Page 20 of Firebird

Her eyes seemed a little redder than usual, but she was never the sort to make a show of her emotions. She nodded.

“So, you agree that we are getting the better end of the deal here, mother? We get their farming expertise, a marriage to protect my name, and what else? Some young women are married off for their beauty and what they could give. Virginity. Heirs.”

I would have been the perfect package: a virgin with a harlot's mind. Except, well, for the burning part.

“In time, we will find an answer to your problems, Luella. I am still seeking answers.”

“Erishkigal is dead, but the curse lives on. What else could be done?”

“Do you want to keep these gems in your person?” my mother suddenly changed the subject. “Or do you want me to keep them for you? We can have them kept at the tower vault.”

“I will keep them, mother,” I managed.

She nodded. It was not as if the castle was teeming with thieves, and the last person anyone would steal from was me.

“But I need to talk to someone. May you please ask Farmer David to come and see me in the gardens? I want him to accompany me to the fields. I will bring Francilia.”

“Are you now showing some interest in farming, Luella?”

“Maybe I am. Perhaps it will help me get along with Metheus.”

“He seems like a nice young man.”

“Oh, undoubtedly he may be if he were not about to be forced into marriage.”

“Luella, you may not believe this, but he was not forced into it. His father said that Metheus had not shown any interest in marriage before this.”

I thought about Cora. Of course, he would probably not tell his father about the servant who might have gotten too close. Perhaps it was why he wanted to marry me. Then, he and Cora could be free to do whatever they wanted – especially here in Queenspell.

“Are you alright?” my mother asked, possibly concerned about the look on my face then.

“Yes, mother. I am.”

#

“Your Highness, I am confounded!” Farmer David exclaimed.

“Why is it, Farmer David?” I asked the peasant, a man of about sixty years old. He might have been a few years younger, but his skin had browned like leather from frequently working under the sun’s heat.

“The soil here in these fields – they have more moisture than the ones in your brother’s lands. With them to the north of us, ours should be a lot drier than theirs. I could swear they were as dry as the rest of Queenspell when I was last here.”

“When was that?”

“Three days ago, Your Highness. And now, those young men are sowing seeds. I cannot believe it!”

I watched Razuku and Eli tilling the soil. Cora did not seem as interested in what was going on in the fields. Of course. Prince Metheus was not there. My groom-to-be had a faithful little lover waiting for him here, and it gnawed at me. It was not the kind of arrangement I had dreamed it would be like. If there was no disappointment on Metheus’ side, it might just be because of the young woman he brought here.

But why did he leave her here? Was she the only one he could trust to oversee whatever little work the two men could accomplish in the two weeks together?

“Does it mean the drought is about to leave Mogochislenia?”

“I am afraid not, Your Highness. We still need the prince and his men. Whatever they did yesterday had some beneficial effects in a short period.”

Farmer David looked so hopeful that I thought I was expected to feel the same. After all, was not this the reason I was to be married to a stranger? Was I happy that my marriage would be seen as a boon to the domain? The hate directed towards me might no longer be simmering right after I burned that man’s hand, but it was still there in some hearts.

“Prince Metheus will be back in about two weeks. Maybe less,” I assured the farmer. “He will bring more men, tools, and seeds.”

“Do they also have witches in Arrowspear?”

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