Chapter 26 Amaryllis
AMARYLLIS
Imake it back to the palace shortly before noon, and as I walk through the main doors, I’m greeted by a wave of bewildered guards and servants.
Their shocked faces don’t surprise me. After all, I have been missing for more than a day. But the words that come out of their mouths are a little unexpected…
Some servants are relieved to see me looking so well after my mysterious illness. Others insist that my new haircut is in fact fine and that I look just as lovely as usual. One guard even wished me his condolences for my deceased pet parrot.
When I finally get away from the crowd, I charge towards my bedchamber. I expected, at some point on my journey, to be accosted by a servant who’d whisk me away to Father. But anyone who passed me only dipped their heads and gave me another bizarre reason why they believed I was missing.
No one was angry, or betrayed, or hurt. And none of this made any sense at all until I pushed open my flower-decorated door and swung it shut behind me.
There, I catch sight of my third sister, lounging on my bed with her nose in one of my naughtiest books as she helps herself to a plate of biscuits.
Suddenly, all the bizarre rumours make sense.
“Care to explain why you’re in my room?” I call out to her.
“Ami!” Dahlia gasps, dropping my book as she bolts upright on the bed. “You’re back!”
Throwing my cloak over a chair, I collapse onto my chaise longue. “Yes, I’m back,” I say, settling into the soft fabric. “And I’m actually quite tired, so I’d really appreciate if you could—”
“Where in the realm have you been?” Dahlia charges over to me.
I yelp as she pulls me to my feet, shaking me like I’m possessed.
“You’ve been gone for two nights, Ami! Two whole nights!
” She folds her arms. “I saw you sneaking off, you know. At first I thought you’d run off to be with Prince Orion so I told your maids you were ill, but then both Father and Orion were looking for you yesterday, and Father almost came in here! So I had to make something else up!”
“Like my bird dying?” I narrow my eyes.
She grins cheekily. “I was put on the spot. I had to get creative. And that’s not even what I told Father.
” She brings up her hand to stifle a laugh.
“I told him that you were simply too in love with Orion! Poor Ami, too overwhelmed with emotion to speak to anyone without swooning, let alone leave her room. He looked quite pleased, actually. You ought to have been there.”
My lips flatten.
I suppose I should be grateful Dahlia was looking out for me. Things could be a lot worse for me right now. I could be being interrogated by Blossom and Camellia, or worse – Father. But still, ‘overwhelmed with love’? Just thinking about Orion makes me feel queasy.
“Oh, stop looking so miserable, Ami,” Dahlia scoffs, throwing her hands down.
“Look, I’m sorry for getting carried away with the excuses.
After a while, I just got bored and decided to have a little fun with it.
But hey, it’s not so bad! You can just pick the one you like most and blame the rest on me.
” She grins, and I can’t help but laugh a little.
“Thank you for covering for me,” I tell her. “I’ll admit it’s nice to not come home to a thousand questions.” Very nice, actually. An uninterrupted nap on my bed has never sounded so appealing.
“You’re welcome!” She nods. Then her smile turns into a sly grin. “But don’t think my services come for free.”
“What do you want?” I sigh, drifting over to my bed. “You want more romance books? Heather knows someone who gets them from the inner city.”
I hear Dahlia scoff as I flop onto my freshly cleaned sheets. “I don’t need any more of those. If I want romance, there are plenty of men in the palace.”
I’d shoot her a warning look, but I’m too tired to care. Instead, I edge my way up to the pillows and sprawl out over my bed.
“More chocolate then?” I offer, my voice tired. “I probably have some in here somewhere.”
“I’ve eaten that already.”
This time, I do shoot her a scowl.
“I want answers, Ami,” Dahlia throws herself onto my bed. “You were gone for ages. Where were you?”
My chest tightens. I can’t tell her. Even if I wanted to, it’s too risky. If anyone were to find out about last night, or even just the whorehouse… All it would take is one slip-up on her part and my reputation would be ruined.
“Ami?” Dahlia prompts, her tone soft. “What is it? Did something bad happen to you?”
“No!” I snap, but then Orion’s green eyes flash through my mind. “Oh, I don’t know.” I roll onto my side.
Dahlia rubs the bare skin of my arm in a soothing motion. “If something bad happened, you can tell me,” she says, for once not a hint of snark in her voice. “I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to. I swear on the Stars.”
Tears blur my vision. “Last night wasn’t bad.” I need to stop. I cannot tell her. No one can know.
“Ami.” Dahlia meets my puffy eyes, unblinking. “Did you go back to the Scorpion?”
My heart lurches. “Of course not,” I stutter, but the words come out all wrong and breathy.
“Oh my Stars, you did go back to him!” she squeals. “Did you kiss him?”
Much more than that… But my lips remain sealed.
“Tell me. Tell me. Please!” She kicks her legs against the sheets.
“Nothing happened between us,” I lie.
“So you did go and see him?” she squeals again, delighted.
“Oh, this is so scandalous! And exactly what I would do if I were in your shoes. I mean, Orion is handsome and all, but he’s no assassin.
” She giggles. “What was it like? Did he throw you against the wall? Stars, I’d love a man to throw me against the wall. ”
“Stop!” I bury my burning face into my bedsheets as Dahlia huffs.
“It’s too bad that Orion will probably propose today,” she continues. “At least if you weren’t marrying the prince so soon, then you could always keep going back there.”
“What?” My head springs up. “He’s proposing today?” Fear grips my throat.
“I assume so. I think he wanted to do it yesterday, but you were too in love with him, remember?” She chuckles, far too proud of herself.
Groaning, I slam my head against my pillow. “I can’t marry him, Dahlia. I have to refuse his proposal.”
Dahlia’s brow shoots up. “What? Why? Is it the assassin?” She grins mischievously. “Oh, Ami. Tell me you’re running away together! Can I come with you? Please.”
“I’m not running anywhere,” I say coldly. “I just cannot marry that prince.” A tear rolls down my cheek. I need to speak with Father as soon as possible. Surely he’d understand. I just need to let him know what Orion did in the gardens – or at least what he tried to do.
Dahlia watches me for a moment until the grin slips off her face.
“That’s why you left the palace!” she thinks aloud. “Something happened with Orion, didn’t it? That’s why you ran back to the Scorpion.”
My lower lip wobbles.
“Ami, tell me the truth,” she demands.
I can’t help but crumble. Like sour wine, the events of the past few days spill out from my lips.
Everything from my encounter with Orion in the gardens, to the whorehouse, to sneaking away from Kasimir’s townhouse earlier this morning.
Although I choose to leave out what exactly happened last night and how Kasimir took care of me in the whorehouse.
Dahlia might be the most accepting of my sisters, but she doesn’t need to hear that part of the story. That part is exclusively mine.
“Oh, Ami,” she whispers. Her tone is serious as she takes my hand. “I can’t believe you went through all that… And that prince. Ugh!” she scoffs. “He’s just as awful as Hugo!”
Hugging my pillow, I nod. “I never want to see Orion again.”
“I don’t blame you,” she snarls. “We can’t let him go through with his proposal.
After what he did, the last thing he deserves is to marry someone as lovely as you, even if you had been sampling all the suitors or whatever other pitiful excuse he gave.
” With a huff, she tosses her sleek hair over her shoulder.
“I bet this whole virtue thing is just another way for men to control us anyway. I bet that they can’t even tell who’s ‘pure’ and who’s not.
” She wrinkles her nose. “Why do men get to have all the fun and we don’t? It’s just not fair!”
“It’s just the way it is,” I tell her. A part of me hopes she’s right, though. As long as I take the herb soon then there’s no way anyone could know about what happened last night. Right?
No one except for Kasimir and I…
Dahlia’s scowl deepens. “We need to tell Father about what Orion did to you in the gardens. He won’t let him stay after he hears. He’ll have him banished quicker than that foul prince can say the word ‘virtue’.”
Nodding, I sit up on my bed. “I’ll speak with him now. Do you know where he is?”
Dahlia winces. “Well… I do, but that’s sort of the reason I’ve been hiding in your chambers.”
“What?” I ask, confused.
“He’s in the grand hall with Orion,” she explains.
“Well, in fact, we’re all supposed to be there.
Orion brought gifts for everyone – new tutus, new shoes, more jewels than a girl could ever dream of.
Father’s over the moon, and even Blossom was acting all lovestruck.
” Dahlia snorts. “That’s why I was hiding up here.
It all made me feel a bit gross, really.
Everyone’s bowing down to Orion like he’s some sort of god. ”
The thought of my sisters being in the same room as him makes me shudder.
I knot my fingers into the bedsheets. “Right, well I must speak to Father straight away then.” Swallowing, I swing my legs off the bed.
“Wait,” Dahlia calls. “Are you sure you can do this? What if Orion tries to speak to you? After what he did…”
“I’ve already put this off long enough. This ends today.”
Dahlia glances around nervously. “Fine,” she decides, snatching up a final biscuit and shoving it into her mouth. “But I’m coming with you.”