Chapter 35:
His Suspicion
A ray of morning sunlight ends my slumber. It’s dawn. I rub my eyes. The white marble room shines uncomfortably bright.
I stretch and wash in the basin. The wardrobe houses two white obans – my new servant uniform. It’s the same design as I wore before, with an open V-neck, short sleeves and a strip across the shoulders, but it’s made from white cloth instead of black. The outfit lacks gloves, so I incorporate my own woolen pair. They’re not thick enough to block my connection, but I’m hoping they may reduce its potency a bit. Once the julite is in my possession, my hands won’t need to be covered ever again.
I grab the pendant from the bedside table and hang it under my uniform. My reflection in the pocket mirror changes – my hair turns blonde, my eyebrows lighten, and my eyes go lake blue.
I push the heavy wooden chest away from the door, scraping it across the stone floor. It was the only way to guarantee no one would enter without the pendant around my neck.
I leave my bedroom and find Trevus’s office. The carved wooden panther on his door watches me. I knock twice.
“Enter,” Trevus calls.
I step inside. In contrast to the white marble that’s so prevalent throughout the palace, this room has wooden walls instead, all adorned with intricate carvings of knights, horses and flora. Numerous plants and clay pots decorate the interior. Trevus is seated on the opposite side of the room, his back to me. His desk faces a wide-open window.
I approach. The view outside is spectacular. We’re at the palace rear, four stories above the ground. Luscious gardens lie below us, followed by the tall palace wall. Our view extends over the wall into the city, which nearly continues to the horizon.
Trevus turns in his seat. “Do you recall how to stand awaiting to attend?”
That was part of their pretentious etiquette book. I fold my left hand over my right. “Yes.”
His eyes fall to my gloved hands, then he rises to his feet. “Persons in Versillia’s service wear obans as symbols of unity, order and authority. As such, you are not to stray in appearance.”
I take off the woolen gloves and fold them into my pocket. They’re too thin to make much of a difference anyway.
Trevus fixates on my hands. I’ve removed the gloves. Isn’t that the end of it?
He reaches for them. I leap backwards, retreating across the room until my back hits the door, my hands hidden behind my body. “Surely my role does not involve physical contact?”
“Forgive my action. ‘Tis the matter of your singed palm.” He opens a clay pot. “Aloler extract aids healing.”
It’s the burn from the pendant. There’s no good excuse to reject his aid.
I return to him and form a cup with my hands, ready to jerk away if his fingers get too close to mine.
He pours a yellow oil onto my palm. Its scent resurfaces a memory – the night I first tried to escape his party. The forest left my arms scratched and bleeding. He crushed leaves into a paste and wrapped it against the cuts. They healed quickly, and I was grateful.
He passes a bandage. I make sure to take it without getting too close to his hand. One touch would put him to sleep. I’d be forced to flee Lystra before he awoke, and he’d know that I’d been deceiving him.
Wrapping the bandage around my hand traps the oil against my skin. It’s a challenge to tie, but I eventually manage. “Thank you,” I say.
Trevus returns to his desk. He folds a letter, pours green wax from a candle, then stamps it with the family crest on his ring. After waiting a moment for it to cool, he passes the letter to me. “Deliver it to Lord Kerollanus.”
I take it with a nod and head out the door. After speaking to a few soldiers, I locate the correct room. Lord Kerollanus is absent, so I slip the note under his door.
Trevus issues various letters to deliver throughout the morning. On my third trip out, I stop at the entrance of the throne hall. The large doors are closed, but there are no guards. While Trevus may believe my only purpose is to assist him, I’ve been taking longer and longer detours each trip, mapping out the palace in my head.
I press my ear up against the doors. It’s silent. There’s no one inside. I twist the handle, and the door opens. The throne hall is empty, and my target is in view – the little door through which the king exited. This was the first place where my pendant grew hot yesterday. What if the julite is behind that door?
I make my way across the room.
“You there!” A gruff voice shouts. I pause with one foot on the dais, slowly turning around.
Two guards are standing at the entrance. Salts. I begin walking back to them, my stomach twisting in knots.
“Crossing the bounds of the throne hall outside assembly is forbidden,” one says.
I stop before them. They’re blocking my way out. “‘Tis forbidden?” I feign ignorance.
“Why are you out of place, servant girl?”
“I am searching for Lord Heranius.” I hold up the letter from Trevus. “This is addressed to him.”
“Lord Heranius is upon the second level. Why did you enter the throne hall?” he asks again.
“I scoured the entire first and second level and could not locate his quarters, so I began searching here. I would be immensely grateful if you could guide my feet to him,” I say. My hands are folded, and my shoulders are down, appearing as small and non-threatening as I can manage.
The soldiers glance at each other.
“‘Tis my first day here,” I say, “and I have spent so much time lost that I fear I may lose my post. Please may you help?”
The soldiers step back, opening the door wide so I can leave. They’ve abandoned their interrogation, and one even has a look of concern on his face.
“I shall guide you,” the first soldier says.
I light up with a smile. “Thank you.”
The soldier leads me up to Heranius’s office, no longer concerned about my initial trespass. He introduces himself as Ackalanius, and I share my fake name too. When I was locked in the tower at Antiock, being smaller and weaker than the guards was a terrible experience, but now my harmless appearance works to my advantage.
I thank Ackalanius once we arrive. The letter is delivered, and I return to Trevus’s office.
After fetching lunch from the kitchen for both of us, there are no further errands for the day. I’ve mapped out most of the palace in my head – at least in the areas I’m allowed. The fifth floor and the passage leading from the throne hall are still a mystery.
I take a seat by the smaller window in Trevus’s office. He shifts through documents, occasionally pausing to write his own.
I touch the pendant under my shirt – still cool. I was sure to retrace my steps through every room and passageway from my first day, but the pendant never reacted. Wandering around the palace in hopes of stumbling across the julite is getting nowhere, and playing dumb with the guards won’t work a second time. I need information.
“This Seventh Sorceress, does she truly hold the great power of which the king spoke?” I ask. My words are chosen carefully. The existence of julite is probably a guarded secret a normal servant girl wouldn’t know.
Trevus pauses his writing. “‘Tis a challenge to comprehend without bearing witness to its grandeur. I myself was left in awe.”
“If she traveled to Lystra, is it true that if she wished, no man could halt her advance into the palace?”
“‘Tis true that guardsmen are but a minor barrier. The Seventh defeated entire units without lifting a blade.”
“Then the king lives in perpetual fear?”
“The king harbors wisdom. You need not fear for his life, for he is well protected.”
“If soldiers cannot thwart her sorcery, how shall the king hope to?”
Trevus’s eyes narrow. “‘Tis as I stated – the king is well protected. Of what concern is it to you?”
Salts. He’s not leaking information, and now the questions are pointed in my direction.
“I serve the king, and a threat to his life is a threat to every Versillian,” I say.
Trevus stands and approaches. I nudge back in my seat. His eyes are trained on me. “Yesterday, you were certain of the Seventh’s noble venture to rescue the king, to an end where you accused my word of misrepresenting her.” Salts. He’s picking me apart. “Yet today you speak of her in different character.” I’m cornered. “Your words are inconsistent, as if they conceal a greater purpose, Raylia of Corinth.”
The air is too thick to breathe. He knows I’m not afraid to call out his errors, so backing down now would only confirm my guilt in his eyes. There’s only one safe escape from this conversation.
I stand up and step around him. “The palace soldiers told tales of the fear she instilled at the battle,” I say. “Being open-minded does not make my word deceitful.” I stop with my hand on the door. “Do you require anything else today, prince? Or may I retire to my dwelling?”
His eyes look me up and down. It’s like he’s peering within, seeing past the illusion and uncovering who I really am.
My heart is racing. I don’t break eye contact. Confidence is my ally.
“You may retire,” he says.
I slip out the room and close the door. The walk to my chambers feels longer than ever before. I shut my bedroom door and heave the heavy chest back into place, forming a protective barrier.
My breath finally returns. Trevus notices every little thing. I can’t be so rash.
Author’s Note:
Jade’s asking dangerous questions and wandering where she shouldn’t, but can she afford to wait around as Trevus’s suspicion grows each day?
I wonder if the King wears it on his crown or something…
Yes, she already doomed. Good thing though Trevus will protect her.
I think you’re a bit late Jade
Indeed
Yes
Jade come on you’re not even trying!
Indeed
Espicially if Trev thought the stone being near her would stop her magic, Unknowing it needed to touch her.
feel like the stobe was on Trev until his mothers furnal, then it was placed in the Grave. That would explain when the Stoned burned so hot. Yet it is cool now
shes not even trying
A bit late
Yes girly
There is the teeniest opportunity to say, ‘I thought about the events and felt differently after I did so’
There’s being curious, then there’s challenging the king’s strength and protection lol
My bad omg
They’ve been saying Tis throughout the entire book
You know… How do you think you’ll go recognising it anyway, before you’re caught?
You’re all ‘he’s observant’, and now you think you’re being sneaky under his observations?
Some people are very uncomfortable being touched by another, especially by strangers
she’s all don’t be suspicious until it comes to actually following how to act XD
@fishfromlorax lmao sorry the situation is just tense cause there is a lot at stake
gaslight gatekeep girlboss ‼️
why you always so angry in every comment section 😭😭
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Oh damn he knows something is up…
Oh so tis is something a Versillian would say hmm
Really ’tis’ speak properly
What are you doing…
Girl if you think he doesn’t know who you are you greatly underestimate him…
Oh damn, he has to know now right?
You might as well be putting a massive sign on your head saying “Hi, I’m Jade” lmao
lol no. she’s doomed