We’ve been huddled on my bed for an hour now as I’ve caught them up on everything that’s transpired: the assassination attempt, by the Nightingale, Sira’s appearance, and the letter I received from Dom and Billy.
I clutch it, the paper wet with my tears. My father has always been so strong, so determined. I can’t imagine him sick or bedridden. My only solace is knowing Farron’s family will look after him like he’s one of their own. Once I get word from Coppershire, I’ll travel straight to his side and see he makes it safely to Spring. Ezryn promised his realm’s best healers would look after him.
The door knocks and creaks open. Eldy pops his head in. “Apologies for interrupting, ladies.”
“I’m happy to see you, Eldy,” I tell him genuinely.
He looks to Marigold and the biggest smile appears beneath his mustache. She blushes and smooths her perfectly pressed skirt. Quite the difference from the two squabbling staff they were when we arrived. I wonder if Marigold is tempted to tell him about her curse. Probably not. She’s so loyal to Ezryn and the other princes. But hiding the truth from her love … It must be killing her inside.
Pain laces through my chest, and I rub my heart.
If only Ezryn could find his mate.
“Why are you here?” Astrid says sharply, bringing everyone back to focus.
“Oh! Hem. Yes.” Eldy straightens and places a wooden chest on the end of the bed. He clicks it open, revealing many small bags, vials filled with plants soaked in liquid, and dried herbs. “Ms. Marigold told me of your father’s illness, Lady Rosalina.”
Astrid gives her a glare, but she just shrugs. “It was when I was fetching us tea!”
“I’m sure he’ll have excellent care in Coppershire, but I thought I’d put together some of our most potent and rare treatments until he can be transferred to see us here in Spring. See, this one here is a powdered stardrop. They’re quite a plentiful resource, found up in our mountains. Sprinkle a little on his tongue to neutralize any toxin. A healer will know what to do with all of these,” Eldy continues. “Consider it a gift from the Spring Realm.”
I get up, placing the letter on my end table, and grab Eldy’s hand. He blushes but doesn’t pull away. “This is so thoughtful. Thank you for all the hospitality you’ve shown me.” I look back at Marigold and Astrid. “Thank you all for everything.”
“Whatever you need, Rosie, we’ll be here,” Astrid says, grabbing my arm.
Another knock sounds, and Eldy opens the door. Wrenley stands there dressed in her gold and white robes, arms filled with beautiful red flowers.
Her gaze shifts around the room, taking each of us in, before she steps inside. “Forgive the intrusion.”
“Not at all. What can I do for you, Wrenley?” I do my best to sound genuine, but I can’t help but feel jealous at the sight of her, remembering how she and Dayton had laughed and danced at the party. And the bitter words I’d said about her. She’s been nothing but nice to me. It wasn’t like this when I saw Tilla. Because I know Kel is mine, and Dayton … Dayton isn’t.
“I ran into Prince Kairyn, who informed me that you and High Prince Ezryn had returned to the keep.” She smiles. “Prince Kairyn told me to bring these flowers to your room.”
“Thank you. That’s very kind.” I wave her in.
“Majordomo, your boutonniere has wilted.” She offers Eldy another one of her sweet smiles and plucks the white flower from his breast pocket. She replaces it with a blooming red one.
“Ah, is red the new fashion? Hard to keep up with you young things.” He straightens the flower. “Thank the stars. It was such a trek up the mountain to find these little stardrops.”
“I’m up there all the time,” Wrenley says, touching her own white flower.
Eldy looks back at the trunk. “All right, Miss Rosalina, let me explain some of the ingredients.”
Marigold and Astrid gather around as well, and we all listen attentively as he describes the healing components. Out of my peripheral vision, I watch Wrenley tossing the old flowers in the vases and replacing them with the new ones. An uneasy feeling settles in my stomach. Stop being ridiculous, I chide myself. Disliking her because Dayton doesn’t is selfish.
Turning away from my friends, I face Wrenley only to see her bent over the letter on my end table.
“Excuse me, that’s private.” I hurry over and snatch the letter out from under her.
“Apologies, my lady, I meant no offense.” She leaps back, blue eyes wide. “I didn’t mean to invade. I only caught sight of a few words and became concerned. Your father … He is ill?”
I take a deep breath. It’s not really private, figuring the three of us were all talking about it. “Yes, he was on an excursion in the Autumn Realm but has grown weak with malaise. The healers in Coppershire will examine him, and then Prince Ezryn will have him transported here.”
She blinks at me. “Your father is coming here?”
“Yes. Ezryn said Spring would be the best place for him to heal.”
Wrenley stares at me intently. “You’re concerned for him.” It almost sounds like a question.
“Of course I am,” I snap, my voicer harsher than I intended it. “He’s my father.”
She steps back as if struck. “Apologies. I haven’t seen my family much since coming to the monastery.”
Immediately, guilt floods my chest. I sigh and place the letter back on the end table. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. The worry is getting to me, I guess.”
Her fingers drift over the letter lightly, curiously. “This is his writing?”
“Yes. Explorer’s scrawl, he would call it. So messy you can barely read it.”
“I can read it,” she says quietly.
There’s a flash of emotion on her face, and I wonder if my story strikes a chord with her. “There were times when my father and I had some distance between us,” I say. “But we’ve reconnected recently. There’s so much we still have to learn about each other. So much I have to tell him.”
“I understand.”
“Are you close with your father?”
Her gaze shoots up from the paper, and a grin spreads across her lips. “Oh yes, very close. My father loves me very much, more than anything. He’s a cartographer in the Summer Realm. Travels a lot, making maps.”
“That sounds fascinating,” I say. At the party, I’d sworn she’d said her father was a vendor. Maybe I misheard, or it was before his mapmaking days.
Wrenley grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly. “You’ve been blessed with much throughout your life, Lady O’Connell. I will pray to the Queen that such blessings do not run out.”
I stay rooted to the spot as Wrenley steps out of the room.
I walk back to my friends and engage with their conversation, but my heart is stuck on Wrenley’s words.
There have been so many blessings in my life, and I’ve had to fight for each one.
Nothing, not even the Queen herself, will take them from me.
73
Rosalina
I must go up the mountain.
The thought strikes me slowly, creeping through my mind as I attempt to follow Eldy’s words. I’m still standing in a circle with him, Marigold, and Astrid in my bedchamber, and we were having a conversation about something, but this thought keeps creeping in.