Page 21 of Faeling
“Give that back,” she said, knowing that it was a mistake but unable to help it.
Ulrich arched one imperious brow. “This is a strange book,” he said. “I’ll need to confiscate it for further inspection.”
“No! It’s nothing, just recipes!”
“Then no need to fret. If it’s truly so benign, it will be returned to you soon.”
The look he cast her was vicious, even though he grinned. His triumph over her was ugly, and Ravenna clenched every muscle in her body to keep from setting upon him like a beast. He was her enemy now—she’d carve it into her very flesh and bones. One day, she would see his downfall.
Her magic snapped against her fingers, desperate to be unleashed, but she buried her nails in the cloth of the cloak.
Not yet. Not yet.
A time would come.
“I won’t ever forget this, lord commander,” she said, satisfied when more than one warrior shivered at her words.
Ulrich only frowned. “You’re in no place to be making threats, woman.”
“It’s not a threat. It’s a promise.”
“Hmph.” Looking over her head, he nodded at his warriors.“Fall out.”
The warriors left in a neat line, a sharp contrast to how they’d entered and the state they left her room in. Ulrich made up the rear, stopping only to grasp the broken door.
“Expect to hear from me soon,” he said before pulling the door shut.
It didn’t close, the latch broken off, leaving a crack of space and a hole on the side where the lock had been.
Ravenna stood shaking, alone in her ruined room. Voices muttered out in the hallway, no doubt the entire staff awoken by the noisy raid, but no one dared to knock on her door.
That was all right. She didn’t need anyone’s pity.
Alone amongst her ruined things, tears streamed down her face, angry tears that burned hotter than the summer heat. Knees buckling, she knelt on the floor and buried her face in her cloak.
She would make him pay for this. The lord commander would be getting far worse than spiders in his room, so help her.
6
Over the next three days, Ravenna’s already tiny room, as well as the very walls of her already compact world, began to shrink. Although she never saw the lord commander, she felt his presence everywhere she went.
Whenever she left the violated, false safety of her chamber, it was under obvious surveillance. A guard didn’t necessarily dog her steps, but one followed several paces behind wherever she went. To eat, to walk. When she tried to slip out to her favorite bazaar, one of the guards actually intercepted her. “Best to stay within the citadel for now,kone.”
A polite way to say she was under house arrest.
Ravenna bristled at the constraints, skin crawling with all the eyes on her. It wasn’t just the guards. The staff looked at her askance now, when otherwise they might not have even noticed her walk past. Round every corner, in every room, all eyes darted to her, full of suspicion.
No doubt just what the lord commander wanted.
He intended to make her slip up.
Well, Ravenna hadn’t come this far to lose to a worm like Ulrich. She made herself as unnoteworthy as possible, quiet and meek. She kept mostly to her room, despite Oberon’s pleas for her to leave and come join the herd.
Ravenna even started sleeping in her disguise. She couldn’t be sure she kept it in her sleep, but until she drifted off, she kept the glamour in place. It was exhausting, but she didn’t dare let it slip. She couldn’t even chance going down to the baths, and so in her small, overwarm room, Ravenna slowly cooked herself in her temper.
She blamed her exhaustion and smelliness for barking at whoever dared knock on her door one afternoon.
“What is it?”
