"What is the meaning of this?" hollered Andris.

Eulalia pressed closer to the door, listening. She had a feeling she was about to find out why Liliana had taken her for a prisoner.

Between clammy fingers, she seized the silver key in the lock, casting a weary glance behind her. The soft flesh between her eyebrows dimpled.

Where am I?

She had expected the dark and moldy recesses of a forgotten space, not one where wintry light glittered on elegant gold wall molding and the fireplace warmed the rose embroidered bed sheets to toast cold toes.

What game was Liliana playing bringing her here?

Fit for a queen, the canopy bed filled most of Eulalia's vision, with its gauzy curtains. She squinted at the scene outside the tall arched windows. All white, smudged by a gray sky, with hints of green where the snowfall hadn't touched—an oil painting of an almost perfect winter storm, filling up the windowpanes and her heart in tumult.

The key left its imprint on her fingers—she held on so tight.

Up until this point, she had understood she was their prisoner, but why then was everything so blissful here? She should have been overcome with anguish, not cooped up in a room with velvet curtains and gilded vanities.

"What's happening here?" Eulalia rested her head on the door, aching down to her heels.

If this was their idea of cruelty, she'd misjudged them for people who were simply evil, unless all this lavishness was part of a plan she'd yet to figure out.

"My dear brother. You called?" asked Liliana in a sing-song tone.

Eulalia lifted her head.

"I got word that you've brought someone home," he said. "Who?"

The timber of his voice made Eulalia's breath stand still in her chest. Voices like his could command mountains to move.

"A treat," said Liliana.

Eulalia shuddered, breathing again against the door, and shut her tear-crusted eyes.

Why have they done this to me?

She dug her grimy nails into the door, cracking them. Fear, with all its power, disheartened her from listening to their exchange, encouraging her to steal away to the other side of the room before she heard too much. She ignored it, sinking down the door to the carpeted floor. He was right on the other side, separated by several inches from her.

"Andris, don't look so unnerved. She's a present for you," said Liliana.

"A present?"

The doorknob turned.

Come in to see what your sister's brought you, you fool.

Eulalia leaned her weight against the door, tucking her legs closer to her body, but the door didn't budge.

"I figured you could use a break from all this," Liliana said.

"And so, you thought kidnapping a girl was the way to help me?"

"She's new. Unspoiled and ignorant, unlike the other women here who'll do whatever you say. Come on, stop pouting. She's just some halfling."

"I don't think you understand, dear sister."

"No, so enlighten me then, dear brother."

"Lili, I don't have time for any of this. Half of my people would rather have an urchin on the throne instead of me. And the other half is waiting for me to make a fool of myself. Whoever she is take her back."

"It's too late for that."

"What did you do?"

Liliana laughed. "Nothing I shouldn't have done. You remember our old human friend Clara. Well, I just paid her a visit."

"Paid her... I'm worried you don't understand what's going on here. A war is on the brink, Lili. I don't have time for this." The doorknob shuddered as he let go. His footfalls echoed off the floor, receding down the hall. "You're responsible for whoever's in that room."

"You're responsible," Liliana grumbled, following her brother until the echoes of her footsteps faded into quiet too.

If Andris didn't want her, what did they intend to do with her?

Left with the quiet outside the windows, Eulalia lay down, resting her head on the wool carpet. Down here, the sun didn't bother her as much. It couldn't find her to wrap its rays around her shoulders and convince her it would be all right.

She was fine believing it wouldn't be.

Lips barely moving, she recited their names. "Rowan, Fallon, Lena, Gabriel, Cosmin, Perrie, Harlow, Madam, Tut, Orla. They're dead," she said.

She saw the fire. She heard Rowan's cries for help. The pain held her tender heart hostage. Good that it did. Letting it sink deep into her bones was the only way she'd survive here. She would wear her hurt with honor.

How lovely it would be for them to come into this room searching for her and find only her skeleton wrapped in tattered clothes as some macabre gift. She lay there all day. The sun gave up trying to find her at dusk, drawing back its wispy fingers until tomorrow, and nightfall quieted everything. By eleven PM, the footfalls outside the door lessened.

The screaming didn't start until midnight, rousing wide-awake the tired eyes of the housemaids doing the last of the cleaning and Andris in his study. Curled into a fetal position, Eulalia conjured all the pain she felt from deep within her belly. It left her mouth in a bottomless, mournful groan as if a troll had pierced its toe on a prickly bush wandering the grounds. The noise disturbed the quiet that fell over the manor come nightfall, but Eulalia couldn't care less about the faeries who'd gathered outside her door, whispering about how Liliana Bruma had brought someone home from the human world.

"A halfling meant to please the prince," one said.

"Sounds more like a gutted hog to me," said another.

"It would be an improvement to the last one."

The housemaids snorted.

"The prince really knows how to choose them."

Eulalia pretended she hadn't heard them, letting loose another unnerving groan. If they wanted to keep her, they'd come to know how much trouble she intended to cause. She didn't intend to ever leave this room. Drawing from all her anger, she yowled, trembling fiercely as she mourned the children and Rowan. Even to have lost Madam, Tut, and Orla hurt more than she could stand, inspiring another guttural moan.

She heard his hurried footsteps in the hall.

"Will someone shut her up before she wakes half the house," the prince said, "or are you too busy conspiring the best way to lose your jobs?"

"We're sorry, Your Grace. We'll get right back to work."

"No. No, hold on." Prince Andris sighed. "I'm sorry, Everlid. Just finish what you were doing and call it a day. There's no reason for both of us to stay up all night."

"No worries, Your Grace. We'll do as you ask."

Prince Andris sighed again as the housemaids scuttled away. "Why do I always have to clean up Lili's messes?" The door opened, slowly as sunlight on the Ever Woods, allowing light from the hall to spill into the room, hurting Eulalia's tear-swollen eyes. She buried her face in the crook of her arm waiting for him to speak but he didn't. So, she spoke for the both of them, through the dryness in her throat.

"No matter what you do to me I will never be yours."

He said nothing.

She could guess that he was quite tall from the way his presence engulfed her thoughts. He stood there a moment, studying her, then shut the door quietly behind him. She eased into a daydream stirred by memory, seeing clear as sunrise everything she ached for.

Rowan, come back to me.

She woke with a start on what was meant to be her eighteenth birthday, believing the floor was her bed at home and all the noises outside her door were the children running to be first at the table for breakfast. She never imagined she'd miss Orla's lumpy oatmeal or the fights she had to break up every morning, but she did.

Her arms were worn elastic bands from lying on them all night. Caked with day old grime, her tongue felt thick in her mouth, and she couldn't bring herself to relieve the itch on her ankle. The mud on her skin had dried to crust. It could have been morning or noonday. Time wasn't a viable concept when one was grieving. Neither was hunger or cleanliness. Eulalia pressed her cheek against the floor as the door opened.

"Maybe if she's dead we won't have to bother," someone said. They nudged her with their shoe. "Looks plenty alive to me. Let's get some air into this room."

The most Eulalia saw of them were their small feet. Polished black shoes marched to the windows, aggravating her annoyance for the fact they were in the room. She tucked her head beneath her arm as a refuge from the light and noise.

"Now, which one of us is going to deal with her?" asked a faerie who didn't sound particularly pleased.

"Don't look at me. I'm only here as a favor to you and it doesn't look like she wants to go anywhere."

"I don't care what she wants as long as she doesn't give us any trouble. Prince Andris gave us clear instructions. Besides, if she dies in this room just imagine the stench."

"I don't want to imagine that."

"And you'd have to take care of the body, Cosima."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"Don't get a swelled head, Everlid. We all know why you're the prince's favorite."

"And does the prince know where you disappear to every night?"

"What he doesn't know won't kill him."

Everlid giggled. "That's precisely why I asked you to help me."

Eulalia stiffened as they came closer, drawing in her stomach to her ribcage. The faeries leaned over her, assessing her, brushing strands of her hair off her cheeks with soft, warm fingers. Both sweat and fragrance clung to their skin, neither overpowering the other so early in the day. Eulalia lay still and wished she was dead or in her own room at home.

They prodded her back; surely wishing for her death too so their lives could be made easier. "We've been given instructions from Prince Andris to tend to you," Cosima said, picking at Eulalia's hair. "You smell. We have to get you in the bath."

Eulalia's appearance had turned wispy-thin in such a short time and her innards had softened weighed down by despair. "I'm not going anywhere," she said. "Leave me alone."

Her heartiness surprised her.

"It isn't that long of a walk to the bathroom."

"I said leave me alone."

"We aren't going to hurt you." She leaned over so close that Eulalia caught a glimpse of her scaly flesh, rainbow-hued and gleaming. "What's her name?" she asked.

Eulalia shifted a fraction in surprise of the faerie's appearance, but caught herself, aware that any show of interest might convince them she wanted their attention.

"Do you think we should carry her, Everlid?" Cosima asked.

"We don't have a choice, do we? Let's get to it. Grab her legs."

"No, let me go." Eulalia thrashed, knocking away the hands attempting to clamp onto her legs, but it didn't deter Everlid and Cosima who'd managed to rip off her filthy socks, tossing them into a corner of the room.

"Glory, you stink," said Everlid. "Would you stay still?" She gritted her teeth. "You would think we're trying to harm you."

"I said leave me alone!" Eulalia kicked her legs, narrowly missing Everlid's face, but that only made her change tactics. While Cosima secured Eulalia's legs, each of her nimble fingers holding her tight by the ankles, Everlid fought to lift Eulalia by the arms.

"No. Leave me be!" Eulalia bawled, wrestling to be free of them. "What have I done to deserve this?" She tried to hang onto the leg of the armoire as they dragged her for the bathroom, but it wasn't a fair fight against two strong-willed faeries, acting on orders from their prince. "You think I care to look pretty for him?" she spat.

"Whether you do or don't isn't any of our concern." Everlid leaned against the bathroom door, flicking sweat off her brow. "Now get undressed or will we have to cut you out of your clothes?"

Eulalia didn't even have the strength to pick herself off the floor. Her blouse had ridden up and the cold tile was against her back. "What is he paying you to treat me this way?" She blinked at the faerie nearest her. A day's worth of tears had dried on her eyes, making them itch. "Are there no laws against harassment in this place?"

"I wouldn't call this harassment." Cosima smiled. "You should be glad Prince Andris cares at all. It is a great honor to have interest from our future king."

Eulalia could've sworn her skin flushed, the scales on her cheeks deepening in hues, from cornflower blue to azure, from blush pink to rose. The cloud-like shape of her hair complimented her features. She was quite striking. Against her dark brown skin, the splotches of scales on her cheeks were transcendent, shimmering with color still in the warm, rich light.

Eulalia pulled herself up, resting her back against the sink. "And what happens if I don't want his interest? What will he do to me then? Chain me to the bedposts?"

"Then you'll sooner be dead," said Everlid, coming away from the door to tower over Eulalia as much as she could in her short height, with her hands pinned to her hips. "I'll tell you now, halfling, Andris is the best ally you could have here. The others don't really like your kind." Everlid studied Eulalia, brown eyes squinting, and button nose scrunched. "If I were you, I wouldn't let anyone hear this talk," she said, flicking her long, dark plait over her shoulder.

She could've been as human as Eulalia. They had almost the same color of brown skin. But what Everlid lacked in stature she made up for with a mouth that was permanently pinched, and eyebrows set with contempt. She gave up scrutinizing Eulalia and retightened the tie of the simple long-sleeved black dress the housemaids wore, pulling it firm at the waist. "The longer you're here the faster you'll learn. We don't speak ill of our prince and future king."

Cosima turned on a pipe, filling the room with lavender fragrance. "You could be mad all you want but a bath wouldn't hurt in the meantime, dear."

"I would bite my tongue before trusting anyone in this place," Eulalia said. "It doesn't matter if he's a future king or not. He isn't my king."