When he set it in front of her she shrunk back. "Soak your hands in this," he said before taking the chair opposite.
The warm steam coming off the water was fragrant and relaxing and Calia gently eased her raw fingertips into it. The relief was almost immediate. Although the water was warm the burning in her fingers cooled and her exposed nerves stopped screaming. A little sigh of relief escaped her and Iago grinned.
"Sore?" he asked before lifting his tea cup.
Calia nodded, suddenly curious about this gentle man. While he was slight and had a childish grin, he also had deep crinkles around his eyes and there were streaks of silver in the mahogany colored hair that framed his face.
"Yes," she said quietly.
He nodded and sipped his tea. His mossy eyes twinkled and did not leave her face.
She squirmed in her chair. "Aren't you going to ask how it happened?"
"I can guess." A second cookie disappeared into his mouth.
The silence was uncomfortable and she struggled to fill it despite her constant fear. "You are the gardener?"
"At your service. My name is Iago." He gave a little flourish and she could not help the tiny smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"I am Calia."
"Lovely to meet you. I'd ask how you are, but again, I can guess. So let me ask, did you choose to come here or were you chosen?"
Something about the kind man made her want to open up to him. She deliberated for a moment then said, "I was chosen."
His eyes tightened with sympathy. "Why was that?"
Calia dropped her eyes to the bowl and stirred the crumbled herbs with her soothed fingertips. "I suppose they thought I would make a good servant for the king, seeing as I pretty much already was one to my mother." She fought to keep the rest of it back but it seemed her heart was already willing to trust the gentle gardener. "And because I am ugly. The other girls already had matches made for them."
Iago's eyebrows shot up. "Ugly? Whose opinion is that?"
"Well, everyone's, of course."
He leaned across the table towards her, taking in her face and hair before settling back on her eyes. "You aren't ugly, my dear. Do not listen to anyone who would say so, even yourself."
While Calia appreciated his kind words she knew they were false. She was the opposite of all the fair skinned, dark hair beauties she had grown up with. And while they were growing into shapely young women, she still had the body of a ten year old boy.
Iago cleared his throat. "Let's see those fingers."
The ends had lost some their fiery redness and they were much improved with the blood removed from under her ragged nails. The gardener dabbed at them with a small cloth soaked in tonic and rubbed an ointment over the open areas. All the pain was finally gone and Calia smiled with relief.
Iago packed his bag up and patted Calia's hand gently. "Come see me in the morning if you need more ointment."
She nodded and watched him leave. Loneliness and fear rushed back in his absence, as well as uncertainty. Was she to wait for someone else? Go to sleep? Was she allowed to sleep in the bed?
Anxious again, she paced the room, looking blankly over the details. It was decorated in the same icy tones as the rest of the castle, something she felt she was soon going to grow tired of.
Another knock came at the door and Abelina poked her head in. "Still awake?" she asked with surprise.
"Am I supposed to sleep here?" Calia asked.
Abelina opened the door the rest of the way and came in. "Of course, dear. I know it must feel confusing but this room and everything in it are yours. It may not seem so right now, but the king really is very kind. He provides well for all of us." There was unmistakable warmth in her voice and it repulsed Calia. "In the morning, after you've made yourself presentable, come down to the kitchen for breakfast. Then the king will see you."
Abelina ducked back out the door before Calia could ask where the kitchen was. She could have fretted over that but for the first time in days something overshadowed her anxiety. Fatigue.
So she pulled back the heavy covers and crawled into the soft bed. Never had she had such soft comforts and it was only a moment after she rested her head on the feather pillow that she fell asleep.
When the sun woke her in the morning she rolled and stretched in the softness and warmth, letting the light wash over her. It dazzled her eyes when she opened them and for a moment was lost in her surroundings and mind. Then it all came back.
Calia dove back under the covers, wishing it to be a dream, a nightmare. She did not want to be in this lovely room. She did not want to see the Cold King again. She did not want to wake up each day and greet it with fear.
But neither did she want him to come in to her room and tear the covers back to demand an explanation of why she was shirking her new duties. So with all her courage tightly gathered, she left her warm haven and ducked into the bathing room to make herself as presentable as possible.
Calia did the best she could but still found her reflection in the mirror disappointing. Perhaps more disappointing than that was the fact she could not find her clothes anywhere. Not that she truly wanted to put them back on.
A large dark wardrobe took up a corner of the sleeping chamber and she eyed it curiously. Surely it could not be filled with clothes just for her. Pulling open the heavy doors revealed several dresses and a few shallow drawers lining the bottom. A charcoal grey dress caught her eye and she pulled it out. It would be loose but everything was always loose on her.
She did her best to make her dress flattering and to fix her hair in a pleasant way but finally gave up and forced herself into the hall. Across from her room was a giant set of elegantly carved double doors. They were accented with gold and silver and shone in the light that filtered down from a window curiously placed in the ceiling.
Both ends of the hall were identical but she could very faintly smell bacon cooking and followed her nose. She met no one else in the wide, empty corridors. All the fancy artwork seemed to sneer down at her. The light reflecting off the white marble floors stung her eyes and she began to realize she might hate the castle as much as she hated its king.
Her footsteps slowed but she continued to follow the delicious smell. As it intensified she began to make out voices.
"I wish you wouldn't make it so crispy," someone whined.
Calia turned a corner and found herself in a vast kitchen. It was warm and airy and not nearly as blindingly bright as everywhere else she had seen.
The young man who had brought the table and chairs down to her cell sat at a long table while the dark haired man who had brought the trays down stood opposite of him and chopped vegetables. Calia struggled to remember his name, struggled to find a way she could just walk into the room and introduce herself.
He looked up as she hesitated at the doorway and he gave a warm smile. "Good morning."
The lithe young man turned around and snarkily looked her up and down.
"Good morning," she mumbled.
"Abelina said you would be coming down this morning. Are you hungry?" He waved her over and pointed at a seat next to the other man.
She sat and endured his scrutiny. His gaze was disinterested but almost angry.
"I am Calia," she finally said, hoping to break his unnerving glare.
She waited for him to respond but he just turned his attention back to the cook, who rolled his eyes. "I am Cato, this is Jos. Don't pay him any mind. It isn't personal, he hates everyone."
Calia's eyes widened and she turned her head a fraction to gage Jos's reaction. He was grinning and winked at the cook. "Not everyone."
Cato rolled his eyes again. "You do not have to compliment me, I'll still feed you." He loaded two plates up with warm croissants and thick cream with fruit.
Jos dug in eagerly but Calia paused with her fork over her food. Cato glanced up from his cooking and noticed. "Eat up, the king will want to see you this morning."
That killed her appetite but she ate anyway, needing all the strength she could muster to see him again. While she forced the food down she watched Cato work. She had always done the cooking for her family and was beginning to realize how terrible she must have been at it. He chopped vegetables so fast his hand blurred and perfectly shaped, uniformly sized pieces fell behind the blade. Everything was scooped up and dumped into a kettle and Cato pulled seasoning jars down without even looking at them and sprinkled them right over it all. Calia had always needed to measure everything and even then, everything she made was either under or over seasoned.