Insurrection [On Hold]

30 Pouring My Soul Away

I think my heart actually shatters. Why can't I catch one moment of reprieve? Why must I constantly be pitted against the hand of fate?

I behold the pitcher as if it holds a soul—most likely mine. "I can't go in there. I'm a prisoner," I tell the woman who ordered me.

"Somebody needs to go in there." She picks up the pitcher. "The two of us aren't allowed to serve in there. They want servants in their primes." She thrusts the pitcher toward me, the glass showing the wine swaying side to side like a stormy sea.

"I said I'm a prisoner." My hands shake as I grasp the pitcher. "I shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the royal family."

The other woman holds a wet towel to Lizabeth's forehead.

Unfortunately, the woman I'm dealing with isn't in a nurturing mood. She flicks her hands outward, telling me to move.

"I'm in prison for murder." I'm desperate. Whichever members of the royal family are in there, they will recognize me.

Soldiers stationed around the edges of the walls look my way, but don't move their legs. Their glances are enough—don't try anything.

"There are guards inside. They'll stop you." She brushes hair out of her face to behind her ear. "Don't let the glasses run dry."

The room sways for a moment. Guards. More people to kill me on the spot. Armed. I'd run now if not for the soldiers.

She holds the door open for me. My heart accelerates as I pass into the room. The first thing to strike me is white. The entire room is made of white marble with black strewn in splotches throughout. An extensive table also marble is in the center, filled with generals and at the other end, King Kasen Ricolda and his three sons; Jareth, the crown prince; Maxon; and the youngest, Every. I duck my head, letting my black hair fall forward to shield my face. I'm the only woman in here. Unlike Lumiere, Quill doesn't allow females in their military. A fire burns in the hearth to my left.

I'm not only the only woman. I'm the only servant.

I notice the general's closest to me glass is empty. Pulling my hair farther forward, I hunch my back over the table and pour wine into his cup. He faces King Kasen at the end and as long as I don't lean too far over the table and keep my head down and hair forward, the king can't notice me.

"So the south?" a general farther up the table asks. "Through Corinth?"

I step away from the table. If I stay on top of the drinks then I won't create attention by them calling for me to refill the glasses.

"They're expecting us to attack from our borders." King Kasen breaks his piece of bread in half. "If we go all the way to their eastern border, then we have to deal with their alliance with Cella or Torrin."

I pour a glass for another general. I'm ever growing closer toward the other end of the table where the royals are seated. They're talking about attacking Lumiere. Right now they are only giving vague details, simply an overview. But once behind closed doors, they'll talk strategic battle plans. If I'm caught in here, there's no hope for me. They will already think I'm a spy, but by overhearing this, they'll kill me.

"We would have to receive permission from Corinth to attack from their own borders," the general I first served wine to points out.

Jareth looks toward him, and I jerk away from the table. "We're considering offering them a piece of Lumiere's land," he says. Real classy, Jareth—offering my family's land like that.