Midnight in Everwood(60)

‘King Gelum is hosting a ball in two nights’ time that the dressmaker shall be gowning us for.’ Pirlipata exhaled. ‘I have come to the decision that I shall pass her a note to my family. If we are to flee through the worlds then I cannot allow the chance to warn Crackatuck melt away.’

‘You must not put those thoughts to paper,’ Marietta said at once. ‘Most likely the walls have eyes in this palace and someone shall read it. You do not want the king to invade sooner if it is found out.’

The emerald flecks in Pirlipata’s eyes shone. ‘I intend to write it in code. I was instructed in such protocols when I attended university. A story for another time,’ she added upon recognising Marietta’s interest.

Marietta nodded. ‘Very well. King Gelum does seem inordinately fond of hosting balls,’ she mused.

‘They shall become far grander now,’ Pirlipata told her. ‘The deeper into winter we march, the more time eclipses between us and our memories of the sun, the more often and ornate the balls grow. King Gelum proclaims it is his royal duty to keep the good people of Everwood entertained, but the truth of the matter is that this king is given to decadence and cannot help himself spending an exorbitant price on festivities.’

A deluge of images of the poverty and thirst and mineral sickness in the overtaxed town snowed over Marietta. From an opulent townhouse to a decadent suite, she had never known hardship. Couldn’t imagine the choice facing mothers her own age; to allow their children to thirst to death or condemn them to a slow battle with the mineral sickness. In another life she could picture herself on the frontlines of the rebellion, working side by side with Captain Legat and his mother. But this was not her world, nor her battle. When she returned to Nottingham, she was determined to open her eyes to the people around her. Lost in thoughts such as these, it took Marietta a moment to note Pirlipata’s deliberate use of the pronoun. ‘This king?’ she echoed. ‘Who was his predecessor?’

‘Queen Altina Mus and King Elter Mus. They were a charming royal couple.’ Pirlipata puffed out a sad sigh. ‘Fair and just and much beloved by their subjects. Until Gelum Mus, a distant cousin of theirs, stepped in and overthrew them.’

‘It was a veritable bloodbath,’ Dellara said. ‘And not the sort I approve of.’

‘His treason was swift and vicious, proving it impossible for anyone to intercede, and his wave of cruelty in his first moontides on the throne – reinstating the ancient ice prison, introducing public executions – ensured that all of Everwood were too terrified to challenge him.’ Pirlipata shook her head.

‘How terrible,’ Marietta said, the weight of their history pressing down on the room.

‘It is. And if King Gelum wages war who knows what the consequences shall be for our peaceful little world? He is a merciless tyrant, reigning with ice and terror, and funnelling Everwood’s resources into his prestigious military quarter and luxe balls. I do hope this rebellion does not freeze over like the last attempt.’ Pirlipata winced. Marietta’s heart filled with frost. ‘I wonder who is leading the charge this time,’ Pirlipata continued.

‘Do you recall the previous king and queen?’ Marietta asked Dellara, hoping the desperation she felt didn’t infuse her words.

Dellara bowed her head. A strange light danced over her expression, one which Marietta struggled to place. ‘King Gelum murdered the entire court in an icy rage. Sugar-poisoned, they say. Now our Queen Altina shines brighter than ever, the biggest star in the sky, watching over us all.’

Marietta placed her expression then. It was hope. Trembling and soft and entirely unsuited to the horrors of the world but there nonetheless. Existing. Surviving.

‘I have heard tales of the soldiers and the military quarter,’ Marietta said, dancing over the knowledge that those stories had been relayed to her by the captain, ensconced in his lantern-lit gingerbread office, warm and spicy and intimate. Her face glowed. ‘Though none of those loathsome faceless guards. Tell me, who are they? I presume King Gelum had them brought into the palace?’

Dellara’s softness disappeared. ‘We never used to have a contingent of them to supplement the soldiers; Everwood has always had a strong military tradition but soldiers are merely human and King Gelum won them over to his side with mutiny and threats. Now he forever distrusts them should they turn on him if someone decides to rise up against him. That day the armed intruder penetrated the palace’s enchantments, the king found himself suspiciously short of protection. He grew harder on his soldiers over the years. Then the faceless guards happened to appear one day.’

Marietta’s thoughts ran red with rebellion.

‘I’ve heard rumours that they are no more human than I am myself,’ Dellara added.

Marietta shuddered. ‘That I find easy to believe.’

Their talk eventually passed onto other matters, lighter topics, keeping the cold darkness of the perpetual winter a little more at bay.

When Marietta awoke the following morning to yet another black sky, glittering with the weight of a thousand stars, something hard dug into her neck. She sat up. It was a small box, the label bearing the same line-drawing of a mouse she kept sighting all over Everwood. Only this one bore the king’s signature seal. When she removed the lid, she found a nutcracker upon a velvet cushion inside. It was fashioned after the soldiers of the King’s Army, down to the smart red tunic and detailing on the epaulettes. Then Marietta noticed the mouse-carved hilt of the Starhunter sword and the butterscotch eyes. Her blood ran cold, and the nutcracker fell from her hands. It had been sculpted in the likeness of Captain Legat.