Page 110 of The Shadow Fae Rhapsody
“Yeah,” I mutter and nod. “Not just every day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, and snacks too.”
I count the meals with one hand to show her.
Her eyes sparkle with awe. “What a life… Do you think the lovely people will adopt me too?”
I give it a thought or two. “I don’t know. Probably.”
If not, I’d just sneak Salty Spider into the washroom. She can hide in Lord Kearne’s bathtub.
“Princess Rhianelle!” Graysen’s calls for me from the forest’s edge.
My stomach grumbles with indigestion at the sound of his voice. But I force myself to move to the bushes. I jolt at the rustling sound behind me.
Salty Spider steps in close, waddling like a duck behind me.
“Why are you following me?” I ask her.
“I’m bored.” She shrugs.
We watch quietly as the governor’s guards leave out a table and writing materials over the forest’s edge.
“If you will not come out, then at least write your family a letter,” Graysen says grimly. “Please, your uncle will kill the entire village.”
“Your uncle sounds grand. I’m sure he’ll make a great husband,” the spider whispers to my ear. “Introduce me to him.”
I cringe at the thought of the spider marrying Rainer.
The governor strides forward to the forest and I grip my spear tight. He has never been brave enough to step that far. He trains his eyes to a tree in the forest as if talking to me. “Think of the children, Princess.”
I’m a child too…
And he almost sold me to the slavers.
The villagers of Feywildra gather behind the governor. Their faces sallow and sunken with hunger. They have nowhere to go. The entire region of Elowen is poor.
If Rainer doesn’t kill them, my mother will annihilate this entire place out of existence. I’ve heard the stories. The Wiolants are the most feared noble house in Aelfheim for a reason. Mother is a Wiolant by marriage but her heritage as someone from Kashran makes her twice as deadly. Her clan will annihilate the village, not for hurting me, but to preserve their honor.
A deep dark part in me wants that to happen, wants Rainer to kill the governor for what he has done to me, but I know the villagers do not deserve that.The thought that Jessica’s sister and other undeserving children will suffer drags a knife straight to my heart.
With a long sigh, I search for the biggest leaf on the forest floor. I spy an elephant ear leaf and start folding it into a paper crane. Salty Spider watches my every movement with rapt attention.
“Spider.” I turn to her.
“Yeah?”
“I propose a bargain. I am royalty. I can bestow you with a new name,” I say, passing her my tithe. “In exchange, I need your help with something.”
“You know fae tradition well for an elven girl,” she muses thoughtfully.
Mother always kept me indoors, so I read a lot.
“What do you say?” I ask her.
Salty Spider takes my crane with her spindly hand. “Deal.”
Day6 in Astefar
“It’s time,” I say to Salty Spider.
