Chapter 284. Trial II

Chapter 284: 284. Trial II

Maisie

I remembered being washed and wiped clean while my head lolled against someone else’s shoulder. I was too tired to care whose. I was dressed in fresh clothes the next time I opened my eyes. I remembered the prick of a needle to my vein as I was hooked to a blood bag.

I also remembered laying with my cheek against someone’s thigh while a brush moved through my hair slowly, starting from the ends, working upwards.

My lashes fluttered, heavily drowsed. Soren was fully dressed in a three pieced suit, and he was brushing my hair, fingers gently untangling the knots.

What an odd dream.

I was too exhausted to be plagued by nightmares, coming up and going under. Fever. Pain. Vomit. Repeat.

But there were nights I woke up screaming, nights I didn’t see the bedroom, just the Ridge. The rift. My mates, dead. Nights I heard the wailing of a baby and the voice that pleaded with me over and over.

"Come find me, keeper."

The taste of blood often filled my mouth and I couldn’t tell dream apart from reality. In those moments, I would often hear someone say over and over that I was safe. I wasn’t alone. I would never be alone again.

And then, one day, after the fever had broken, I had a different dream. The wind blew in the curtains, bringing in the scent of the water outside. Soft, near silent footfalls against the floors registered somewhere in my subconscious, but I was dragged under again.

Until something wet dropped on my cheek, rolling down my skin and halted at the corner of my lips.

It tasted like salt. A tear drop.

Light fingers caressed my cheek and warm lips brushed my nose. Then my eyebrow. Then my forehead. The smell of alcohol teased my nostrils as they whispered, "I’m sorry."

Mercer.

My eyes snapped open and I sat up too fast, exerting myself.

"Mercer?" I called out, panting as my eyes adjusted to the dark room. Moonlight streamed in from the tall windows, illuminating the room.

My nails curled in the sheets as I searched the dark corners. "Mercer," I said again, this time quieter as my chest tightened.

There was no answer.

The bedroom was empty.

And I thought I might have imagined it, if I didn’t catch a whiff of his scent, and the lingering taste of salt in my mouth.

He’d been here. And he’d left.

I knew that was simply who Mercer was. But it still crushed me. More than it should’ve.

****

I woke up on the morning of my trial to the windows being pulled back, and sunlight streamed in so bright, I groaned, grabbing the sheets and pulled it over my head.

"Rise and shine, Mason," came Corazon as she hummed a horrid melody in a voice much too loud for my sensitive ears.

"It’s Maisie," I growled. "Go away."

The covers were yanked off, and before I could even blink, Corazon’s face was hovering an inch from mine. Her fingers moved with lightning speed as she began prodding and pinching and smacking my face.

I swatted at her hands. "What the hell is your problem?"

She smiled widely. "The masters are occupied downstairs. I’ve been asked to prepare you for your hearing. ’Tis in two hours, and you are yet to be briefed by the handsome lawyer."

Handsome lawyer? Oh. Right. Alden.

I blinked, lifting the pillows to shield my face from the glare of the sun. "Hearing?" I grumbled. "Isn’t that in six days?"

She took the pillows from me and proceeded to lift the edge of the bed. I yelped as I slid right off and crashed into the hardwood with a dull thud.

And like she hadn’t just assaulted me, she worked really swiftly, stripping off the sheets and changing them. "Well, it was. But your ladyship slept all six days away, and now, we must make haste--"

"Six days?!" I echoed, raising off the floor. "I was asleep for six days?!"

"Well, that’s what I said, wasn’t it?" She muttered and hurried over to the couch, lifting a pristine white dress out of a designer box, and a matching pair of heels.

"What is that?" I walked over, rubbing my shoulder. Admittedly, I did feel a lot stronger and well rested than I had in months. I felt lighter. Better.

"’Your outfit, for the Council room. Ugly, isn’t it?" she laughed. She wasn’t wrong. It was unflattering. It looked like what my grandmother would’ve worn to her wedding. Not that I ever met her--either of them. Goddess bless their souls.

"Master says it’s important that you maintain a look of innocence," she supplied, straightening the horrid lace ’wedding’ dress. "A team of artists are waiting downstairs. To alter your appearance."

My apprehension grew. "A team? What’s wrong with the way I look?"

She ran an eye over my body and I tried not to flinch at the perusal. "The botched dye job makes you look like a homeless racoon. The lawnmowed haircut surely doesn’t help. Your face ....it looks too mean, too angry. You look capable of cutting a person to pieces--"

"Shut up. And you’re fired," I hissed.

"You can’t fire me if you didn’t hire me, girl," she countered, her grin growing so wide, her eyes pinched shut.

I groaned under my breath, stomping over to the bathroom. My hand closed over the doorknob and I glanced over my shoulder. "And don’t think I’ve forgotten you’re the reason I got kidnapped by the Queen."

Her expression fell and guilt entered her eyes. But she raised her chin, her lips pinched together firmly. "I... have a son." I blinked. I hadn’t known that. "It was his life or yours. Not everyone who works under the Queen’s employ do it of their own free will. I could tell you that I regret it, but that would be a lie."

Anger heated my blood, but I forced it down. I understood, even if I didn’t want to.

"What changed?" I asked, unable to keep the bitterness from my voice.

"The Prince got him out," she smiled sadly. "I am here, and I will prove my loyalty in whatever way I can."

I stared at her for a moment. It was easy to look at her and remember all the ways she’d been there for me, in her own way, before everything went insane. But I knew I couldn’t afford to trust her or anyone who was connected to the Queen.

Still, as I shut the bathroom door behind me, I couldn’t deny that it felt a little nice having her around. She reminded me of what things felt like before everything got dark and complicated.