As I make my way under the entrance arch, I’m not surprised to see her with her hair tied back, dressed in a muddy red gown and scrubbing furiously at a horse’s flank with a grooming brush. If our garden dance circle is my escape from royal life, then the palace stables are hers. And I think everyone is more than happy to give her that escape, including Father.
“Dahlia?” I call out, picking up my skirts and weaving through the hay bales.
Her head pops up and she grins mischievously. “Amaryllis… my most favourite sister.”
“I heard you were looking for me. What do you need?” I ask, throwing myself down onto a hay bale.
She chuckles. “Perhaps I just want to spend more time with my loving sister?” She swipes the brush over the horse, sending a cloud of dust into the air. “Or maybe I seem to be the only one who’s noticed how weird you’ve been acting lately.” She glances at me, her black hair sparkling in the golden light of the stable. “You haven’t been speaking much at meals, and then you missed breakfast today. What’s happened? What didn’t you tell us when you came back from Night Alley?”
“Nothing,” I reply a little too quickly.
“Liar,” she sings. “Did you meet someone? Or did you go somewhere you weren’t supposed to? Did you sneak into a tavern?” She gasps, clapping her hands.
Each question leaves me feeling more flustered than the last, but the huge grin on Dahlia’s face tells me that’s exactly why she’s asking them.
“What about the Scorpion?” she continues, leaning across her horse’s back and studying me. “Was he terribly handsome? Is that why you’re so nervous? Are youdreamingabout him?” She bats her eyes mockingly.
“No!” I scoff, but the growing blush on my cheeks betrays me.
“Stars above!” Dahlia explodes with laughter. “Itishim, isn’t it? I knew you were hiding something!” She tosses her grooming brush to the floor and pulls up a bale of hay to sit beside me. “You have to tell me everything. How did you find him? What was he like? Did you…” She swings a hand up to her face, giggling. “Did you kiss him?”
Heat floods my cheeks. “Dahlia, stop! No! I didn’t kiss anyone. That would be, ugh, no. The shame alone would kill me.”
“Why?” Dahlia shrugs. “I’ve kissed guards before. Plenty. If you find the right one, it can actually be quite pleasant.”
My jaw almost hits the floor. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”
If Father were to find out…
Dahlia snorts. “You’re too uptight, Ami. But I don’t want to talk aboutmeany more. I want to hear all abouthim! Go on, tell me!”
A shiver runs down to my toes. I shouldn’t be speaking to anyone about this. My sisters know that the Scorpion is helping us, and that’s all that matters. But it’s clear from the way Dahlia is grinning at me that if I don’t tell her the truth, her imaginationwill run wild, and I can’t bear the thought of the stories she’ll think up.
Besides, I haven’t actually done anything wrong. It was technically him who leapt onto me last night.
With a heavy sigh, I spill the entire story. Dahlia listens to everything, squealing and giggling like a child the whole way through – despite her only being two years younger than me.
When I’m finally finished, Dahlia smiles wider than I’ve ever seen before.
“I can’t believe you met a real assassin,” she squeals giddily. “And not only that, but you let him into your bedchamber. Scandalous!”
“I didn’t let him in, he just wandered in through the window.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Dahlia chuckles. “But in all seriousness, when are you seeing him again?”
I scoff, folding my arms. “Ideally only once more. As soon as he’s dealt with Hugo, I’ll pay him, and then he’ll be on his way home.”
Dahlia sighs. “You’re being foolish, y’know?” She shakes her head. “You have a chance for something real here. A sweep-you-off-your-feet sort of romance before Father comes along and finally forces you to marry some ugly old prince. Real romance, Ami!”
“I don’t know if what he did to me could be considered romantic.” I narrow my eyes.
The way he threw me against the wall was so rough, but then again, my body certainly seemed to enjoy parts of it – and the thought of certain parts of him. My cheeks burn again.
“No.” I stand up, slapping hay from my skirts. “He’s here to get rid of Hugo, and that’s all. He does his job ,and then we’re done.”
Dahlia rolls her eyes. “You’re wasting a perfect opportunity.” With a dramatic sigh, she sinks further into the hay bale. “Butyou know, if you’rereallynot interested, maybe you could direct him to my bedchamber the next time comes by?”
“Absolutely not!” I seethe, but Dahlia just shakes with laughter, almost falling from her seat.
