Girl of Flower and Flame

Chapter Ten

"He may not be your king," said Everlid, scrubbing Eulalia's back raw with a hard bristled brush, "but he certainly knows how to treat a lady such as yourself."

Eulalia wrapped her arms around her legs and settled her chin on her knees, the fragrant soap on her skin reminding her of the small patch of lavender Orla grew in her garden. Orla, who loathed the children so, but was kind enough to teach her all she knew about flowers.

Eulalia might've been in Mondegreen, but her mind was far off as the maids scrubbed her clean. It was only a few days ago, she and Rowan had shared a passionate kiss in the Ever Woods. She couldn't yet accept she'd never get to taste his sweet kisses again.

"Now that's that." Cosima drained the tub. Its contents disappeared down in a swirl of lavender. In the hour they'd cleansed her of every speck of mud, the water had gone from lilac to a cloudy gray, leaving behind a fine layer of muck.

"Whew." Everlid stretched, her bones cracking like reeds underfoot. "I'll say this, I've polished old pans tougher than you, halfling, and never once has my body grown so stiff."

Eulalia stepped from the bath, covering her private parts, despite how much the maids had already seen.

Cosima busied herself with tidying up, while Everlid retrieved a pink dressing gown that hung from a hook on the bathroom door. "I've never known what it's like being treated like royalty," she said. "Isn't this your lucky day?"

A weight, an intangible presence, had settled on Eulalia's shoulders since her arrival in Mondegreen, clinging to her like a frog to its mates' backside. She could have crumbled from its heaviness. Her bottom lip trembled as she fought a fresh wave of tears.

Yes, lucky me.

They had bathed her from the top of her head to the soles of her feet yet had somehow missed her soul—ravaged like a meadow after Madam had tramped through with her cane. Filthy despite all that soap.

Everlid pulled the sleeves of the dressing gown over Eulalia's shoulders. "By the time we're through with you, you'll be a sight for sore eyes."

Her lack of kindness, her obliviousness of what Liliana had done, drowned the last of Eulalia's patience. Was it possible to suffocate beneath the injustice of it all?

"Tell me, how many of your loved ones have they murdered?" she asked softly.

"I see no point living in the past. What is done is done," said Everlid.

Eulalia couldn't believe what she was hearing. It hadn't been two days since Rowan and the children's lives were stolen from them. And what of Madam, Orla, and Tut? Did they not matter either?

"The past? It hasn't been much time at all." Anger roiled her tongue. "But how could you see that when you're so busy serving a prince who steals unsuspecting girls from their homes." Eulalia's tongue was quick, lashing out like a whip before she could stop herself. "You've all lost your minds here, haven't you?"

She regretted her words instantly, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip. She had to be careful of the faeries, after seeing what Liliana could do. She'd forgotten herself.

"Yes, and yet here you still are,'' said Everlid, "being pampered out of the goodness of his heart. You should count yourself fortunate."

Eulalia's extremities went cold, as someone might stepping out of a hot bath. She forgot how to use her legs, rooted in place. Where was the prince's kindness when they burned Rowan alive? Where was he as the children cried out for help? Where was his mercy then?

"Don't you have any compassion for those who've lost loved ones?" she asked. "Don't you have any empathy at all?"

Was her agony lost on the faeries?