She was down to her last candle. Lily squalled in her arms, refusing to be soothed and unaware of the danger of attracting unwanted attention. I could feel Anushka’s heart as though it were my own, leaping and skittering in her chest with every scream and crash from outside. Worse was the sound of skirmishes outside the windows. The crack of bones and the thud of impacts against flesh. The dull thump of bodies falling to the ground. The rustle of fabric against stone as the corpse was dragged away to be… My mind recoiled at the things she had seen through cracks in the curtain.
There was nothing left in the house to eat, and all that remained to drink was wine, mixed with the stagnant water she’d drained from the fountain in the courtyard. Yet she knew she was lucky, because for the humans and half-bloods outside, it was far worse. Thirty thousand soldiers had returned for Alexis’ birthday, and once the task of holding up the rock had been organized into shifts, they’d eaten and drunk all there was to offer. The riverbed was bone dry; the few streams of water that made it through the rock were snatched up by the trolls with the most power.
For that was the way of it. The most powerful took everything, raiding the city stores and taking all, killing anyone who dared try to stop them. A pure-blooded troll could go weeks without food or drink with little effect, but they did not want to go without. So they dined on fresh bread daily, while those who needed it suffered, starved, and died. And the fey did nothing to help, all of them fled back to Arcadia or to wherever their fickle hearts desired. What care had they for creatures destined to die anyway?
A fist hammered against the door.
“Shhh, shhh,” Anushka whispered to the baby, trying to silence her. She knew a hundred spells to use against trolls, but all required planning, stealth, and one ingredient she did not have. If they came after her directly, there would be no stopping them.
The fist hammered again. “Anushka!”
“Alexis!” His name came out as a sigh of relief. Flying down the stairs, she jerked open the door and flung an arm around his neck. “You’re here!”
“Wait outside,” he ordered whoever had accompanied him; then he backed Anushka inside.
“Stones and sky, you stink.” He pushed her gently away from him.
“Alexis, there is barely enough water to drink, much less to wash with.” And yet he was the kind of clean that only comes with a bathtub full of water. I noticed it, and so did she.
“Never mind.” He was studiously looking anywhere but her or the baby. “Pack what things you need – I’m moving you to the palace.”
Anushka’s skin prickled, a thought flickering across her mind that the palace was Lamia’s territory, and that she had demanded Alexis never allow her inside. “Why?”
“It’s safer.”
Anushka shook her head slowly. “Tell me the real reason.”
He grimaced and walked over to the banister and leaned his elbows on it. “The Princess’s wet-nurse is dead. I need you to feed her, care for her.”
“Is there no one else?”
“None who can be spared, and besides, there is no one I trust more than you.”
“What about Lamia?” Anushka demanded without thinking. “Why can’t she care for her own child?”
“Lamia is caring for all of Trollus!” In the blink of an eye, he had her by the shoulders, fingers digging painfully into her skin. “Ten thousand are dead and rotting in the street, but how many more would there be if not for her? She does not sleep – spends day and night in the streets holding up rock heavier than anything you can imagine, and yet still you spit out your petty jealousies. What right have you to deny her this when all you do is hide in a house?”
Those were Lamia’s words…
“Alexis, you mistake me.” The desperation in her voice mirrored that twisting in her gut. “I’ve barely enough for Lily, much less two of them. They’ll both go hungry.” But Lily was half human, and would suffer more for it.
“Find a way to make it work.”
“It’s impossible.”
Alexis let go of her shoulders. “Then you must prioritize. And if the Princess does not thrive, you will suffer the consequences.”
“Lily’s your daughter, too!” The words slipped out, and she desperately wished to take them back, because she knew how he would respond. And she didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t want the fragile hope that he would change the laws for her sake to fall into pieces.
“The life of a bastard half-blood destined for servitude means nothing compared to that of a princess of Trollus.”
Her hope shattered, and she took a step back.
“Anushka, you know I love you.” His lips brushed hers, and she cringed. “If you love me, you’ll do this. Don’t make me resort to threats.”
As if she had any choice. Escape was impossible – she was as trapped as they were. The only option was to do what he asked, and then when they dug their way out, she’d flee. Take Lily and as much gold as she could get her hands on, and run as far away from this cursed Isle as she could get. Back to the north, where folk knew ways to resist the fey.
* * *
I opened my eyes to find my mother staring back at me. “Has that changed?” she asked, face full of an old sorrow.
I wanted to say that it had, that Tristan was trying to rid Trollus of slavery and oppression, but then I thought of Lessa. “What happened to her?”
“I’ll show you.”
* * *