Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 10

Cole finished cleaning the shattered teacup, and placed the pieces on the side-table. Dia whispered a quick thank you, but by then the prince had stood and announced his intended departure.

"I should head back to my rooms. I have a hunting trip with Father soon, and I need to prepare."

He kissed his mother's cheeks, and as he turned to leave her face lost the light that had ignited behind it. Her eyes unfocused, settling on nothing, and her hands went slack.

The girls fell in behind him, and they traveled back out into the hallway after all the attending women had said their farewells to the prince. Though, Cole couldn't help but notice the duchess gave no farewell at all.

The prince took them back to his sitting room, where he ripped off his shirt before he'd even made it to his bedroom. Cole quickly averted her eyes, shocked that he'd be so brazen. But he didn't even look at them as he wandered into his bedroom and reappeared a few minutes later in a heavier shirt and leather vest. He wore hunting boots now, and headed to the hobby room.

As he walked, he shouted back orders to the girls.

"I don't require you to come with me on the hunt," he shouted to them from the other room. "I want you to prepare the downstairs library for when we return. Tea, some refreshments. Make it nice. Father invited some of my uncles to visit, and we want them to have a nice time."

He reappeared at the door, a bow and quiver slung over his shoulders. "We should be back in about five hours. You're dismissed until then."

The girls bowed as he breezed by them, and then they were blessedly alone. As if a tap had been taken out of a barrel, the words flowed from the girls as soon as he was out of sight.

"Can you believe Adrie?" one gasped out. "Being so clumsy in not only the prince's presence, but also in front of the duchess and everyone!"

"She's lucky she wasn't skinned alive," another said.

"I wanted to die of embarrassment. I hope the court ladies know that all of us aren't that careless."

Cole pushed past them and toward the door to the prince's rooms. They didn't even glance her way as they chatted in a circle, too absorbed in their own little world. Cole wasn't even a consideration, and she didn't mind it either. She wanted away from this stifling palace, even if that only meant standing in the bamboo courtyard because she couldn't run away from her agreement with the faerie.

Making her way to the servant staircase they arrived through, Cole made her way down to the kitchens and edged around the people still bustling around trying to prepare for the evening meal. A large boar crackled on a spit over the huge roasting fire, and the smell of apples filled the air from a pot that the cook stirred.

Cole pressed against a table, snatching one of the apples and stuffing it in the folds of her shift as she quickly moved toward the door and out into the fresh air. The sounds of the staff yelling at each other faded as she ran down the path and toward the living quarters. She didn't enter, but instead walked around the back of the building and to a small outcropping of bamboo that swayed in the breeze.

They were large enough the stalks almost looked like small trees, and Cole pushed her way through them to a spot where the sun dappled across the ground but wouldn't be able to roast her scalp.

Sitting down, she sighed and leaned back, dazzled at the fact that she had a break during the day. Her muscles ached and burned, but she stretched them and massaged her legs. Normally her days consisted of the mines and sleeping, with only a few minutes stolen away to take care of her animals.

Stiffening, she dropped her apple. Her animals.

Who would take care of them with her gone? They were still injured to leave the hiding place, and if they didn't have her bringing them their food, they'd starve.

Glancing out at the path that led through the compound to the main gates, Cole wondered if she'd be able to make it out and back in time before Prince Bastian came home from the hunt. She was fairly sure the servants weren't allowed to leave the palace without permission, but she could surely find a way to sneak out. And she'd only be gone a few hours- not long enough for anyone to get suspicious about where she had gone.

She was pushing herself to her feet, when the bamboo rustled around her. Her skin crawled at the sound of the leaves rustling like paper jewels, and her eyes immediately whipped around the surroundings. Because this wasn't a natural breeze. In fact, there was no breeze at all anymore. The bamboo swayed without the tiniest bit of moving air, and Cole broke into a sweat in the suddenly muggy air that stood heavy and still around her now.

"My, my, my, I didn't know you could look human after all."

The voice made the hairs on Cole's arms stand on end. She whipped around, locating the figure that had spoken, and wanting to both run to and away from him.

The faerie smirked and held out a hand as if he was displaying the entirety of the palace compound. "Now that you've been cleaned up, do you enjoy the accomodations?"

Cole shook her head. "No, they belong to the man who has my mother chained up in his dungeons."

The faerie tilted his head, but didn't seem inclined to comment on what she said. Instead, he turned to one side and glanced at her. "I came to see if you're ready for further instruction."

Cole nodded her head, almost ready to whip out a knife and rush the prince right that moment. He didn't see any of the girls as anything further than items he could push around. He probably had no problem at all with keeping her mother locked in the dungeons, even though neither he nor his father had any reason to keep her there. What did a king want with a commoner?

"Take my hand," Tanwyn said, his long fingers extending toward her. "We can't talk freely here." For a moment, she stared at the curve of his palm, facing up toward the sun. It made her heart beat faster to even look at it, but she knew that was being silly.

Pushing all thoughts out of her head, she walked to his side and grabbed his hand firmly. His fingers curled around hers, and then the world tilted like it had last time. The bamboo blurred and all the sounds muddied around them, until suddenly they snapped back into focus. Only now, the sounds of the palace, of birds and servant's voices, were replaced by the rumbling rush of a waterfall.