The Silver Crown

15.

I woke up a few times.

The first time I just opened my eyes, shifted my weight and went back to sleep. The second time I sat up and gulped the glass of water next to the bed before going back to sleep. The third time I woke up Maurice was sitting next to the bed, sewing.

When I moved, Maurice looked up. "Oh, you're awake."

"Not any thanks to you!" I snapped, my memories returning. "Why would you drug me?"

"I knew you wouldn't sleep otherwise and what your body needed was a good rest. I was right. You slept for three days." Maurice said calmly.

"Three days!"

"Yes, milady. Can I help you with anything?"

"Food?" I asked, as my stomach rumbled.

"Of course, I will be right back." Maurice rose to her feet and left the bedroom. I threw off the blankets and sat on the edge of the extremely pink bed. Had I really used to like this color?

All of my limbs were sore but the wounds didn't hurt as bad. I stood and hobbled over to the privy in the corner. As soon as I finished I immediately went back to bed before Maurice could return and yell at me.

"I brought you some broth and bread. We will start slow. Magical healings always tire out the body."

Maurice passed me the tray and I scarfed it down. It was only broth and bread but I always had to steal food or eat rotten stuff from the trash, so good broth and fresh bread warm from the oven was a luxury.

"The queen came and sat by your bed for an hour yesterday," Maurice said.

That was strange. The whole situation was strange. I suddenly had a mother again. I got the feeling that my new mother would be nothing like my last. I had no wish to think about it right now so I pushed it into the recesses of my mind.

When I finished eating, Maurice took the tray and told me to go back to sleep. I would have argued but I was tired again. I easily slipped back into my dreams.

When I woke up again it was clearly morning. I wanted to get out of bed and do something, particularly find a way to get Tobin back as soon as possible, but Maurice insisted that I stay in bed. I complied for one more day.

I spent a lot of that day dozing, but when I wasn't asleep, I was marveling over the healing that Maisa had given me. The areas where I had been wounded were pink with new flesh and even though the scars would remain for the rest of my life, I was impressed. The areas were tender still but the serious pain was completely gone and I had the same range of motion that I had had before. The scars that were there looked multiple weeks old, not four days old. My broken fingers still had bandages on them because broken bones took longer to heal than cuts, but they didn't hurt, just felt really stiff.

On the streets I had suffered from plenty of injuries and broken bones and stab wounds, but I had only twice had something serious enough that I knew I needed a healer. The first was when I broke my arm and the woman I had thought was my mother paid for the healer. When the second happened, I had begged for money from Kiro, promising to pay him back, and had gone to a street healer. It had been an agonizing healing and for weeks after my leg had ached painfully. Even now, four years later, it still got stiff and ached when it was cold.

But now my previous injuries hardly hurt at all. If not for the scars, I would almost doubt that the injuries had even occurred.

About five days had passed since I had been taken to the castle. I was bored and confused and wondering how to adjust to my life as the one thing I hated the most. It would be nice if I could leave and forget this whole thing even happened. If I could rescue Tobin and run away to Coronado with my little brother, I could happy for the rest of my days. To even think about what was going to happen next I needed to do some exploring and find out what I was up against. I was leaving this room today and nothing was going to stop me.

I hopped out of bed, my body stiff, and walked over to the wardrobe in the corner. I threw the doors wide open and looked through the clothes hanging up. I rolled my eyes in annoyance at the opulence. After much deliberation, I picked the plainest dress in the closet. The bodice was light grey and embroidered with dark grey and blue thread in a twisting vine like pattern. The neckline was round and the sleeves were a dark grey, the same grey as the skirt, which came down to the floor. This would not do.

"Niva, can you get me some leggings and a tunic?" I asked politely.

"Of course, milady." Niva left quickly; she was too frightened of me to remark on the oddity of the request. If I was to be here for long she would learn quickly that odd requests were the new normal.

I dragged a heavy chair over the stones and rugs on the floor to the entrance to the bathroom. After climbing on I reached up on my tiptoes and snatched the knife sticking out of the wood doorframe. I was surprised that no one had taken it since I had put it up there five days ago.

I wandered around the bedroom, picking up a doll here and a teapot there. Disgusted with how many toys this princess had when so many children who had grown up like me had to resort to sticks and stones, I picked up all the toys and piled them in the corner near the door. I would ask Maurice to donate them to an orphanage in the city.

I walked over to the window, delighting in how my feet sunk into the thick carpets that covered the stones of the floor. On the walls hung a few tapestries, mostly of joyous scenes like ladies in ball gowns dancing or knights offering flowers to princesses. I wasn't a fan of this princess's taste. Suddenly it dawned on me that I was this princess. Which meant that I used to like these sorts of things? It was all to confusing to think about.

I opened the glass window, awed at the cleanliness of the glass and the perfect cut of it. The tulle curtains that framed the window began to drift in the breeze, white and translucent. It was nice to be high up in the castle and to have a breeze. Lower down in the city the air would be stagnant and damp. I tucked them behind hooks on either side of the window and leaned against the stone frame, looking out into a clear and cloudless sky. Then I looked lower.

The forest stretched for miles beyond the window. I had never been out of the city. I had never not heard the sounds of merchants shouting, children laughing, parents screaming, women gossiping and men chuckling. I had never experienced absolute silence except for the time that Eli pushed me off a bridge into the Saban. And even then the water hadn't been silent, just muted. Everything had seemed sedate and tranquil: serene. Then I had remembered that I didn't know how to swim and the quiet grew to be a bit more lethal.

I stepped away from the window and wandered to the other doors leading off of the bedroom. I knew the bathroom was to the left, but the door on the right was a mystery. I tried the knob to find it unlocked. I slipped through the door into a square room with a towering bookshelf covering one wall. A sofa and three chairs were centered around a rectangular coffee table and to the side was another table. An empty pitcher and teacups sat on top. It was clearly a sitting room.

Off on the other side of the room was a table with sixteen colored balls sitting in a triangular frame. Confused I walked around the table. A frame on the wall help long polished wooden sticks. They could be substituted as a weapon. I hefted one of the colored balls; it too could do some damage. I frowned, making a mental note to ask what that was about when I got a chance.

I heard Niva in the bedroom. Upon entering I saw her with some black leggings and a green tunic. I removed the gray dress that I had tried on and hung it back up. I slipped on the new clothes, much more comfortable in garments that were similar to what I used to wear, although the quality was nothing like I was used too. Niva stared at me.

I brushed my hair and clumsily braided it down my back with my healing fingers, wondering at the silky quality. My hair had never felt like this before. It was almost slippery.

I walked to the door with my knife, tucking it into the belt I had donned.

Niva came put of her shock just in time to say, "Milady, you have no shoes!"

I snorted but went back over to the wardrobe and chose the plainest pair of shoes available. They were black slip-ons with no heel. I had never worn shoes so they felt unusual on my feet and pinched painfully. Ignoring it, I opened the door to the hallway and froze. There were three guards in purple tunics and black trousers outside the room and they were all scrutinizing me.