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“How long have they been at it?” I heard Arran ask Lyrena.
“Fifteen minutes,” she answered. “We’ve started placing wagers.”
IfeltArran’s dark chuckle.
“My gold’s on—”
“We can hear you!” I hissed, just dodging Gwen’s fist.
“Good. Maybe that will motivate Gwen to end it,” Arran crooned.
He wanted a show.
Bastard.
I knew his dark eyes would be burning if I spared him a glance. But I didn’t dare, not with Gwen on the other end of that vicious sword.
I clenched my teeth, summoning every bit of strength—
A swirl of white flashed in my periphery.
The blow came down hard enough to knock me off my feet, down to my knees, scraping in the unyielding red dirt.
I didn’t expect an apology. And, of course, none came.
But a dark-skinned hand did reach out, hovering at the edge of my vision as I struggled to regain the breath Gwen had knocked out of me.
I slid my pale hand into Gwen’s, letting her tug me to my feet. But I barely noted the half-smile of triumph on her face. My eyes caught on the figure standing behind her—that flash of white.
I was before Charis in a second. Her bare arms were covered with gooseflesh despite the warm evening, and her pale wings were trembling.
I felt Arran arrive at my shoulder as I asked, “What is it?”
Her lower lip trembled. “Cyara has not returned.”
I ignored Arran’s sharp inhale.
“She said she would be gone the day,” I said.
A jerky nod. “But she ought to have returned by now. She planned to be here to serve your dinner.”
I glanced over my shoulder, finding Arran’s expression closed.
“Is it possible she elected to stay the night with your parents?” I asked Charis, channeling that emotionless veneer I’d worn for months. It was the closest I could come to calm.
But Charis shook her head, lovely copper hair shaking as the trembling overtook her entire body. “She’d never leave you alone, Majesty.”
Shit.
This was why I didn’t have friends.
* * *
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Arran demanded over the thundering of our footsteps. Down, down, down that spiral staircase.
“I haven’t seen you,” I bit back.
“And apparently all the palace messengers have gone missing, as well as your handmaiden.”
