Petals in the Ocean

Chapter Seven: Spies, Lies, Despise

He couldn't sleep that night. Stepheno volunteered to be the one to watch over Mara so he could get some sleep, but as he started up at the ceiling, the sounds of the rowdy tavern beneath them wasn't loud enough to drown out his thoughts and the sour taste in the back of his mouth.

He hated to admit it but he wasn't surprised that he didn't know there were people who didn't belong in Elvedare. Everyone thought that it was a perfect little place. Its history made it seem that way. But it was a shell that looked beautiful. On the inside, it was dark and murky, full of lies and dangers that never rose to the shiny silver surface but instead waited as it rotted until everything crumbled from within. How could he have believed in all of the glamour that masked what was happening? He was a pawn in making it seem that way too. If the prince had nothing to fear and had no worries, why would anyone else believe that anything was wrong with their home?

He turned, looking at the gentle sliver between the curtains that shone a streak of moonlight in. All of this just because of Elenora? What could she possibly want from him? Elvedare was nothing compared to what she had. Why use him? What did she really want? From the moment they had encountered one another at Mara's coronation, he knew that she wasn't all that she portrayed herself to be. Lily of the Valley. That's what she reminded him of. Fair, gentle looking, soft to the touch. But she would undoubtedly bring the most painful of deaths.

But there was Mara as well. He had fumbled the letters over and over, reading them until the words turning into darkened scribbles. Why did she have people in Elvedare? She had ended their friendship years ago and they hadn't an inkling of ever returning to that connection so why? A part of him wanted to shake her awake and demand answers from her, her wound be damned. To think that she was also a threat, one even more villainous than Elenora was another bitter pill to swallow.

"So many questions," Suga sighed into the pillow. "Where am I supposed to find the answers?"

There was a loud bang and a roar of laughter. The tavern seemed alive, probably full of men making merry after a long day. Suga himself felt like the day had been extremely long. Perhaps a mug of ale, a goblet of wine, a glass of whiskey maybe would settle his chest enough for him to get some sleep. He didn't bother telling Stepheno anything when he put on a tunic that didn't smell like his sweat and the earth and wandered down the stairs to the bar.

The place was abuzz despite it's small size, the barmaid smiling as she placed mugs of golden ale and steaming bowls of stew in front of chortling men. All but one of the seats at the bar were taken, Suga sliding into it and waited patiently until the old barkeep nodded at him.

"What'll you have."

"Ale."

"The house has a local apple ale, that alright with ya?"

"Yes, that's fine."

Suga sighed, resting his face into his palm. Before long, a brimming mug of ale was placed in front of him. "I'll charge ya room." Nodding his consent, Suga took a gulp and sighed. It wasn't bitter like some ales he had tried. This one has the sour, but sweet punch of fresh apples that tastes more like drinking a squeezed fruit. There were a couple men sitting to his left, hunched around their own mugs and half eaten bowls of their dinner that they mopped with warm buttered buns.

"I'll tell ya, tha' ports are teeming with people from Rosavna."

"I heard a young lad sayin' that his Da had to give over several golds just to get onto Dravin's ship. A selfish man that one is."

"Would ya even imagine to think that people would be runnin' away from Rosavna? What else is gonna be next?"

"I hear Elvedare is gonna get that fancy princess. From Somoza."