𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗛: AISLIN AMORE, DAUGHTER OF AN MORTAL AND A TRAITOR, WHO DOESN'T REALIZE SHE HAS A BIT OF FAE MAGIC OR WHO'S CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO WORLDS, NOT QUITE BELONGING TO EITHER. THAT CUSP BETWEEN REALITY AND FANTASY IS ENTICING, AND IT'S EXCITIN...
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━━━━━━━━ THE circular room i come to is panelled in bookshelves, filled with manuscripts, scrolls, golden daggers, thin glass vials with jewel-colored liquids inside, and the skull of a deerlike creature with massive antlers supporting thin taper candles. two large chairs rest near the only window. there's a huge table dominating the middle of the room, and on it are maps weighed down on the corners by chunks of glass and metal objects.
i'm in cardan's room dusting as i wait for my promise that i accidentally made with balekin to finish. just two more months, i remind myself. once i was bought here by lord carlos and lady alma, i was raised in the court of bone under their care. i was not mistreated unless i had said something outrageous. i was not allowed to question them or anyone about my life in the mortal lands. i went to palace school along with all the other fae my age. although it didn't mean i was accepted more in faeries, i managed to make a couple of friends in it. they surprisingly and coincidentally ended up being mortals as well. jude and taryn duarte, the infamous mortal twins bought into elfhame and raised under the care of a redcap with love, were exactly like me. 'raised with love' might be untrue. i was mostly just taken care of. not always shown love.
━━━━━━━━ "YOU KICKED SALT INTO HIS FOOD?" i am unable to hush myself at jude's confession of crimes.
"this isn't like you," taryn says finally. "you don't pick fights with people." sometimes i found myself greatly annoyed at taryn. she was a good friend but she is one of those friends you could not spend a large period of time with, without driving yourself insane.
"appeasing them won't help." i turn over a stone with a branch i found on the ground to distract myself from the stress of the conversation.
"the more they get away with, the more they believe they're entitled to have." jude adds, even though i don't fully agree with her actions, i understand her perspective.
"so you're going to, what—teach them manners?" taryn sighs. "even if someone should do it, that someone doesn't have to be you." taryn had always been a rather obedient child, allowing her to fit into almost any scenario. jude on the other hand, had always been straightforward and a strong-headed person. twins, that word never really comes to your mind when you look at them. no doubt, by appearance they appear completely indistinguishable, you realise how perfectly amicable they are.
while taryn would definitely be someone whose connections you'd want to use one day, jude is the one you truly require on your side in times of need. not only because of her skill in swordsmanship but her principles and reliability make her an extremely trustworthy person.
all the children of the gentry, regardless of age, are taught by lecturers from all over the kingdom on the grounds of the palace. some afternoons we sit in groves carpeted with emerald moss, and other evenings we spend in high towers or up in trees. we learn about the movements of constellations in the sky, the medicinal and magical properties of herbs, the languages of birds and flowers and people as well as the language of the folk (though it occasionally twists in my mouth), the composition of riddles, and how to walk soft-footed over leaves and brambles to leave neither trace nor sound. we are instructed in the finer points of the harp and the lute, the bow and the blade. taryn, jude and i watch them as they practice enchantments. for a break, we all play at war in a green field with a broad arc of trees.
later, when cardan, locke, nicasia, and valerian sit down to their lunch, they have to spit out their food in choking horror. all around them are the less awful children of faerie nobles, eating their bread and honey, their cakes and roasted pigeons, their elderflower jam with biscuits and cheese and the fat globes of grapes. but every single morsel in each of their baskets has been well and thoroughly salted.
cardan's gaze catches mine, and i can't help but fear the smile that pulls up the corners of my mouth. his eyes are bright as coals, his anger a living thing, shimmering in the air between us. i know i shouldn't be amused but i can't help it.
"have you lost your wits?" taryn demands, shaking my and jude's shoulder so that i have to turn to her. "you're making everything worse. there's a reason no one stands up to them."
"i know," jude said softly, as we both were unable to keep the smile off our lips. "a lot of reasons."
she's right to be worried. jude just declared war.
━━━🧸🎀💌 izuki's corner ::
we all know what happens next w the river... 😬😬 used the plot from the actual book because i kind of have to 😭
it's ok this book plot will slowly meander away from the canon plot soon 🙏🏽🙏🏽 #trust ✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼 (meander was a big word for me fr)
