The Panjandrum Corps arrived back at the palace with no further incidents. I kept myself as far away from Aela as I could until we managed to find our way out of Rootbeak Wastes, following the landmarks Left-wing put in place on our way deeper into the hardly traveled territory. We scaled the same bridge, took the same precautions with passing travelers or beasts that followed us out of the wastes, but returned without much-inclined trouble.
Cloak wrote out his report on the way back, detailing that we discovered the deceased Luminary, but couldn't recover the body due to an unprecedented attack. For hours, he poured over the right phrases to use, the right words to place in certain spots so his mother doesn't believe we went to the wastes for a vacation rather than investigative work.
Paragraphs—those he gave to me to proofread—detailed the attack from three rootbeaks, as well as the knowledge that another would approach shortly, but never showed. Time became limited, and it was in Cloak's best interest to leave the wastes with all his men in one piece and accounted for. Reading over the report, so detailed it made my eyes hurt, I realized that it's not just Cloak's inner demons that threaten to tear him apart. His mother's close attention to detail and lack of care for a job that is half-ass attempted makes part of his mind slip loose of control. If he doesn't get the report right, the queen will make certain he knows.
No wonder he can't keep a sane mind.
The tasks and trials upon his shoulders don't halt beyond what he did to protect his people from a siege and a Luminary threat. His life in the Panjandrum Corps would be simple if not for his mother's demands around every corner.
Gustus complained about the smell when I arrived at his chambers for a much-needed magic release. After you take a bath, he told me.
I scrubbed myself with the finest of royal soaps and smiled down at the mud-caked water reeking of fish guts and moldy river water. At least the smell didn't cling to me any longer. I scarfed down a meal in Luminary form and told him of my lack of options as the serpent dragged me to the bottom of the river and demanded to make a separate water source out of my lungs.
He told me not to worry, and that if anyone saw anything, I'd be dead already. Though that didn't provide me with enough comfort as it should, Gustus is right. Cloak would've said something the moment I came up for air, and he wouldn't have bothered to save me from the clutches of his aunt's creations.
On a happier note, he expressed how relieved he was that we made it back alive with hardly a scratch. Considering I healed all their wounds, besides Aela's, and received cautious looks of wonder about whether my magic revolved around Luminary abilities, there wasn't a single way for anyone to arrive back in dire need of a healer. Thankfully so.
For a reason I can't place, I didn't want to leave the palace. I wasn't ready to. But my two weeks serving the Raven Queen are over and I must go home before returning in another half month. Gustus takes me back home by way of dragon and deposits me on the outskirts of the village, nearly in the middle of our weekly market. Ordinary citizens, their faces caked in dirt and their clothes tattered in every seam, only to be repaired and damaged again, watch me in awe. I descend from a dragon's wing, fresh-faced and wearing clothes that only a prince could provide.
Gustus watches them warily, but orders the dragon into flight, waving at me one final time before disappearing into the clouds.
I keep my head down through the village in case anyone believes I carry substantial value in my satchel. My lack of vision hinders my ability to avoid running into anyone and I do just that, nearly knocking my husband over as he appears out the side of an alleyway, his head ducked down into a journal.
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The White Sheep's Disguise ✓
FantasyTwo queens. One throne. A diverse kingdom chocked full of hiding magic, beasts, and a landscape reshaped to benefit the rich and royal. Marie Rithorne finds herself caught in the middle of it all when an unstoppable power is forced on her to instill...