My invisible helpmate answered, “I am Cursed and Unseen, my lady.”
Cursed and Unseen?
“What’s your name?” I tried again.
“I no longer have a name, but I’m here to help you prepare for your test. I promise that while I’m around, you’ll not be harmed. While we get you ready for dinner, I’ll answer any questions I can for you, dear.”
“Am I going to die in this game?” I asked tremulously.
The Cursed woman hesitated. “Queen Coeur is a very skilled opponent.”
I sighed. “So that’s a yes.”
“It’s not a yes,” she responded quickly. “There is always hope that someone will defeat her. Without that hope, there is no life.”
Intrigued by her elusive answers, I queried, “What do we have to do to win?”
“Every game is different,” she began, “but she hasn’t played in quite a while, so I expect it to be quite extravagant. She loves to boast her power. But don’t worry; the Queen likes to make examples out of her opponents. You won’t die immediately, or else her fun will end.”
Great, so she won’t kill us tonight at dinner because she wants to use us to impress her subjects. But before long, we’ll be fighting for our lives... and we will probably lose.
“Bets will be taken, my lady. I hope I can place my wager on you,” my unseen visitor prompted.
Curious, I asked, “Have you bet on others in the past?”
“I have,” she drawled.
“Did you lose?”
“Yes, but this is a new game with new players. You seem different than the others,” my veiled guest declared.
“How so?”
“You know pain. I see it in your eyes. Maybe you can find a way to channel that pain and use it to your advantage.” Pausing for a beat too long, she spoke again, musing, “I’ve never seen Queen Coeur experience pain. She is a cruel, spoiled ruler.”
A piece of my hair floated in front of me as she lifted it. I could almost see the curve of her fingers beneath the strands.
“We should get you cleaned and dressed. The Queen is not a patient woman.”
“Thank you. I need all the help I can get,” I admitted, looking down at my filthy skirts. My legs were itchy from all the scratches and scrapes, not to mention the mud and specks of golden fae blood. A large washtub appeared, filled with steaming water. I undressed and sank into it, trying to commit the feel of it to memory in case this was the last time I’d get to enjoy such an extravagance.
I scoured my skin until the grime and blood were gone, and the Cursed woman brought a folding screen for me to change behind. “I’ll get your gown,” she insisted, her footsteps trailing across the enormous space. My eyes focused on the ornamental screen, which featured creamy fabric that was almost see-through, accented by the golden head of a lion.
“Is the lion image important to the Queen?” I asked curiously. I’d noticed the door knocker was a golden lion, and I’d also seen it on a few things scattered throughout the castle as I chased O’Hare down the halls. Door handles. Carved into the bottoms of sconces along the walls. In the fine stitching on O’Hare’s jacket.
My helper responded, “It is the Royal crest; a lion holding a human heart between its teeth.”
A shiver worked up my spine as I contemplated its meaning. “Why does she hate humans so much?” Wrapping a dry cloth around me, I stepped out from behind the screen.
“I don’t have an answer for that, my dear. However, I believe if you can find the answer you can win the game.” A gown floated from the wardrobe to me. “The color for tonight is teal,” she said.
Color for tonight? A confused look crossed my face. “You mean everyone will match? Even the guards?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Why does everyone have to match?”
“It’s the Queen’s way.”
“She changes the color every day?”
“Sometimes once each day, sometimes several times a day. It varies according to her wishes,” she explained. Apparently, the Queen liked to control everyone, and was moody. I’d seen Glenlyn in purple, then red, and finally blue before he…
“Are you wearing teal?”
“I am Unseen,” she answered simply, handing me a dress that looked like it was wrapped in layers of thin, gauzy material. Upon closer inspection, I realized the fabric was silky and fine, like the delicate wings of insects and the palest color of blue-green, or teal, as she called it, that I’d ever seen.
Motivated by a feeling I couldn’t quite name, I blurted, “Can I give you a name? Just for me to use while you’re helping me? You’ll be helping me throughout this week, right?”
“I will be your chambermaid throughout the game, my dear, and I suppose you can give me a name if you wish. As long as I do not speak my given name, no rule is broken.”
“And you still can’t tell me your given name?”
I heard her sigh, and she paused a moment before speaking, as if the admission was painful. “I am forbidden from speaking it, but truthfully, cannot remember what it was. I’ve been here for a very long time. Hundreds of years.”
Hundreds of years? “Are you fae?”
“I am not.”
“Are you human?” I asked, hoping her answer wasn’t yes.
“Yes. Or at least, I was...”
Seized by a sudden premonition, I queried, “Were you once a player in this game?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
My heart lodged in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t imagine being forced to remain here in the castle, forced to do the Queen’s bidding for hundreds of years and watching countless players fight and lose. “If we win, will you be set free? Will the curse be lifted?”
Instead of answering, the gown lifted from the hanger with unseen hands and gathered into folds. I let her tug it over my head, down along my waist and over my hips, the gossamer fabric whispering on my skin. Cinched at each shoulder and crossing my body at the breasts, the swaths of fabric wound around to my back where the Unseen chambermaid and former player tied them tightly. The skirts cascaded to the floor with long slits all around the circumference, revealing my legs when I walked.
“It fits perfectly,” I marveled.
“Queen Coeur does not make mistakes.” It sounded like a warning coming from her mouth, despite the tinkling voice through which it was expressed.
“Duly noted,” I commented dryly. “Now, we can’t give you a human name in case it’s accidentally your given name…”