chapter 3, part 2

After what felt like a very short period of time, Sylvia had finished the feast and was sitting with her hands folded across her swollen belly and looking at Greldedor, licking her lips and looking for all the world like the cat who’d snatched the songbird.

Greldedor had a strange, unreadable expression on her face. She noticed Maya looking at her and – much to the young mage’s surprise – looked away.

“Disappointed?” Sylvia said, still smirking. “I guess it’s another night before you get to feed your dragon.”

“Brightscale can take care of himself,” Greldedor said, standing up from the table. “It’s time for bed.”

Maya filed along behind Sylvia and followed by Greldedor, her mind a stew of strange thoughts. What was going on here?

Back in their cell, Sylvia flopped onto the bed and immediately undid her pants, letting her growing gut relax. She let out a noise of relief. “Whew,” she breathed out, rubbing her globe of a belly with both hands, “I didn’t want to let on to the old dog that I was at my limit, but by the gods am I glad that she didn’t come out with another course.”

Maya made herself look away from the spectacle before her. “You seemed to be enjoying it.”

She heard Sylvia sputter from behind her as she unbuttoned her shirt, preparing to change into her night clothes. She wondered if Greldedor would let them do laundry any time soon – while they’d been traveling she’d used a simple charm to keep their clothes clean, but without her staff, there wasn’t much she could do.

“I just figure,” the knight said slowly in a tone that Maya didn’t find at all convincing, “that if she thinks we’re enjoying it, maybe she’ll stop.”

“I figure,” Maya responded acidly, “that you’re a glutton who’s not really all that interested in escaping.”

She heard Sylvia stand up behind her. “How could you say that?”

Maya turned, her face suddenly hot. “I’m sure you’ve never eaten this well in your life, have you? You probably believe what she says about the queen treating all her subjects so poorly.”

Sylvia’s normally smiling face twisted into a frown. “Maybe I do! Not all of us have the luxury of growing up in the court as the queen’s bastard daughter.”

Maya didn’t let herself gasp, but she felt the strange feelings within her twist into something more familiar, more solid – anger. Yes, that she knew well. “I’m no daughter of the queen.”

“Oh, yes you are,” Sylvia said, her voice a more bitter version of her usual gently half-mocking tone. “It’s the most open secret in the capital. The young gifted mage who just happens to have everything given to her – the best training, the best opportunities. When you asked to be sent on this quest, everyone knew it would happen – it was just a question of who would be unlucky enough to be sent along with the queen’s little favorite.”

“If I’m the favorite,” Maya retorted, “then why was I sent out into the wilderness with only one escort? And a half-trained guard at that?”

“I don’t know!” Sylvia shook her head, clearly upset. “I haven’t known what was going on since I was chosen to accompany you. I was perfectly happy working as a castle guard. I didn’t cause anyone any problems. I don’t know why this is happening to me.”

Maya was quiet for a moment and she saw that the knight had actually begun to cry. “If you didn’t want to come,” she said, “why didn’t you just say no?”

Sylvia shook her head again – a repeated gesture, as if she was comforting herself more than anything else. “You can’t just say no to the queen.”

Maya came over and sat down next to Sylvia. After a while, the knight spoke again.

“So what if I like it?” She folded her arms over her chest. “You’re right. I’ve never gotten to eat this well and I probably never will again. If we succeed on our quest, I go back to being a guard and living on a guard’s rations, and if we don’t I go live on the farm again. It’s not going to stop me from helping you escape.”

Maya shifted slightly. “Are things really so bad for you?”

Sylvia was silent for a moment, then said, “When I was growing up the queen would take most of our harvest every year and we’d be left with the worst parts of it. I left to live in the city so I wouldn’t be a burden on my family, but things aren’t much better there. As a guard at least I get paid, but it’s hardly anything compared to the court, and it’s never enough to live on.”

“I suppose,” Maya started but then stopped. She let out a sigh. “I suppose, being part of the court my whole life, I never thought of it.”

Sylvia didn’t respond.

“The queen is my mother,” Maya said quietly, not looking at the other woman. “I know I’ve received special treatment for that. She’s never been close with me – she sent me away as soon as I was born – but she’s always made certain I was taken care of.”

There was another extended uncomfortable silence. Maya was wracking her brain for something – anything – to say when Sylvia suddenly broke the peace. “Is it true that your father is the king of Spestik?”

Maya let out a sputtering laugh. “What?”

“I mean,” Sylvia said, her face turning red, “you just… you look like you may be…”

“Like I’m from Spestik?”

“A little!”

Maya shook her head, still chuckling. “Is that what people say? I have no idea if that’s true or not, but maybe I should look into it. Do you think the Spestik court is hiring scrawny mages?”

“No idea, but maybe they could use a fat knight while they’re at it. A two-for-one deal.”

Maya let out a little laugh. The tension, thank the gods, was gone. “Why don’t we both get dressed for bed and get some sleep? We have a big day tomorrow.”

“Oh?”

Maya smiled. “I think I have a plan.”