Chapter 32 Odessa #2
He didn’t recognize me, either. Yes, my clothes were plain and my hair was red instead of dyed brown. But this man should know my face. At the very least, my eyes.
Except there wasn’t a hint of recognition. None. He stared through me, not at me.
I was the princess they’d already forgotten.
It hurt more than it should.
Footsteps sounded behind me, and I felt him before I saw him. Ransom took one look at the guard’s hand clamped around my elbow, and his face turned murderous. “If you want to keep that hand, let her go. Now.”
The guard gulped and released my arm.
“This is how you treat the future queen of Turah?” Ransom sneered.
The guard blinked. Then his hand was gone, his eyes panicked and wide as he looked to Ransom, then me, and back to Ransom. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—”
“Just take me to my father.” I cut off his apology, not wanting to hear it.
“Of course, Princess.” He bowed at the waist, then led us through the castle.
Ransom walked at my side while Brother Dime and the Mavins fell in line behind us.
Music filtered through the halls as we approached the throne room. As the hum of laughter and conversation swelled, Evie’s hold on my hand tightened.
“Highness.” The guard bowed again and swept out an arm for us to enter the room.
The last time Ransom and I were in this room together, my entire life flipped on its head.
I just hadn’t realized at the time that I’d been living upside down.
Ransom and I shared a look as we stood on the outskirts of a crush. The corner of his mouth tugged into that handsome smirk, like he was remembering that day, too.
The party was at its peak, the throne room crowded with guests wearing fine coats and bejeweled gowns. Servants with trays of wine goblets milled around the room as people laughed and gossiped. The room was drunk.
Two women my age, both noble daughters I’d known since my childhood, stood nearby, whispering to each other as they pointed and leered at people in the crowd. A young man was making lewd gestures toward a woman with her back turned.
Gods. No wonder I’d never enjoyed these parties.
Maybe if we were quick, we’d be able to sneak through the crush unnoticed.
A bald man walked by, smiling as he passed. That smile fell as he did a double take at Ransom. “Y-you’re the Guardian.”
So much for going unnoticed.
Ransom gave the man a deathly glare, but the damage was done.
The whispers started instantly.
That’s the Guardian.
Are those Mavins?
Who is she?
The very last thing I wanted was for these people to see me like this, weary and worn.
Even if they didn’t recognize me as the princess.
The urge to duck my chin, to hide behind a curtain of my hair, was tempting, but I held my chin high as I stepped into the throng, holding Evie close as we plowed through the crowd toward the front of the room.
Father sat on his throne, staring toward the windows and into the night. One of his ankles was kicked up over his knee. He held a goblet of wine in one hand as the fingers on his other drummed on the chair’s golden arm. He looked bored. He looked tired. He looked lonely.
Where was Margot? The chair beside Father’s was empty.
The noise in the room lessened, even the musicians quieting their merry tune as we arrived at the bottom of the dais.
Father tore his eyes from the glass, his gaze landing on me first. He stood so fast the wine in his goblet sloshed over its edge and onto his hand. A smile pulled at his mouth, his eyes blinking me into focus. He took a hurried step, like he was going to break into a run and haul me into his arms.
Then he blinked again, and it was like a wall slammed down between us. The joy on his face disappeared. The smile vanished. His caramel eyes hardened.
I’d missed my father when I left for Turah, though not often and not much.
Now I remembered why.
He looked over everyone’s heads to the doors and snapped his fingers, only once. “Out.”
It didn’t take long for the music to cease entirely. The crowd stilled as partygoers shared worried glances.
But my father was not one to repeat himself.
People began to shuffle toward the doors, spilling into the hallway.
Only when the room was empty did he move. He walked across the dais and down its stairs to greet not me but the Voster. “Brother Dime. Welcome.”
The priest clasped his hands in front of his robes. “I will retire to my quarters. We will meet in the morning.”
“Of course,” Father said as the Voster turned and swept out of the room on silent feet.
When he was gone, Father still didn’t meet my eyes. Instead, he leveled his gaze at Ransom and the silver circlet on his brow.
Ignoring me only ignited Ransom’s rage. Anger pulsed off his body in waves.
Or maybe that was my fury, boiling to the surface.
I wasn’t going to be ignored. I wasn’t going to be overlooked.
“Father, this is Thora and Jodhi.” I held out my free hand toward the Mavins. “They saved my life. As did a number of others. Please find rooms for them both and arrange for twelve thousand zillahs to be delivered to them before dawn.”
Finally, I got his attention.
He looked to me, eyebrows slowly rising. “Odessa, I will speak with you in a moment.”
“No. You will speak to me now.” My voice came out too loud, too high-pitched.
Evie shied closer to my leg, and Faze let out a growl as he poked his head from the carrier.
I took a calming breath as Father’s attention dropped to my tarkin. “And you will pay them now.”
His eyes narrowed as he regarded me, like I was a stranger in his castle. But Father would learn soon enough.
The princess who’d left Quentis, the woman he’d sent to Turah to spy and assassinate the Guardian, was not the daughter who had returned.
Ransom’s chuckle filled the room. “King Cross, let me introduce you to my queen.”