Girl of Flower and Flame

Chapter Nine

"What is the meaning of this?" hollered Andris.

Eulalia pressed closer to the door, listening. She had a feeling she was about to find out why Liliana had taken her for a prisoner.

Between clammy fingers, she seized the silver key in the lock, casting a weary glance behind her. The soft flesh between her eyebrows dimpled.

Where am I?

She had expected the dark and moldy recesses of a forgotten space, not one where wintry light glittered on elegant gold wall molding and the fireplace warmed the rose embroidered bed sheets to toast cold toes.

What game was Liliana playing bringing her here?

Fit for a queen, the canopy bed filled most of Eulalia's vision, with its gauzy curtains. She squinted at the scene outside the tall arched windows. All white, smudged by a gray sky, with hints of green where the snowfall hadn't touched—an oil painting of an almost perfect winter storm, filling up the windowpanes and her heart in tumult.

The key left its imprint on her fingers—she held on so tight.

Up until this point, she had understood she was their prisoner, but why then was everything so blissful here? She should have been overcome with anguish, not cooped up in a room with velvet curtains and gilded vanities.

"What's happening here?" Eulalia rested her head on the door, aching down to her heels.

If this was their idea of cruelty, she'd misjudged them for people who were simply evil, unless all this lavishness was part of a plan she'd yet to figure out.

"My dear brother. You called?" asked Liliana in a sing-song tone.

Eulalia lifted her head.

"I got word that you've brought someone home," he said. "Who?"

The timber of his voice made Eulalia's breath stand still in her chest. Voices like his could command mountains to move.

"A treat," said Liliana.

Eulalia shuddered, breathing again against the door, and shut her tear-crusted eyes.

Why have they done this to me?

She dug her grimy nails into the door, cracking them. Fear, with all its power, disheartened her from listening to their exchange, encouraging her to steal away to the other side of the room before she heard too much. She ignored it, sinking down the door to the carpeted floor. He was right on the other side, separated by several inches from her.

"Andris, don't look so unnerved. She's a present for you," said Liliana.

"A present?"

The doorknob turned.

Come in to see what your sister's brought you, you fool.

Eulalia leaned her weight against the door, tucking her legs closer to her body, but the door didn't budge.

"I figured you could use a break from all this," Liliana said.

"And so, you thought kidnapping a girl was the way to help me?"

"She's new. Unspoiled and ignorant, unlike the other women here who'll do whatever you say. Come on, stop pouting. She's just some halfling."

"I don't think you understand, dear sister."

"No, so enlighten me then, dear brother."

"Lili, I don't have time for any of this. Half of my people would rather have an urchin on the throne instead of me. And the other half is waiting for me to make a fool of myself. Whoever she is take her back."