The seven year crow, p.9
The Seven Year Crow, page 9
“Free?” He barked a laugh. “That’s cute, Perdi.”
“Do not call me Perdi,” I snapped.
“Perdita.” He drew out my name and I cringed. “You do not have what it takes to gain your freedom—not now, and certainly not after spending seven years in hell.”
“Seven years?” It was now my turn to laugh. “Who the hell said I’d wait seven years to taste my freedom? And when that day comes, if you’re standing in my way, I’ll be the last thought to cross that little mind of yours, as you see my face standing over your body.”
He spread his arms, his body showing no signs of my previous attack. “Bravado so soon? Get it out now, out here. Because in there, they will hurt you for it. They won’t hesitate, and they’ll do it simply because they are bored of you. There is nothing you can do to me that hasn’t already been done a dozen times over. Do it now, because you can’t afford it later.”
Without a second thought, I pulled the butterknife from my pocket. It had been chewed sharp by my little creature in exchange for another drop of my blood. I slid the blade into Solas’ chest, inches from his heart. I jerked it out and plunged it into his stomach. He grabbed my hand and twisted the knife until the warmth of his blood poured over my hand.
“It’ll be your heart when I come for you again,” I whispered into his ear. “Remember this day, Soulless, for this was the day a Crow chose not to take your life. I won’t be as gracious next time.”
“Welcome home, little Crow. You’ll need more than a butterknife to take my life. You’ll need the entire fucking continent for me to even notice.” Solas kissed my cheek and stepped back. The wounds closed in front of me, but the blood remained. Although he smiled, I watched the last of his surprise leak from his eyes. That was twice I’d attacked him. Twice I’d surprised him. And twice I’d surprised myself with my boldness. I wondered if I would get a third time before he finally tired of me.
“I’ll use iron the next time.” I smiled and dropped the knife to the ground. It would be of no use to me here. Iron, cold and raw, would have killed him had I hit his heart. There weren’t many tools we had to kill the Fae, but iron was a surefire end to any creature of Elphame. Knowledge of their very few weaknesses was the only reason Whitwick still stood.
“I’m sure you will,” he answered and started back toward the manor.
Those around us stared in seeming awe. I almost skipped behind him, happy at my stand against the man who marched me to what I could only assume was my death. I didn’t kill him, didn’t do much more than amuse him, but it still felt damn good. I hummed and picked the tiny flowers from the lawn and tucked it into my pocket for my creature to nibble on. Deep inside my stomach, held back by sheer force of will, my terror sat. It ate at my soul as the creature in my pocket ate the flowers.
Solas, irritated by my slow pace, grabbed my arm and pulled me to the manor. One colossal staircase jutted out from the earth and climbed to the front door. Its golden banister housed a beast on each side, welcoming none. At the top stood an enclosed deck. Ahead, two massive gold doors opened with a hush before we even reached them. Solas yanked me, and my feet skidded on the marble deck. I didn’t want to go in. Every nerve came alive in warning. On the other side of that threshold there was only pain, and in the back of my mind, so much darkness. But Solas pulled anyway. The closer we got, the more I yanked. My brain told me to do whatever I could to get away.
“No, no, no, no…I can’t do this,” I whispered. The wind in my sails from stabbing Solas was gone.
“Whether you can or can’t, you’ll come under your own steam, or you will come under mine,” he answered and jerked me.
I pulled until the muscles in my shoulder felt like they’d snap. “I’m not going in there.”
He leaned into my ear and jerked me into his body. “You will. Do not waste your energy on things you have no control over. Do not fight what you can’t control. You’re going in there, one way or another. Do not force me to do what I must. You will enjoy it less than I will.”
“Bastard.” I growled the word.
“I’m many things, but that is not one of them.”
My body tensed as we stepped in. My muscles twitched, doing their best to convince me to run. I was bombarded with colors, movement, smells and sounds. White marble decorated the floors and walls. Bouquets of flowers stood on top of tables, tucked into the walls, hung from the ceiling as if the gardens weren’t enough. Through the front, doors leading in every direction, stairs sat against the farthest wall, one up and one down. I didn’t want to know what was down the stairs. The very moment I saw the stairs, I knew I’d never want to go down there willingly. Something far beyond horror rested in the bowels of this manor, so terrible that there were no windows to gaze upon it.
“Move,” Solas barked.
There were dozens of people milling about, waiting on the Crow, chattering. Their voices were too high a pitch for me not to flinch. The noise danced across my brain and gave me an instant headache. They were excited, thrilled at my arrival. They smiled, stared, giggled and glared. I wished each and every one of them a painful death. I didn’t know them but hated them all.
I slid across the floor, being pulled forward. “Please, don’t. I can’t. Please, Solas, please.”
He leaned in, pulling my body until my ear met his mouth. “Do not make me force you. You don’t want to be delivered as a scared little Crow. You don’t want to be seen as weak here.”
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
He groaned and stepped forward. He kept his hand firmly under my arm, pressing his grip into my armpit and forced me to step forward, half stumbling and half walking. Each time I froze, Solas effortlessly pulled as though I weighed nothing. I was led through a series of halls and rooms, each more decadent than the last, until we stepped into a room where it felt like all of Elphame stood. I wasn’t just intimidated. I was terrified to have every eye on me. Tables lined the walls, and food spilled from plates and bowls. So much waste was all I could think of. People outside of Elphame starved, but here, the food was so excessive that it fell to the floor.
We came to a stop in front of a golden throne. I could feel the deaths it took for that throne to stand. It had been carved of wickedness and bathed in the blood of countless souls who died for the king to sit upon it. Solas had no need to shove me to my knee. My knees gave out once we stood in front of King Aelfdene, and he let go of my arm. The cold floor was unyielding against my tired bones but offered relief against the burning of my muscles. I stared at the white marble floor, veined in gold, too scared to lift my eyes. The room stank of flowers and magick, and now my fear. Fae whispered around me, and none used my name. I was simply ‘Crow’ within these walls.
“Sorry for the delay. This one was a slow walker,” Solas spoke, and the room fell to silence.
“Why ever would you walk her here?” King Aelfdene asked.
“I needed the fresh air,” he responded.
“Clearly, the walk was treacherous. You’re covered in blood, Solas.” There was an edge of amusement in the king’s voice.
“She has a spicy temper,” he replied.
“Undoubtedly.” The king stepped down from his throne, his golden shoes inches from my cowering face. “The gnome must go. He is courtless.”
I jolted at the thought of being without Nix and jumped to my feet. I shook my head. I tried to beg, only to fail. No words would come out. My eyes watered, and I backed away. The king didn’t so much as nod, and the two men grabbed each arm. I thrashed against them, against being trapped, and finally screamed. I fought, twisted, turned, but made no progress.
“I promised her she could keep her friend,” Solas lied. He had said no such thing to me—or had he? Was this how a person ended up owing the Fae, by not understanding the meaning behind their words, by being locked into a deal because of a casual conversation? I had said I needed a friend, and he had granted that wish.
“Why would you make promises you cannot keep?” King Aelfdene asked. He motioned to his men. “Take the gnome.”
“No, please, he won’t be of any trouble,” I begged as guards gripped my arms.
Solas stepped forward, and with one look, the two men dropped me to the ground. “No. I have given my word. You never know when a Crow favor will come in handy.”
King Aelfdene froze, and I waited for him to unleash on Solas, but it never came. Whatever monster Solas was for the king, it was enough to earn him a margin of freedom. I didn’t want to find out who exactly he was to the king. Leeway was not something anyone received without difficulty, in any realm. He clapped Solas on his back and laughed. His voice echoed through the room. “Do as you please, Solas. You have until tonight. Do not break her. She is our guest of honor.”
“Nix?” I asked, my mouth finally able to form words.
“He can stay as long as Solas allows it. He is, after all, responsible for the little creature now,” King Aelfdene replied. He turned from me and waved his hand in dismissal. “Show them to their quarters.”
I followed behind Solas, back through the gawkers and onlookers. My stomach rolled with anxiety, but Solas wasn’t fazed in the least. While he moved with purpose, I shuffled along, jerking at every sound. My mind conjured the most hideous of cells and hovels I’d be placed in. But no image could be as revolting as owing Solas a favor for allowing me to keep Nix or of having the king’s dog call in that debt.
Chapter Six
Solas led me through halls of gold and white, marbled and lavish, the stares from those who came to see the Crow followed us from every corner. If it weren’t for his arm on mine, I’d have slammed into his back, my eyes everywhere else. From the outside, the manor was massive, but from inside, it was immense, impossibly larger than I had guessed it to be.
We ended on the third story. Behind a carved oak door held a lush bedroom, grander than I needed or wanted. It was a house within a house, my new home. The walls were papered in rich textures and colors, with hints of gold woven throughout. The wall coverings held more real gold than most in Whitwick had seen in their lifetimes. I instantly hated the room for that single reason—excess, extravagance, waste. It made my stomach flop in envy, to want for nothing, and anger for the lavishness while so many others died with empty stomachs. As the daughter of a Guardian, I did not suffer as many had. But both my father and I had skipped plenty of meals and holidays to ensure our community made it through harsh winters.
Thick moldings framed the room, doors and windows. A large four-poster bed sat in the middle of the wall, covered in plush bedding and more pillows than any household, let alone one person, could need. The curtains that hung from the bed and two picture windows were of similar colors and drifted in a breeze that carried with it the scent of flowers and the sound of life carrying on as if the Fae hadn’t just dragged a young girl into their realm. More than the anger, I had to hear their laughter. I didn’t know which made me gag, the joy or the perpetual flower-shop scents. I wanted to shut the windows just to block out the flowers.
I followed Solas in and stood behind him. I knew he wouldn’t protect me from whatever stood in the room with us, but he was still a better option than the unknown. I knew, at that very moment, that if I were willing to stand with him over others, I was in deeper trouble than I could even imagine. I chewed the inside of my cheek and rubbed the middle of my chest. It was all I could do to keep myself from trembling or, worse, crying again. My eyes felt puffy and gritty from too many tears shed. Crying wouldn’t fix anything here. It wouldn’t bring me home to the comfort of my own room. Crying wouldn’t wake me from this terrible dream.
“This is Elswyth.” Solas’ voice cut through the room like a blade and startled me. It bounced off the art-covered walls and felt like the slap I needed to come back to attention.
I stepped around him and entered. At his front stood a thin woman, no bigger than I was. Her white-blonde hair was tied at the top of her head in tiny knots and twists. She didn’t look a day older than I was, yet her ice-blue eyes held centuries of time I had not lived. She was wafer-thin and uncomfortably beautiful. But then again, on the outside, everything looked pretty here in Elphame. Even salt looked like sugar until you tasted it. Elswyth bowed and stayed there, in a position that would have made my legs quake, and eventually, I’d have fallen over. But she held her curtsey as if she were born that way.
“Please, don’t bow to me,” I finally spoke, my voice quivering. I cleared my throat and tried to swallow down the hard rocks of fear that had caught each word as I spoke. I’d have time to be terrified later and at worse delights than this. “Solas, why is she here?”
“Every Crow is allowed a lady. I’ve selected Elswyth for your stay in the Golden Courts,” he answered and tapped Elswyth. “Go, run her bath. I will return in two hours for the banquet.”
I waited for Elswyth to scurry from the room into what I could only assume was my bathroom. She moved as a frightened dog would, skittish from one too many beatings. Her shoulders slumped, and she kept her eyes on the floor. Fear was the motivator of Elphame, even for those who were born of these lands. I disliked her less for that reason alone. We shared a common bond. We were both terrified of this place. I wondered how long it would take for my shoulders to slump as hers did.
I rubbed the tears from my burning eyes. “The smell, what is with the bloody flowers?”
“It covers the scent of death pretty good, does it not?” he answered. Solas lifted his finger to his lips and shook his head. Before I could say anything more, he closed the door, locking us into my room alone. “Keep your head down and your mouth closed, and you may make it through your first night. What you say here comes at a cost. Only ever open your mouth when you’re willing to pay for it. And know that payment is always more than what you can afford and never what you want to pay.”
“I have nothing to pay with,” I answered. “I’m already fated to die. What’s one more day closer to my grave?”
“You’re a woman. Think of what that means here, of what they’ll take from you each time you want to speak,” he answered, and I shivered at the dark thoughts that crossed my mind. “You’re catching on, little Crow. We only ever pay with that which we’d rather keep. Now, go wash up. You stink more than the flowers.”
I glanced at Elswyth in my bathroom, preparing my bath. “I don’t need a lady. I don’t want one.”
“Yes, you do. Being alone here is worse than you think,” he answered. “Trust that I know how to survive in this court better than you do.”
“I thought I couldn’t trust anyone? I’m already surrounded by people I can’t trust. Why would I want another one around me at all times?”
“And here I thought you needed a friend?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Solas, because that’s exactly what I need right now—a friend who will run me a bath when I need one. However did you know?”
“You’d be surprised. Go wash the stink off yourself and get ready for tonight.”
“What will happen tonight?” I spit out the words before I was too afraid to ask.
He shrugged casually like my life wasn’t hanging in the balance. “It is different every time. But rest assured, you will remember every last second of it. Even when your mind goes soggy from madness, you’ll always remember your first night in Elphame.”
I stared at him, surprised at his nonchalant yet jarring answer. “That’s not an answer. That’s a threat.”
“No. It’s a promise. I don’t know what will happen. I only know what could happen, hence my comment. Rest assured. You’ll remember this night more than any other.”
“I don’t even know you, and I hate you so deeply.”
“You have a lot of pain to feel yet, if this is your idea of hate. Enough time and I’m sure that word will mean much, much more than it does right now. Elphame will ensure that much.”
I fidgeted with the torn sleeves of my jacket and fumbled for a better question, one he wouldn’t talk riddles around. I swallowed hard and looked him in the eyes. “Will they kill me?”
“Don’t get your hopes up, little Crow. They’ll try not to kill you for these seven years. But you mortals, even halflings, are far more breakable than most Fae realize or even care to learn. You die at the most inconvenient times and for the oddest reasons. You sneeze or your nose runs, and you’re dead by the next day. How does your kind even survive infancy when you drop from sickness within hours?”
“I’m pretty sure, Solas, it won’t be a sickness that kills me here,” I countered.
“Foolish little Crow, you have no idea how sick this place can be,” he replied.
“Stop calling me that.”
He smiled and it wasn’t friendly. “You have two hours, then I’ll be back, and you’ll be welcomed into the land of Elphame.”
“I could do without a banquet,” I mumbled.
“Couldn’t we all.” His answer was clipped and tired. From the look on his face, I knew he saw how terrified I was. “No one will come in here but me. Fear nothing.”
“Trust no one,” I echoed back to him.
“Touché.” He walked out of the room and left me with a stranger.
For a split second, I wondered if I was strong enough to drown the woman who leaned over my bath. Even with her weak stature, I doubted it, but the thought still made me smile.
“Nice digs,” Nix said as he popped out of my pocket, followed by the creature.
“Shut up,” I said sourly. “Check the place for wards and ways for others to listen in.”
I closed my eyes and allowed my Malice to flow from my core. I could see it in my mind’s eye, dark little tendrils curling and slithering about like the arms of a sea creature. While Nix inspected my new room, now my home, I spelled the room as my magick touched each crack and crevasse. If this were going to be my prison, I’d make sure I’d know who was coming and going and who was trying to listen in. My magick brushed up against the magick from the last occupant. They, like me, had done the same. I reinforced decades of old magick and snapped a bubble around my bedroom. The knots of magick I had woven around my room wouldn’t keep me safe, but it would keep my cries from those who relished in my tears once I finally had a meltdown.
