Page 70 of Trapped By Clocks and Hearts

The Duchess let out a curious swoon. “Ooh, I suppose the Queen didn’t want all these eligible bachelors to lie about their prospects so that Allie could choose fairly.”

An undefined aching in my chest warred with the joy I was feeling from Allie. She was laughing at some lame joke from another gallant courtier. Some measure of wanting to rip him to shreds was nagging in the back of my mind. I didn’t want that courtier laughing with her, touching her arm, whispering in her ear.

That almost stolen moment Allie and I had at the clock tower before the Queen’s invite flooded my senses. The feel of her in my arms, that scent wrapped all around me as I held her. My neck burned at the recollection. I’d wanted to stay like that. I’d wanted…

I frowned as I recalled the Duchess’s words from before.

If she falls for you too…

Too…

Was it even possible? Had I fallen for Allie?

How could it be possible for me to have fallen in love at all?

I had no heart of my own. I had been rendered devoid of feelings for centuries.

Was having Allie’s beating heart inside my chest changing me? Or could these perhaps be mere echoes of Allie’s own feelings? Was she starting to feel warmly toward me? And were these her feelings reflected on me?

What makes you think I want to stay here forever?

Deeply frustrated, I shook my head to clear it.

They couldn’t be Allie’s.

The Queen standing up from her throne caught my eye, as it did everyone else’s. I imagined the Queen was about to give a tour, showing off the marvelous hedge mazes behind the castle as she was wont to do, and leave everyone else to their merrymaking.

“Oh! Did you see that lady there with the big, ugly—” The Duchess’s disparaging statement cut short as she disappeared from the mirror, leaving only the view of her conservatory of plants behind her, but her voice was floating through, “Hold on, Ham. I’m talking to my Rabb.”

“What?” The Duchess’s tone turned ominous. “What?” When she asked again, my alerted gaze snapped over to the small mirror. The Duchess’s tone was tinged with a dread that instantly filled every kind of suspicion in my mind.

“Duchess?” I prompted.

Chez glanced from me to the mirror, his interest piqued.

The Duchess’s round face returned to the mirror, her eyes already marred with concern. “Rabb, I’m afraid I have some news.”

I clenched my fists on the table. “What is it?”

“One of my servants overheard the castle staff,” the Duchess relayed. “It is a trick. We were correct. The Queen is trying to marry off Allie. But more than that. If Allie chooses to give her love freely to any of these men, her heart will unlock and the Queen will be able to claim it.”

Rage surged in my chest. What?

The Duchess shook her head. “I told you, Rabb. If her heart fills with love, she is lost.”

The trap wasn’t after the ball. The ball was the trap.

I gritted my teeth as a powerful, hot streak of anger and frustration welled up inside me, nearly overflowing. I almost felt my skin sizzle with the overwhelming burn, which if I didn’t keep in check, might actually set the entire ball on fire.

No. I had to make sure none of these unworthy oafs left Allie with a good enough impression for her to fall for them.

I stopped short, my bargain with the Queen screaming back to my mind.

I wasn’t meant to interfere.

I was supposed to stay away.

I glanced toward the glass doors leading to the gardens through which the Queen and some guests had disappeared.