Page 24 of Deadwood
She shook her head, rearranging various items on my vanity. “You are excused today.”
The shock of knowing I was going to the city was nothing compared to her response.
“I-I’m excused?”
Never in my life had I been given a day off from my time in the cellar. Not even when I was running a fever or down with a stomach bug.
“Yes, Auria.” Hope shone in her eyes as she twisted to face me, like she was just as excited as I was. “You are excused.”
The slight tilt of her lips told me she knew exactly what this meant. I was finally getting what I dreamed of for so long.
My smile mimicked hers, though we both tried to hide them, despite being in the privacy of my room. I felt almost foolish being this excited when it was only a day.
But a day held so much potential. So many possibilities. And soon, I’d be on a three-week trip. Three weeks without duplicating magic, without draining my energy for my father’s benefit.
I wondered what my body and mind would feel like after a day away from using my magic, and how weeks might feel.
Katie dipped her chin. “Right. Well, get dressed, my lady. There are only so many hours in the day.”
I gave her a nod before she exited my room so I could have privacy to get ready.
I’d never stripped so fast in my life.
* * *
I didn’t getto travel by horse like I’d hoped. Even if I only got to see the scenery through the tiny window of the carriage I was currently stuffed in, I was enamored enough with the view of the forest we passed through that it didn’t matter.
I’d take what I could get.
The cart rocked side to side as it maneuvered over rocks and divots in the dirt path, jostling Lander and I where we were seated across from each other.
“Are all rides this bumpy?” I asked. I wouldn’t lie and pretend I wasn’t the slightest bit perturbed, and the uneven ground did little to ease those nerves.
“Have you never ridden in a carriage before?” Lander questioned, cocking his head slightly as he studied me.
I reckoned he didn’t know my situation very well, then.
I shook my head. “This is my first time.”
His eyes trailed to my slippers. “You’ll need better footwear for our journey.”
“Won’t I be in a carriage like this one?” I assumed I wouldn’t be allowed to ride a horse then either—as much as I was dying to.
A crease formed between his brows. “You’ll still need to walk, Lady Auria. The carriage won’t simply drop you inside the doors of wherever we’ll be staying.”
I shifted my posture, folding my hands tightly in my lap as I moved my gaze from Lander to the window. “I don’t expect that. I just thought I’d be under orders to stay inside as much as possible.” Did he really think I was that presumptuous to have an entire horse-drawn cart go inside the doors of a home? He was demented if so. But the one thing I had come to like about Lander so far was that he didn’t seem to judge others—at least me—given his guilty pleasures in gambling were far from perfect. It seemed he’d come to accept that people wouldn’t particularly like how he spent his free time, and rather than let that bother him, he chose to not care what others thought at all.
Regardless, he was right. I’d have to let Katie know that I’d need new shoes before we departed.
I turned back to face him. “Have you traveled to the other kingdoms before?”
He leaned back on the bench. “I have. And if you’re wondering, you’re not particularly missing out.”
My brows furrowed in confusion at his response.
“Not much to do in kingdoms full of oppressed people,” he went on.
Puzzlement hit me harder than before. “Why do you say that?”
