Page 9

“I won’t be gone long.”

“I know.”

Neither of us moved. Not at first. Then, eventually, he pressed a kiss against my forehead, lingering there for a moment before pulling away. It wasn’t the desperate reunion either of us probably wanted. It wasn’t enough. Not after everything we had endured to get here.

But it was a promise.

Then he stepped back, and I watched him cross the room before disappearing through the doorway after Aster and Lazaros. It was only once he was gone that I realized how much of my strength had been provided by his presence.

A few moments later, a soft voice spoke from behind me.

“My lady?”

Turning around, I found a young woman standing several feet away. She looked no older than her early twenties, with pale golden skin and long chestnut hair braided neatly over one shoulder. Large, kind hazel eyes watched me with obvious nervousness beneath long, dark lashes, and when she offered a small curtsy, a few loose strands escaped to frame her face. She was breathtakingly beautiful, with thick lips and light freckles across her nose.

She wore what I assumed were the palace colors. A fitted gown of deep sapphire blue trimmed with silver embroidery that caught the light whenever she moved. A crisp white apron was tied neatly around her waist, while silver stitching climbed the sleeves in delicate patterns that resembled twisting vines and leaves.

Her hands remained clasped tightly in front of her, betraying the nerves hidden beneath her professional composure.

“His Highness sent me to attend to you.”

Not surprised that she had appeared so quickly, I nodded, and the young woman led me away from the throne room, her head slightly bowed. Every few steps, I caught her stealing careful glances in my direction as though she expected me to do something strange at any moment. I didn’t know whether to feel offended or amused by it, but after the day I had endured, I wasn’t sure I had the energy for either.

So instead, I followed quietly as she guided me through the palace, past towering archways and long corridors lined with pale stone columns that glittered faintly beneath the light of silver lanterns suspended from the walls.

The castle was beautiful in a way that felt almost unreal, as though it had been lifted from the pages of some ancient fairytale and left to gather sorrow in its corners. High windows stretched towards vaulted ceilings, their glass stained in shades of blue, gold, and violet, casting fractured pools of color across the floor. Tapestries hung between them, depicting kings, battles, winged beasts, and cities I didn’t recognize, though several were faded from age and dust. There was grandeur everywhere I looked, but it was quiet grandeur, the kind that had been left alone for too long.

“I’m Alex,” I said after the silence between us became too heavy to ignore.

The maid glanced back at me quickly, her cheeks flushing.

“I know, my lady.”

“You don’t have to call me that, you know, I’m far from a noble lady.” Her eyes widened slightly, as though I had suggested she set fire to the curtains.

“I mean,” I added quickly, “I guess you can if you want to. I’m just not really used to it, and I certainly don’t expect it.”

She gave a nervous, brief nod and turned her attention back to the corridor ahead, though her shoulders remained tense.

I watched her for a moment, noting the way her slender fingers kept twisting together whenever she thought I wasn’t looking.

“Are you alright?” I asked gently. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” she said at once, before hesitating. “I mean, no, my lady. Nothing is wrong. It’s only…” She glanced back at me again, then looked away as fresh color touched her cheeks. “Well, I’ve never met a human before.”

For some reason, that made more sense than anything else had all day.

“Oh,” I said, and despite everything, a small smile tugged at my mouth. “Well, I suppose we’re not that different from you. Just with a much shorter lifespan and a significantly higher chance of making terrible decisions.”

Her lips parted before she gave a startled laugh, soft and quickly swallowed, as though she wasn’t entirely sure she was allowed to make the sound. But some of the tension eased from her shoulders after that, and the corridor between us felt a little less formal as she led me up a sweeping staircase with a carved silver banister shaped like curling vines.

“My name is Thalia, but please call me Lia,” she said after a moment, her voice still quiet, but warmer than before.

“Nice to meet you, Lia.”

She smiled shyly, then stopped outside a set of tall double doors near the end of the hall. The handles were shaped like twisting leaves, and the wood was so pale it almost looked silver beneath the lantern light. She pushed one door open with visible effort, then stepped inside ahead of me.

The room beyond was stunning, even beneath its layer of neglect.