of gold serum, keeping you subdued, addicted, if you will. In the unlikely event you escape Coridon’s walls, your supply will be cut off, and your bodies will suffer horrific cravings for the gold. Not a pleasant fate, I promise you. Now get dressed.”

Grendal’s eyes widened as realization set in. She was trapped. We both were.

Scratching the red skin around my bracelet, I wondered when I would begin to feel its effects. Other than the initial pain when it embedded in my flesh, I felt nothing. Nothing at all.

The Sayeeda’s mouth curved as she collected Arrow’s cloak from my bed, fondly inspecting a tear in the material, then she turned toward the door. “Follow me. There is much work to be done.”

We slid the tunics over our heads and hurried after her.

Chapter 5

The Girl

“Gods, I’m bored,” said Grendal as she dumped dirty platters in the sink beside me.

“It could be a lot worse,” I replied, stretching my back and thinking of the unfortunate slaves the Sayeeda sent to the fires on the day I arrived.

My roommate shrugged and marched to the other side of the white-washed kitchen and began cleaning one of the cavernous ovens.

Each day was the same. We peeled, sliced, and diced, then helped scrub the kitchen clean before falling into our beds in the middle of the night, our muscles cramped and aching.

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