AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Gripping the balcony’s ledge, I exhaled and squinted at the view. According to the tales, that famed woodland inspired the most reckless of cravings. Within certain glades and hollows, the air emitted fragrances that spurned people to all manner of impulsive acts.
Provocative things happened in that wild. Equally provoking things occurred in this court.
My fingers tightened on the rim. I studied the panorama carpeted in fringes of greenery like something out of faerie lore. Father used to say most fondly how this place brought out the nymph in everyone. In me, especially.
But if Father were alive today, if he knew me now, he would be wrong.
I retreated from the vista and entered the confines of my suite. The interiors were adorned with peony bouquets and linen bedding as light as moth wings. Shades of dark green flourished through the space, the kind of color that seemed to awaken you the moment your eyes landed on it.
Forest green, the lush color of Spring.
I was raised on sensible brown. Autumn, a land of sense and serenity. My nation and my refuge.
One month. One month in this sinful court, and then I would return home.
My traveling trunk had been unpacked. Wrapped in a dressing gown, I stepped toward the wardrobe to choose a dress for the evening.
As my eyes stumbled across the bed, my feet stalled. A scarlet ribbon lay sprawled atop one of the pillows, as if someone had draped it there.
I turned a full circle, scrutinizing the room.
No one. Alone.
The only other person who had recently occupied this suite had been a maid, a chatty bird of a female who’d come bearing towels and gossip. True, the ribbon could have been a random oversight, one of her misplaced mending supplies. Except I could not remember the strip of fabric being there minutes ago, long after the servant had left.
No, somebody else had been in my suite. Someone who’d had thenerveto trespass without my permission. And they wanted me to know it.
I was no stranger to this kingdom, with its taste for revelry—not counting excess and debauchery—but this was odd. And brazen. Even a noble wouldn’t take such an anonymous liberty. And I should have heard the noise from the balcony.
Pursing my lips, I marched toward the bed, snatched the ribbon from its perch, and dropped it into the nearest drawer. There. Onward. I would address the cheeky item later.
The door swooped open. Mother skipped inside, flew straight to the bed, and threw herself onto it. “Mmm,” she cooed, her eyelids fluttering closed as she pawed at the duvet. “Your bed is comfortable.”
I set my hands on my hips. “Mother.”
“All these feathers.”
“Mother.”
“Yes, dearest Daughter?”
“You are not sleeping here tonight.”
She snuggled into the down like a feline. “So soft. So queenly. I shall have a good rest this evening.”
“I know you heard me.”
Queen Avalea of Autumn released a dramatic whine. “You don’t understand. It’s a full moon in Spring and bad luck to sleep alone. We must join forces. A woman never knows when a phantom or an incubus might sneak into her chambers to claim her in the dead of night.”
“You’re of age now,” I deadpanned. “You’ll manage on your own.”
“So strict to your mama. What have I done to deserve it, Briar?”
As she feigned a pout, a wave of tenderness gusted through my chest. I loved her. She loved me. That wasn’t the problem.
Father was the problem. His memory lived between us, slumbering in our rooms and feasting at our table. Daily, he strung us together and tore us apart.
A long time ago, I’d done my worst to him. I could not undo it, and he was gone. But no matter how many years passed, no matter how I tried to atone and fix myself, to be perfect for the leftovers of our family, the guilt was eternal.
