The skirt swept cleanly from my shoulders to the floor. No frills, no lace, just a pool of melted fabric. My arms left bare, the front of it boasted a narrow cut down the center of my chest—though the back plunged all the way down the small of my back. Cobalt blue, the royal color of Calder, claimed my body, and the liquidity of it transformed me into dark water.
I’d become the sea, deep and mysterious, hungry for secrets I’d never reveal.
Selena tamed my hair into wide, shining curls which she pinned over the crown of my head, leaving a few to drape over my shoulders before she excused herself to her rooms to get ready, promising to see me there.
Kye was to be my escort. Our engagement would be revealed tonight, and as I waited for him to knock on my door, I wrung my hands together, unable to decide if I was nervous because of the impending announcement and the thought of meeting the rest of the royal family. Or if the simple idea of seeing him again was what had filled me up with knots from the inside out.
I hadn’t seen him since he’d thrown me under him and covered me with his body.
Knuckles drummed on wood.
I shook errant hair from my face, straightened my shoulders, smoothed my skirt, and opened my door.
Aren stood on the other side.
Oh. The tension in my body loosened.
He stood in a dress uniform, his hastily secured wheat-blond braid a note in mischief. Green eyes went round at the sight ofme, and his mouth curved in an appreciative smile. Holding out a hand, he sent a low whistle through the door. “Oh, he’ll be sorry he sent me when he sees you looking like that.”
I couldn’t help it. I smiled back at him.
The halls were abloom with floral aromas and scattered petals. The sconces had been extinguished, and hundreds of candle-lit lanterns lit our passage to the ballroom, where the doors flung open to the courtyard. Music called us from the outside, a sparkling dance floor waiting in the center, the stars heavy and twinkling from above. Nobles roamed in every direction, elegant and self-assured as they drifted in from every corner.
“Thirsty?” Aren asked, leading me to the edge of a wall on the outskirts. I wondered how he’d known I preferred to avoid attention until I realized we stood next to a raised dais. The royal family would be here soon.
“Yes,” I said, hopeful for the chance to study the room and gain my bearings.
He left me there, stalking off to a table laden with food and drink, not noticing the servant who swept by him with an almost empty tray of crystal flutes. The young woman stopped for me, offering the last drink, and I realized I recognized her ash-green eyes.
The secretary who had asked if I needed help outside Thaan’s office.
She remembered me in the same moment, her head tilting the smallest fraction as she took me in. Her dress wasn’t that of the other servants. Red-gold and lustrous, it matched the sheen of her hair, though it hadn’t been tailored for her body as mine had been, and I wondered if she’d borrowed it.
“Hello again,” she said, turning her empty tray vertical and resting it against her hip.
“Hello,” I echoed, suddenly curious of her role in the palace.
Her clever eyes followed mine to the hem of her sleeve, looser than what was in fashion.
“It’s not mine, if that’s what you’re wondering. It’s my mother’s dress.”
“It’s beautiful,” I said in honesty. The dress was stunning; it simply didn’t seem to fit her right.
She scoffed. “It’s older than I am. So, who are you, and why are you brave enough to stand here, where everyonepretendsthey want to stand, but no one actually does?”
Noble or servant, I wasn’t sure what exactly she was, but I hadn’t expected a brash question from either. This might be a long night. I tilted the sparklingvolareinto my mouth, its sweet, spicy flavor affording me a few seconds to decide what to say.
“Are you here with the royal family?” she asked flatly.
I lowered the glass, licking my lips as lady-like as I could. “I suppose.”
She smirked. “You either are or you aren’t. If you think you might be, then you are.”
“Alright. I am.”
The woman held out her hand for my empty flute. I handed it to her, but she didn’t leave. “Nikolaos’s fiancée. My sincere apologies.” She said, then laughed at the sudden surprise on my face. “You haven’t been in the palace long, have you?”
“No,” I answered, torn between wariness and amusement. Beyond Aren teasing Kye in the training yard, I hadn’t met anyone in the palace so willing to mock the crown, though something in the dryness of her humor made me immediately want to like her.
