Page 12 of Bartered by the Shadow Prince (Bargain with the Shadow Prince #3)
Bolvet Village
DAMIEN
A week passes, and I’m relieved when Brahm follows through on his mumbled promise and gives me the day off.
I’m anxious to follow up on Tempest’s challenge to see for myself how Stygarde is faring under my brother’s reign.
The woman isn’t prone to overreacting, and I almost dread what I will find today.
But really, how bad can it be? Everywhere I look, there is abundance, compared to the stark reality of war.
Brahm has kept me busy doing everything from mucking stalls to polishing saddles. He’s spent a concerning number of hours observing me for a man busy ruling a kingdom. He seems a bit preoccupied with keeping tabs on me. Which is why I haven’t told him where I’m taking Eloise today.
The wages he paid me for the week are close to nothing, but I am blessed by the gods to have been returned to my old room in the castle and the stash of gold quills I had hidden in the floorboards. I have enough to buy Eloise dresses that fit, and I know just where to go to get them.
“You might have mentioned the teeth,” Eloise says as I help her onto the saddle. She could easily mount the beast herself if not for the restrictive dress she’s wearing. She can hardly raise her arms to grab the reins.
“There’s nothing to worry about. Rabble beasts don’t eat shades or vampires, only small animals like furlies or vespers.”
“I don’t know what either of those things are, but this thing definitely has fangs. It looks more like a werewolf than a horse.”
“That’s good because rabble beasts aren’t horses.” I give a low chuckle. “Furlies and vespers are large rodents. You have nothing to worry about.”
She settles in, and her rabble twitches its ears and chuffs happily. Hers is an old beast with a grizzled maw and gentle disposition named Romulus. The fangs are different from the flat teeth of her Earth horses, but the creature is as gentle as any mare. Even his claws are worn with age.
He bends his neck to sniff one of her leather boots. They are the ones she wore through the portal and her only pair of shoes. We must remember to visit the cobbler after the dressmaker.
I mount Borus, and we take off easily from the stables.
She acclimates to the saddle as if she was born in it, but then, Eloise has proven her resilience and adaptability often over the last months.
Guilt crushes me in its too-tight grip at the memories.
Eloise deserves to be rewarded for what she did for me.
She deserves the title of princess that I promised her.
Instead, for seven days, Eloise has smiled and navigated life in the castle wearing the ill-fitting dresses that Nevina loaned her and the shoes she arrived in.
For seven days, she’s dodged Nevina’s constant prodding and invasive questions.
For seven days, she’s eaten food she doesn’t need to eat in order to be a polite guest for our host and spent her days reading on a concrete bench in the garden, hiding from a woman who is far too interested in her every move.
I hate that, once again, I’ve required too much of her.
Worse, with her magic still not under her control, she’s had to suffer it all while grieving the loss of the connection she once had with her family.
I don’t know what happened for her to lose her magic.
I don’t know if she’ll ever get it back. I don’t know how to help her.
Eloise’s beast breaks into a prance, and I nudge Borus to keep up. “See? He likes you,” I say. “Romulus is practically dancing for you.”
“Romulus’s dance is doing a good job of leaving bruises where only you should.” She laughs.
I reach over and help her pull the beast back into a walk. “Better?”
She nods. “Does everyone here travel on these? No cars or buses? No trains?”
“Short distances, we travel by shadow, of course. But when the amount we must transport prohibits it, we use rabble beasts. Royals will often have them pull carriages, but no, we’ve never developed automation as humans have. We have tools but not technology. We haven’t needed it.”
“No one needs a dishwasher or a microwave?”
I shrug. “We use shadow magic. Besides, I learned during my time on Earth that technology interferes with what I am.”
“Was that why the lights would flicker or go out before you arrived in my parlor?”
I give a low growl. “You will never understand how uncomfortable it is to pass through a wall carrying currents of electricity. I don’t know how you humans stand the constant buzz.”
She laughs. “I never knew it annoyed you so much.”
“I grew used to it.” Who am I kidding? I would have suffered ceaseless electric light to be with her, but then, she knows as much. Just as I know the sacrifices to her comfort she made for me. “It’s better here for us now, I think.”
She’s silent for a moment. She doesn’t look directly at me as she says, “I miss Maeve, and I miss the connection I had with Harcourt and my ancestors. There’s an emptiness inside me now, a hole like I’ve lost a piece of myself along with my magic.
I’m happy to be here, but I pray I find a way to reconnect with what I’ve lost.”
A dark pit forms in the general region of my heart.
I suspected it was harder for her than she was letting on, but now I see she’s been hiding a growing level of despair.
“I had hoped you needed only to adjust and regain your strength, but perhaps it is something more. If your abilities don’t return soon, we will travel to Dimhollow and ask the witches for help. ”
Immediately, I see her perk in the saddle. “You’ll introduce me to Aurora?”
“If she’s still alive, yes. I am certain her coven will help us if she is not.”
“Witches are mortal?”
“They are, and I’ve been gone a long time. Very powerful witches can slow their aging to a crawl, and Aurora was an extremely powerful witch. It’s possible that she’s still among her people.”
I see her smiling to herself as we ride on. I’ve pleased her. Nothing will stop me from getting her the help she needs.
“So, tell me about where we’re going?” she asks. “And why do I feel like you made an intentional effort to avoid Brahm and Nevina on our way out?”
I sigh. This is where things get tricky.
I haven’t told her about my interaction with Tempest, and I hope I never have to.
What Eloise needs most is calm and rest. She needs to focus on herself and reconnecting with her magic.
I don’t want her worrying about the kingdom or politics.
“I thought it was best that Brahm and Nevina not know where we’re going. ”
“Do you think that’s wise? I get the sense they don’t exactly trust us. I’ve had to hide in the garden to avoid her. She’s been glued to my side all week.”
“Brahm did the same with me.”
“If they catch us sneaking around?—”
“We’re not sneaking around. We’re reacquainting ourselves with the kingdom.
I wrote a note detailing our plans as such this morning and gave it to one of the servants to deliver to Brahm later today when he had a free moment.
By the time he reads it, we’ll already be in Bolvet Village, but he can never say I didn’t inform him of our whereabouts. ”
She bites her lip. “I don’t know how close you were with your brother before, but I don’t think it’s a giant leap to assume that he and his new wife might feel threatened by us. You are the true heir to the kingdom.”
“I am heir to a kingdom that no longer exists.”
“Still, you must acknowledge that it’s possible they see you as a potential threat. I don’t believe for a minute that the only work Brahm could find for you was in the stables. He’s sending a message. Maybe we should be more intentional about our response. Not give them a reason to distrust us.”
I glance in her direction, noticing the cloud of worry lingering around her sharp edges. I wish I could free her of all her anxieties. All I want is to protect her from all of this…stress.
“Damien?”
“You’re right. Truly, with your level head, you would have made the finest princess, Eloise. I am sorry that’s not to be.”
She tilts her head and looks at me through her lashes. “I don’t need to be a princess, Damien. I only need to be with you.”
The gods must have truly favored me to have sent me Eloise. I don’t deserve her. But I offer a warm smile at her kind words.
We fall into silence after some time, her taking in the beauty of the Stygarde countryside.
It’s concerning how alone we are on this road.
The passageway was once bustling with travelers.
Today, however, no one is on the road but us, which is odd.
Or was odd at the time of my leaving. Perhaps the wasting disease has left less of a population to inhabit these parts.
How times have changed.
“So, where are you taking me today?” she asks excitedly.
“To obtain for you a wardrobe worthy of your wear.”
She gives a deep, gratuitous guffaw. “Truly? I thought I was simply getting a tour of the kingdom. A dress I can actually breathe in would be a godsend. Nevina is a twig. I’ve had to lie down to get into these things, and I live in constant fear of busting a seam.”
“The dresses Nevina gave you were not made by shade hands. The textiles are elven, and I fear that if we don’t provide you with an alternate wardrobe soon, she will force an elven tailor on you.”
“So, we’re going somewhere we can find shade-made textiles?”
I nod. “All of my mother’s dresses were made by Ariadne in Bolvet Village—that’s within Eudora’s district, Zephrine. Generations of royalty have been clothed by her and her family. I want you to experience shade craftsmanship as I remember it.”
Eloise beams. “Sounds good to me. I can’t say I’m a fan of elven craftsmanship. This fabric has no give.” She rolls her shoulders and straightens her arms.
“To be fair, you cut a far more voluptuous figure than Nevina on her best day. It would be more comfortable if it were made for you.”