Ravena stepped out of the chilled water and enveloped herself in a slightly damp towel. She drained the bathtub and changed into her new nightwear. If you could even call it new. Her Highness had offered her a low-paying job as lobster-keeper to the the palace. She’d been given her own room (small, but it overlooked the water gardens she tended) and a new wardrobe. Her new clothes were even shabbier than her own had been.
Her room was right over the kitchen, and she was fairly certain the vent from the grand oven channeled right into her window. Her room (and clothes and bed and everything else) usually smelled of char and roasted meat and, if the cook had burned something that evening, the air was rank with smoke. Her room had a worn feather bed and two small windows and it was sometimes warm enough to sleep. The Queen had offered her all these things and she had accepted, because something (perhaps the Queen’s vice grip on her shoulder) told her that she didn’t have much of a choice. Really, all of this was fine except she wasn’t allowed to set foot outside palace grounds. But that, too, was okay, because it was fine. Everything was just fine.
She opened her windows to let in the clean night air and blew out the candle that illuminated her modest canopy bed. There really was nothing to complain about here. She wasn’t allowed to eat at the table with the other servants, so she ate on the back steps. Thankfully, she never went hungry. Her work was rigorous and she had made a few acquaintances, but under the watchful eyes of the palace there was no room for socialization. She really didn’t have anyone to talk to; she’d even had to leave Maple in the care of Mr. Haven, to her great sadness. Though there were plenty of open stalls in the palace stables, the Queen had expressly forbidden her staff keeping personal pets. She certainly wasn’t sleeping well, and she missed Maple, and she pined for her old life and her father and the Thal she thought she knew and she wished she had more freedom… but there was no reason to complain. Everything was just fine.
She slipped in between her thin cotton sheets and sank into the downy mattress. Nothing was fine, was it? In the silence and the solitude, tears sprang to her eyes as they had every night since she’d started here, but tonight, she pushed them away. She hadn’t been allowing herself to think about Thal, but the evening breeze brought the fresh scent of the river wafting through her room, and she permitted her mind to drift with it. The evening everything changed—the arrest of the henchmen, her new job offer, and Thal’s grand sacrifice—had only occurred fourteen days ago. Could it really only be two weeks? It felt like months had passed. The Queen had led her back into the sitting room where she sat with Mr. Haven while her Highness’s steward draw up a working contract, and then left. She had not seen or heard from Queen Tressa since. She received all her orders from the Queen’s steward. The same steward who had been charged to ask Mr. Haven to retrieve her things and bring them back to the palace. It had all happened so quickly. She’d been settled in her new room the same night that Thal had been arrested and the door had shut behind her for good. And that’s when she’d wept. And wept, and wept, and wept.
She hadn’t even gotten to say a real ‘goodbye’ to Mr. Haven. He’d given her an enveloping hug and was escorted out rather quickly. Was he upset with her? She’d really done all she could to make amends, hadn’t she? She comforted herself in remembering that it had been late, and he had a wife and daughter waiting for him at home.
Home. This was her home now. And that’s when the tears returned. What kind of home was it without any of the people or things she loved? She supposed she could escape, but what good would that do? She would end up exactly where she’d began; poor, alone, scavenging for enough gold to make it another day. Even if she did make it past the guards, she couldn’t possibly end up in Mr. Haven’s debt again. And the Queen certainly wouldn’t let her run that easily. Her punishment had not been imprisonment like she’d expected. At least, she wasn’t in a dungeon. This room, this job, this life were all a type of prison she’d never considered. All things considered, this was what she deserved.
Her mind turned to Thal. His ship would set sail in the morning, and she would never see him again. Though she’d been trying to forget, in the back of her mind she’d been counting down the days until his ship left. The moon was visible right out her window tonight. She thought back to the night he’d almost confessed something to her. Could it have been that he would’ve told her the truth? That night, she’d hoped that his ‘I have…’ would become ‘I have feelings for you.’ That he would tell her he loved her. Now she found herself hoping he’d have told her everything. That he loved her, yes, but also that he’d lied and he was sorry and he wanted to spend his life with her. But he hadn’t told her any of that. None of that at all. Even if he had, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to trust him again. Eyes hot and burning from crying, she faded into sleep. By the time she awoke, Thal would be gone.
River of Glass is a lighthearted fantasy novelette about lies, loyalty, and the price of redemption, with a slow-burn romance beneath the current. This is a tonal departure from my usual work, written just for fun, and it will be shared here in eleven installments.
Chapter Ten coming on March 10th, 2026.
© Sophie Alexander, 2026. All rights reserved. Do not repost without permission.
