“What?” My head springs up. “He’s proposing today?” Fear grips my throat.
“I assume so. I think he wanted to do it yesterday, but you were tooin lovewith him, remember?” She chuckles, far too proud of herself.
Groaning, I slam my head against my pillow. “I can’t marry him, Dahlia. I have to refuse his proposal.”
Dahlia’s brow shoots up. “What? Why? Is it the assassin?” She grins mischievously. “Oh, Ami. Tell me you’re running away together! Can I come with you?Please.”
“I’m not running anywhere,” I say coldly. “I just cannot marry that prince.” A tear rolls down my cheek. I need to speak with Father as soon as possible. Surely he’d understand. I just need to let him know what Orion did in the gardens – or at least what he tried to do.
Dahlia watches me for a moment until the grin slips off her face.
“That’s why you left the palace!” she thinks aloud. “Something happened with Orion, didn’t it? That’s why you ran back to the Scorpion.”
My lower lip wobbles.
“Ami, tell me the truth,” she demands.
I can’t help but crumble. Like sour wine, the events of the past few days spill out from my lips. Everything from my encounter with Orion in the gardens, to the whorehouse, to sneaking away from Kasimir’s townhouse earlier this morning. Although I choose to leave out what exactly happened last night and how Kasimir took care of me in the whorehouse.
Dahlia might be the most accepting of my sisters, but she doesn’t need to hear that part of the story. That part is exclusively mine.
“Oh, Ami,” she whispers. Her tone is serious as she takes my hand. “I can’t believe you went through all that… And that prince. Ugh!” she scoffs. “He’s just as awful as Hugo!”
Hugging my pillow, I nod. “I never want to see Orion again.”
“I don’t blame you,” she snarls. “We can’t let him go through with his proposal. After what he did, the last thing he deserves is to marry someone as lovely as you, even if you had been sampling all the suitors or whatever other pitiful excuse he gave.” With a huff, she tosses her sleek hair over her shoulder. “I bet this whole virtue thing is just another way for men to control us anyway. I bet that they can’t even tell who’s ‘pure’ and who’snot.” She wrinkles her nose. “Why do men get to have all the fun and we don’t? It’s just not fair!”
“It’s just the way it is,” I tell her. A part of me hopes she’s right, though. As long as I take the herb soon then there’s no way anyone could know about what happened last night. Right?
No one except for Kasimir and I…
Dahlia’s scowl deepens. “We need to tell Father about what Orion did to you in the gardens. He won’t let him stay after he hears. He’ll have him banished quicker than that foul prince can say the word ‘virtue’.”
Nodding, I sit up on my bed. “I’ll speak with him now. Do you know where he is?”
Dahlia winces. “Well… I do, but that’s sort of the reason I’ve been hiding in your chambers.”
“What?” I ask, confused.
“He’s in the grand hall with Orion,” she explains. “Well, in fact, we’re all supposed to be there. Orion brought gifts for everyone – new tutus, new shoes, more jewels than a girl could ever dream of. Father’s over the moon, and even Blossom was acting all lovestruck.” Dahlia snorts. “That’s why I was hiding up here. It all made me feel a bit gross, really. Everyone’s bowing down to Orion like he’s some sort of god.”
The thought of my sisters being in the same room as him makes me shudder.
I knot my fingers into the bedsheets. “Right, well I must speak to Father straight away then.” Swallowing, I swing my legs off the bed.
“Wait,” Dahlia calls. “Are you sure you can do this? What if Orion tries to speak to you? After what he did…”
“I’ve already put this off long enough. This ends today.”
Dahlia glances around nervously. “Fine,” she decides, snatching up a final biscuit and shoving it into her mouth. “But I’m coming with you.”
The cold sheath of the hidden dagger in my bodice feels almost comforting as I march into the grand hall. I spot Orion immediately, seated in a plush chair beside Father’s throne.
Father’s there too, as are my ten other sisters, all of them fawning over a huge pile of gifts towering metres off the ground. Each present is wrapped in golden paper, and Orion grins as my sisters tear open each one, revealing sparkling new gowns and dance shoes, just as Dahlia had said.
“Oh, Prince Orion, you are spoiling us!” I hear Blossom giggle as we approach. “Never have I been more jealous of my dear sister.”
“Told you,” Dahlia sneers beside me.
