Senan’s brow furrows as he brushes my hair away from my face. “It was a joke, Allette. How many times must I tell you that you have nothing to worry about?”
“A hundred times? A thousand?”
His forehead falls against mine, his eyes softening. “How about this? To show my eternal devotion to you and you alone, I will not speak so much as a word to the princess or anyone else.”
As if that is possible when the man can barely go five minutes without a teasing comment. “You expect me to believe that you’re going to remain silent for two whole weeks?”
Senan pretends to lock his lips and press an invisible “key” into my palm.
“Senan, be serious.”
Pointing to his pinched lips, he mumbles deep in his throat.
“Your brother will kill you.”
He grins and shrugs, mouthing, “I love you,” before easing open the door and stepping backward into the hallway.
The moment the door clicks closed, the tears come as they always do, and I drift into the adjoining bedchamber to sink onto the bed and wait.
From this part of town, it will take Senan fifteen minutes to reach the bone-white turrets of Kumulus Castle.
My prince doesn’t like to speak of his life there, but I’ve heard the interior is as grand and decadent as the exterior. The exactopposite of this inn that smells of mold, aged fabric, and gentle decay.
When I tuck my cold hands into the pockets of my leather leggings, a folded scrap of paper brushes my fingertips. The note Senan had delivered to my balcony telling me when to meet him. I told Aunt Marjory that I wasn’t feeling well and wanted to lie down for a few hours. Although she grumbled about how lazy my generation is, she didn’t reprimand me too harshly.
She never had any children of her own, so when my parents passed three years ago, and I arrived on her doorstep, she hadn’t known what to do with me. Which was how I ended up at the prestigious Aurora Academy—an all-girl boarding school for wealthy Scathian families living in and around Kumulus City.
Stars, that seems like so long ago.
I miss my parents more than words can describe. Already, I’ve forgotten their voices. People we’ve loved and lost may exist forever in our memories, but even memories fade.
Senan is going to forget you too.
I give myself a mental shake.
No more melancholy for today.
Today is for celebration.
Figuring the coast surely must be clear by now, I slip my key into my pocket and head into the hallway. The stairs groan beneath me as I descend into a bustling room where men and women laugh over pints of amber and plates of what smells like boiled cabbage. I keep my head down, avoiding the innkeeper’s leering gaze where he waits next to the door. I imagine he must have made a connection between the prince and I and what he must think of me.
It’s a good thing I don’t care.
Two
ALLETTE
My boots meetthe balcony outside my bedroom at the same time I hear my name hissed from the balcony below.
“Lady Marjory has been looking for you!” my friend Wynn calls up to me, exasperation infecting her tone.
Of all the days for my aunt to seek me out.
I hurry inside, past my unmade bed, to the door. Perhaps Aunt Marjory won’t realize?—
My great-aunt waits on the other side, sea-foam-green eyes narrowed behind the thick glasses perched on the end of her hooked nose. Her white hair has been pinned back so tight, I swear it smooths away some of the deep wrinkles across her forehead. “I sent that useless maid to find you ages ago. Where have you been?”
Wynn appears from behind the door leading to the central staircase. Her cheeks are probably flushed—not that I can see them from behind the mask and hood all household servants are required to wear.