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It was where I kissed Ash for the first time.

It’s also where I miscarried, bleeding so much that Lucien had to carry me off the stage and down to the medical room where he saved my life.

We’re near my old chambers now, and Maude seems to have loosened up a bit, so I make another stab at finding Hazel.

“What’s down there?” I ask.

“Those are the former surrogate chambers.”

“The surrogate isn’t staying there anymore?”

Maude hesitates. “The Duchess keeps her in the medical room day and night. As a precaution. She nearly died at Garnet’s party. Bled all over the stage.”

“Yes, I . . . remember hearing about that.” It is so bizarre to talk about Hazel as though Hazel is me. I hate thinking of my sister locked up in that cold, sterile place.

Before I can ask anything else, Maude leads me away from the surrogate chambers to the east side of the palace. I remember Annabelle telling me that this is where the men’s quarters are.

“Luckily, Lucien was there to save her. I don’t think there’s been a mind like his in the history of the ladies-in-waiting.”

“Yes, I’ve heard he’s very smart,” I say.

“Brilliant, more like. Though he does have a bit of a temper. I suppose that’s to be expected. The bigger the brain, the bigger the ego, the shorter the fuse. Ah, here we are.”

She stops at the entrance to the east wing. It is carpeted in maroon, with portraits of previous Dukes of the Lake hanging on the walls. I wonder which one is the Duchess’s father. From the way Sil talked about him, he seemed even crueler than the Duchess.

Sil was the Duchess’s surrogate. The Duke forced her to focus all her Augury power on only one of his twin daughters before she gave birth to them. The Duchess is that daughter. Sil was strong enough to withstand the death that usually accompanies surrogate childbirth but only with the help of Paladin magic.

The hall we’re on meets the men’s quarters in a T shape, so we can only go left or right. Beside me, a staircase curves up and out of sight. The stairs are crafted out of mother-of-pearl, the banister a gleaming gold.

“The Duchess’s private quarters,” Maude whispers. “Never, under any circumstances, go up there.”

I nod. I don’t need telling twice.

“The Duke’s chambers are down that way,” she says, pointing to the right, “and he keeps several footmen tasked with the maintenance of his own personal quarters.” Maude raises an eyebrow and adds, “He keeps the footmen very close, if you catch my meaning.”

This palace is like a beehive of secrets and lies. Maude laughs at my shocked expression and beckons me to follow her. She knocks on the door and opens it with a “Hello? Miss Coral? Garnet? It’s Maude. Your new lady-in-waiting has arrived.”

Garnet and Coral’s chambers are quite similar to the ones I used to occupy in this palace. They have a drawing room, painted and decorated in shades of blue and gold, and a tea parlor with pink wallpaper and red-and-white trim. It doesn’t look at all like Garnet.

“It’s a bit much, isn’t it?” Maude whispers. “Coral enjoys the color pink.”

There are pink flowers in pink glass vases on the tables, and every chair and couch has been upholstered in varying shades of magenta, fuchsia, and rose. One entire wall is covered with glass-paned cabinets filled with miniature tea sets.

“Wow,” I say, moving to get a closer look. “That’s . . . a lot of china.”

“Yes, Coral is rather particular about them. She won’t let any of the maids touch them.”

There are tiny cups and saucers and teapots in various colors and patterns—purple flowers and hummingbirds, horseshoes, glittery green vines, a golden sun and silver moon, stripes and solids and everything in between. I’m examining a blue cup with a bunch of grapes painted on its exterior when a door opens.

“Oh, hello, Maude, I thought I heard you,” a girl’s voice says.

I whirl around as Maude sinks into a low curtsy. Coral is frail and small, her blond hair curled and pinned in a very pretty fashion over one shoulder. I drop into a curtsy of my own.

“My apologies, Miss Coral,” Maude says. “This is your new lady-in-waiting. She was merely admiring your collection.”

“What?” Coral’s whole expression brightens. “But I thought the Duchess dismissed my last candidate.”

“It was Garnet, miss, who hired her.”