I had to do something, though. I was wide wake from my fitful nap, and I wanted nothing more than to pace, but my room wasn’t quite spacious enough for it. So instead, I wrote to my family.
Dear Mama and Papa,
It seems my stay at the palace will be longer than I intended. Apparently, our beloved prince enchanted my slippers with a bargain that I accidentally agreed to when I put them on. I must stay at the palace while we try to work out an exception to the bargain, but I hope to see you shortly.
Love,
Ellie
I scribbled on the paper, the foolishness of what I was writing becoming more pronounced with each word. I’d send it anyway, because I couldn’t bear for my parents to have no idea what had happened to me or why I hadn’t returned home. But the notion that there was an exception to a fae bargain wouldn’t fool them. If anyone was going to find a loophole, it was always going to be the fae, not the human.
Though, I had to admit, at least the fae I’d made a bargain with had an incentive to find a loophole.
It was then that I remembered that a perfectly reasonable exception would be to kill me.
I groaned and folded the letter before stuffing it into an envelope and addressing it.
Not long after, I heard a knock at my door.
I responded out of reflex. “Come in.” Though I quickly remembered that this was a silly thing to tell someone when I was locked inside a room to which they most likely had the key.
The door creaked open, and in peeked a slight girl dressed in servants’ attire. Her hair straddled the line between blonde and brunette. She’d pulled it into a lifeless bun at the nape of her neck, the shape of which did nothing to frame her thin jawline. Her pale-white cheeks were sallow, and she looked as if she hadn’t seen the sun since childhood. My gut reaction was to check her forehead for a fever, but guilt immediately usurped that instinct when I realized sickly was simply how the girl looked.
“Lady Payne? May I come in?”
“It’s Miss Payne. Or just Ellie, really. And yes.” I wasn’t sure why I was worrying about what I wanted to be called when the prince was probably going to have me killed soon. If his molasses mind ever made it around to that solution, that was.
“Not to argue with you, ma’am, but I do believe you’ve been promoted to a lady now that you’re betrothed to the prince. I’m to be your lady’s maid.” The girl walked in and curtsied. “Along with a servant named Blaise, although she’s nowhere to be found.”
Was it my imagination, or did I sense a twinge of bitterness in the girl’s voice, along with an “as usual,” muttered under her breath?
Oh, well. I supposed it would frustrate me to no end if I was supposed to be sharing duties with a partner who never pulled their weight. Though I’d most likely be happier doing it all myself. “What’s your name?”
“Imogen, my lady.”
“Imogen, would you mind delivering this to my parents?” I asked, handing her the envelope. She took it and slipped it into one of the many pockets in her drab dress.
“I’d be happy to. Is there anything else I might get you?”
“No, thank you,” I said, though, in reality, I was really quite thirsty. I simply felt bad asking it of her, but then I remembered I couldn’t exactly leave the room myself.
“Maybe some water?” I asked.
“Of course.” She scuttled out of the room, locked the door behind her, and was back within a few minutes with a glass. I pondered whether I could overpower her the next time she unlocked my room, but I had no idea how I was going to make it out of the palace once I made it into the hallway.
Instead, I gulped down my water as Imogen shifted on her feet, rocking back and forth slightly. “Pardon, milady. But the other servants are saying that even though you’re the prince’s betrothed, you weren’t the one to dance with him last night at the ball.”
She bit her lip and picked at the hem of her sleeves. I supposed this was probably a very improper question to ask of a lady, and I wasn’t sure how to take it. On one hand, Imogen could be taking advantage of the fact that I wasn’t a lady and didn’t understand the proper etiquette between a servant and a lady. On the other hand, it wasn’t a question I would have found rude yesterday.
“No, I wasn’t. This is all some misunderstanding.”
“But the shoe did fit your foot?”
“Only because I made it. I used a mold from my own foot to shape the glass.”
“Oh.” Imogen went quiet and bit her lip, then asked, “Did you know the shoe was enchanted?”
“No.” I straightened in my chair, feeling a bit antsy now. She seemed sweet enough, but I wasn’t typically fond of nosy people.
She frowned, something like concern furrowing in her brow. “Then this must be quite a shock to you. Being betrothed to someone you don’t know.”
The comment took me aback. “You mean, you don’t assume that I’m groveling after the prince and just thrilled with my luck?”
Imogen smiled weakly and blushed. “I might have assumed so at first. Fae females and women are always pining after the prince. They forget I’m around sometimes to hear them gossip,” she explained, but then she motioned to my eyes, which were probably still red with tears. “But I can see that you’re different. I’m sorry you’ve found yourself in a situation you have little control over.”
My heart warmed a bit. At least someone here didn’t think I should be jumping up and down in glee at being the forced betrothed of Prince Evander.
“Do you think there is any way out of it?” she asked.
My curiosity piqued. “Is there a way out of a fae bargain?”
She rubbed her thumb and forefinger together. “Sometimes. Rarely, but sometimes. Occasionally, when a bargain is written, another fae cosigns it, and if they’re really careful about how they word it, that fae can end the bargain on behalf of the other fae…and humans…who actually made the bargain. But that doesn’t happen very often,” she said, her voice shaking, as if she were afraid of getting my hopes up.
Her words struck a chord in my mind, and the cusp of an idea took shape. But I couldn’t let it fully form. Not at the chance that it would crush my spirits when the idea didn’t end up working.
“Thank you, Imogen,” I said. She blushed again, then curtsied before leaving the room.
When the key clicked in the lock, I couldn’t help but wonder if my Fate had been sealed with it.
