CHAPTER TWELVE: THE CRACKS
730 Words
On the sixth day, Lina didn't come at all.
Aria had waited. The hearth burned low. The porridge from yesterday had been scraped clean. She told herself Lina was busy. The ceremony was tomorrow anyway and everyone was busy.
She laced her boots and went to work.
The laundry was empty, Mira was not in the kitchen And there was no linen either. The fortress had turned itself inside out for the preparations. Aria scrubbed the same pot three times just to keep her hands moving.
By midday, she went looking for Lina.
The servants' quarters were quiet. Most of the staff had been pulled to the great hall. Aria walked the narrow corridor, past closed doors and cold torches, and stopped.
A voice, not just any voice. It was Lina’s voice, it was low.
"I told you not to come here."
Aria pressed herself against the wall. The door at the end of the corridor was slightly open. Through the crack, she saw Lina's back. Lina's hands moving as she spoke.
Another voice answered. It was deep and unfamiliar. "She wanted an update and you know the ceremony is tomorrow."
"Tell her everything is in place, and suspects nothing."
Aria's chest tightened. Who were they talking about and what exactly is Lina up to?
"You're sure?" the voice asked.
"I've been living in her shadow for years. She trusts me completely."
There was a pause, and then footsteps, heavy footsteps retreating. A side door opened and closed.
Aria didn't move. Her palms were flat against the cold stone. The words turned over in her mind. She wanted an update. Everything is in place.
She told herself it was nothing. A misunderstanding. Lina was probably talking about the ceremony preparations. The seating, the flowers. She suspects nothing, of course the person didn't. What was there to suspect?
She pushed herself off the wall. She walked back the way she came. She didn't knock on Lina's door.
That same afternoon, Lina found her in the laundry room.
"There you are. I've been looking everywhere."
Aria's hands were in the water. She didn't look up. "Were you?"
"The great hall is chaos. Selene has everyone running in circles." Lina sat on the edge of the wooden bench. Her voice was light and calm "I'm sorry about this morning. I got pulled into a fitting. Can you imagine? Me, trying on dresses for the ceremony."
"What were you doing before that?"
Lina's smile flickered. "Before what?"
"This morning, like you know before the fitting."
A beat of silence. Lina tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Just errands. Why?"
Aria lifted a pot from the water and then set it on the drying rack. "No reason."
Lina stood. She crossed the room and placed a hand on Aria's shoulder. Her fingers were cold.
"You're not upset with me, are you?"
Aria looked at the hand on her shoulder. At the fingers that had held hers in the forest, at that same voices that had whispered comfort to her.
"No," she said. "I'm just tired."
"We're all tired. Tomorrow will be better, after the ceremony, everything settles down." Lina squeezed once. "I have to go. I have more errands to run, I'll see you tonight?"
"Of course."
Lina left. Her footsteps faded down the corridor.
Aria stood very still. The water in the tub had gone cold. Her reflection stared back at her from the silver surface, pale hair, pale skin, eyes that looked older than they should.
She plunged her hands back into the water. The cold bit her skin. She scrubbed until her fingers went numb.
That evening, Marta handed her a bundle of roasted chicken, a heel of fresh bread and a small apple that was slightly bruised.
"Big day tomorrow," Marta said.
"So I've heard."
"I was told you’ll stay in the east wing.“
"I know, I have no interest in coming out either."
Marta studied her. "You look like you've seen something."
Aria took the bundle. "I haven't seen anything."
She climbed the stairs. She ate in the dark. The chicken was already cold but the apple was sweet. She saved the core and set it on the windowsill.
She thought about Lina's hand on her shoulder.The conversation she overheard.
But she told herself it was nothing. It is definitely nothing. Lina was all she had here.
- Writer
