“Now out of my sight before I change my mind. Lord Astoria is a loyal subject whom I once considered a close friend, and he is the only reason your lovely wife still has her head.”
I bite my tongue as I nod and hurry out of the throne room. The king cannot find out about her parentage. He’d have no trouble at all getting rid of a bastard princess.
By the time I make it back to my wing, I find my new wife curled up on the settee, fast asleep. Why isn’t she in bed? Surely that can’t be comfortable. With half a thought, I turn down the sheets before returning to carry her to my room, laying her gently on the black silk sheets. She murmurs something unintelligible before falling silent, her slow, deep breaths telling me she’s still asleep. I gently brush her hair off her face before tucking the blanket around her.
Failing to hold back a yawn, my own exhaustion hits me like a ton of bricks. The bed is quite large, and sleeping somewhere else would surely raise suspicion. After shrugging out of my coat and kicking off my shoes, I slide in, taking care to keep my distance from Raelyn. I don’t want her to be frightened when she wakes up next to her husband.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
RAELYN
“Come out and play, sissy!” Erika calls from the terrace. The yellow ribbons in her hair fly out behind her as she dances around, waving a wand made of pink and purple silk streamers. I desperately want to play outside with her, but Papa told me to stay indoors. It’s not safe outside under the sun. I can’t remember, but he’s told me many times how sick I get if I don’t obey. But Papa isn’t home.
Chessa whines for no discernible reason, and I roll my eyes as the governess attempts to distract her.
I try to focus on the puzzle in front of me, but my attention keeps getting pulled back to Erika dancing on the terrace with the wind in her hair, her skin aglow from the sun. It’s not fair.
“Why don’t you play outside with Erika?” the governess asks Chess.
“I’m bored. Take me to my dolls. Now,” Chess demands.
Gods, five-year-old Chess is almost more insufferable than four-year-old Chess,
but maybe this will work in my favor.
The governess mutters something under her breath as she leads Chessa toward her room. “Keep an eye on your sister,” she calls out to me.
As soon as she disappears, I rush to the door and poke my head out. A tiny part of me worries what will happen if I break Papa’s rule, but then again, the governess told me to watch Erika. I’m the big sister—it’s my responsibility.
I stick my slippered foot out the door, waiting for something bad to happen, but when all I feel is a pleasant warmth from the sun, I jump out onto the terrace.
“Sissy!” Erika cries and flings her arms around me. “Do you want to dance with me? I’m pretending to be at one of Mama and Papa’s grand balls. I’m the new princess!” She twirls around and around, and I can’t help but laugh and join her. After the king stopped by with Prince Kian earlier today, she’s been convinced she’s going to be a princess someday.
She gives me a turn with the ribbon wand, and as I twirl it around me, it almost appears as if light is dancing off the ribbons. Prismatic rainbows reflect off the windows and the glass lanterns hanging around the terrace, and Erika oohs and ahhs at the light display.
“My turn!” she cries out and grabs the wand from me, but when she dances, the sun is no longer shooting out the beams of light.
She pouts. “What did you do? Did you break it?”
At a loss, I shrug and continue dancing around the courtyard, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin. How can this be bad when it’s so warm and comforting?
“Raelyn!” my mother’s voice shrieks from the manor. “Get inside this instant!”
“Sorry, Erika,” I say as I run back.
My very pregnant, very angry mother stands next to my puzzle, her hands on her hips and her eyes alight with fire.“Have you lost your mind?” she yells. “You know the rules! If your father were to find out what his child had done, he’d send you away.”
In a fit of rage, she sweeps the puzzle I’d been working on for days onto the floor, and I cry out in frustration. All my hard work is gone. I crash to my knees and attempt to salvage any pieces that remain locked in place.
“Go to your room,” Mother commands.
“But can’t?—”
“Now!” she screams.
Tears stream down my face, and I try to brush them away as I rush toward the stairs. Mother never has a kind word for me. Sometimes I think she wishes I’d never been born. I’ve seen the way she dotes on the twins and the way she warmly rubs her belly. What I wouldn’t give for her to hold me and explain why there are different rules for me. Why does the sun make me sick? I look down at my skin, and other than being a little pink from the heat of dancing around, it looks normal.
Somethingwarm and hard is around my waist. My eyes fly open, and I’m immediately disoriented, both from the strange dream that felt like a memory and my new location. Wasn’t I by the fire? My stockinged feet curl and flex as my body wakes up.
