Chapter Fourteen
Rillie
As the guards dragged Rillie away from the shore, away from Baelan, and away from that hateful queen, she realized that she had been defeated. There would be no rescue, no chance to escape, no chance to find happiness and love with Baelan.
The first night in the dungeons, Rillie closed her eyes and wept bitterly. The conditions of the dungeons under the Zhekan castle made Captain Maeraria’s ship look like paradise. The stone walls were streaked with lime and mold and the cell was freezing cold. Rillie’s gaudy silk dress was taken and she was instead given a thin shift covered with holes and tatters. She spent the first night with her skinny arms wrapped around her skinny legs, rocking back and forth and sobbing. But in the morning, she was determined to bear her sentence with as much dignity as possible.
A female guard brought Rillie food – it wasn’t much, a grimy pewter plate filled with gruel and a bit of meat.
“This is better than what the men get,” the guard roughly told Rillie. “And don’t you want to keep your strength up?” Without waiting for Rillie to reply, she threw her head back and burst into laughter.
Rillie shuddered. The gruel was already cold, and there was a layer of congealed grease on the top. She shivered, thinking of how Flint would sneak into her room and bring her salt pork. She’d never have thought it, but she missed those evenings.
And Baelan! What had he been thinking, getting her to sing and ruin everything? Surely he had some kind of noble idea in mind, but Rillie had been fearful of the possibility…and now that she was in the dungeons, locked away from the sunlight and warmth, Rillie knew that her fears had been well-founded.
So, it came as quite a surprise when after a few days, the guard came in the middle of the day.
“Am I to be moved?” Rillie asked. She gripped the cold iron bars of her cell with both hands and pressed her face against them. By now, her face was so thin that she could almost put her head through the bars.
The guard shook her head. “No,” she said shortly. “There is someone here to see you. A royal.”
Rillie’s heart leaped and she felt like dancing and singing. So, Baelan had finally figured out a way to free her, after all! Tears of happiness filled her eyes and she smiled. But when she saw the visitor come closer, her smile faded. It wasn’t Baelan at all – it was a lady. The guard been right, there was definitely something noble about this woman. And she even resembled Baelan, with dark hair and bright blue eyes.
The woman put her long sleeve over her face and gagged at the putrid smell of the dungeons. But when she spotted Rillie, she stood up straight and made her face perfectly calm again.
“I am Arsinoe,” the woman said. “Arsinoe Covendane.”
“I assume you know who I am,” Rillie said in a small voice. “Have you come as a charity project?”
To her surprise, the woman laughed. She took a sachet from her robes and held it under her nose, breathing deeply. Even though she was a slight distance away, Rillie could smell the faint smell of herbs and spices.
“No, child,” Arsinoe replied. “I have not come on charity. I have come to speak with you.” She raised an eyebrow at Rillie. “I know my son is quite enchanted by you.”
“Baelan?” Rillie blinked. “You’re Baelan’s mother?”
“Yes,” Arsinoe said primly. “Perhaps I have aged so much that we no longer resemble each other.” She tossed her hair vainly.
“No, no,” Rillie said, shaking her head. “I…”
“I am sure you do not know why I have come,” Arsinoe continued. She fluffed her skirts and lowered herself down onto a small wooden stool with three legs.
Rillie didn’t reply. If this woman was Baelan’s mother, why wasn’t she trying to help Rillie? Surely, any mother who loved their son would do such a thing?
“I have come to tell you about my son,” Arsinoe continued. “Because despite what he has mentioned to me, I am quite sure you know very little about him.”
Rillie frowned. “No,” she said.
Arsinoe blinked in surprise. “Excuse me, child?”
“I know a great deal about Baelan,” Rillie said in a shaky voice. “He is strong and brave, and kind. I know that he cares for his family.”
“My Baelan, brave?” Arsinoe chuckled. “No, child. I am afraid that is not the truth.” She sighed. “The truth is, my Baelan has been promised since birth to one of his royal cousins, Aya Covendane.”
Rillie couldn’t keep the look of surprise from her face.
“Yes,” Arsinoe said serenely. “I am sure he did not mention her, did he?”
When Rillie didn’t reply, Arsinoe laughed softly.
“Of course, Baelan would not mention her,” Arsinoe continued. “Why would he have done that? He only wished to play around with you, toy with your feelings. And learning about his betrothed would have made any sane young woman change her mind.”
Rillie’s mind was spinning. Baelan, engaged? But why hadn’t he told her?
“And if I may continue,” Arsinoe said primly. “This is far from the first time Baelan has tried…well, tried to toy with a lady’s affections.” She looked at Rillie disdainfully. “Although, I am quite sure you are no lady.”
Rillie’s cheeks burned at the insult, but she was too shocked to reply.
“Has Baelan told you about the lady Taryn?”
Rillie’s mind was spinning. First Aya, now Taryn, she thought angrily. Why, I can’t believe he deceived me so!
“I am going to assume from your expression that you have never heard that name before,” Arsinoe continued. She laughed again – that same infuriating girlish giggle. Rillie felt her anger and resentment growing, towards both Baelan and his mother.
“No,” Rillie replied stiffly. “I regret to say that name is not too familiar.”
“The lady Taryn was also a foreigner – she came from the land of Glasule. I am going to assume you know where that is,” Arsinoe continued. “And like you, she was most bewitching.”
Rillie didn’t reply. She couldn’t imagine Baelan kissing and caressing and whispering with two other women – at least, why hadn’t he told her? She wouldn’t have minded – at least, she didn’t think that she would have minded! She hadn’t exactly thought she was Baelan’s first lover, for he had been much too thorough for that. But still, some knowledge of his past would have made Rillie feel more at ease.
“The lady Taryn was so charming that everyone in the kingdom felt great affection for her,” Arsinoe continued. “Perhaps with the exception of my headstrong daughter, Selene. But that is no matter. I, as well as my husband, thought Taryn would make Baelan a most suitable wife.”
“I thought you said he had been engaged since birth to Aya?” Rillie asked.
Arsinoe sighed. Ignoring Rillie, she continued: “Baelan and the lady Taryn were wed in the castle.”
“Baelan was…he was married?” Rillie blinked. Suddenly, she remembered her first ominous conversation with Queen Zornaya, where Zornaya had hinted at some sort of troubling darkness.
Arsinoe chuckled. “Yes, child, Baelan was married. Only for a brief time.”
“What happened?” Rillie frowned. “The queen, she mentioned it to me…but she didn’t explain.”
“The lady Taryn was not a lady at all, but rather a sorceress in disguise,” Arsinoe continued. “And she bewitched everyone in Zheka – including the queen!”
Rillie gasped. Queen Zornaya had alluded to something horrible, but nothing as horrible as bewitching the royal family.
“Yes,” Arsinoe said. She seemed to take pleasure in Rillie’s shock. “Many were killed. There was a great battle in the castle.” She sniffed. “And it was only by a very great stroke of luck that the queen’s senses were restored. But no one in the kingdom had ever seen anything like it. The lady Taryn even brought back the dead, to fight the living.”
Rillie blinked. It was like something from one of her ballads.
“So, you see,” Arsinoe said, leaning back on the stool and examining her white hands. “Baelan has a history of making poor decisions. In fact, if you would like my honest opinion, I do not think he can make any decision at all without making the wrong one.”
The words, although not particularly cruel, stung Rillie to the bone.
“And while I am sure you have good intentions – or not – it is not my place to decide,” Arsinoe said smoothly. “All I know is that you have a great power, and that power could be used for evil as well as pleasure.”
Rillie shrank back from the bars. “I would never hurt anyone,” she said fiercely.
“Yes, well, it is too late for such worries now,” Arsinoe said. She rose to her feet and wiped her hands on her skirts. “All I will say is this – you know nothing of my son, and I am sure that without your special talent, well, I am sure he never would notice you.”
“What?” Rillie wrinkled her nose. “What do you mean?”
Arsinoe laughed. “Dear child, do not be so naïve,” she said. “You have power about you. Baelan, the poor clueless boy, is drawn to women with such…danger about them. And I am sure it is only your voice that he thinks he loves. Besides, how could you know anything about each other? From what I’ve heard, you have barely spent time in each other’s company!”
Rillie’s heart slowed in her chest and she clutched at the bars once again, gasping for air. It was all for nothing, she realized. He doesn’t love me…I merely attracted him, as I’ve done with all of the other men who have heard me sing!
Arsinoe smiled. She looked pleased, even radiant in the dim light of the dungeon.
“So, you see,” Arsinoe said. “When the captain returns, I urge you to leave with her. Do not spend your life in this dungeon. I am sure you will bring others, outside of Zheka, much joy. After all, you have a beautiful voice.”
And with that, Arsinoe was gone.
Rillie was filled with a hot, vengeful anger. She grabbed the pewter dish on which she’d received breakfast and hurled it at the wall, spattering gruel all over the floor of her cell.
“Curse him!” Rillie yelled under her breath. She couldn’t believe that she’d believed Baelan, his stupid, comforting words of affection! The way he’d held her!
Just then, the guard approached Rillie’s cell. Rillie narrowed her eyes.
“You didn’t have to make such a mess!” The guard clucked her tongue. “Really, now! You have a visitor!”
Rillie didn’t even look up. She expected to hear the condescending words of Arsinoe once more, and she tried to prepare herself for the inevitable.
Instead, a familiar but harsh voice filled her ears.
“Get up, child.”
Rillie looked up to see Captain Maeraria.
Maeraria shook her head. “My, what a mess you are,” she said. Like Arsinoe, she looked almost pleased. “I have come to take you with me. I trust you will not fight.” She leaned in close and Rillie saw a scab on her neck, as well as bruises all over her face.
Rillie stood up and turned to face her with dull eyes.
“I will not fight you,” she said.
The guard opened the iron bars of Rillie’s cell and Maeraria grabbed Rillie’s wrist, dragging her out of the dungeon.
“I see you’ve somehow ruined your dress,” Maeraria said, glaring at her. “That will come out of your next batch of coin!”
As Rillie closed her eyelids, hot tears leaked down onto her cheeks.
“And this is no time for crying!” Captain Maeraria said harshly. “You know how that sound grates my ears!”
Rillie didn’t reply. As she followed Captain Maeraria out of the dungeon and into the sunlight, she wished that she was dead.