“I’m fine. I just…” I shake my head to clear it. “Keda told me the Fyremas Festival is essentially his personal holiday. I’m beginning to understand why he is so beloved here.”
“It’s true, Fyremas has become something of a tribute to him. I’m sure it will pale in comparison to his wedding day.”
My eyes drop to the elegant rug by my feet. My pulse is suddenly pounding quite fast. “Is he to be married soon, then?”
When Carys doesn’t answer after a few excruciating seconds, I glance up to find her grinning at me again. “Why?” she probes, eyes twinkling. “Would you be bothered?”
“Of course not! It’s no business of mine.” My cheeks are aflame. “I’m not even sure why I asked.”
“I know precisely why you asked.” Peals of laughter spill from her lips. “Oh, you’ve gone bright red again. That was the last of my teasing, I promise. Besides, we should move on to more important business—finding you something exquisite to wear for Fyremas.” She thrusts out a hand and waggles her fingers. “Help me up, would you?”
Rising from the chaise, I eye her speculatively. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”
“Of course I know. I don’t do anything I don’t want to do. Just ask my husband.”
I snort.Poor Uther.
“I want to do this,” Carys declares adamantly. “Firstly, because I’m bored out of my skull. Secondly, because I heard all about Queen Vanora’s attempts to humble you at her banquet by dressing you like a servant. And thirdly, because nothing would give me greater pleasure than to undermine the royal dressmakers and their precious Stitch Guild, who traipse through this city as though their needles are made of solid gold and their patterns are drawn by the gods themselves.”
I snort again.
“Now, are you going to help me up? Or must I struggle to my feet like a fish on dry land?”
Grinning, I grasp her hand and help her up.
Carys and Iare fast friends.
After that first afternoon, visiting her shop becomes a daily ritual. Everyone at the palace is far too busy with Fyremas preparations to keep close watch over me. Even Teagan and Keda have been pulled into the fray, appearing only in the early morning to deliver my breakfast tray and at the very end of the night to drop off my dinner. I may be fully recovered, but not so much that I will brave the Great Hall on my own. I plan to keep taking meals in the tower for as long as I can get away with it.
If anyone questions me about my activities beyond the palace walls, I have the perfect excuse to return to the shop on High Street: Carys is gradually altering the dress we’ve chosen. Originally designed for a much taller woman, it needs all manner of hemming and tucking to fit my petite frame.
In truth, I would happily visit even without the alibi of alterations. I have never before had a proper friend. Carys is a decade older than me, but we get along like we shared a womb. She has a quick wit and sharp eyes, laughs often, and teases me mercilessly when the occasion suits her.
It suits her frequently.
At Uther’s insistence, she’s stopped taking on new couture commissions as her due date approaches. Without work to busy her hands or a constant stream of customers to keep her entertained, Carys is nearly as bored as I’ve been locked alone in my tower.
We pass our time chatting and sipping cups of herbal tea, either in the shop’s cozy sitting area or upstairs in the elegantly decorated living quarters. The apartments are small but homey, warm in all the ways the palace is cold. Carys’s taste is flawless,from the tapestries on the walls to the meticulously arranged antique furnishings to the lovingly decorated nursery she’s prepared for her child. I feel at ease there—more at ease than I have in many months.
In her calm, quick-to-smile presence, it is easy to share stories of my childhood in Seahaven. I tell her of Eli’s cottage with its lopsided shutters and sprawling gardens. Of my favorite beach, where the sand was so white it looked at times like Cimmerian snow. Of the Starlight Wood, a hallowed place of ancient power where the tree bark glowed even in darkness and the leaves were veined with silver. I even tell her of Tomas, my ill-fated summer romance, destined to end whether or not he survived the burning of my village.
In return, she tells me stories of her own formative years in Caeldera, growing up the daughter of a foot soldier and a seamstress, elevated to her current social standing through her marriage to Uther—who is, I learn, a distant relation to the royal family. Vanora’s cousin—albeit several times removed. Sometimes, she tells me stories about the Ember Guild’s many campaigns and conquests. She is careful not to harp overmuch on anything related to Penn. I think she can tell speaking of him only serves to upset, anger, or embarrass me.
I quickly become accustomed to our effortless camaraderie. Which is perhaps why on my fifth visit to High Street, when Carys leads me into the sitting area, I am stunned to see she has another guest already there sipping tea. Even before I see the crutches leaned against the chaise or the copper hair shining in the midday sun, I hear the warm boom of his voice shouting my nickname.
“Ace!”
Farley—left behind by all his friends in the Ember Guildwhile he recovers, and openly seething about it—is as desperate for company as me and Carys. Perhaps more so. Thus, we fold him into our daily ritual, our party of two becoming three. Soon to be four, given the dressmaker’s ever-expanding girth.
I eye her with a healer’s concern when she is not looking and cast silent prayers to the gods above that Uther is already homebound. She is carrying low. The babe will not come in weeks but mere days, if I have to wager.
“You look exhausted,” I tell her bluntly when she pulls open the door a week after our first meeting. I duck inside without preamble—it is raining hard, and the parcel I clutch beneath my cloak is in danger of getting drenched.
“Probably because I am.” Her face contorts in a mask of discomfort. There are deep circles beneath her eyes. “The babe has been kicking nonstop since yesterday afternoon. I didn’t get a lick of sleep.”
“You should rest. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
“Don’t you dare! I’ve not seen another living soul all day. Besides, I’m quite used to being tired. I doubt I’ve had a decent night’s sleep since Uther was promoted into the upper ranks.”