Page 32 of Unraveled
It almost feels like she isn’t talking to me, so instead of waiting in here, I go into the bathing chamber. It’s almost the same size as the bedroom, with polished tiled floors arranged in a beautiful design of black-and-white marble.
On one wall there’s the tub with aged-brass pipes jutting from the floor and ending with a curved spigot. It’s the most lavish washroom I’ve ever been in, and not even the library hasthis much marble everywhere. Just thinking about that place makes my migraine return.
How many of my fellow librarians know we are holding stolen books?
“We have similar bathrooms in Penumbra. I can run it myself,” I say, gesturing at the tub as I turn to face the cursed fae who just entered the room behind me. Her feet, like Ash’s, are light enough I can barely hear them.
Morgana hums but makes herself busy, laying a couple of fluffy towels on a wooden stool and turning the water on, letting it run until it’s steaming as it pours into the large pool-like tub.
“Are you here because Finley’s gone?” I ask.
Her eyes widen. “I—uh—yes. He left before sunset. It’s easier to travel the forest at twilight, in the morning or evening, since most of the mindless beasts are slumbering.”
I stop breathing, glancing at the window to my right and over the treetops where the sky is neither dark nor bright.
“I shouldn’t have said that.” Morgana’s face hardens as she dumps bathing salts and oils into the water, turning it milky with added minerals. The wonderful scent of it fills the room, like lavender and roses. “But please don’t think of leaving. Plenty of beasts that live in the castle aren’t affected by twilight. Myself included.”
I nod and step into the water with my slip still on. Gods, I’m so filthy, and my sore muscles relax with the scalding heat of the bath.
When I arrived here, Finley seemed eager to get me inside my room. Ash left right before twilight—perhaps he was going to slumber. Maybe his magic faded at that time of the day and it made the wards weaker—easier to escape.
Was that why Finley wanted to get me in here? So the few beasts who remained awake wouldn’t get to us?
“Is Hedrum far?” I change the subject, hoping Morgana doesn’t get suspicious and run to tell Ash she gave me a clue of when I might escape without him being the wiser.
“A couple of days if the horses are healthy and the weather cooperates, a week at most,” she says and beckons me to her. “Come, I have an affinity for making clothes, but I also love to work with hair. If you let me, I can sort out the knots.”
After some consideration, I nod, scooting over the smooth surface of the bath and settling in one corner, where Morgana kneels and works on my hair. Her fingers end in sharp tips, which she uses to massage my scalp and work through the tangles.
I have four days, minimum, before Finley returns to the castle. I trace my fingers over the healing wound on my side and along the bumps of stitches that line the bottom of my ribs.
I suck in a breath, and Morgana pauses, craning her long neck over my shoulder. “Did I hurt you?”
“No, I’m sore, that’s all.”
The plan is already weaving together in my mind. If Ash is in fact sleeping at twilight, I can try to find my amulet then. Once I have it, I’ll take some food from Alaris’s kitchen, steal a horse, and leave this place.
But in a castle this big, how will I ever track it down? Perhaps I can start in the first place I was after I arrived. The study with the statue in the corner.
Morgana hums and pours warm water over my head with a ladle, again and again until none of the suds remain. “I’ve heard a whisper in the castle that the roses changed color when you touched them,” she says, calling my attention back to her. Unease grows in my stomach, and she grabs the towel to hand to me. “Are you a sorceress?”
I laugh, shaking my head. “I don’t have magic on my own like a sorcerer would. Just an affinity to wield magic lent to me by other things.”
Morgana nods and turns around, giving me privacy to take off my wet slip, dry myself, and step into my new clean one. Then she spends the next ten minutes measuring every inch of my body. When she leaves, sunrise is peeking through the curtains.
Chapter 13
The day crawlsto an end as the dull light of a stormy sunset signals the magical hour of my escape. I reach for the double doors and open them to the dark hall.
The enchantment is still in place, keeping me locked in this room. I hum and study the emptiness beyond. The rain ceased, but it remains cool and gloomy, even for this time of year.
Can I unravel this bubble of magic without my amulet?
Ever since he stole my necklace, I haven’t felt magic—not unless I was touching one of those climbing roses. I freeze and slowly turn to the corner, where the creeping branches stretch over the wall and above the door.
Can I use the roses to harness magic?
I take a leaf and my heart booms in my ear. I feel its power fluttering like a bird’s delicate heart, humming under my fingertips.
