Echoes of Silence (13 page)

As the poem progressed, I saw a pair of rough hands seize the paper. Perhaps Bo or Gibson or whoever had assigned me to Helena’s care. Before that, a series of hands traveled across the paper, some simply holding it, some splashing ink and scratching quills through boxes.

At length, I saw the hands that had filled out the application. I expected to see my sister’s slender fingers, her well-kept nails, for no one else could’ve known the details required.

Instead, I saw a man’s hands. Clean, strong, and printing in an elegant scrawl. He knew all my personal details, including my date of birth and tower location. He knew my previous residence, and the full name of Grandmother.

He knew everything.

My heart pounded against the poem, but I didn’t stop. He smoothed the parchment down and then flipped his hand over to hold the corner as his quill caught.

His left palm bore a slanted scar.

My breath leaked out of my body as the fury seeped in. Castillo certainly had been keeping up with my doings—for a lot longer than I’d thought. I’d never noticed him before the incident at the aristocrat’s house, and my stomach boiled at the thought of what he saw in me that would prompt him to submit my application.

I ended the song-magic and looked into the ink-stained sky, wondering what kind of spells I’d need to sing to discover Castillo’s secrets.

The next morning, I finished my dress and modeled it for Lucia.

“Gorgeous,” she said just before hugging me. I held on a beat longer than normal, imagining her as the sister Olive could’ve been had we not been so focused on eking out a living—and keeping my magic concealed. I allowed myself several moments of frenzied worry over my sister. I’d been so busy, I had not had time to truly discover if she was well.

Soon,
I vowed as I left the sewing room with Lucia, only to find Matu waiting in the hall. “Good morning.” He scanned me. “Lovely dress, Echo.”

I spun for him, unable to wipe the smile from my face.

“I came to invite you to the gardens,” he said. “They’re splendid this time of year.”

Lucia nudged me toward Matu as she slipped into the suite. I took his offered arm and made note of the multiple turns he made, but there were too many to keep track of by the time we finally stepped through a door leading outside.

“Matu,” I breathed in the heady scent of flowers and sunshine. “It’s beautiful.”

He led me through the garden on a meandering path, allowing me to exclaim about the mini-roses and fawn over the mountain lilacs.

After a few minutes, I gathered my courage. “Matu, tell me, how’s Cris?”

“He’s well, my lady.” Matu maintained his grip on my arm, steering me toward a bench carved out of the wall of the compound. “He has much business he’s attending to.”

I couldn’t fathom the enormity of issues Cris must have to deal with on a daily basis, yet I still worried over whether he was displeased with how I’d handled the villagers. He hadn’t called on me, nor had I received any invitations to outings or dinners since that day.

The shade brought relief to my sun-warmed skin. “What of Castillo?” I’d not seen him since the morning before, when I’d invaded his mind without his permission.

Matu sighed, the barest of sounds, but here in the silent garden, I caught it easily.

“He’s stubborn,” Matu said. “You should know that up front.”

“I’ve figured out that much,” I said with a smile. I studied the nearby flowering shrubs as I wondered how far I should push this line of questioning. Surely it would get back to Castillo, who would likely be upset.

I dismissed the thoughts. I didn’t care if Castillo became upset. He’d submitted my application; he’d been spying on me for months, perhaps longer.

“He’ll tell you most anything,” Matu said. “I don’t wish to break his confidence.”

“Of course not.” I squeezed his arm. Before I could ask him what he used to do before coming to Umon, Lucia appeared, carefully stepping between the flowers.

“Sorry to interrupt,” she said. “But Echo has received a lunch invitation to dine with the other girls, and Helena’s insisting she return at once to make preparations.”

#

Lunch began in five minutes, and Helena still bustled about me, unsure about which necklace I should wear. I didn’t tell her that I knew what truly lay ahead, and that her son had made sure I would have a part in it. I let the words simmer inside, saving them for Castillo. The three-minute walk down the hall held the promise of another argument with him, and I actually welcomed it.

With the right jewelry finally in place, Lucia opened the door. Mariana stood next to Castillo in the hallway, beaming. “You look beautiful.” She stepped forward and hugged me.

“Hello, Mariana.” I felt a rush of relief—and a measure of disappointment—at her presence.

Her eyes were unassuming and kind. Her cheeks shone with a rosy tint. “I have the best gossip.” Just like that, her arm slipped through mine and she chattered about Athe sneaking into the Prince’s private chambers in the middle of the night.

“Why would she do that?”

“Rumors are everywhere,” Mariana said. “But I heard she was mad with jealousy. She wanted time alone with His Majesty. She kissed him!”

I gasped, but my mind churned on the information. Did the other girls not get time alone with the Prince?

“Gibson came running when His Majesty yelled, and Athe has been sent home!” Mariana’s eyes flickered with delight. “Now there are only eleven of us.”

I gripped her arm tighter against my body. “He sent her home?”

“Apparently he doesn’t want a bride who is so clingy,” Mariana said. Castillo sniffed, but I didn’t turn around. “We’ve all been talking about how we should act more like you.”

“More like me?”

“You act like the last thing you want is to be chosen. And His Majesty fawns over you for it.”

I definitely heard Castillo sniff this time, and I yanked my handkerchief from my pocket. I twisted to face him and dangled the slip of cloth in his face. “Need this?”

Something urgent flamed in his eyes, and I fisted the handkerchief. I stared steadily back, wishing he’d sing the notes he needed to see inside my mind, hear the angry words I’d saved for him.

Mariana watched us, waiting. But I wouldn’t concede. Not to him.

Finally, she tugged on my arm as she pushed open the door to the room where we dined. Feminine chatter met my ears, and the smell of yeast filled the air. I started to turn away from Castillo, determined to keep my thoughts to myself until they could truly be unleashed.

“Princess, may I speak with you?” Castillo sounded kind and respectful. He cast Mariana a glance. “Alone?”

I waved her into the room and folded my arms. “Yes?”

He shoved his hands into his pockets, a gesture I’d never seen from him. “I wish—would you like to join me this evening for an outing?”

Surprise shot through me, along with a heavy dose of fear. We shouldn’t be seen sneaking off alone together. Again, my mind spun around what could be so important that he’d take such a monumental risk.

“An outing?” My voice strayed into the too-high range. An invitation was the last thing I’d expected from him. A warning, maybe, about Mariana. Or a stern word about keeping my magic undetected around the other girls. But not an invitation that would take me away from the problems of this place; certainly not when the sole reason
he
had brought me here was to be courted by another—much more powerful—man.

I studied him and found an unreadable puzzle staring back. “Where shall I meet you?”

“You need not meet me,” he said. “I’ll come collect you, just as I always do. Be . . . cautious at lunch.” He turned and moved down the hallway on graceful legs. I watched him go, wondering when I’d started noticing the gentle curve of his biceps beneath his uniform or the way his voice slipped into a lower pitch when speaking to me.

That spinning feeling started in my stomach, but this time I had a name for it. Attraction. The combination of his magic and good looks was as dangerous as accepting his invitation, especially when I still felt a thread of fury reserved for when we could honestly converse.

#

When I entered the room, several girls watched me with calculating eyes, but Mariana kept them at bay. I noticed the whispers and the glares, but thankfully, the food came only moments after I did.

During lunch, I shoved away the memory of the crackle of warning in Castillo’s eyes for the fifth time. I struggled to pay attention around the other girls, because I didn’t want to give them any more fuel for their gossip circles. I already felt as if the compound had eyes and ears where it shouldn’t, this room included.

When I tuned into the conversation, I wished I hadn’t.

“Those alarms sent my maids into a panic,” a girl named Gazelle said. “And then I couldn’t leave my room until the next morning.”

“None of us could,” Mariana said. “I told you to save some of your breakfast pastries for emergencies.” She playfully waggled her fork toward Gazelle.

I smiled while the other girls laughed, hoping that counted as participation so no one would notice how rigidly I sat, or that I couldn’t seem to swallow my salad.

A strange pulse rippled through the group, causing the edges of my vision to vibrate. I tasted magic on the back of my tongue, thick and sweet—a memory extraction spell. Someone somewhere knew something and was concealing it from a powerful magician. I envisioned the greed and hatred in Gibson’s eyes, and a shiver ran the length of my spine.

I sucked in a breath and examined the other ten girls at the table. No one seemed to notice anything peculiar. My eyes strayed to Mariana, the only other girl who possessed the ability to work magic.

Mariana still giggled with the rest of the group. Her eyes caught mine, and I laughed, but it sounded too forced and much too loud. I focused on Gazelle and Kenya, who had their heads bent toward Laisa. I listened and added my own suspicions about what the alarm could have meant.

Everything felt wrong. When the servants came to collect the dishes and serve the main course, I jumped. Did they see? Did they notice the clenching of my jaw? The darting of my eyes from girl to servant to goblet? The magic grew stronger; I could almost hear the song. When the servants sealed us in the room again, dulling the magic, relief spread through my body.

I spent the rest of the meal ignoring the lingering magic and gossiping about what the Prince might look like in the morning, fresh from bed.

#

After lunch, Matu returned me to my rooms and I collapsed into the recliner next to my bed. If lunchtime would be that exhausting every day, I’d have to find an excuse to dine elsewhere. I felt like I never shook the watchful gazes of the other girls, and that they’d followed me here, to my bedroom, still observing my every breath.

I reminded myself I’d completed the protection spell on my door and managed to put the thought of constantly being watched from my mind long enough to entertain Lucia with impressions of Kenya—the girl who had taken up Athe’s role of tormenting me. I never could get the right amount of disdain in my voice, and I couldn’t make my nose turn up the way hers did.

Too soon, Lucia’s work demanded she leave. She patted my hand as she did, and I stood and grabbed her in a hug. “Thank you, Lucia,” I said. “You’ve made being here bearable.”

“Oh, I’m sure that handsome prince helps a bit too, my lady.” She laughed as she exited my suite.

I wandered to the sliding glass door before turning back to the closet. I’d seen Lucia come out with gowns in shades of lilac and tangerine. I managed to select a gown the color of fresh-churned butter and slip it over my hips. It was then that I realized the buttons were situated on the back, and that they were the size of pinheads.

Lucia found me a moment before I ripped the delicate notions. “Let me help you.” Her fingers brushed mine away.

“No, I can do it. You have other work.”

“It’s what sisters do,” she said, swatting my insistent hands away. My arms fell to my sides, and I burned with emotion because Olive had indeed helped me on many occasions. I felt so much guilt over trying to ready myself for an event that shouldn’t be on my social calendar at all.

“Did I miss an invitation?” Lucia asked, her voice cool and soothing.

“It’s simply . . . ” I squashed the twinge of shame that I shouldn’t be looking forward to an outing with Castillo. I should be looking for volumes that would detail the song-magic I needed to become a valiant queen, or singing spells that would detail Cris’s motives and plans.

“No matter who it is
,
I’m sure he’s a worthy reason to want to look your best.”

Greta arrived and painted golds and browns over my eyelids and made my skin glow like the moon, never pushing to know more about my appointment—
appointment
—with Castillo. Another twinge of guilt turned into a stab, but Castillo had information I needed, and he
had
invited me.

Lucia twisted my hair on top of my head, pinning it in place and adorning it with decorative sticks. She said it looked like it could hold stars, deep and radiantly dark.

Helena remained strangely absent. When I inquired after her, I received a vague “Don’t worry, Echo. I’ll help you get dressed.” Lucia disappeared into the closet and returned with a pair of shoes in gold and one that appeared to have been dipped in bronze.

“It’s not about needing her help.” I pointed to the gold flats. “I wish to ask her something. Where can I find her?” I had a few minutes before afternoon melted into evening.

Lucia helped me into the shoes, her nimble fingers just as steady as Helena’s. “She has gone to her daughter’s house for a few days. Don’t worry about her. She will be back soon enough, and then you won’t be able to get rid of her.”

“She’s gone?” Unrest clawed at my insides. Had she left willingly?

“She’ll return soon enough.” She smiled, and the way it shaped her face reminded me of Grandmother. My lips straightened as a wave of loneliness washed over me. It was ridiculous; Lucia standing before me was every bit the friend I needed. I’d bonded with another. I shouldn’t feel so isolated.