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“I don’t know,” I bemoaned. “I could choose another, but they are all like that. Anything I chose for myself was in the trunk in Inbetwixt. No one told me how long we’d be staying.”
As I spoke, I realized for the first time what else had been in the trunk in Inbetwixt. Rosey’s journals, which I’d so painstakingly brought with me to the hunting grounds, were now likely destroyed or else lying on the ground in the forest, somewhere, never to be seen again.
My stomach twisted in a knot, and a lump pushed at the back of my throat, despair threatening to overwhelm me. I’d only read one page, feeling that it was too much to keep going, and now I would never see any of the journals ever again.
“Turn around. Let me see what I can do,” Thalia said.
“What?” I shook my head—I’d momentarily forgotten what we were discussing. “Oh, of course.”
I moved to stand in front of the mirror, trying to force the misery from my mind while she moved each strap into place in a pattern I never would have been able to work out on my own.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, simply looking for a distraction.
“In truth, I simply wanted to be in the room ahead of the others.”
I narrowed my eyes at her in the mirror. “The others?”
She nodded. “Now that you’re awake, I imagine everyone will descend like the pack of vultures that they are.”
I snorted a bitter laugh. “Are you not speaking of your own family?”
“Of course, which is how I know I am correct. I’d prepare yourself for the onslaught, lest you find yourself picked apart to the bone.”
I nodded, appreciating the warning. “I’m not sure there’s much left for them to pick at. This whole family has already pecked away at fears I didn’t even know I had.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. Thalia wasn’t a friend; she was an Everlast, and it was important that I keep that in mind. Much like I needed to keep in mind that Bael, too, was first and foremost a prince, and Scion was a prince always and a friend only if it benefitted him.
Yet even as my thoughts turned dark, Thalia surprised me by saying, “They do that, but I find that the best defense is information. Like, being here ahead of the others means they will not be able to force me out of the conversation.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I would think you would be privy to all conversations as Gwydion’s betrothed.”
She shook her head. “No, but that doesn’t mean I can’t demand to be included, and so can you.”
Interesting.This sounded like another way to say what Bael had told me: ask better questions. Though, Thalia seemed to be implying that I not so much ask as force my way in.
“Lady Aine seems well-informed,” I hedged, wondering how far Thalia would let me push before she shut down again. Granted, I supposed I was doing her a favor by letting her stay in the room, if that was what she truly wanted.
“It has little to do with being female, if that’s what you’re implying,” Thalia said briskly, “and everything to do with being too far removed from the direct bloodline. Aine is a princess, though she would prefer otherwise, and more importantly, she is close confidants with Scion.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Well, now you do.” She pulled another strap tight. “Begin hoarding information like treasure.”
We fell silent again while she worked. I noticed that unlike the dress I’d chosen—which was far too formal for daytime, though I was not about to ask to switch it now—Thalia wore the least ornate outfit I’d ever seen her in. A simple blue-and-white linen dress, cut similarly to something Iola might have worn.
I was about to ask her how Iola was faring when she said, “You look quite healthy for someone who was just attacked by the afflicted.”
I shook my head. “Does everyone know?”
“Well, you did crash into the dining room in the middle of breakfast. It was…hard to miss.”
“We did?” My eyes widened, heat staining my cheeks. “I don’t really recall much of that.”
“Of the attack? Or just the traveling?”
The only thing I remembered was spinning through the air with Bael and then falling into strong, comforting arms—though I wasn’t about to say that.
“The traveling,” I replied and shivered as she moved a strap into place and her nail scraped over my spine. “It was disorienting. We rode for quite some time first. I don’t understand why Bael wouldn’t have shadow walked immediately.”
