Page 49 of Faeling
“And for when my brother makes up his mind,” added Eydis.
“Anddo you really want to wear that robe around forever?”
Ravenna peered down at herself. She honestly hadn’t thought about her attire much. Bryn had provided an extra robe, and it was far more comfortable than her disguise kirtles.
Honestly, she hadn’t thought about her attire much at all throughout her life. She and her mother wore practical trou for working, breezy cotton or linen shifts in the summer, and heavier wool skirts in the winter. While her father always provided the best of everything, including silks to line their garments, brocades and fashionable cuts served little purpose in their cottage. The only real nod they made to beautiful clothes were the embroidery they added, something to do during thelong winter evenings.
“What else am I supposed to languish in captivity in?” she asked, earning her a round of laughs from the orcesses.
“You’ll only have to bear your captivity a little longer, I suspect,” said Eydis as she settled down into one of the plush chairs in the den. “Even a king must obey their beast, and his will make him pay for this separation.”
Ravenna cared less about his being gone than her being confined, but she kept that to herself. At least for now, she had company.
Hilde ushered her to one of the low tables and helped her step up onto it. It made her only a hair taller than the orcess, but it would have to do.
Pulling a measuring ribbon from her robe pocket, Hilde mimed for Ravenna to hold her arms up parallel to the floor. She did, holding onto the grimoire. It was too soon to let it go again.
“May I?” asked Hilde before coming closer with her ribbon.
Ravenna swallowed hard. Orcs were far more tactile than she was used to. She doubted Hilde ever needed to ask any of her other clients. That she did planted a little seed of fondness in Ravenna’s heart.
“Yes. But…please don’t touch my back.”
“All right,” the orcess agreed easily. Hilde seemed to think nothing of it, but Ravenna didn’t have to look to know Eydis’s eyes glinted with interest. There would be nothing getting past her.
“So, Ravenna. Tell me about yourself.” Not really a question from Eydis.
Ravenna’s gaze fell to Hilde, and the orcess’s lips twitched into a grin as she rolled her eyes. “Humor her while I do this, ifyou please.”
Clearing her throat, Ravenna began, “Well, I lived with my mother by the sea…”
And so Ravenna spent her afternoons, Eydis and Hilde making a point to visit every day of Vallek’s absence. Hilde often brought fabrics for Ravenna to see and feel, wanting a better sense of what would suit her.
“Your coloring is beautiful,” she remarked, “I’ve so many ideas!”
Something about her fervor, and the stylish way she dressed herself, had Ravenna sweating.
Still, she liked the orcesses very much, and if sampling fabrics and letting Hilde stick pins into prototypes was how she had to spend her time, there were certainly worse things.
Though subtle, the afternoon never went without Eydis fishing for more information. Ravenna revealed enough of what she thought would satisfy Vallek’s sister. She didn’t think it dangerous to speak of her mother and their cottage, nor the little beach where they fished and looked for sea glass.
These soft interrogations had to be borne, of course, and weren’t unexpected. Still, it was a relief when the subject turned to politics.
When Eydis asked what she knew of the conflict between fae and orcs, Ravenna delighted in discussing one of her favorite subjects—history. Much as she might have resented her father’s plans, she’d loved nothing more than spending an evening listening to him tell her the many stories of his people. He brought her books of history, rhetoric, philosophy, and mathematics. He taught her languages and swordplay.
In everything he did, Maxim ensured that Ravenna knew about the world she’d one day be thrown into. Staying with her mother for decades by the sea meant that she didn’t truly understand the world—she quickly found that out when she snuck into a certain chieftain’s camp—but still, her father had done everything in his power to arm her.
Eydis too had a love of history, and it was a treat to compare the histories they knew from a different perspective. With only an occasional good-humored eye roll, Hilde listened on as afternoons were spent debating important decisions and turning points, their discussions often continuing over dinners.
Eydis seemed pleased with Ravenna’s knowledge, especially over internal orcish politics.
“Well, I have been paying attention,” she delighted in informing her. “Not just sitting around waiting to have visions.”
“Indeed. And what say you about the marriage question?”
Hilde snorted over her chickpea and goat meat pie. “Is that what they’re calling it? Themarriage question?”
“Yes,” Eydis sighed. “Hardly original.”
