39
1 month later
“It can’t end like that!” Giselle said, throwing The Sailor’s Seduction onto the sofa. The heavy volume landed with a thunk.
Maddox sighed and fell back onto my rug. “We never find out if Carla and Antonio get away from the duke.”
I took a sip of tea. “I told you two not to read it.”
The three of us fell into companionable silence.
The past month had been painfully uneventful. Though I received a flood of invitations and calling cards for various teas and gatherings, I declined them all. They came from the very people who spurned me months before, including Mother’s former friends. I decided I was quite done with them.
Other than taking strolls and visiting our local witch-owned shops, Maddox and I fell back into our previous routine of doing absolutely nothing, though this time we did so in each other’s company. Giselle visited frequently after quitting her position on the witch committee .
“It’s too much pressure,” she said breezily when we asked her why. “Besides, I’ve always wanted to open my own dress emporium.”
Soon after, Giselle secured an empty shop at the corner of Delibera’s witch market. When she wasn’t there, she spent her time reading The Sailor’s Seduction over Maddox’s shoulder as the three of us lounged in my room. Misty and Pippin joined occasionally, the former looking more pregnant by the day.
Father didn’t seem to mind Maddox and me wasting our time. After learning that we single-handedly took down Celeste, he said we deserved a break. I only hoped it would be long enough for Maddox to find something else to do. Lady Vanessa and I were getting used to the lack of shouting matches in the abbey.
“You don’t need any help at your dress shop, do you?” Maddox asked, propping himself up on his elbows.
Giselle waved her hand. “No, no. I don’t plan on opening until Narcissa gets married.”
I nearly choked on my tea. “Why?”
“Once the people see the wedding gown I made for you, I’ll have plenty of customers.”
“You’re not working for the royals anymore, Giselle.” I set down my teacup and studied the lace on the curtains across the room. “Besides, the wedding is not guaranteed to happen.”
The thought used to hurt more, but I’ve had plenty of time to come to terms with it. It didn’t matter how unfair it was. It didn’t matter how my stomach fluttered at the scent of cedar. King Maximus was a stubborn man, and I didn’t want to hope if there was none.
Giselle made a noise. “The king has been locked up in his library for the entire month. I sincerely hope he’s rethinking his decisions.”
“Honestly. The engagement was his idea and now he won’t even let you see the crown prince.” Maddox sat up. “Plus, after everything I did, the least I deserve is an honorary medal,” he grumbled under his breath.
Giselle threw me a sidelong glance. “You know, if you ever need an invisibility tonic to sneak into Bennett’s—”
“For the third time, Giselle, no.” I folded my hands in my lap, wishing the conversation would turn elsewhere. I had long given up on seeing Bennett again before the year was up despite Misty’s increasingly impatient reminders about our agreement. And I certainly wasn’t going to attempt one of Giselle’s many unscrupulous plans.
She pouted. “But it would be so romantic.”
“Sneaking into someone’s room uninvited is the furthest thing from romantic,” Maddox interjected.
Giselle threw a tasseled cushion at him. “What do you know about romance?”
“More than you, evidently,” Maddox said, rubbing his head.
The two began bickering. They were too preoccupied with each other to notice that I had risen from the sofa. But before I could make a stealthy escape to the gardens, a knock came from the door.
Father poked his head in. “Cissa, you have a visitor,” he said. “It’s the king.”
I WRUNG MY SLEEVES as I followed Father down the hall. Daylight streamed in from our newly modified windows, now as large and grand as the ones in Huntington Abbey. But the cheerful lighting wasn’t nearly enough to quell my anxieties.
“What does His Majesty want?” I asked.
“He didn’t say.” Father furrowed his gray brows. When we stopped before the parlor door, he took my shoulders. “Cissa, I want you to know how proud I am of you.”
“Oh,” I said, startled at the sudden praise. “Thank you, Father.”
“No, truly. You were brave back in Alevine. Braver than I was. I hope Maximus can see that,” he said. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “And that his son will be happier with you.”
I was close to letting out a sigh of my own.
“Crown Prince Bennett inquired after you.”
The words sent a jolt through me. I tried not to let it show.
Though Father had spent the past month around King Maximus and thereby his son, I never dared to inquire after Bennett. I knew doing so would be asking him to be disloyal.
“Father, you don’t have to tell—”
“His Highness was worried sick. Wanted to know if you were all right after the episode you had that night,” he said. “I told him about your magic being taken and that you were doing fine now. I would’ve told him more if I could.”
I ached to ask after Bennett too, but Father couldn’t be passing messages between us—it would be inconsiderate to put him in that position.
Father patted me on the back and turned the knob. “Go on, now. I think you will find His Majesty in a merciful mood, albeit prickly. But if he does not grant your wishes, I’ll have the abbey surrounded until he does.” His expression was disturbingly serious when he left me to enter the parlor.
King Maximus didn’t look up at my entrance, but his face pinched at the sound of the door closing.
“Narcissa,” he said gruffly. He sat on a plump armchair with rose pink upholstery, examining the trim on the cushions Lady Vanessa had sewed on recently. “It’s been a while.”
I curtsied. “Did you need anything, Your Majesty?”
He sighed, setting down the cushion. “Your father and Lord Frederick have been singing your high praises for the past month. And that Giselle, when she stormed in my office to quit the witch committee. I suppose my son would have done the same if he bothered talking to me.”
I parted my lips, but King Maximus held up a hand.
“I know you did not send them,” he said. “I am merely here to tell you that Celeste has been tried and imprisoned. General Turner and Dominic as well. The riots have died down ever since I enforced the newest policies on witch-made items, as you predicted.”
“That is good to hear,” I said. I had seen the papers reporting that last week. I was glad my promise to Patrick last month hadn’t been false. Hopefully the stagehand was seeing the effects of the new laws.
King Maximus regarded the window. “As for Bennett, he is how he has always been. Quiet. I never realized how quiet. ”
“He’s not helping you draft laws?” I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.
“Helping is a generous word. He is acting more like a mute scribe than a crown prince,” the king said with a snort.
“Isn’t that what you wanted from him?”
King Maximus sucked in his cheeks. I was afraid I had overstepped my boundaries, but he slumped forward, looking older and more exhausted than I had ever seen him.
“I acknowledge my faults, Narcissa, but being king involves more challenges than you dare to imagine.”
I scuffed the carpet with my shoe. “If I may be so bold, Your Majesty?”
“By all means.”
“You’re paranoid.” Those were the same words Misty had told me so many months ago. “Your sons are not a threat to your throne.”
I recalled how Bennett and Prince Ash talked about working with the king, who evidently was used to having the final say on everything. Perhaps that was why Bennett learned to be soft-spoken—because he thought his voice didn’t matter.
“And neither was my former general, it turned out,” King Maximus said stiffly.
“It’s not your age,” I said quickly. He looked rather pathetic in the too-small armchair. “I only believe that Olderea will benefit from multiple rulers instead of one.”
“Bennett would tell me the same thing. If he would speak,” the king mumbled.
I cautiously sat in the seat across from him, unsure of the purpose of this conversation.
King Maximus sighed. “A banquet will take place next week to celebrate the completion of the tour. You are invited, obviously. ”
I stared. “Your Majesty?”
“You will see him then. I tire of his sulking and you seem to be the only solution.”
“The engagement—”
“Is still on. I have already told the press about the one-year delay so you cannot get married until then,” King Maximus said, standing from his seat.
I blinked rapidly. He truly loved his son if he was willing to make amends with me. Perhaps he wasn’t entirely like Mother after all.
King Maximus gave me a steely stare when he turned to go. “But mark my words, Narcissa. If my son becomes a lovesick buffoon in your presence again, I won’t be so forgiving.”
I returned to my room, numb. Maddox and Giselle stood at my entrance.
“What did he want?” Giselle asked.
I let go of the breath I was holding. “I can see Bennett again.”