Page 15 of Echoes of the Raven
I straighten and say, “Good. They need to face justice.”
She nods firmly.
I’m quiet for a moment, then a question bursts out of me of its own accord. “Why did they lie to us?”
“To protect us, Val.” She knows I mean our parents. “Father thought he had more time. He was going to tell you. Eventually.”
“If he had trusted me, he would still be alive. I should’ve known it was the amulet that helped me vanish Orys after he killed Mother. I foolishly thought that it… that it was me. That I had espiritu. I didn’t even remember I was wearing the stupid thing that day. If only I’d been able to save Mother, and I had turned that damn sorcerer to ashes.” I’m breathing erratically now, feeling as if my heart will give out.
“Shh.” Amira grabs my hand and squeezes it. “We don’t need to figure it all out tonight. I have questions for you, too, but we have time. Youneed to rest and heal. We’ll set everything right. We’ll… have a proper funeral for Father. We will honor him the way he deserved.”
“Yes, that would be… nice.”
Turning to face me, she runs a hand over my hair. “How about you take a hot bath and wash your hair? I’ll help you, and then comb your hair and get all those tangles out.”
I nod, and she takes my hand, leads me to the bath chamber, and fills the tub. My injured feet are tender with every step. The water is blissfully hot as I step in. Goosebumps cover my arms and legs as the heat ripples over my skin.
Amira uses a small container in the shape of a seashell and pours water over my head, then begins to soap my hair. It takes several rinses to get all the dirt out, but when she’s done, my hair smells of lemons and my scalp tingles. She uses a small brush and runs it over my fingernails, getting rid of the grime encrusted there.
I feel like a child, and I don’t mind. My sister is with me. I’m not alone.
There is a knock at the door, and I startle, nearly jumping out of the tub.
“Don’t worry,” Amira soothes. “There are guards outside. No one can get to you again. It’s probably the maid with the food. Wait a moment, I’ll be right back.”
A niggling sensation starts in the back of my mind, but I can’t put a finger on what is causing it.
She leaves, and I try to stay put, but I can’t. Instead, I climb out of the tub, legs shaking, and grab a towel. I wrap it around me, go to the door, and peek outside.
“Put it right there.” Amira points to a table by the fireplace. “Light a fire, and make sure no one disturbs Princess Valeria.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The maid gets to work by the fireplace.
I pull away from the door, relieved. For weeks, I lived in Nido fearing our enemy was ensconced within the walls of our home and would attackat any moment. In the end, I was right. Orys supplanted Emerito, my sister’s closest adviser, and when the sorcerer got tired of playing his game, he struck, nearly killing Amira in the process.
My sister returns. “Oh, you got out. I thought you might like to soak a little longer.” She smiles, meeting my gaze through a large, gilded mirror in the corner. “Sit, I will comb your hair.”
I watch her, surprised by her fortitude. She has been through so much, and yet she shows nothing but poise, acting like the queen Father raised her to be.
While she retrieves a comb, I sit on the velvet-upholstered stool in front of the mirror. The wound under my eyes is not as bad as I thought. She starts at the tips of my hair, gently undoing the tangles to make sure she doesn’t pull on my scalp.
“Are you all right?” I ask, meeting her gaze in the mirror.
“Let’s not worry about me.”
“But of course I’m worried about you. What Orys did…”
She pauses, contemplating the floor for a long moment. Making a decision, she begins to talk. “I don’t remember any of it, and I guess that’s a blessing. I think he came in posing as a petitioner.”
Yes, that makes sense.
She and Father used to split the responsibility to speak to denizens with requests, ranging from charitable requests to help resolving a conflict with a neighbor to asking for a blessing for a newborn. Orys could have infiltrated Nido under such guises without much trouble. After all, he had the ability to assume different appearances.
“The last thing I recall,” Amira continues, “is our conversation about the guard detail Father wanted me to arrange for you. And the next moment… I was waking up in the ballroom amidst utter chaos.”
“Oh, Amira, I can’t imagine how difficult all of this must be for you.”
She nods and smiles sadly, the comb running down a strand of hair she has fully untangled. “I can say the same for you.”
