Chapter 43
ISI
Evening bled into my chambers in streaks of rose and gold, the sun slipping low enough to paint the stone with warmth. Torches flickered in the draft from the window, their light sliding over my gown strewn across the bed.
The air smelled faintly of citrus oil and the sharper tang of warmed metal from the curling tongs resting on my bureau.
Lexie didn’t knock so much as tap once before sweeping in like she’d been born to command rooms. She was already dressed in the yellow gown she’d mentioned, the one that spun her warm brown skin into gold and her eyes into molten honey.
A goblet of wine swung from her fingers, and she smiled like someone who knew a secret.
“Well,” she said, letting her gaze drift deliberately from my bare shoulders to my stockinged feet. I’d just gotten out of my bath, my damp hair hung down my back, and I wore only my sleepshirt shirt. “You’re about to cause an inter-court incident.”
I tilted my head. “I’m not even dressed.”
“That’s not what I meant.” She crossed to my bed and shifted my gown to the side before flopping onto the surface, somehow not spilling even a drop of wine. “You’ve got that look—half lethal to all the men and women in the ballroom, and half ready to bolt. People go wild for it.”
Before I could reply, Kerralyn arrived with her usual composure, balancing a small, polished box under one arm and a stack of books under the other. She also wore a gown, a gorgeous creation in soft rose that molded to her figure and brought out the color in her cheeks.
“I wasn’t going to attend,” she said, setting her books neatly on my desk. “But Lexie talked me into it.”
Lexie took a sip of wine, then toasted us both with it. “You think I’m letting you hide with your books while we dance until our feet ache? Besides, you said you wanted to learn some tricks with hair.”
Kerralyn reached up to touch where she’d bunched her hair up at her nape. “I do need help with this mess.”
“You’re also the only one besides me who can make Isi admit she wants the king to look at her tonight.”
Heat pricked my ears. “He’s going to look at everyone tonight. It’s a ball.”
And yet, a treacherous part of me whispered, you know the way his gaze finds you as if you’re the only one in the room.
I told that part of me to shut up, but it only grinned like it knew better.
“I’m sure he’ll scan the crowd,” Lexie said. “But not after he sees you.”
Kerralyn set the polished box on my desk and lifted the lid, exposing rows of jeweled hair combs and pins. I took a peek, admiring the ones with delicate leaves and blossoms, some tipped in green stones that matched my gown.
“I borrowed these from Nia,” she said.
My eyebrows shot up. “Nia doesn’t seem like the type to bother with her hair.”
“Which is why she’s happy to loan them,” Kerralyn said. “They were in her room when it was assigned to her. She happened to mention them when we…” Color rose into her face.
“When you what?” Lexie cast her a sly look.
Kerralyn huffed. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Lexie shook her head. “You can tell us.”
“It’s nothing. I just…like her. That’s all.”
“And does she like you too?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. Maybe?” Kerralyn bit down on her lower lip. “So tell me more about why the king will be paying so much attention to you. Or should I say more attention to you than the hawk-like way he watches you already.”
“Nice deflection,” Lexie said.
Kerralyn gave her a curtsy. “Thank you.” She turned back to me. “Don’t think I won’t keep pressing for an answer.”
“There’s not much going on between us.” Well, if you excluded a few kisses and a mutually satisfying grinding session. “We’re friends.”
“Friends don’t give each other private magical lessons.” Lexie nudged her head to where Pherin perched on my windowsill. She’d flown out the window during my bath, and since she hadn’t said goodbye, I wasn’t sure when I’d see her again. “Speaking of which, are you going to introduce us?”
“Pherin?” I called out. “Meet Lexie, who’s sitting on the bed, and Kerralyn.
My best friends.” Me. Best friends. Who would’ve thought?
Mia and I had been close, but she was my lady-in-waiting first and then a friend.
It wasn’t like she’d met me without knowing who I was first. Friendship could grow out of obligation, but this didn’t feel quite the same. “Kerralyn and Lexie? This is Pherin.”
Lexie slid off the bed and went over to Pherin, stooping down and cooing to the bird. “Aren’t you a gorgeous little minxpip?”
Pherin preened and sent me a sharp look along with something I interpreted to mean, you need to admire me more often or we’ll be in trouble.
“She’s amazing. Thanks to her, I can do this…” With a flick of my finger, I lifted my gown and drifted it over to me, feeling proud that I didn’t drop it or slam it into the wall beside my head.
“Ah, you can move objects?” Kerralyn pouted. “So far, other than simple tricks, my magic appears to be focused on remembering everything I read, plus being able to read new languages.”
“Those are handy skills,” I said. “How about you, Lex?”
“I’m not sure yet.” She frowned. “We’re still testing. I can move objects like you, but only small things. That’s handy in the dining hall, but a book would be too heavy.”
“No shutting doors,” I said.
She shook her head, and her face cleared. “Back to our gorgeous king.”
“He is pretty, isn’t he?” Kerralyn said in a dreamy voice.
“What about Nia?” I asked.
“She’s pretty too.”
Lexie and I shared a smile. “Let’s see if we can make you so gorgeous he’ll forget his own name.” She slid off the bed and helped me don my gown while Kerralyn fluffed the skirt.
Once I’d been laced up, they fell into an easy rhythm around me, with Lexie working a brush through my hair, Kerralyn holding the iron and then handing her various combs and pins from the box.
I couldn’t count the number of times someone had styled my hair and helped me look good for one occasion or another, but this felt different. Wonderful.
Once, Addie had curled my hair before a banquet, and we’d laughed about which lords would trip over themselves to get our attention. She’d leaned close, whispering that she’d rather be anywhere else, and I’d whispered back that we’d sneak away after dessert.
My throat tightened at the memory that hurt enough I had to blink.
Lexie caught my gaze in the mirror, and her teasing look softened. “Are you alright?”
I nodded. “Just…thinking.”
“Don’t do that,” she said briskly, winding another section of hair and securing it on the top of my head. “Tonight is about looking so dangerous the court can’t decide whether to kiss you or run.”
“Then let them run,” I said. “The ones who stay will be worth bleeding for.”
Kerralyn slid a pin into place. “It’s also about showing off alliances, people seeing who you stand with.”
“And who stands with you,” Lexie said.
The words caught somewhere deep, a place I’d kept locked since the night I lost my sister. I’d had friends before, but never the unspoken certainty that someone would be with me no matter what the night might bring.
I shut down all thoughts of Addie before they made me cry.
I’d loved my sister. I’d miss her forever. And I was going to make her murderer pay.
Just not tonight.
They worked until most of my hair had been pinned up, leaving soft curls spilling over my shoulders.
Kerralyn stepped back and nodded. “Alright. Let’s cinch up that gown a tiny bit more.” She gathered the laces and started tugging. “Breathe, though not too much.”
“Gorgeous,” Lexie said once Kerralyn had secured the ties.
I turned to the mirror, and my jaw dropped.
The gown hugged me in all the right places, the color making my skin look luminous, my eyes startlingly pale. The skirt spilled in a sweep of soft fabric, the gold thread catching the light until it shimmered like sunlight on water.
The last time I’d worn it, Trew’s fingers had brushed my wrist. He’d leaned close, keeping his voice low enough that only I could hear. “If you wear this again, I’ll have to start a war.”
I’d laughed then. I wasn’t laughing now.
Lexie let out a long whistle. “He’s going to combust.”
Kerralyn’s lips curved. “I hope the ballroom fire wards are in working order.”
Heat curled low in my belly. “What if he doesn’t even look my way?” I asked, trying for nonchalance.
Lexie’s look was pure disbelief. “He’ll notice. The question is whether he’ll survive the encounter.”
“Men have been felled by less,” Kerralyn said with a quiver of her lips.
Lexie drained the last of her wine, set the glass aside, and stood back to survey me critically. “Alright. Kerralyn’s turn.”
My friend blushed but sat, and Lexie and I styled her hair up on her head, leaving a few tendrils brushing her shoulders like me.
After, she stood in front of the mirror, swaying her dress, a big smile on her face. With a pivot, she gave us both hugs and we started for the door, Lexie stopping and turning back to face us.
“Final instructions for all of us,” she said. “Smile like you’re thinking about murdering someone.”
Kerralyn tilted her head. “Which, knowing you, you probably are.”
“Always, honey. Always.”
We burst into laughter.
“Actually,” Lexie said. “Smile like you mean it. Like you believe you’ll live forever and never lose those you love.”
I could tell she was thinking of Derren.
Addie for me, of course. And…
Alright, I wouldn’t want to lose Trew either. I’d said it, if only in my mind.
I liked him. A lot. Probably too much. He was the king of the rebels. Outlawed throughout the rest of the realm.
And I was falling…
No. I was not. I couldn’t love him.
We stepped into the corridor and linked arms, striding down the hall with our heels clicking and smiles on our faces.
Music drifted from the ballroom, weaving through the hum of voices and the scent of perfume and whatever they were serving for food. My pulse matched the beat of the music, every step bringing me closer to either my ruin or something far more exciting.
Somewhere down there, Trew might be watching the door for my arrival.