Valerie stayed up all night in the dark. Despite having all of her fears held perfectly inside of her and waiting to be released, she forced her heartbeat to slow, and her eyes to stay wide, until she could do nothing but utter her father’s words over and over in her mind.
‘Maybe how I treat you is all you ever were; a disappointment.’
She shuddered countless times throughout the night but never broke into a sob. She should have expected a day like this to come. A day when her father couldn’t come up with the words to say that he hated her. So instead, he sent her away so he could never see her until he remembered her on his deathbed. It was the perfect plan, and honestly, it’s not one she minded. Never seeing her father again was more of a blessing than a curse.
At least that’s what she told herself.
Valerie jumped in her seat when her door cracked open. A young girl with big, doe eyes and a button nose entered, her feeble body shaking as she headed towards Valerie’s bed. She wore a plain black dress that matched the melancholy strung on her face.
“Good morning,” she said. Valerie ignored her greeting and jumped straight to her own question.
“Where is Rose?”
“Rose is gone,” she replied. “All servants that work at the castle have left.” Her accent was a bit higher pitched and drawn out, like a songbird forced to speak like a human. Valerie couldn’t tell if it was beautiful or annoying.“Then why are you here?”
“I am not from this castle,” she began. “I come from the Lakes of Luster- surely My Lord has spoken with you about your arrangements?”
“Arrangements?” Valerie said the word like it was from a foreign language. “What arrangements?”
“You’ll be staying with the Marquess of the Eastward Lakes.” She cracked a smile. “Don’t worry. He’s very friendly to lovely young ladies like you.”
“I suppose that’s why he hired you.”
Her smile quickly turned into a frown.
“He hired me and my sisters for our skill. I can assure you it was for no other reason.”
“And what is your name, servant?”
“Manon.” She pulled out an empty wooden chest from in front of the bed and set it on top. “Now, I suggest you get packing before the sun comes up.”
Valerie got up and headed into her closet. She pulled out three dresses and neatly folded them, watching as they filled up the chest, before closing it and heading back to the closet. Manon flattened out some underskirts and put them into a chest.
Fifteen minutes later, Valerie’s closet was emptied and she was in a simple, dark green petticoat with a matching raincoat. She grabbed a chest and watched as Manon struggled to carry the other two. She grabbed the handle of one of the chests and they pulled all three out together. Manon hid a smile.
Valerie and Manon walked down two flights of stairs before Manon broke the silence.
“What happened last night?” she asked. Valerie’s shoulders tensed.
“What do you mean, ‘what happened?’? Nothing happened. And besides,” she growled, “you have no business poking into the crown princess’ affairs.”
Manon glanced at Valerie sliding her gaze back to her feet. The silence continued for another five minutes until they stepped onto solid ground.
“It’s hard not to poke into such business when My Lord tells me everything,” Manon continued. “He really is a nice man. It’s such a shame to turn him down like you did.”
The princess’ eyes shot open as her gaze slid to Manon.
“You don’t mean-”
Valerie froze in place as someone pulled her into a tight embrace. She sucked in a breath as they let out a soft sigh.
This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening.
“Princess!” the person said, a masculine voice breaking into a near-squeak. Their arms slid down hers until their hands were laced. It was the young man who sat beside her at the banquet. She refused to take in his features- let alone think about how near-perfect they were.
“You’re going to have the best time at La maison du lac,” he smiled. “I’ve made sure you’ve gotten the best room with the perfect view.”
Valerie plastered on a smile- he didn’t seem near the same as before. In fact, he seemed quite friendly.
I might have a chance to enjoy my time there.
He then pulled her in and whispered into her ear, just as her father used to do. It chilled her bones.
“It’s going to be right across from mine.”
He let her go and grabbed one of the wooden oak chests, another servant taking the one she held with Manon. Manon led her to a plain white carriage covered in gold embellishments in front of the golden doors of the castle. They both climbed in and sat next to each other. Valerie’s heart quickened and her cheeks became flushed.
“Don’t worry, my lady,” Manon smiled softly. “You’ll enjoy your stay at the lake. There’s pretty recreation, the best seafood in the land-”
“Not to mention plenty of fine people to keep you company,” Soleil finished Manon’s sentence. Manon smiled. Valerie tensed again. She let out a forceful breath as he scooted closer until their legs brushed.
The driver clicked his tongue until the two horses began to pull the carriage. After shaking on the road about five times from bumps in the road, Valerie let her shoulders drop as she swayed to the rhythmic steps of the horses. Her breath became soft and her heartbeat began to slow. Everything felt peaceful. Too peaceful, her subconscious seemed to decide as it brought her father back into her mind. Every part of her body seemed to chill to an inhuman cold as she mouthed the words on her lips, staring at the trees flitting past her view.
‘You can’t get mad at someone you never had hope in.’
Were those words really true? She had deemed her father hopeless many years ago and he still seemed to infuriate her every day. The way he spoke as if he were still young and sly. The way he strode like no one was in the room. The way he laughed like he was the Grim Reaper itself, ready to slay her with the long blade of a scythe.
Valerie shuddered.
“Are you alright?” a voice piped up. Valerie slumped back into her seat and looked up at Soleil. His eyes were a pale blue; ghostly and beautiful.
She refused to notice anything else about him.
“I’m quite alright,” she murmured, chuckling a bit as his brows furrowed. He didn’t seem satisfied with her answer, letting out the tiniest huff and folding his arms. But his face relaxed as he fought a smirk.
“I don’t believe you are,” he said, scooting a little closer. She tucked her feet beneath her cushioned seat.
“In fact,” he said, leaning forward, “I think you’re terribly afraid right now.”
Valerie glared.
“If you are trying to figure out some sly way to swoon me, you’d be wrong. I find nothing, absolutely nothing, alluring about you.”
“I beg to differ,” he said. He grabbed her chin and pulled her closer. He smiled. She froze.
“You’re infatuated with my eyes,” he chuckled. She swallowed.
“Let me go,” she demanded.
“No. Not until you look deeper.”
She stared blankly at his gaze not showing a hint of emotion. Manon finally looked away as as Soleil let his lips part and he leaned in closer.
She looked at his eyes one more time, when she finally had the sense to jerk away.
“Why has my father forced me to leave with such a bone-headed, arrogant slob like you?”
Valerie stared at him coldly, waiting for her vicious words to slice into his heart and his jaw to drop with shock. She hoped, no, expected, him to gruel at her feet with tears falling at his eyes and beg for mercy. And then when she said no, and told him he would have to work off the rest of his years rotting in a prison that reached his feet with poisonous, leech-infested water, chewing away at even his bones, she might consider forgiving him after he’d sobbed so much his eyes were drier than a salt rock washed up from the river-side.
But he sat flat-faced. Instead, he had the audacity to smile.
“He didn’t tell you?” he asked, his voice fading into a quiet, deeper tone as he seemed to lose interest. Then, he tapped his chin as a thought seemed to enter his mind.
“Ah. You haven’t read the letter.”
Valerie tilted her head before she remembered the worn, stained paper he had handed her before she left. She had crunched it in her pocket so that she could burn it in a fireplace whenever she got to the Marquess’ home. Her fingers reached at the button of her pocket, lingering there as she itched to open the letter and hand it to Soleil to read himself. She never wanted to imagine her father’s voice in her head again, after all he had said.
Soleil’s gaze wandered towards Valerie’s pocket before shooting back up to her eyes. He shrugged and leaned back.
“Any letter my father gives me is none of your business,” she said, leaning a bit forward in her seat. “Especially someone as arrogant as you.”
The Marquess smiled and put his arm on the back of his seat as he leaned closer to Valerie. He tilted his head like a confused puppy. Valerie looked away before she took in any more of his features.
“You don’t find my confidence contagious?” he asked, batting his blonde eyelashes. Valerie let out a quivering breath.
“No.”
Soleil rolled his eyes and leaned back again, folding his arms.
“I should have expected someone like you to never take a joke.” He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket- worn and covered in old paint, just like Valerie’s. Her eyes widened a little bit, wondering how he got a letter from the King if he had such a nuisance of a personality.
“Everyone got one,” Soleil explained. “Your letter will probably be as impersonal as everyone else’s. It’s just an itinerary-” he raised an eyebrow “unless you choose to get yourself killed.”
Valerie hid her interest.
“I’m perfectly fine with dying,” she growled. “It will all be seen as a mistake made by the King. And that’s one thing I’m willing to die for.”
Soleil bit his lip but said nothing.
“Would you like me to read it?” he asked. Valerie had thought of such a thing before. If he read it, she wouldn’t even have to look at it. She wouldn’t have to think about how the one thing her father put any effort into was a letter of goodbye.
That would be perfect.
But she wouldn’t dare to say something that might make Soleil smile.
“Fine,” she huffed. She pulled the letter from her pocket, crumpled and torn more than when she got it, and handed it to him. He snatched the paper and unfolded it as quickly as he could. Valerie looked out the window again as he began to read it.
“Dear honored guest of the royal family,” he spoke, “it is King Danah’s greatest honor to invite you to the recreation and annual coronation of Solstice! This year’s heir, Princess Valerie of Lustreia, will be gifted her new crown and other surprises along the way. If you wish to survive Solstice, prepare your heart to be broken before you begin. Only pain will lead to progress. Good luck and sending love from King Danah!”
Valerie repeated the letter over and over in her mind. What could her father possibly mean by a broken heart? How could such a horrible thing help her?
“It should be extra fun this year,” Soleil smiled, handing the paper back to Valerie. “I should be getting the best seats at your coronation, correct?”
“If you expect anything other than the back, you’d be wrong,” Valerie said as she refrained from a chuckle. “But what exactly is this game?”
“It is less of a game than the King says it is,” Soleil said. “This is a game of treachery. Only those who’ve already cut their losses are willing to play.”
A glimmer of hope entered Valerie’s heart that she pushed away. If this game called for broken hearts and lonely people, there was a small chance that her father was really just preparing her. Maybe he did this so that she could survive.
Valerie got rid of the thought as quickly as she could. Her father could never learn to love; the only thing he could do was learn how to play his cards. Unfortunately for Valerie, all of his cards were ones that meant he would take all, and nothing would be left for her.
Valerie watched as the ground ahead of the carriage seemed to disappear. In front of them was a chasm that stretched for miles, dark and empty. No birds flew by it, and no trees grew from it. Valerie couldn’t look down without her heartbeat quickening, for the chasm seemed to go down for at least one hundred feet. But still, she could hear laughter coming from below.
“What’s down there?” she asked Soleil, pointing towards the cliffside that was only feet away from them.
“Oh, that’s just a village down there,” he shrugged. “Caves were probably the only things they could afford to live in.” He stood up and opened the ceiling door and yelled at the chauffer to hurry up. He sat back down in his seat.
“If we don’t get moving we’ll be at my house by midnight,” he sighed, running his hand through his long hair.
Suddenly, the chauffeur swerved left. The road suddenly became more bumpy as one of the wheels had fallen off the edge.
Then a second.
Then a third.
Valerie shrieked as the carriage went tumbling into the dark of the cavern. Soleil took hold of her shoulders and pulled her into a hug as his face paled from shock. Manon’s arms froze on the seats as she held onto them with all of her might.
“If I die,” he whispered, “I want it to be while I hold you.” His head rested on her shoulder as he let out a cold, quivering breath.
Valerie couldn’t think about how she barely knew him then. She couldn’t find the words to tell him to get away. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him and held on for dear life as the carriage struck the ground.
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Valerie looked down. She could see her feet.
Valerie looked up. She could see her hair dangling from her head as she hung over a horrible drop of at least fifty feet and claws made of splintering wood. She suddenly felt a migraine rush to her head as blood poured into it. Her cheeks turned red and warm.
Surprisingly, the princess didn’t find herself hurling or struck with amnesia. She didn’t find herself panicking for something to hold. The wooden spear that had stabbed into her leg did that well enough. All she could think about were her soft, goose feather pillows at home, her silk blankets, and the father who withheld them from her. She ached for nothing more than to collapse into her bed and listen to the rain as she fell asleep.
“You’re alive.” Valerie knew the voice all too well for her liking. It was deep and smooth and soft when Valerie heard it. She loved it. And she hated herself for it.
“Unfortunately.” It was all Valerie could manage to say as blood rushed to her head even more. She clenched her teeth and hissed as someone wrapped their arms around her shoulders and picked her up, pulling her leg off the wood. Blood poured down her leg and soaked her dress. It felt cool and sticky. She could never wear that dress again.
Soleil set her down on the dusty, dry ground, ruining her dress even more, before tearing off a piece of his black suit and wrapping it around the wound on her leg. She hissed as the cool fabric touched her skin. He seemed completely unharmed, other than a bruise on his cheek.
“How-” she let out a breath- “do you look so perfect?”
“You mean other than my amazing genetics?” he asked, wrapping up her wound with a pretty bow. “You were sitting on the side that hit the ground first.”
“So you let me take all of the hurt when you grabbed me?” Valerie hissed, sitting up on her elbows. “You are such a gentleman.”
“I didn’t think we would survive anyways,” he said, standing up as his eyebrows furrowed. “And I never asked you to trust me.”
Valerie bit her lip and looked away as a girl appeared from a cave behind them. A group of people stood in front of the cave and pointed at Valerie and Soleil, whispering and stepping away as the girl brought three horses with her.
“Where’s Manon?” Valerie asked, looking around for the maid from before. Manon appeared right beside her with a limp. She forced a smile before helping Valerie up.
“I’m alright,” she said. “Just twisted my ankle.”
Valerie smiled and squeezed Manon’s shoulder.
“I’m glad you made it.” She shot a glare at Soleil before the girl stopped with her horses.
“We don’t have any food to spare,” she said, “but I know we won’t be travelling any time soon.” She handed the reins to each of them and smiled.
“Take these. We don’t want you all hanging around too long.”
“Thank you,” Soleil said, mounting his horse and holding it back as it tried to rear.
“Is there anything we can do in return?” Valerie asked. The girl made a scowl as she backed away from them.
“I never take anything from people like you.”
And with that, she was gone.
Soleil slid back off his horse as he helped Valerie up. She let out a heavy breath as her leg throbbed when it swung over, slapping against the leather saddle with force. He mounted his horse again and tied Valerie’s reins to his own. He clicked his tongue and both horses were off, Manon trailing a few feet behind them.
After about three hours in the beating sun, the chasm seemed to disappear, along with all of it’s songs and laughter and children’s yelling as they played. They seemed to enter a long, depressing silence. One that reminded Valerie all too well of what it was like back home.
They quickly left the flat plains that seemed to grow glowing wheat in the sun, and quickly entered a cool forest that smelled like dewy moss and felt like a cool breeze from the north. Songbirds jumped to and fro from tree to tree, deer starling as they saw horses emerge from deep in the shadow. An owl slept peacefully in its nest. The rich greens of the forest all seemed to overwhelm Valerie as they mixed together in a rich emerald that was so vastly different from the greys of the castle courtyard that she didn’t even think she was in Lustreia. She let out a breath and smiled.
“Do you like it?” Soleil asked, smiling as he made them both pick up pace. “Wait until you see the lakes.”
The trees and ferns quickly dispersed as emerald faded into sapphire, a large body of water seeming to go farther than the horizon. Ruby flowers dotted the shore, waving to and fro the in the salty breeze, and amethyst shrubs dotted the ground like jewels waiting to be picked up. A small hawk pressed its wings to its back as it dove into the water, catching a glowing orange fish, before flying into the air and out of sight. Any rabbit or deer that had made their way to the water quickly dispersed as the trio emerged. Soleil clicked his tongue and they made their way to the shore.
“Finally,” he groaned, jumping off of his horse and cupping some water in his hands. He splashed it on his face and let out a breath as it dripped down his chin. He beckoned Valerie over with his hand.
“What do you want?” she asked, looking around for any sign of a giant house or village. She didn’t want to stop until they got closer to the house and she could take off her makeshift bandage, which caught sweat underneath it and made it pool.
“We need to wash your cut.” He beckoned her over again, his voice nearly breaking out of agitation. Valerie slipped off her horse and made her way over to the water with a limp.
Soleil pulled on Valerie’s leg, her feet slipping out from under her as she collapsed on the ground.
“Thanks for the warning,” she said with a glare. Soleil smiled.
“Anything for you, my lady.”
She pulled her skirt up and bit her tongue as Soleil poured salt water onto her wound with his hands. It burned her flesh, making it feel like her entire leg was on fire. It felt even worse than the sweat pooling on top of it, as if at any moment her leg would deteriorate and disappear.
“It’s alright,” Soleil whispered, rubbing his hand on her knee as the last of the water dripped away. Valerie smacked his hand away and huffed.
“Don’t touch me!”
“Fine,” he smirked. “You can put the bandage on yourself, then. And I’m guessing you don’t want my clothes to touch you, so you can rip off some of your pretty little petty coat and use that as a bandage.”
“Well- I mean…”
Valerie frowned at him as he tore off more of his suit with his teeth and wrapped it around the wound. She stood up, a bit wobbly, and reached for Soleil’s arm to help her walk. He dodged her and made his way to his horse, watching as Valerie limped up to her own horse, a stoic look on her face as she calculated how she could get up and into the saddle, without hurting herself anymore. Soleil looked at her with a trace of a frown, his head resting on his fist as he watched her in a slouched position.
“This is fun to watch,” he commented, his voice low and flat. “As fun as watching paint dry.”
Manon shuffled her way over and helped Valerie up with a heaving breath. Valerie murmured her thanks and sent dagger eyes to Soleil, who suddenly seemed too cheery for her taste.
“Only about a mile before we reach the house!” he said, clicking his tongue as all three horses began to canter. “I promise that you’ll love your room.”
“And a bit of privacy,” she sighed, thinking about locking the door and never coming out. It would be perfect; secluded, quiet comfortable. And the best part? Her father wouldn’t be there to see anything. She smiled at such a perfect thought as they traveled along the outskirts of the cool forest.
Soon the sun dipped below the horizon, the burnt orange of the sky casting a peach glow on the water as the lakes themselves began to turn white. Stars seemed to fall into the water as it got darker and darker, and it was the first time Valerie considered the ghost legends of the lakes to be true. She was prepared to see a spirit pop out of the water at any time. The backs of fish glowed like moonstones as they jumped out of the water, waking up for the night just as the forest seemed to retire.
As they rounded a bend of the shore, a large white house seemed to emerge, a city of houses and shops and the delicious smell of baking bread behind it. The house was supported by beautiful ivory pillars that swirled around like the horns of narwhals, and golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The house sat on top of large, white steps, with a railing covered in ivy. The roof of a sunroom peaked from the side, its glass reflecting the water in moving waves.
“It’s beautiful,” Valerie breathed, her horse nearly coming to a stop as Valerie took it all in. The horrible journey she had almost died on seemed nearly worth it. It seemed so peaceful. So relaxing.
So why was she supposed to break her own heart once she got there?
Soleil jumped off of his horse and helped Valerie down when they stopped at the stairs. A little boy with cerulean eyes and a muddy face came and took their horses.
“You may leave for your quarters, Manon,” Soleil said. The girl nodded and went around the building, where a few cabins stood from behind. Soleil flashed a wide, cold smile at Valerie and held the door for her.
“I’ll show you to your room.”
The inside was just as beautiful. White tiles lined with gold held up glass sculptures of the fish of the lakes, some with long, curved fangs, and others with soft fins that made them look as if they were one with the water. A hallway on the left led to a grand ballroom with a set of golden doors, and on the left a set of marbled stairs led to the second floor. Soleil waited for Valerie at the stairs as she shuffled across the floor. Servants shuffled to and fro from the stairs with ingredients or wine in their hands.
Valerie let out a heavy sigh as she hopped on one foot on the stairs. Soleil rolled his eyes and walked back down to Valerie, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and legs as he picked her up.
“Get your dirty hands off-”
“I’m not about to wait five hours for you to get up one flight of stairs,” he said, his voice on the verge of a yawn. “So deal with it.”
Valerie sighed and held her arms to herself as they made their way up the stairs, shuffling past a chef with a basket of eggs in his hands.
“What are they doing?” Valerie asked, peering over Soleil’s shoulder.
“I figured the best way to your heart would be with some delicious food,” he smiled. “So there’ll be a big dinner tomorrow.”
Valerie resisted the urge to slap the smile off of Soleil’s face when he set her down on the marble floor. He guided her through the plain white hallway to a bedroom that overlooked the lake. Valerie couldn’t notice anything except the beautiful white bed with plenty of pillows on it.
“Thank you, Marquess,” Valerie said, her voice stiff as she pushed out her fake gratitude. “When can I expect to see you again?”
“Early tomorrow morning,” he said. “We have a lot of preparation to make sure no one chops your pretty little head off.”
Valerie’s eyes widened.
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about all of the people I invited here,” Soleil said. “On the first day of Solstice, there’s no better time than that to be a criminal.”
He kissed Valerie’s hand before saying goodnight and slamming the door shut. Valerie collapsed on the bed, hugging a pillow to her face. Her eyes couldn’t help but wander to the door as she waited for a killer, or worse, her father, to appear from it.
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