Chapter 7 Amaryllis
AMARYLLIS
Ididn’t make it to breakfast the following morning.
Dismissing the servants as soon as they arrived, I spent far too long dressing myself in a simple, amethyst-dyed gown and fussing with my messy hair before I finally left my bedchamber.
After the events of last night, I just couldn’t face anyone. My reputation might still be clean, but I certainly don’t feel it. He touched me. Pinned me against the wall. I felt his manhood pressing into my stomach. And yet, a part of me liked it.
‘I’ll break you, Ruby.’
‘You won’t be able to walk once I’m done with you.’
“Ami?”
With a start, I’m jerked out of my daydream and the book I was holding crashes to the floor of the palace library.
“What? Who’s there?” I whip my head around. All I can see are tall bookshelves and a huge, lit fireplace crackling away, warming the small reading alcove with its golden glow.
“It’s me!” the voice calls again.
I jolt in surprise to see Fern, sitting less than a metre away in a chair that I’m certain was empty before.
“Fern?” I gasp. “How did you get there so quickly? Where were you hiding?”
Fern scowls, shoving the book she’s holding into her lap. “Why does everyone keep acting like I’m invisible? I’ve been here since you arrived.”
I blink in confusion. There’s no way. Surely I would’ve noticed her…
Rolling her pale eyes, she continues, “I didn’t say hello when you got here because you looked so out of it. I thought you just wanted some peace to read, and I understand. I need space sometimes too. But it’s been half an hour, and you haven’t even turned the page. Is something wrong?”
My heart sinks. Yes, there’s something wrong. But I can’t speak to Fern about it – she’ll never look at me the same way again. Besides, I’m the eldest daughter. I’m the one who’s supposed to solve the problems, not unload them onto my younger sisters.
“I’m fine, just tired,” I lie.
Fern shoots me a look. “If you don’t want to talk to me about it, at least talk to someone else.
” She props her feet up onto her chair and opens the book in her lap.
“Dahlia was looking for you this morning. She’s probably out at the stables.
I’d go and speak to her if I were you. You know what she’s like if she doesn’t get her way. ”
I scowl. Out of all my sisters, Dahlia is the one I’d least like to see right now.
But Fern is right: if I don’t go and find her, she’ll only corner me at dinner, and I’d rather not deal with whatever interrogation she’s prepared for me in front of Father.
So, with a reluctant exhale, I heave myself out of my seat and exit the library.
My feet ache by the time I reach the palace stables. Built far from the main palace, the little stone-walled building, decorated with flags bearing my family’s crest, stands out against the curtain of forest behind it.
The same forest I snuck out to four nights ago to reach Night Alley.
My sisters and I aren’t allowed in the woods. Technically we’re not even supposed to be in the stables, but that never seemed to stop Dahlia.
As I make my way under the entrance arch, I’m not surprised to see her with her hair tied back, dressed in a muddy red gown and scrubbing furiously at a horse’s flank with a grooming brush.
If our garden dance circle is my escape from royal life, then the palace stables are hers.
And I think everyone is more than happy to give her that escape, including Father.
“Dahlia?” I call out, picking up my skirts and weaving through the hay bales.
Her head pops up and she grins mischievously. “Amaryllis… my most favourite sister.”
“I heard you were looking for me. What do you need?” I ask, throwing myself down onto a hay bale.
She chuckles. “Perhaps I just want to spend more time with my loving sister?” She swipes the brush over the horse, sending a cloud of dust into the air.
“Or maybe I seem to be the only one who’s noticed how weird you’ve been acting lately.
” She glances at me, her black hair sparkling in the golden light of the stable.
“You haven’t been speaking much at meals, and then you missed breakfast today.
What’s happened? What didn’t you tell us when you came back from Night Alley? ”
“Nothing,” I reply a little too quickly.
“Liar,” she sings. “Did you meet someone? Or did you go somewhere you weren’t supposed to? Did you sneak into a tavern?” She gasps, clapping her hands.
Each question leaves me feeling more flustered than the last, but the huge grin on Dahlia’s face tells me that’s exactly why she’s asking them.
“What about the Scorpion?” she continues, leaning across her horse’s back and studying me. “Was he terribly handsome? Is that why you’re so nervous? Are you dreaming about him?” She bats her eyes mockingly.
“No!” I scoff, but the growing blush on my cheeks betrays me.
“Stars above!” Dahlia explodes with laughter.
“It is him, isn’t it? I knew you were hiding something!
” She tosses her grooming brush to the floor and pulls up a bale of hay to sit beside me.
“You have to tell me everything. How did you find him? What was he like? Did you…” She swings a hand up to her face, giggling. “Did you kiss him?”
Heat floods my cheeks. “Dahlia, stop! No! I didn’t kiss anyone. That would be, ugh, no. The shame alone would kill me.”
“Why?” Dahlia shrugs. “I’ve kissed guards before. Plenty. If you find the right one, it can actually be quite pleasant.”
My jaw almost hits the floor. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”
If Father were to find out…
Dahlia snorts. “You’re too uptight, Ami. But I don’t want to talk about me any more. I want to hear all about him! Go on, tell me!”
A shiver runs down to my toes. I shouldn’t be speaking to anyone about this.
My sisters know that the Scorpion is helping us, and that’s all that matters.
But it’s clear from the way Dahlia is grinning at me that if I don’t tell her the truth, her imagination will run wild, and I can’t bear the thought of the stories she’ll think up.
Besides, I haven’t actually done anything wrong. It was technically him who leapt onto me last night.
With a heavy sigh, I spill the entire story. Dahlia listens to everything, squealing and giggling like a child the whole way through – despite her only being two years younger than me.
When I’m finally finished, Dahlia smiles wider than I’ve ever seen before.
“I can’t believe you met a real assassin,” she squeals giddily. “And not only that, but you let him into your bedchamber. Scandalous!”
“I didn’t let him in, he just wandered in through the window.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Dahlia chuckles. “But in all seriousness, when are you seeing him again?”
I scoff, folding my arms. “Ideally only once more. As soon as he’s dealt with Hugo, I’ll pay him, and then he’ll be on his way home.”
Dahlia sighs. “You’re being foolish, y’know?” She shakes her head. “You have a chance for something real here. A sweep-you-off-your-feet sort of romance before Father comes along and finally forces you to marry some ugly old prince. Real romance, Ami!”
“I don’t know if what he did to me could be considered romantic.” I narrow my eyes.
The way he threw me against the wall was so rough, but then again, my body certainly seemed to enjoy parts of it – and the thought of certain parts of him. My cheeks burn again.
“No.” I stand up, slapping hay from my skirts. “He’s here to get rid of Hugo, and that’s all. He does his job ,and then we’re done.”
Dahlia rolls her eyes. “You’re wasting a perfect opportunity.” With a dramatic sigh, she sinks further into the hay bale. “But you know, if you’re really not interested, maybe you could direct him to my bedchamber the next time comes by?”
“Absolutely not!” I seethe, but Dahlia just shakes with laughter, almost falling from her seat.
“That’s what I thought,” she cackles.
Scowling, I spin away from my sister and march out of the stables.
This conversation has done nothing to calm the storm in my mind.
If anything, I’m even more confused than when I arrived, but it doesn’t matter.
I already know what I have to do. He deals with Hugo, I pay him, and then it’s goodbye forever.
Forever.