Griffin met his worried stare. “Neither do I.”
Eleven
Maggie
“Let us go rehearse,” Xavier ordered.
I could nearly read his thoughts as we tore our eyes from the bloody spectacle below. Silas’s family were members of the court. We were nobody. If we performed poorly—that would be our fate, too.
The return to the castle took us over the gilded bridge and through the Top. All the while, we passed by grieving nobles. Frightened and confused by the king’s wrath.
I laughed at the hypocrisy. The entire kingdom had suffered under his reign. It was high time they felt the sting of his cruelty. As I climbed another hill, it occurred to me that living on their divine perch, far away from the filth and stench of the Bottom, nothing dirty touched their cared-for existence. If Xavier wouldn’t have told Raleigh to muzzle me, I would’ve yelled, “Allow me to introduce you to the turd you call king. The man who hangs an old man from an apple tree for eating from his own orchards. A man who burned down an entire village for two pieces of silver. A man whose men are told to take and take, pillaging the poorest in his kingdom to feed and clothe you and yours!”
The sitting room Raleigh found for us to rehearse was above the kitchens and unbearably hot. My stomach growled at the constant smell of roasting meat and baking bread, furious I hadn’t eaten since this morning. High arched ceilings did nothing to alleviate the heat. Neither did the burning candles, which were necessary because there were no windows and Xavier wanted the doors closed. He didn’t want any witnesses.
The tables and chairs were stacked in the corner. The only thing left was a cow-skin rug. Healing was as much a part of my body as my heart, the act as innate as breathing. But it wasn’t what Xavier or the king wanted. They wanted to see the illusory rabbit I’d produced in the woods, and the cheetah in the Great Hall. But how I’d done that escaped me.
Although I believed I had done it easily as a small child, the ability to use the moon’s aura at will had vanished from my memory. Without Rendicryss to advise me, I would have to figure it out all over again.
I went over the other two times that had worked in my mind. Step by step. Both times I was angry—once with Xavier, and the other at Griffin. Both times I touched the animals near the instant it happened.
At the start of the practice, I brought out the rabbit and the turtle.
After which, as always, I held on to the staff with Xavier, conjuring images of the animals in my mind, including the cow we stood on, but no matter how I focused, the moonlight never surfaced. It remained locked in a Phantombronze box in the pit of my stomach.
All the while, Xavier knelt and twirled. Lunged and hopped. He mumbled, sang, chanted and yelled spells, growing more and more agitated, falling into a sobbing, petrified mess in the middle of the rug with every failure.
I pressed on regardless, suggesting we try again, but even I knew it was pointless. The afternoon was a complete disaster. I couldn’t do it on command, and it would be the death of us.
We were all trapped here—me, Xavier, even Griffin.
Griffin . . .
Like a recurring dream, he kept returning to my thoughts. But why? He was a playmate for the prince, a puppet for the king. He was everything I despised.
“Maggie, what’s wrong with you?”
I lowered my hand. “Nothing.”
I staggered across the room, resting my back against the wall to keep from falling over. Running on no sleep and only a small scarfed-down breakfast, I thought I was going to pass out. I had sweated through my last remaining dress, the yellow with puffed sleeves. Not that I minded ruining such a hideous drapery.
I was desperate to get outside.
I inhaled deeply, over and over again, but it was never enough. “Can’t breathe . . .” This room was literally sucking the life out of me.
I stumbled to the door and banged on it with all the energy I had left. Raleigh was waiting, as always, on the other side. But also, Prince Jori.
My knees gave out.
“Maggie!” The prince caught me. “You’re burning up.”
“Outside. Please . . .”
Jori didn’t hesitate. He scooped me up in his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he carried me down two hallways and climbed an unending spiral staircase. How he managed, I didn’t know. I was slight, but still. The prince was much stronger than he looked.
I heard Xavier calling my name, straining to keep up. I wasn’t sure where we were going, but at the end of the stairs, there was another hallway, and then the air cooled. Almost instantly, I could breathe again.
Jori stopped. My sweat chilled, leaving me a shivering mess. He held me close. “She’s freezing. Get a blanket, Raleigh.”
Raleigh snapped his fingers at someone I couldn’t see.
“I’m all right. Please, set me down.”
Jori did but didn’t let go. His arms were still around me. I was grateful for the warmth. It took a second to realize we were on a wooden bridge that connected the castle to a looming tower.
Gray skies were gone, replaced by hints of blue and white fluffy clouds that reflected the setting sun, giving everything a brilliant orange glow. The moon wasn’t visible, but nevertheless I could feel it feeding me.
Petal came from the tower. She held out a gray wool blanket to me that smelled musty, like it had been in a trunk for too long. Jori leaned me forward. He wrapped the blanket around my shoulders.
“Shall I send Raleigh for the physician?”
“No. It was just very hot in that room.”
“She should eat too, sire,” Xavier added. “I’ve had her locked up since the festivities this morning.”
It hardly seemed fitting to call the morning’s display festivities. There was nothing festive about them, at least not to me.
I turned in Jori’s arms to speak with him, and suddenly our faces were inches apart. I could feel his rapid breath. His lips parted. I squirmed from his grasp, afraid he was going to kiss me.
“Let’s get you back to your room.” Jori’s hand rested on the small of my back as we started into the castle. “Raleigh, have the girl bring food and drink, and draw a bath.”
We passed by the Great Hall on the way to my room. It was less full, but still crowded with well-dressed families stuffing their faces.
I was grateful when we were in my room. I fell backward on the bed, never wanting to get up. The doors closed. Prince Jori began untying my boots.
“I can do that.” I sat up, trying to take my foot back, but he refused to let go.
“No. Please. Let me. I never get to take care of anyone.”
His expression looked innocent enough, so I let him.
As he yanked one boot off and moved to the other, I looked at him. Prince Jori was handsome. His small chin and thin lips were like his father’s. But that was where the resemblance ended. His dimples cratered and brown eyes narrowed when he smiled, which he did a lot. What didn’t he have to smile about?
His shirt red, the collar and seams stitched with golden blooming roses, he was dressed for dinner.
“Shouldn’t you be downstairs?”
“Yes. But I wanted to tell you something.” Jori picked up both boots and set them down beside my wardrobe, then returned.
His smile fell into a deep frown as he sat next to me on the bed. “Xavier had difficulty last night. My father was furious. He spent the better part of two hours berating me over it and threatening to have him imprisoned . . . or worse.”