A Story of Blood and Thorns

Chapter 12

The following day, I'm woken by a sharp rap on the door. Isadora sleeps next to me, her arms wrapped around her pillow. I climb out of bed as quietly as possible to not disturb her.

When I get to the door, I try to open it. Someone locked again overnight. Someone calls to me that they're coming in, then the door opens.

Sabien steps inside, a guard on his heels. He brushes past me without so much as a look. The guard goes to stand in the corner as Sabien draws back the curtains, letting the morning sun flood the room. Isadora stirs on the bed, catching Sabien's attention. A smile creeps across his face.

"I'm surprised no alarms have been triggered," he says. I run my fingers through my hair, untangling and flattening it down. He watches me with disinterest, then says, "The king wants to see you."

My fingers still. "Why?"

Sabien huffs a laugh. I take a step forward as he crosses to the bed to gently shake Isadora. Her eyes crack open. Upon seeing him, she scrambled back, her hand clawing through the blankets in search of something. She produces a knife, the metal shining in the sun. The reflection hits my eyes, momentarily blinding me. When I can see again, she has the knife against Sabien's chest, the tip above his heart. In the corner, the guard draws his sword.

Sabien raises a hand and the guard relaxes again. "Because of this. He knows that you have Isadora in here. You should see him before he takes your friend away for good."

After delivering his lines, he walks out. The guard follows, locking the doors behind them. I slump on the bed as Isadora makes her way over to me. Her hand touches my shoulder.

"You should go," she says. The knife dances over her fingers. "I'll be fine."

I look at her. Her hair poofs in a brown frizz around her shoulders and sleep still lingers on her face. Alertness brightens her eyes, though.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." She shoves me off the bed, taking my place. "Get ready."

As I rise from the bed, the door opens to let in a stream of young ladies. I recognize some from yesterday, but there are three more that are new. One is wearing a midnight blue dress with white stars embroidered that sets off her sepia skin. Her thick dark hair has been coiffed into loose waves down her back. A golden coin hangs on a thread in the hollow of her throat.

She sweeps towards me, her hands outstretched. "Evangeline," she murmurs, kissing me on my cheek. "It's been too long." The faint smell of oranges drifts over us.

"I'm sorry," I say, "but who are you?" A faint memory tingles at the base of my head, but it's not clear enough to provide me with any information.

She giggles behind a hand. "Devina. We grew up together. In the little time we had, anyway." She frowns, then laughs again. "I wanted to be a soldier. You wanted to run away into the woods and live in a cottage by a river. But somehow, we were inseparable."

"And look where we are now." I wrap my arms around her waist as she hugs me. "You're a lady and I'm a princess. Unless you're also a soldier?" Her eyes twinkle, and my mouth drops open. "You are? Oh, that's wonderful."

She reaches around me to take Isadora's hand. "You're Isadora, I presume?" Isadora nods. Devina plants a kiss on her hand, saying "It's lovely to meet you."

I see Devina take in Isadora's battered face, her winces as she breathes. Regret flashes across her elegant features.

"Who did this to you?" she asks.

Isadora glares at her. "As if you don't already know."

The remaining ladies tug me toward my vanity. Isadora and Devina continue to talk. In the mirror I see them shake hands, then Devina comes up to me and begins to brush my hair. A frown crosses her face as she picks something from my head.