midnight.” No one could finish in that time frame. Would she burn everything in a fit of pique? “If you fail to complete your task, I’ll give you another. And do not think to shout for help. There is a spell around the cloth, preventing the escape of sound.”
As she sputtered, I slipped the satchel’s strap over her head.
“Hey! That’s mine.” Her nostrils flared as she grappled for the bag. “Give it back, Saxon. Now.”
“You have nothing until I say so, remember?” I held the bag so high she couldn’t reach it, even when she jumped.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Take my things, and I will punish you.”
Hadn’t she already?
My hatred resurged with a vengeance. “I’ve changed my mind, Princess. Finish cleaning the tent before sunset.” With that, I strode out of the tent, the satchel in hand.
I never looked back.
4
Grab a mop, grab a broom,
brush and clean away your gloom.
Ashleigh
He’d just left me here?
I should rejoice. The wicked warlord was gone. At least for a little while. On the inside, however, I remained a bundle of nerves and confusion.
The second the avian prince had wrapped his arms around me, I’d experienced a sense of true comfort. Comfort. From the source of my discomfort. How could it be? But then, how could it not be? It had felt like we were hugging. The first hug I’d received since my mother’s death. And how sad was that?
My shoulders wilted. He had an army at his disposal. I stood alone, always alone, the girl who would never be as good as her stepsister, who wasn’t worthy of meeting her stepmother, who hadn’t even known she had a new family until today. The girl whose own father had greeted her coldly. A princess in title only, still mockingly referred to as the Glass Princess. Mostly, I was Saxon’s enemy, doomed to endure his wrath for three weeks.
I needed a fairy godmother. But when had a fairy godmother ever come to save me?
Pitying yourself? Enough. So my life had gotten worse instead of better today? So what? Tomorrow, things would improve. I just had to clean this tent in an impossible amount of time, prove the sincerity of my apology to the avian prince who hated me, and make my father proud along the way. No big deal.
Wow. I’d really thought I was going to go a different way with my pep talk. I could only swallow a whimper as I swept my gaze around the tent. Never, in all my days, had I beheld such an awful mess. And I’d had to clean the Temple after every holiday and celebration.
Mud caked everything. Shattered glass and splintered wood littered the ground. Every piece of furniture and every potted plant had been overturned. A bed of fur lay in tangles, the covers in tatters. My only supplies? A bucket of water and a rag.
If I’d had a good, solid year before sunset, I could have done it.
Did Saxon want me to fail, just so he could make me suffer the consequences?
Devious avian. Well, too bad, so sad. I would give this cleaning everything I had. I would give each of his tasks everything I had. I might be weak physically, but I had book smarts and determination, both of which had helped me thrive at the Temple. With hard work and thought, I could overcome anything. Then, Saxon would have no excuse to lash out at me, and the monthly attacks would cease.
Oh, how wonderful. I’d just found the silver lining to my situation: outsmarting Saxon. And stopping the attacks, of course. So, I pasted on a happy smile because presentation mattered. The prince was absent, yes, but he might be watching me through some kind of magic mirror. I’d heard rumors about such things.
“What shall I do first?” I said, performing a little twirl for Saxon’s benefit, just in case. I thought...yes. I would start with an extraction and haul out the broken things, the clumps of mud—Whoa. Hang on. Did I really want to go outside where the avian soldiers waited? Trio was among them, and his glare had promised another stoning at his earliest convenience.
I shuddered. All right, new plan. Toss everything outside the tent, without ever actually leaving the tent. No problem.
Humming, I rigged the door flap to remain open, then hurled the first pieces of glass and wood through it.
Protests sounded outside, and I held my breath. One minute passed. Two. No one entered the tent to