The Princess's Servant

92. Actions Have Consequences

"Whoops!"

Marcus froze. Just as she had gone to exit through the doorway, Holden had gone to enter through it.

"Almost ran into you there," he said. "Would you mind stirring the pot? I'm going to go throw a log on."

Marcus cut Sybil an exacting glare. "With pleasure," she said, and she turned her back on the princess.

*****

"And here's your pancake... And here's yours..."

A blueberry smiley-face pancake stared up at Sybil from the daffodil yellow plate. Marcus got one too, although neither of them felt half as lighthearted as the food before them. The guard got right to eating, undoubtedly hungry from her long journey across the increasingly cold Wardian landscape. Sybil, however, could find no such appetite and only prodded at the food in front of her.

"What's wrong?" Holden asked, his mouth half-full of food. "Never seen a pancake?"

Sybil set her fork down. "No, I'm sorry," she said. "It looks wonderful. I just... Don't feel much like eating."

Holden frowned a bit at that. "Is that dream you had bothering you?" he asked.

"No, it's not that. I'm sure it's just the bite."

"I told you you should've seen that doctor."

"I know, but I'm doing better now."

"Clearly," Holden remarked, looking at her untouched food.

"Speaking of dreams..."

Sybil straightened up a bit at the sound of Marcus's voice.

"Did you know... That I didn't dream once while I was in exile?" she said.

"You're still in exile," Sybil reminded her.

"Oh, you heard about that?" Holden asked, and Sybil had nothing to say in reply. "It's awful, isn't it? She's never allowed to go home again. She can't see her own family without risking death. She was banished from the only life she's ever known. Could you imagine such a thing?"

Though she couldn't say so, Sybil actually could imagine something like that. "Her family can come to visit her, though, can't they?"

"They can, but they don't," Marcus told her. "I gave my life to the crown. I gave my life to her. My family didn't know me when I left, and now they'll never know me now."

Sybil tucked her hands under her thighs and said nothing at this revelation.

"Mm." Holden swallowed a bite. "And the worst of it is, Marcus only freed me because she was trying to protect the crown. See, she knew my real identity, and she was worried that if she brought me back, Sybil would do something terrible. So, rather than letting her screw up Lailoyan-Wardian relations any more than she already had, Marcus risked her life to spare me and Sybil from whatever horror she was about to inflict. It didn't work of course, but it was very brave of her nonetheless."

"You knew?" Sybil's face and her contemptuous attitude both paled a little. "You knew and you didn't tell—" She had to stop herself before she said 'me,' "the princess?"

"I tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen," Marcus replied.

The princess dropped her gaze into her lap, and tilted her face just far enough from Holden that he couldn't glimpse her surprise.

"How did things go for you, by the way?" Marcus asked the prince. "After I left."

Holden cocked an eyebrow. "You have to ask?"

Sybil looked at that smiling face that sat unchanging in the plate before her.

Her host took notice. "You're really not hungry?" Holden asked. "At all?"

"No..." Sybil felt nausea church in her gut. "Excuse me..." And with that, she rose from her seat and headed for the door

Holden watched her as she went, his concern growing. "Where are you going?"

"Yeah, where are you going?" Marcus supported, her voice more threat than worry. "I was just about to tell Holden something."

"Go ahead and tell him," Sybil said, her own voice faint. "I need some air."

"I think you'll really want to hear this," Marcus insisted.

The prince caught on that maybe something else was going on and he looked between the two of them. "What's up?" he asked.

"Well," Marcus started. "You're not going to believe this, but Cara..."

Now Sybil's grip on the doorknob tightened.

"Is actually..."

Sybil knew Marcus was drawing this out to torment her, but she was actually grateful that she got to say goodbye. She could treasure these fleeting moments before he knew, and bid them a proper farewell. Then, she could face what came next with dignity and grace.

Marcus looked to the princess. "... A really good shot," she completed. "Like, next level."

"Oh really?" Holden asked. "I guess that makes sense, being a huntress and all. You'll have to show me sometime."

The princess couldn't believe her ears. She couldn't believe her guard. For a brief moment, Cara wondered if Marcus had only done it to prolong her suffering, but she didn't think Marcus was the type. No, her guard had spared her from her terrible fate when Sybil had offered her no such mercy. Why? Sybil wondered. Why had she done it? But Sybil didn't have an answer.

"Have you ever tried your hand?" Marcus asked the prince.

"A few times with my brother," he replied. "But I'm not really the hunting type."

"Ah, archery doesn't have to be for hunting. It can be for sport, too."

"Well maybe we can go down to the fields and Cara can show me a thing or two."

Despite Holden's obvious attempt to rope her into the conversation, Cara stepped outside. She couldn't be with them right then, lest Holden realize there was more amiss than a snake bite and a bad dream. Sybil sat down on the steps and stared down at the dirt. Soon, the earth grew wobbly and fluid, as though someone was mashing it around in a bag filled with water. Tears blotted her brown cotton pants, staining them temporarily dark. She could not comprehend it. She had been unkind to Marcus and more than a little cruel. So why? Why would Marcus not show her the same?

When Marcus got up to put her plate in the kitchen sink, she caught glimpse of Sybil sitting on the porch steps through the little window. She saw the suppressed shake of her shoulders. Marcus frowned. She wanted to be there for the princess, though she knew that whatever she was going through, this was one battle Sybil would have to wage alone.

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