A smile broke over Isabeau’s lovely face, like the deadly blooming of a poisonous flower.

“Excellent,” the Queen said, releasing her hand and standing. “Luckily for you, my music master Olwen is away for a fortnight, so I suppose I might as well give you one more chance. But you will not play anything while you’re like that. Your smell is too offensive. The next time I see you, I want you bathed and in proper attire. You may come to me this evening.”

The wave of relief that hit was so strong, Sid saw black spots dance in front of her eyes. Swaying, she murmured, “I apologize, your majesty, but—”

An edge entered Isabeau’s voice. “But—what—now?”

She simply didn’t have it in her to act servile any longer. Sitting back on her heels, Sid looked up at the Queen and said bluntly, “If you want me to play something for you tonight, I will do my very best, and all the passion of my heart will be in it. But if you give me at least until tomorrow, the music will be much, much better. My hands might be healed, but I’ve lost the conditioning in my fingers, and I haven’t played anything since before the injury.” Thinking back over everything her benefactor had said about Isabeau, she added, “You wouldn’t race a horse directly after it was hurt, would you? The horse couldn’t possibly win, and you would just injure it again.”

Comparing herself to an animal must have hit the right chord, because the irritation in Isabeau’s expression faded somewhat. “I suppose you have a point.”

Watching her carefully, Sid added, “Trust me, it will be worth the wait.”

“Oh, very well.” Isabeau raised one perfect blond eyebrow. “You have three days. I will expect something spectacular from you then, and if it isn’t, what was healed can be rebroken, and there’s always your cell waiting for you down below. Now, I’m done with this.” She snapped her fingers, and a plain-featured, elegantly dressed woman appeared. “Kallah, see this creature gets everything she needs and bring her to me on the evening of the third day.”

“Of course, your majesty,” Kallah murmured.

As Isabeau paused to glance at Sid one last time, a gleam entered her eyes. She added, “And cut off that dark hair. It offends me.”

Just when Sid thought she couldn’t be outraged or shocked any further, something else happened. Rage raced through her like a flash fire. As it passed, it left her shaking.

There was no reason whatsoever for Isabeau to have ordered her hair cut. It was a mean, petty cruelty, and a display of absolute power.

Gazing unblinkingly into the Queen’s eyes, she said mentally, After I play my heart out for you, I will find a way to destroy you. I don’t know when, and I certainly don’t know how. But I buried my mom and dad when they died in a plane crash. I graduated top of my class with a master’s in music from one of the most demanding and competitive schools in the world. I’m a successful musician, business woman, and multimillionaire, and if I could find a way to do all that, I can find a way to do this too.

The thought made her happy. She gave Isabeau a small, wry smile of acquiescence and bowed her head, while Kallah said, “As you wish. Come along, human.”

With every appearance of meekness, Sid did as she was told, and as she followed the Light Fae woman back indoors, she got the unsettling impression of the castle swallowing her whole.

Kallah led her through the immense maze, past the kitchens to an area where both the halls and rooms were rough, plain stone. She stopped at a small room at the end of a hallway. The Light Fae woman said, “These are the servants’ quarters, and this will be your room for the time being. Did you memorize the way we took to get here?”

“I think so,” Sid replied as she took in the details of the room.

There weren’t many. It was furnished with a narrow bed, a simple table with some kind of lamp, and what looked like a plain wardrobe. There was a small window as well, with a wooden shutter.

But the bed had a real mattress, the lamp itself was a miracle, and the window.

There would be light and fresh air. She felt the impulse to cry from sheer relief but reined it in. She refused to show any weakness to the composed, elegant woman who stood watching her so closely.

“Good,” Kallah said. “I don’t want to have to show you the way again. Follow me.”

She led Sid to the servants’ bathrooms and left her to wash. The rooms were clearly communal, with large pools and spouts of continually running water, so Sid did so quickly, dipping into a wooden bowl filled with soft, unscented soap to scrub her body, face, and hair.

She rinsed in cold water that poured out of one spout. It was icy cold and she was soon shivering, but she was in no mood to complain. She was truly clean for the first time since she could remember. Having nothing else, she used her dirty hoodie to dry off. She had just pulled on her jeans, T-shirt, and shoes when Kallah appeared again, carrying a thick pile of what looked like folded laundry.

She followed Kallah back to her room, and Kallah set her load on the bed. A pair of scissors lay on the top of the pile. “Here is bedding, a drying cloth for future baths, and clothes. You have two outfits, a dress, and a tunic and trousers. Look after these things and keep them clean. It’s easy to do, since the fabric has been spelled. All you need to do is rinse them.”

She raised her eyebrows, intrigued. “Does that include the blanket?”

“Yes. The water will run off the fabric and rinse away any dirt. If you ruin your blanket or your clothes, you’ll have to account for your things to the laundry mistress. She doesn’t take kindly to people who make unnecessary work for her, do you understand? And I won’t take it kindly if people come to me to complain about you.”

“I understand,” Sid told her.

Kallah assessed her with a cautious gaze. “Good. Now as soon as you change out of those horrible clothes, I’ll cut your hair. Then I’ll show you to the music hall so you can get started.”

Setting her jaw, Sid did as she was told. Both her new outfits were a nondescript brown, so she chose the dress and the leather slippers. She wasn’t quite sure how such a plain dress could be so ugly, but she couldn’t care less what it looked like. It was clean, and while the slippers were used, they fit well enough to stay on her feet.

When she folded up her dirty Earth outfit, surreptitiously she slipped her hand into her jeans pocket and scooped out her twenty-one pebbles. As she transferred them to the pocket of her dress, Kallah held her hands out. “Give me those clothes.”