Chapter 4 : Rumors

Ayda's POV The next few days passed on like a dream, the moments blurring into the next until I couldn't quite recall what day it was. August was happy, though; he had charmed the whole castle, even the authoritarian Mr. Galanis! Working for Narcissa was a challenge; her mood changed like the wind. Pleasant enough to stand one moment and on the warpath the next. I hadn't been on the receiving end of one of her darker moods, and I did not wish to be. She delighted in causing agony in those that offended her with the gleeful nature of a Fury. Adamant on twisting the proverbial knife where one was most vulnerable once she wrestled you into a false sense of security. Well, proverbial in this sense, if the rumors are to be true. I never had the opportunity to meet Prince Alex, even when I still had my standing as a princess of Emerald Lake. He'd been five years my senior and hadn't had the time to make eyes at a girl when there were women to entertain. Not that I'd likely be able to handle him or his brand of entertainment. From what I'd heard, Prince Alex had quite the penchant for womanizing. I wondered if his younger brother was the same, but I slapped my cheeks at the thought of him lounging in bed with several women. Shirt unbuttoned, chest on display. Would he have smooth, olive skin, sun-kissed and welcoming? Or would he be hairy, a thicket carpet of curls leading to the bulge in his— Focus Ayda! The man was betrothed and to your boss no less! Act like you have some class! Focus! Besides, even if he followed in his brother's questionable footsteps, I could scarcely believe Narcissa would be okay with that particular brand of a bad habit. She struck me as a type of woman that wouldn't like to be second fiddle to anyone, let alone a harem! So did that mean that the rumors were true? That she'd killed Alex? Most of the kitchen staff seemed to think so despite her alibi. They did so love to gossip when there was a lull between feasts. Nicolette liked to hang around the older staff as they told stories, hanging on to their every word with eyes round and cheeks flush when talk became salacious. But I felt odd hearing stories behind the royals' back, dirty almost in a way. For all of Narcissa's faults, her true mate did die before they even exchanged vows. I couldn't imagine the heartache such a tragedy could invoke in me. Or, who it might turn me into.... And so that, above all else, deserved my sympathy. "Are you almost done?" Narcissa's youngest sister, Lilia, hit me square in the thigh with her porcelain doll. When I recoiled in pain, Lilia narrowed arctic blue eyes at me like she was going to hit me again for flinching. "Goddess, you take forever, peasant." We were in the en suite spa attached to Narcissa's bedroom. A bathroom bigger than my entire apartment! "A lady mustn't whine," Dahlia entoned, face still wedged in the novel she was reading. She was the middle child of the three younger siblings and was, by far, the least hostile of the Onasis women. The cover over her book seemed entirely inappropriate for one so young, with a pirate rending the bodice of a swooning socialite. Her large circular glasses glinted when she turned the page. "Is it true that in the capital, they have lights that never go out, even in storms?" "You mean bulbs and the wonders of electricity? Yes, Eventide City does indeed have them. Such wonders line the sidewalks, even light some of the better-kept homes." "Interesting," was all Dahlia had to say on the subject before her interests were snatched up again by whatever was on the page before her. "Boring." Lilia scratched my thigh with her doll's hand, determined to rip my best hose. "Adults never talk about anything important. You are all so dreadfully boring. Now hurry it up! Sissy promised me there would be cake!" "You'll get your cake in a minute," Narcissa barked. "Now, quit squirming. A lady must be poised at all times. Like so." Lilia huffed and kicked my standing tray full of perfumes. Luckily, none of them fell and shattered. I didn't want to think about the headache that fallout would produce. "Done!" With the last of Lilia's ringlets curled, I was all too happy to release her back to her family. The brat kicked me as she passed, climbing into the lap of the second eldest, Callia, who was still under the dryer. "How are we doing, Nicolette?" "I'd say we're almost done here." Nicolette held her nose as she sprayed the volumizer on Narcissa. She'd told me last minute that she had experience doing the other servants' hair for fancy events when they needed to look their best. Though her work was still amateur, I could see the shaping of a real stylist in her technique. Really, I owed a lot to Nicolette. She's been so helpful in making the castle feel like a home for Gus and me. In return, I'd been secretly helping her with her letter writing. She apparently had something of a secret admirer who'd been leaving presents at her doorstep for the past month, but she was too nervous to ask any of the male staff about it. She suspected it might be one of the guards, but she didn't want to make an assumption and embarrass herself. So, she'd enlisted my help to write letters that were just vague enough to be anyone but romantic enough to get her point across. "Look at me," Narcissa squealed, spinning around in her chair. Her hair fell in a wave shimmering down to her chest. She almost ran her manicured nails through the thick of it before she thought better. "Have you ever seen such perfection?" "You look so elegant, sister dearest." Callia motioned for her to spin around, and Narcissa sashayed to her heart's content. "Mother and Father would be so proud. I think the off-the-shoulder blue gown would be flattering on you. Wouldn't you agree, Dahlia?" "Flattering," Dahlia said flatly, licking her thumb to turn the page. "Simply divine." "You'll have to beat the men off of you with a stick tonight, Sissy! Why you might even make that stick-in-the-mud fiancé of yours jealous." "Sebastian?" Narcissa snickered, stripping out of her robe without a shred of modesty, small breasts swaying as she pulled the blue gown on. "Oh, wouldn't that be a delicious treat! To see his fiancé draped over the arm of another man—how red-faced do you think I could make him?" Callia grinned, canines prominent: "Do you even care?" "Does Lord Gaius have a big—?" Narcissa began. "Language," Dahlia said loudly. "Spoilsport," Narcissa accused, affixing a diamond choker to her neck. "But, I could care less about what Sebastian thinks of me." "You only have eyes on the 'big prize,' right?" Lilia looked up from her doll. "That's what Mother keeps saying pack at the palace." "Right you are, my Lily of the Valley," Narcissa finished putting on her diamond studs, pinching her youngest sister on the cheek. The girl snapped fangs at her, growling. "Shall I tell you all the tale of how Alex and I met?" "Do you have to?" Dahlia said at the same time Lilia and Callia screamed: "Yes." Narcissa snatched Dahlia's book from her hand and placed it on a dresser the girl couldn't hope to reach. "Right," Narcissa said, watching the girl struggle. "It was during the rainy season two years ago; I remember because it had taken all morning for my hair to become manageable. I'd been shopping by Basalt Bay since my weekend down by the South Shores had been canceled due to inclement weather. I was marooned there, stuck at this grimy little port, calling Father's yacht my home. It was dreadful. You know what the sea air does to our skin." Nods all around the room. Nicolette and I looked at each other, shrugging. Sea salt was a natural exfoliate, but other than that, was relatively harmless, and Nicolette revealed to me that her family had originally come from the Shores before the uprising. "Why, what was a girl to do?" Narcissa threw a hand up dramatically while lacing up her heels. "So, once the rain lightened a bit, I did the only thing a girl could do: shop." Nicolette coughed in a way that suspiciously sounded like a laugh. Narcissa glared at the poor maid like she'd told her to piss off: "Do you mind? Shouldn't you be doing Dahlia's hair?" "Yes, Your Highness." "The nerve of some people. Now, where was I?" "You were shopping," I helped Callia out from underneath the dryer, removing the curlers one by one. She said, "Go on, Sissy." "Oh yes—I had just finished buying a pair of Verbenas sandals when a mugger came at me!" All of her sisters gasped dramatically; even I paused with the mousse still wet between my hands, interest finally piqued. "Whatever did you do, Sissy?" Callia asked. "What anyone with a brain would do in that situation: I screamed. He was clearly older than me, and I knew even with my Calling, I'd be outmatched. I was sure I was going to die when Alex came through." "He saved you?" "Beat the absolute stuffing out of the man. We were dating within a week." "I didn't know you loved him so much, Your Highness," Nicolette said, pinning a diamond-encrusted snowflake to Dahlia's finished hair. It was half up, loose ringlets cascading down her back like a frozen waterfall. "Who said you could speak?" Narcissa snarled, eyes bleaching to a near-bone white. "Who said I cared what you thought?" "Sorry, Your Highness," Nicolette curtsied miserably, slamming her knee into the vanity. It pained me to see her get a verbal lashing, but I knew if I said anything more, I'd only make matters worse. I still didn't like it, however. "It won't happen again." "It better not. But for your information, I never loved Alex," my head shot up so fast from brushing Callia's hair that I thought I'd get whiplash. "Don't look at me like that. We got along well enough. I overlooked his indiscretion, and in return, he gave me money and status." She shrugged, emphatically. Continuing, she said, "Alex wanted to be young and enjoy the bachelor life for however long he saw fit. But his father wanted to secure his legacy, which meant marriage. And I've always wanted to be a queen, the highest caliber of Luna. Besides, I probably would have made a better ruler than him. Did you know he wanted to give a quarter of the national budget to the homeless? Bums?" "'If they are too lazy to work, then they aren't fit to have our money.'" Lilia removed the head of her doll, lifting it high enough so she could gaze into its vacant glass eyes. "That's what Father always says. Right, Sissy? 'That worthless trash deserves to be forgotten?'" "Right you are, my Lily! And I would have had that with Alex. Whatever I wanted, I got. He even told me he was going to give me the world once we wed." Narcissa sighed, but it was the sound one made when they lucked out on obtaining a raffle prize, not the type of woe one may have over a dead mate. "I really couldn't have asked for a better partner. Instead, I have that loser, Sebastian, to get hitched to…" My hands tightened around the little duster I had to remove loose hair as I did a once-over with Callia. I don't know why I was so defensive over Sebastian; perhaps it was that last lingering look he gave me, and I'd seen hide nor hair of him since. It bothered me that Narcissa could be so callous to the man. As if he hadn't lost a brother, a confidant, and a friend. "He was there, wasn't he? The night that Alex died?" Nicolette dusted Dahlia and trailed off to find a broom to clean the floors. And likely to take a break from Narcissa's abuse. "Alex had invited him because he felt sorry for Sebastian. He had always wanted to be married, but the loser just couldn't find a woman who could tolerate him." "Poor thing." "Yes, I know. So Sebastian rode his brother's coattails to the bitter end. 'One last bash before the ring,' Alex had said. And then he was gone, stabbed to death by a group of packless Rogues, dying in a gutter while Sebastian was getting drunk at The Twilight Tavern." The blood in my veins turned to sludge as a chill ran up my spine. "The Twilight Tavern?" I croaked, voice alien to my ears. "That's what I said? The infamous whorehouse of Eventide City." It was not a whorehouse; I had friends who worked there. It was a bar, a place where people in the city—good people—could unwind in relative safety. The Twilight Tavern didn't discriminate if you were a Rogue or an elite Alpha—all were welcome under its kaleidoscopic canopy. It was also the place where I'd met August's father before we retired for our wild night in the rooms upstairs. A room I woke up in, alone. I curtsied to Narcissa and her family. "If you'll excuse me." "Oh? Of course? Thank you again, my dear; we look absolutely gorgeous. As always." "Ayda?" Nicolette asked as I brushed past her, heart beating a war march in my chest. What were the odds that the prince was there that night? He'd been murdered a year ago, hadn't he? I knew when I bedded an Alpha that he'd been powerful, far too much for even one of the higher levels of the aristocracy. Could it have been a member of Alex's entourage? They all fit the bill. "Ayda, slow down. Are you alright? Hey!" Nicolette caught up to me just as tears sprung from my eyes. My throat hurt, and I wanted to cry. Why couldn't I remember him? All I had were his eyes, but amber among wolves was as common as having black hair! Why couldn't I see his face? A mark? A tattoo even? "Ayda, your shaking. We should have you lie down. You've been on your feet since four this morning…" "You're right." She wasn't, not entirely, but I couldn't tell Nicolette what happened. To mate with a man and not even know his face. His name. "I think a rest would be best." "Yes. Just lie down for a moment," Nicolette gently corrected my course for the servants' wing. "I'll tell Maud to watch Gus for a while longer—" "Wait!" That voice—I recognized that voice! 'Not now,' I thought, nose burning. 'Go away! I don't want you to see me like this. Like I'm about to fall apart!' But I could no more stop the inevitable than the moon could stop circling the heavens. "Prince Sebastian," Nicolette gave her standard greeting, posture correct as she lifted her skirt demurely. The Prince looked serious, even cold, as he stood before us. His hair was down, falling into his face, and a stray strand caught in the corner of his full mouth. I was disturbed by how much I wanted to reach out and touch it. I bowed my back instead, safer if I didn't look him in the eyes. I could feel him skimming us both over before resting on me again. I could feel him staring like a brand upon my back. Defiantly, perhaps to prove a point that I could keep my composure, I looked back at him. The room slowly filled with static, like the air when a storm is threatening to rend the heavens in two. "Nicolette?" She shot to attention."Yes, Your Highness?" "You may take your leave." Nicolette glanced at me, indecisive. It was the wrong choice of action. "Now." She squeaked and scurried away like a little mouse. Which left me alone with him. "Your Highness?" He was giving me a strange look like he couldn't quite believe that I was in front of him. Incredulous that I did indeed exist. "Sir?" "My apologies," he righted himself then and clasped his hands behind his back. "This won't take long." The gravity around him made me nervous. Just what on Earth had happened: "Sir?" "Effective immediately," Prince Sebastian said, staring over my head and past me. "Your services will no longer be necessary, and you are to leave the grounds. Permanently."