[44]

Sibilla raised her hands in the air theatrically, releasing an invisible pulse. A sensation like static electricity pricked my skin, and I heard a strange buzzing noise.

“You would dare attack a guardsman of Ashmere?” Izzy bellowed.

Izzy, Raxx, and I readied ourselves for an assault, but none came.

Sibilla ignored the dwarf, pointing a finger in Elaine’s direction.

“Behold the truth, my brother! See, that which you lost was no prize at all!” Sibilla cackled.

Reynold’s face, still focused on Elaine next to me, changed from a look of concentration to pure disgust.

I followed his gaze to look down at Elaine, unsuccessfully trying to hide her face against my arm. My companions and Izzy surrounded us to the sides, leaving only me and the people on the pavilion able to see Elaine clearly.

A part of me understood what was happening and took control. As though someone else was moving my body, I stepped in front of Elaine, blocking Sibilla and her brood’s view with my back, and gently lifted her chin with a finger.

Once before, I had cast Detect Magic near Elaine. The spell revealed she possessed a hoard of items on her person. At the time, I assumed they were meant for assisting her with already formidable combat capabilities. I was wrong.

The spells of beguilement had broken.

Sibilla had dispelled the magic items on Elaine. Just as suddenly Elaine's tug on my heart vanished. From the very first moment I saw her, I realized she had inadvertently enchanted me. Gone was the perfect heart-shaped face, sky-blue eyes, and flawless, dainty features. In its place was an angular chin, eyes that were the dull grey of lake water, and a nose that bent just a little to the left revealing unequal sized nostrils. Her hair, which once glowed proudly like a preening chicken, was flat and gloomy. Unlike the aristocratic women around us, Elaine was remarkably… average.

Pain and a deep sorrow etched itself upon Elaine’s face. Tears ran down her lightly freckled cheeks. She stared into my eyes with an anxiety I knew all too well. Elaine had already considered herself to be unworthy.

An instinct from Vascora bade me lean gently down and kiss her on her forehead.

A vision came of a young Elaine dancing around the shadows of her family's manor. At eleven, she was already a practiced sneak, taking to the RRS business like a pig to a grill. Happy and carefree, she glided through the hallway to jump out and surprise her visiting friends.

Only to be surprised herself.

“Mother says, only a commoner with poor eyesight would marry her,” a girl said, starting a fit of giggles among the other two.

“As if!” said another, a girl Elaine thought was her best friend, not willing to be outdone in the game of cruelty. “Plain Elaine will never marry, mark me. She’ll be a virgin for life, unless she ruts with animals!”

Their laughter echoed down the hall, freezing the little Lady Highrow in her hiding spot. They killed her innocence that day.

The vision shifted to a now reclusive and older Elaine, screaming at her father with barely contained hatred, refusing to greet guests that arrived from afar. Duke Highrow, one of the richest and most powerful men in the kingdom, leaned against his daughter’s door near to tears. For all the things he could provide her, he could not change simple biology. He could not grant her the thing her heart wanted most. He knew Elaine was not ugly. She just did not stand out amongst the peerage. Who, to a person, were all blessed by Erzaal to be alluring. It was a rebuke directed at him for marrying a commoner, and it was wholly unfair to poor Elaine. Duke Highrow would do anything to take this anguish from his daughter.

A now teenage Elaine stood in front of a mirror draped in magical necklaces, rings, and hairpins. All enchanted with the express purpose of hiding the girl that she loathed to see. It sickened her father like a stomach cancer to see her gaze upon the illusion and smile for the first time in years.

A short time later, Elaine made her debut to society. The peerage was stunned by how wondrous the elusive Duke's daughter had become in her adolescence. Elaine glided around the room, soaking up their adoration. Her pride growing fatter by the lie.

I knew it then. Elaine and I were the same.

We were two opposites of the same coin. Reviled, pre-judged for how we looked. The difference between us was only in how we handled our setbacks. I chose to lie to myself, believing that success in other areas would account for my flaws. That if I just ignored it hard enough, the ugliness would one day go away.

Elaine did the opposite. Instead of lying to herself, she chose to lie to the world. She already trained to deceive, pretend, and manipulate others for the good of the kingdom. What more was another deception?

The vision ended, and with it my kiss. My hands unclasped the shawl around her neck and guided it to the true purpose Vascora had foreseen. Elaine’s eyes were not sparkling like before, but I still thought them beautiful. I understood so many of the torments she tried to hide. In her, I saw a kindred spirit. In me, she saw everything she wanted to be.

Slowly, I raised the shawl to cover her unveiled fabrication, hiding it from all but the few who had already seen what lay beneath. The silky cloth dried her tears as if they never were.

“Let’s go,” I breathed.

Quest Complete

Court Lady Elaine Highrow

+300 Essence

Izzy and Raxx pushed and shouted at the Ankest nobles to get out of the way, not understanding what happened, but somehow knowing that we needed to leave. Sibilla laughed, screaming insults behind us, barely louder than the chattering nobles around us. But I could not hear what they were; I did not want to hear what they were.

“Give us a second,” I told my companions, leading Elaine the rest of the way from the gate to the carriage.

“Elaine—” I began.

“Don’t you dare Harald!” She snarled, anger and pain in her eyes. From beneath the wrapping around her head, it was all I could see. “I don’t want your disgusting peasant pity.”

“You don’t have to hide from me!” I tried to cut her off before it got worse, but her words had caused my enthusiasm to wane.

With her magical manipulation gone, the murkiness of her sincerity became less important. I was free from needing to please her and wanting our courtship to be real.

Deep down, there was a genuine fondness I held for her. Elaine was truly witty and thoughtful. On the ride to Ashmere, she had endeavored to help me without the expectation of payment. There was something real there for us, but now it was her turn to give in.

“You are nothing but an assignment!” Elaine growled. “I have what I need. Now, get lost.” She ripped her hands out of mine, tossing the shawl on the ground behind her.

A coldness descended on my stomach. I wanted to believe she had just said that in her moment of distress, but a part of me, a large part if I am being honest, took her words for truth. Her statement ripped away at the genuine care that was left in the aftermath of her bewitching charms.

“So be it,” I said emotionlessly.

Elaine slammed the carriage door shut behind her, hiding her countenance in the darkness.

“Go!” Elaine’s muffled voice yelled from inside the vehicle.

“You can have this back,” I said, just as the driver started moving the carriage. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled the heavy gold coin that I had indebted myself to Raxx for. Tonight, I wanted to reveal to her our shared past. Events had not progressed like I intended, but the ground was fertile all the same. She needed the bitter truth now more than ever.

I tossed the heavy coin to her through the window.

“You still aren’t better than me!” I yelled, watching Elaine disappear down the road.

This time, I meant it.

A part of me wished she would stop and confront me, groveling for forgiveness over my revelation. But I knew deep down that it was a pointless desire. My increased Presence score assured me I would not suffer long from this loss. I was glad more than ever that I had increased it.

But for the moment, I was fucking livid.

“What, the abyss was that?” Raxx asked, still a little woozy on his feet from drunkenness.

How to answer that question? I silently thought and rejected five different explanations, each more bitter and angry than the last, before Joy spoke.

“If I had to guess? Ergentein is about to have a civil war.” Joy said. Everyone turned to look at the shrewd Wildling.

That snapped me out of my internal musings.

“What?” I said, assuredly baffled.

“The oldest child of Marquis Kestev married the Crown Prince of Ankest. His territory borders the kingdom of Ankest.” Joy explained delicately.

“So?” I said, not following. Raxx and Izzy looked just as confused as I felt.

“Well, that alone is cause for concern. The real kicker was that both Reynold, Sibilla, and Tedric had on dye to make their hair purple. The Kestev’s did a good job of disguising theirs but skimped on old cousin Tedric. I saw through his first, then knowing what to look for, spotted the telltale signs of parakeet root in their hair.”

I swore.

Joy’s assessment was right. Noble hair only changed color to match the fealty given to another royal line. And there was no way our Queen could let such a large prosperous territory go to Ankest without a fight. In the middle of a large incursion from Gozmyr, with bandits attacking roads throughout the country, we would now add a hell’s damned war to our list of ails.

Worse, Ankest was only a week’s distance from my hometown. I needed to get my father away before he got embroiled in the carnage to come. Only, I had no resources after prudently spending them all on my advancement.

What was I going to do?