Page 28 of Her Dark Reflection

By the afternoon, news of how I’d spent my night had spread. Servants whispered behind their hands as I walked past, and I was treated to lingering examinations by anyone I encountered, as though the whole palace was sizing me up and picking out what had drawn His Majesty to me over any other. I relished the attention but didn’t appreciate the murmured conjecture on whether the night was a once off, since that aligned too closely with my own supressed anxiety. I kept picturing the expression on his face after he’d eaten the apple to reassure myself. Surely, he would seek me out after looking at me like that?

But the day wore on with no word from the king. No secret letters were pressed into my hands by servants, no unexpected gifts were left for me, no clandestine meetings were arranged. With most of the guests in the palace still suffering for their indulgences the night before, there were no events to distract me from the insufferable tension of waiting.

By the time the evening rolled around, I was in a poor temper, and I ate my dinner in silence beside an equally silent Senafae. If that damn apple hadn’t worked, where did that leave me? I’d given up my body for nothing, and when the treaty celebrations were over, I’d be back on the street where Draven had found me. A shadow of that yawning despair fell over me, the one that had darkened the days after the attack had disfigured my face, before Draven had found me and offered a different path. I wouldneverbe that hopeless again. Never.

I thought that perhaps I could convince Draven to let me keep the glamour. It was only right, given that I had done exactly as we’d agreed, and it was his magic that had failed, but I didn’t imagine he was the sort to do something just because it was right. He didn’t seem inclined towards either honour or sympathy, and I doubted I could seduce him into compliance.

I left Senafae lingering over her plate, picking apathetically at her food, when I was ready to retire for the night. My mood wasn’t improved when I found Vanaria skulking by the door to my room.

‘Do you have anythingspecialplanned tonight, Rhiandra?’ she called as I approached.

‘A good night’s sleep is always special,’ I replied.

A cunning smile curled at her mouth. ‘So, nofriendsto see? Just off to bed?’

I paused with my hand resting on the doorknob. ‘Aether’s teeth, Vanaria. First you poke around my life outside the palace, now you want to know about my night-time habits. Do you think I’m a spy?’

‘I just know how disappointing it is whenfriendsspend one night with you and never want to see you again.’ She tilted her head, pursing her lips in an expression of exaggerated contemplation. ‘Actually, I don’t know. No one ever spends a night with me without clamouring to see me again.’

‘Goodnight, Vanaria,’ I called, rolling my eyes as I entered the cold, empty room.

‘Oh, I’m sure it will be,’ she called after me as I closed the door.

Someone was sitting at the foot of my bed, staring at me.

‘Who are you?’ I asked.

The figure leaned forward and I caught a flash of blond hair as he passed through a shaft of moonlight.

‘What a pretty face,’ he sneered, reaching his dirty hands out. I wanted to leap out of bed and run, but I couldn’t move. He grabbed a hold of my leg through the blanket and dug his fingers in hard.

‘Let go!’ I screamed, but he only laughed as the blanket burst into flames. My right calf seared with pain as the flames rose and the smell of singed hair filled the air.

‘Rhiandra, you’re dreaming.’

I opened my eyes to Senafae peering down at me. I sat bolt upright, gasping for breath, my eyes darting about the room. No flames, no blond-haired man, but I still felt the fire and I batted at my blanket in a panic, trying to extinguish an invisible blaze as agony seared up my calf and spread through my thigh.

‘My leg!’ I shrieked, and Senafae took a handful of my blanket and ripped it off me as she jumped back. I kicked out and leapt from the bed, cringing away from the creature now menacing us with two wicked-looking pincers.

It was long, with a segmented body that was almost translucent and tapered into a stinger at one end. I could see its guts through its exoskeleton, pink and blue and pulsing. Several bulging black eyes swivelled to fix on us as it opened its maw to reveal rows of tiny, pointed teeth.

Hissing and clicking, it arched its body, coiling up before launching itself almost off the bed in a single jump. We screamed and ran for the door, reaching it just as Mrs Corkill appeared, her hair dishevelled beneath her night cap.

‘By the fall, what’s going on?’

Her eyes caught on the creature, and she stumbled back, clutching her chest. I tried to speak, but my mouth wouldn’t respond and all I could get out was a groan. She slipped in and out of focus, jumping around in my vision until she seemed to be dividing into two Mrs Corkills, then morphing back into one. I felt hands around my arms, and I thought for a second that I was being pulled to the ground, but it was gravity overcoming me as my own legs gave way. I was lowered down as a wave of nausea washed over me, nudging up my throat. Senafae bobbed down before me, shaking me gently as she blurred almost beyond recognition. The pain in my leg flared brighter and my vision darkened.

A collection of impressions eased in and out of my focus. Echoing footsteps on stone. My body being shifted and laid out straight as I tossed and struggled against the pain. A torrent of words babbled in Senafae’s voice, high-pitched and urgent. The acidic burn of bile in my throat as I choked on my own vomit. A rush of activity around me, people moving and touching me and talking to each other in voices that whipped and snapped past my ears. King Linus’s grim face floating above me, clear for only a moment before my vision blurred, my eyelids crashed down, and my consciousness darted away like a frightened sparrow.

My awareness crept back to a sense of stillness, to a quiet room and a body that was curiously numb and heavy. Cool hands brushed over my face, down my body, and then there was a prickling sensation throughout my leg. The pain reignited with a vengeance, and I screamed. The pain crushed me beneath a leaden oblivion, and I slipped away with the bitter scent of gunpowder in my lungs.

I was woken by pale sunlight and the smell of bread. My eyes felt dry and gritty when I pushed them open and my head pounded like I’d been dwelling at the bottom of a bottle, but when I stretched my limbs the pain in my leg was gone.

‘Oh! You’re awake!’

I swivelled my gaze in the direction of the voice.

‘Everyone will be thrilled!’ The voice was soft, feminine, putting me in mind of the cooing of a dove. It was matched with a pair of huge eyes the colour of rich soil. A woman. A girl, really, with the softness of youth still rounding her face and an innocence about her that was so strong it practically emitted a scent. I knew who she was immediately, though I would never have expected to meet her in such a way, with me lying in a bed in what looked like an infirmary. But surely the pitch-black hair, lily-pale skin, and exquisite beauty could belong to no one else.

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