CHAPTER TWO ISI
CHAPTER TWO
ISI
“Princess Amarissa.” The younger guard rushed forward, his hand moving to his sword hilt before dropping away. “We weren’t expecting… That is, no one informed us you’d be arriving today.”
“I sent no word ahead.” I kept my voice steady, though my heart slammed against my ribs. Pherin shifted beneath my hair, pressing against my neck.
The older guard bowed, his eyes tracking my movements with an odd look that made my skin prickle. “Welcome home, Your Highness.”
Home? The word tasted wrong, like I’d bitten into fruit and found it rotten.
The iron gates swung open with a groan. I’d heard that sound a thousand times, but today it felt like a cell door opening, one that would soon bang shut behind us. Pherin went perfectly still as if she too sensed we’d fallen into the mouth of something hungry.
I strode onto familiar ground that might as well be foreign soil, though everything looked the same as I’d left it.
The white stone walls gleamed in the afternoon sun.
Flowering vines cascaded from the upper terraces in carefully cultivated waterfalls of color.
Guards ran drills in the practice yard on my left.
Beautiful. Orderly. Suffocating.
My fingers trembled, and a vine on the nearest terrace wall curled tighter, thorns emerging where blossoms had been moments before. It took considerable will to tamp down my magic.
As I walked, I catalogued my surroundings, taking in subtle changes. Four guards stationed at the garden gate to my left, not the usual one. Someone in the front towers when, in the past, there had been none. Everyone wore more weapons than usual.
The castle felt like it was holding its breath, giving it a predatory feel, like I was walking across ice that cracked with each step.
Trew’s training was being put to good use.
“Always know your surroundings, Minx,” he’d say. “And never make assumptions.”
Three exits from the courtyard, not including the gate I’d entered through. Two side passages, one leading to the kitchens, another to the stables. And a servants’ entrance hidden behind a trellis of climbing roses.
The knowledge settled into my mind, a weapon being loaded.
A patrol rounded the corner ahead, four guards moving in tight formation, their eyes scanning the area.
Though it was more instinct than a true need to hide, I ducked behind a stone pillar, pressing my back against the cold marble. Pherin’s claws dug into my neck as my pulse thundered so loud I was certain they’d hear it echoing off the stone.
The footsteps came closer. I held my breath. One guard paused, his head tilting.
“You hear something?” he asked.
“No,” another said.
They kept moving.
“—increased the rotations since her body…” the first guard said as they passed. “Orders came down from the king himself. No one enters or leaves without his knowledge.”
Why such tight security?
After they’d moved on, I forced myself to count to ten before stepping out from behind the pillar, my legs unsteady.
Servants stopped to stare as I crossed the main courtyard on quick feet.
I must look like a disaster. Dirt-covered, exhausted, wearing pants and a too-large tunic instead of a court dress. My hair hung in a simple braid down my back, not the elaborate style expected of a princess.
But that wasn’t the only reason why they stared. I moved differently now. I’d learned to walk with purpose, to carry my height like a weapon rather than an embarrassment.
When I stepped inside, the castle’s interior wrapped around me in a familiar nightmare. Soaring ceilings. Polished floors that echoed every footstep. Tapestries depicting my family’s history, plus conquests and executions presented as triumphs.
My boots clicked on the stone, the sound bouncing off walls that felt too close despite the vast space.
Footsteps rang out behind me, and I turned to find a servant approaching, one of the senior stewards. He bowed low, his face carefully blank. “Your father requests your immediate presence in the throne room, Your Highness.”
“Of course.” I kept my voice level, though my mind raced. I’d expected this when I announced I was here at the gate. “Let me just change quickly and—”
“He was quite insistent that you come directly. Without delay.”
The cage door wasn’t only closing in around me. It had already locked.
Pherin fluffed her feathers, bristling at his tone. Bite leg.
You can’t. If we’re going to rescue Addie, we have to convince them we’re compliant and passive.
She grumbled but settled.
I followed the steward through corridors I knew by heart, each turn taking me deeper into the castle’s interior.
The throne room doors loomed ahead, twice my height and intricately carved. Guards flanked either side, their expressions unreadable beneath their helmets. They opened the doors, and I stepped into the room.
“Her Highness, Princess Amarissa of Caldrith Court,” the steward called out, his voice carrying through the vast space beyond.
The throne room stretched ahead of me, all polished marble and soaring columns. Light streamed through high windows, hitting the center of the room where I’d have to stand like a specimen under glass.
I strode forward until I stood in the light, my chin lifted.
My father sat on his throne elevated on a dais that forced everyone to look up at him. A deliberate design choice. Everything in this room existed to remind visitors of his power, his dominance, and his absolute control.
Guards stood at every door and window. Sixteen total, armed and positioned to prevent an attack or escape.
“Amarissa.” My father’s voice echoed through the chamber, warm and welcoming in a way that made my skin crawl. “My darling daughter.”
He rose from his throne, descending the steps with the grace of a predator, his formal robes of deep green trimmed with gold swirling around him. The crown on his head winked in the light.
I sank into a curtsy, bowing my head as he’d expect. The motion felt like I was dragging on old clothes that no longer fit.
“Father,” I said. “I’m glad to be home.”
He crossed the distance between us, and I had to fight every instinct that screamed at me to step back, to create space, to pull a blade and defend myself.
His hand cupped my cheek, tilting my face up to meet his gaze. The touch felt cold despite the warmth of his skin. Possessive rather than loving. I wanted to recoil, to jerk away from his fingers that gripped too tight.
Trew’s hands on my face had been careful and loving. His fingers had traced my features like I was someone worthy of love. When he’d tilted my chin up, it was to meet my eyes as an equal.
This felt like I was being examined. Owned. Shoved back into line.
“You look different.” My father’s eyes searched mine. “I can’t quite put my finger on why. The simple cluster life must’ve agreed with you.”
“It was enlightening, Father. The sisters were very kind.”
“Were they?” He released my face but caught my shoulders in a grip hard enough to bruise. “I was concerned when I learned you’d fled your guards en route to Noctvale Court. Such a dangerous choice, Amarissa. You could’ve been hurt. Taken by rebels. Or worse.”
“I’m sorry I worried you.” I kept my voice soft and contrite, everything a dutiful daughter should be. “I needed some time away to think.”
He released my shoulders to circle around me slowly, his footsteps reverberating in the room. “I’m surprised the cluster released you so quickly. The sisterhoods are usually quite possessive of their novices. They don’t typically let them leave after only a few weeks.”
My pulse throbbed in my throat. What if he didn’t believe me?
Lies tangled across my tongue. I swallowed them down, choosing words that bent but did not break. “I explained that I had duties here. Responsibilities to my court and my family.” I turned as he paced, keeping him in my line of sight. “They understood.”
“How very accommodating of them.” He completed his circle, coming to stand directly in front of me again.
The way he invaded the space around me felt deliberately suffocating.
“I sent riders to verify your location. To ensure you were safe. But the cluster nearest to where your guards last saw you claimed no knowledge of a Princess Amarissa seeking sanctuary.”
I kept my expression serene. “That’s strange. Perhaps they asked at the wrong cluster? There are several in that region.”
“That may be true.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Tell me, did you meet anyone interesting there?”
The air between us crackled with tension. Pherin pressed harder against my neck, her tiny body rigid.
“No one in particular. Father, I—”
“What is that?” His hand shot out, reaching for my neck.
I jerked back before I could stop myself.
His eyes narrowed, and I forced myself to stand still as his fingers pushed aside my hair, revealing Pherin’s small form tucked against my skin.
She peeped. Every line of her body screamed vulnerability, the perfect impression of a helpless creature rather than the devastating predator she could be.
“I found her injured on my journey here. She was dying. Once I’d nursed her back to health, she wouldn’t leave me.”
“So you brought it into my castle.”
“She likes me.” I met his gaze steadily. “You always said mercy was our court’s greatest virtue.”
Using his own words against him made my throat close off with fear.
He studied Pherin for a long moment, his expression unreadable.
Then he grunted, dismissing her. “A minxpip is a useless creature, but I suppose it’s harmless enough.
” He stepped back, putting a more appropriate distance between us, though his eyes never left my face.
“Why did you travel alone, without guards or protection?”
“It was the easiest way to travel quickly. I didn’t want to draw attention.” I clasped my hands in front of me. “The way was safe. We’ve traveled those roads many times.”
He laughed, the sound harsh in the vast room. “Nowhere is safe these days, daughter. Not with the rebel threat growing bolder all the time.”
Was that why he’d increased the guards?