Chapter 31
Theo
Theo rapped upon Adelaide’s door. Immediately, he noticed the scandalous nature of her dress and threw his sister a disapproving glower.
Her intentions were likely to enrage their father, but Theo’s eyes were lured to Amaris swishing her dress before the mirror.
All matters of Adelaide’s dress left his mind.
Their eyes locked in the mirror, and Theo could have sworn his heart stopped.
She was beautiful. His instinct to suppress the feeling in his chest arose, but he compelled himself to allow it to grow.
His dagger was strapped to his belt, but his hand didn’t tremble or shift to grab the hilt.
No, a warmth spread through him. He even smiled back at her.
The kohl around her eyes enlightened their deep, oceanic color. In all his travels through the Nebulous Sea, he’d never seen a blue so incredibly enchanting.
Amaris strode toward him, hands swinging and brushing the bouncy fabric of her dress.
Tulle poured from her waist, wrapping her in an exhibition of elegance.
She exchanged his assessment as her eyes drifted over his own appearance, his golden waistcoat fashioned from silk imported from Soyenia and his navy frock coat.
But her eyes stopped on the brass buttons and the Fastrada crest etched into each one.
Before Theo could speak, Esaias stepped out from behind him. His cousin had chosen a dark-green frock coat with golden buttons and a crimson waistcoat to match the roses sewn into Amaris’s dress.
“Amaris, you’re breathtaking,” Esaias said, attempting to further deepen his voice.
Theo rolled his eyes. Nearly every woman sought Esaias’s affections, but not Amaris. The humor of it all was the only thing keeping him from dismissing his own escort and spending the evening with Amaris in the center of the ballroom. The last few hours he’d likely ever see her.
“I could punch you in the gut and further cease your efforts to breathe.” Amaris smirked.
The pang of never hearing another one of her quips would be unbearable. He’d gotten used to her jokes and the whistling laugh she belted through the echoing tower.
“You can put your hands anywhere you like.” Esaias’s smug grin was malicious.
“How in the realm did I get stuck with you? And green, really?” Amaris asked.
Esaias patted down his coat, as if assessing for tears or stains. “What’s wrong with green?”
“Nothing for you, apparently, but it washes me out.”
“I don’t think anything could wash out that beautiful face, but if you’re worried, I have this for you.”
Esaias pulled out a red mask with feathers accentuating the corners. Theo’s gut writhed as Esaias fixed the mask to her face, covering every bit of Amaris’s beauty. It hid the spiraling curls around her crown and shadowed her eyes.
“Can you tell it’s me?” She smiled, revealing the two things left to be desired, her rose-tinted lips and that single dimple.
“Hardly,” Theo said, fastening his own mask.
He’d elected for a partial one to cover only a quarter of his face, so as not to be mistaken.
If their plan was to work, he needed to be seen often and by many eyes during the event.
His father would look to him as the first suspect when Amaris turned up missing the next morning.
Esaias’s mask was a replica of Amaris’s, and Adelaide fastened on an angling black mask fashioned to appear fractured. Dark gemstones reflected around the single string of rubies depicting a line of blood slashing across her face.
“Does everyone know their part?” Theo asked.
Esaias sighed. “We’ve been over this plenty. I’ll take Amaris to her bedchamber to gather our bags and change at midnight.”
“I’ll prepare the boat and be ready for you,” Adelaide said.
“I’ll keep to one drink to keep up the part,” Amaris added.
“We all will,” Theo said. “One drink, but appear as though you never allow yourself to be without one. We must be careful if this is to work.”
Conjugations weren’t only a time to celebrate future lovebirds. Excessive liquor consumption was expected. If any of them declined a drink, speculation would arise instantly.
Esaias gripped his shoulder. “Everything will be all right. I’ll get Amaris safely to Duncaster, and I’ll be back well before Whitereign.”
He better be. The plummeting temperatures of Whitereign would halt most traveling, and the longer he was away, the more suspicion he would gather. He’d likely be home before mid-Crimsonreign, but Theo worried what would happen if anything went wrong.
“Shall we?” Esaias asked, extending his arm for Amaris.
She dropped her shoulders and groaned, but it was only an act as she took his arm and giggled. “We shall.”
It was a vast change from the woman Theo had met in the forest. She’d had a peevishness to her that had annoyed him more than Esaias’s snoring.
Her guard had been fortified, but this was the real Amaris.
She’d lowered her shields. He wanted to be grateful, but it was precisely what his father had asked of him.
He hadn’t spoken to his father since the day he’d lost control.
After Luther’s announcement of Amaris’s fate, an audience with his father wouldn’t have changed the outcome.
While he washed and dressed for the Conjugation, he’d battled with himself over whether he should’ve gone to his father and demanded Amaris’s freedom. It wouldn’t have done any good.
“Be sure to save a dance for me, Theo,” Adelaide shouted behind them. Theo smiled back at her, but she narrowed her eyes and mouthed, “Watch your back.”
Theo would, indeed, need to watch his back, Amaris’s, Esaias’s, even Adelaide’s, but their best opportunity to send Amaris to safety was tonight. The manor would be flooded with people, and the sentries would most certainly relax in their positions to partake in the celebrations.
As they walked the upstairs halls, Amaris and Esaias bickered behind him over whether he was allowed to kiss her to further deceive them.
The idea of sending them both away was not at all pleasing.
In fact, it sent a fury over Theo. He should’ve been the one going with her.
His father was punishing both him and Amaris for his actions.
His father may have tied their hands, but Theo had given him the rope.
An audible gulp stalled his strides at the edge of the grand staircase with the bustling laughter of the guests already reaching his ears. Theo glanced over his shoulder. “Are you alright?”
Amaris’s scarred knuckles drained of their color, gripping tighter to the sleeve of Esaias’s coat. “A little nervous,” she admitted with a wry smile, attempting to hide the shaking in her voice.
Theo stepped toward her. His hand hovered in the air before he placed it on her shoulder. The touch of his skin against hers through the lace was a warmth he wasn’t ready to let go of. “You’re hardly recognizable. This will work.”
It had to. His cheeks flushed at the straight-out lie he’d given her. To someone who didn’t know her, she was another passing local. But not to him. He’d be able to spot her from across the ballroom. Her chocolate-brown locks. Those deep-blue eyes. That single-dimple smile. All were Amaris.
She straightened her spine and raised her chin. “Let’s do this.”
Her assurance for herself not only carried her to the steps but lifted a weight from Theo’s shoulders. If Amaris could brave the single night of agony where a single slip of her mask would have her sent to the dungeons, then he could force himself to breathe.
They emerged from the shadows of the hall. Not a single spot wasn’t taken at the end of the staircase with people from all over Luana and parts of Godwin there to celebrate. The caravan had arrived a few days ago with the hoity-toity nobles of Eastbury, where Lord Godfrey resided.
Amaris’s hesitancy vanished as her eyes lit with wonder.
They descended the staircase, but she didn’t take notice of the gaping eyes glancing her way and trailing down the skirt of her gown.
Her eyes only found the garland decorating the walls, the lanterns dangling above her head, and the blood-red wildflowers littering every surface.
“It’s like a fairytale,” she whispered, “like some beautiful, magical fairytale.”
Theo refrained from rolling his eyes. It was hard to believe someone with her knowledge and skill believed in something like magic.
He hadn’t asked her about her beliefs, but on several occasions, he’d found a few books on mythology in the mystique tower.
If it was a new hobby, Pricilla was likely to blame.
“I imagine it’s more like a forest,” Theo said.
“The black tulle above us is the canopy of trees.” A canopy indeed, strung in waves from the coffered ceilings.
The dark color squashed any chance of a bright affair.
Shadows swirled in the corners with iron-caged lanterns and torches along the walls providing the only light.
Amaris turned and gave him a flat look. “So logical and—”
“Realistic,” Theo interrupted, giving her a smirk and arching a brow. He found himself regretting all the times he’d suppressed his laughter when she made a joke.
“I was going to say annoying, but fine, we can go with realistic.”
At the bottom of the staircase, a woman stood with tawny skin the color of a bronze sword. A golden dress hung off one shoulder and hugged her hips before draping into two slits. Her shoulder-length hair had a deep side part revealing silver eyes glowing back at Theo.
The Duchess of Ebonmaw ruled with a kind heart but cunning wit. Helen Canon had no doubt marked each exit and assessed the state of the sentries at the main doors. A dagger or two would be found somewhere under the tight-fitting fabric of her dress.
“Helen.” Theo smiled as the duchess cocked a hip and flashed a grin over the rim of her silver goblet. If anyone else hated titles any more than Theo, it was her.