The momentI arrive back at the castle, Boris is there waiting on the balcony outside his office, as if he knew I wouldn’t stay for the entire meeting. I don’t have it in me to speak with him—to speak with anyone. So I ignore his shout and fly right past. If I go to my room, he’ll only find me. I can’t go to the library or solar either—he’ll know to look there.
My gaze snags on a random balcony surrounding the north tower, where all the dignitaries and guests arriving from Nimbiss are staying.
I land on silent feet outside the guest parlor. Bilson remains in the air, no doubt anticipating me changing my mind. A few people I recognize from last night’s dinner mill around inside.I race through a gap in the sofas and around a tall table until I reach the hallway. Right or left?
Princess Leeri’s voice drifts from somewhere to the right.
Left it is.
A tickle starts in the back of my throat, and I have no choice but to cough to clear it, which of course threatens to give away my position.
The strangest sensation tightens my core, as if I’m being pulled by some invisible force. The closer I draw to the guest chambers, the stronger the pull becomes, until I reach a door that looks like every other door in the hallway and slip inside.
Twenty-One
ALLETTE
Clouds linger off the balcony,a cottony white carpet that looks thick enough to step onto. My body longs to soar toward the deep blue horizon to see where it ends. Instead, I remain planted on two feet.
With a resigned sigh, I turn toward a bed big enough for three people. Even though the bedding appears unused, I change it anyway, trading the sheets for fresh ones and swapping one white duvet cover for another, just like back in the human realm.
After adding the sheets to the bottom of the basket, I wipe down the surfaces with lemon-scented cleaner and check the fireplace for ashes. Rooms forty-one and forty-two are equally as clean.
The same cannot be said for forty-three. Brown-speckled feathers litter the white sheets. Sourness hangs in the air, as if someone has gotten sick. Sure enough, there is a vomit-splattered sink in the adjoining bathing room. Gagging behind my mask, I clean and scrub the chunks from the sink and some suspicious stains from the floor in front of the toilet.
After scooping the ash from the fireplace and resetting the tinder and a single log, I collect the soiled linen and add it to my basket.
From the position of the sun outside the tower, it looks to be past noon when I throw the last pillowcase into the basket of the final room. This sort of work feels familiar, satisfying even. And knowing I’ll earn a decent wage lifts my mood. At least it’ll occupy my time until I reach Senan.
I’m about to collect the dirty laundry when the strangest sensation comes over me, like someone has fisted the fabric of my dress and yanked me toward the main door. It’s so unexpected, I stumble forward, completely knocked off balance. A split second later, the main door eases open. I’m too far away from the servants’ entrance to slip inside unnoticed, so I press my back against the wall and pretend to be invisible.
When a tattooed hand curves around the door, my breath lodges in my throat. I know who that hand belongs to without even seeing his face.I can’t believe it. Senan—my mate—is coming into this room.
After all these years, fate has finally smiled upon me. I could’ve been anywhere in this castle, and yet I’m here, and so is he. After so long apart, the stars have finally forgiven us for taking destiny into our own hands and brought us back together.
He is even more handsome than I remember, especially with all those colors painting his skin, highlighting the tanned, toned ridges of his forearms and the cut of his chest peeking from beneath the top of his white shirt.
So many words are on the tip of my tongue, and yet I’m rendered speechless when Senan’s head falls back against the closed door, exposing the length of his tanned throat.
As if he hears the air evacuating my lungs, the prince’s silver eyes find me.
Those eyes—how I’ve longed to stare into their shimmering depths once more.
And he is here.Here.
Out in the hallway, a deep voice calls my mate’s name.
Instead of leaving, Senan crosses to where I stand, bringing him closer and closer with each step. That cinching sensation around my torso grows tighter and tighter until it suddenly snaps and is no more.
I need to take off my mask, except my hands are shaking so badly where they wrench together.
He is so familiar and yet not. The lines of his face have sharpened with maturity, but the mischievous glimmer in his eyes hasn’t changed. His midnight hair is cut short at the sides and a little longer at the top, making his striking features stand out all the more. Handsome as a devil with star-kissed eyes.
He abandoned you.
There must be an explanation. There must.
He never came back.