Chapter 22
The Palace looms ahead, its spires gilded by the soft hues of sunrise. The guards at the gate straighten as Kaelzar and I approach on foot, leading our horse. Their expressions flicker between recognition and unease as they let us pass.
We walk in silence through the castle’s sprawling corridors. The familiar stone walls should bring comfort, but instead, they only remind me of how much has changed.
My thoughts drift to Ryker, and guilt flashes instinctively. But it flickers too fast, more habit than feeling.
I had loved him. Or I thought I did. I was supposed to work hard to make him forgive me, to believe me, to marry me. That had been my purpose.
But in the last few days, I have barely thought of him at all.
That realization should hurt. It should make me feel unmoored, lost. Instead, it just feels… quiet.
Kaelzar adjusts his stride, letting the space between us widen. He reads the thoughts on my face as if I was an open book. He always notices. And I’m unnerved by the fact that his awareness feels more certain than the love I used to swear by.
When we reach my rooms, I notice the absence of guards outside my door. Does Ryker finally trust me enough not to decay someone by accident? I push open the heavy wooden doors.
The receiving room is dim, the curtains drawn tightly against the morning light, casting the space in muted grays and soft shadows.
Just as I expect, Eva is slumped in one of the overstuffed chairs, her head propped against a fluffy pillow.
Her brown hair, usually styled with care, spills around her face in a wild, unruly mess. The silver ringlet is the only jewelry adorning her curls. Her lips part slightly as she sleeps, her chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.
She’s the kind of friend who would search every corner of the city if I went missing, only to settle stubbornly in my rooms for hours instead of returning to her own.
The type who stood on the balcony during The Rising of the Champions ceremony, her voice cutting through the quiet as she declared, You’ve got it while a temple full of nobility wished for my death.
The razor-sharp memory slices through me. My chest tightens, fear to let her down constricting my lungs. Before the sensation can settle, a steadying warmth presses against the small of my back.
Kaelzar’s hand. His touch is light, almost absentminded, but it radiates reassurance. I let myself breathe.
“This one is drooling on your pillows,” Kaelzar mutters, his tone low.
He gestures with his chin toward the couch, where Peonica sprawls beneath a thin blanket.
“You two have this in common. Are you sure you’re not related?
” He delivers it with a dry amusement, but something lingers beneath it, almost like curiosity. Or… longing.
He must miss his friends, I realize, making myself a silent vow to help him get them back no matter what.
I roll my eyes, the corner of my mouth twitching despite myself. I stomp toward the couch, where Peonica lies draped over the armrest, one arm dangling off the side as if she’s been dropped there like a sack of grain. The rest of her hidden beneath the cover she must have taken from my bed.
The sight of her in such an unceremonious position brings a swell of warmth to my chest. It’s a surprise to find her here, though I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting the girl who attaches herself to me like a fifth limb any chance she gets.
But seeing her here makes something settle inside me, as if the pieces of my life, the ones that truly matter, are finally together in one place.
I’m mid-step, reaching out to shove Peonica’s feet off the couch, when sudden movement from my left catches me entirely off guard.
“Ray!” Eva shrieks, launching herself across the room.
Before I can react, she slams into me with the force of a charging boar. Arms of iron wrap around me, locking me in place.
The impact sends us both toppling onto Peonica, whose half-asleep groan turns into a startled yelp as we collapse on top of her.
“What is—” Peonica sputters, jerking upright.
Her eyes land on me, and for a split second, all the humor drains from her face. She searches my expression, checking, assessing, before her shoulders drop in relief.
Eva squeezes me even tighter. “You’re safe! You’re alive! I thought—” Her voice cracks, just for a moment, before she barrels on, smothering me in warmth.
“I’d be more alive if I weren’t being crushed,” I wheeze.
Peonica, still pinned awkwardly beneath us, glares up with bleary eyes. “Eva, I swear, if you’ve bruised my spleen—” She pauses, sniffs theatrically. “And Ray, is that horse I smell on you?”
Kaelzar’s low chuckle drifts from the doorway, where he leans casually against the frame, arms crossed. “I had to ride with the smell all night.”
“Not helpful!” I snap, finally wriggling free enough to sit up. My blanket hangs lopsidedly off one shoulder as I turn a sharp glare at him.
Eva, utterly unrepentant, pats my head like I’m a child in need of consolation.
“Don’t you dare indulge them,” I hiss, swatting her hand away.
But despite myself, my lips twitch with the beginnings of a smile. Peonica groans as she crawls off the couch, her cover trailing dramatically over one arm. She stands, stretches, then lets out a long, theatrical sigh.
“You survived that gods-awful challenge, then disappeared without a trace, leaving us to search for you for days. And just when we finally decide to get some sleep, you fall on my head in the rudest possible manner.” She crosses her arms, her gaze narrowing in mock exasperation.
“I just can’t decide if it’s admirable or infuriating. ”
Eva rolls her eyes as she stands.
I open my mouth to retort but catch Peonica’s half-hearted glare, softened by the faintest smirk. I can’t keep the warmth from my gaze as I look between my two friends. For all the chaos, all the complaints, I wouldn’t trade this messy, ridiculous camaraderie for anything.
Kaelzar clears his throat, straightening from the doorway. “If you three are finished wrestling,” he says, voice dry but laced with amusement, “perhaps we can move on to more pressing matters. Like—”
I cut him off with a pointed look as I stand, smoothing my own rumpled cover with deliberate care. “I think you’ve made enough demands in the last few days. The only pressing matters right now are a bath, food, and—” I glance at Eva, grinning. “Catching up on the latest gossip.”
Kaelzar’s mouth twitches in what might be the ghost of a smirk, but he says nothing. He studies the three of us for a long moment, then, as if deciding it’s easier to give up the argument than try to reason with us, steps back into the hall with a shake of his head.
Eva loops an arm through mine. “Oh, there’s plenty of gossip,” she says with a sly grin. “And don’t worry, we’re starting with you… as soon as you wash that horrible horse smell off.”
I groan, casting a glance at Peonica, who trails behind us muttering about rude awakenings as the two of them steer me toward the adjoining bath.
Warmth spreads through me as I sink into the bath, the heat melting away the tension in my limbs. The air is thick with steam, scented with lavender and bergamot. Safe. Familiar.
But the moment doesn’t last.
No sooner do I sink into the steaming bath than a knock startles me and the door creaks open a moment later. Peonica slips into the room, followed by Eva whose face is full of disapproval, as she tries to wrench something out of the younger girl’s hand.
“How long does the leisurely bath usually take?” Peonica asks, plopping onto the small sofa across from the tub. She’s holding something crumpled in her hands, and whatever it is, Eva is not amused. With an exasperated sigh, the older girl strides over to the basin and crosses her arms, glaring.
“I was almost eaten alive by a giant worm,” I say, eyeing them both. “One might say I deserve a leisurely bath. What is going on?”
Eva tsks. “She’s a menace, that’s what.”
I narrow my eyes at Peonica, my mind already conjuring the worst possible scenarios. Peonica sticks her tongue out at Eva and unrolls whatever it is in her hands. It’s a delicate piece of white silk. The moment I see the scandalous lace and barely-there straps, my stomach drops.
“What in all the gods’ names is that?”
Peonica runs her hand down its short length.
“Apparently, Eva picked it out specifically for your first time with Ryker. But now that…” she stumbles on her words, as if deciding to be more cautious but not sure how else to communicate.
“Since that’s not happening, she was going to get rid of it.
So I snatched it from her rooms and smuggled it here. ”
I stretch out my arm, and Peonica throws the garment to me. I turn it left, then right, blinking in disbelief as I try to picture myself wearing it in front of Ryker.
For a moment, a flicker of excitement and curiosity stirs, maybe even a thrill at the thought of how he might have reacted.
But it fades just as quickly, crushed beneath the quiet weight of knowing that scene will never play out.
I’m surprised by the calm that follows, the faint, unexpected relief that I’m not as shattered by that thought as I should be.
“Where would you even get something like this?” I say.
“I’ve got a whole drawer of them,” Eva says with a brazen shrug, entirely unashamed.
“Archer goes feral when I wear them. But in our prudish capital, it’s impossible to find a halfway decent seamstress for anything remotely scandalous.
So I found a dealer who imports them in from Maraneethos and sells them in the only place where questionable people sell nightgowns as transparent as their morals. Under the bridges of Bluerush River.”
My eyes widen. Eva? Under the bridges? That’s the filthiest black-market in the entire capital. I gape at her. “You’re shameless.”
Eva tosses me a towel. “Once I got married, I earned the right to be as shameless as I please.”