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Crista burst with the beginning of a giggle. Quickly bit it short. “Deepest déssonum.” She lifted her taped-up arm. “They pulled out the IV but an hour ago. The drugs must still be—” Another laugh spurted. “Yes, well. The drugs.”
“Of course.” Ambyr shifted, clasping hands in front like one of the Von Trapp Family kids about to ask for more champagne. “I do apologize as well, Crista, for not stopping in on you sooner. I assumed you needed your rest, of course—”
“Of course.” Jayd’s interjection took the terse up a notch.
“—and have been, perhaps, just a bit…distracted.”
If she’d strip-teased out of the icicle dress and revealed a body bomb underneath, we all wouldn’t have been more stunned. Crista noticeably frowned. Jayd openly glowered. I wasn’t able to monitor what my face did, since the exploding grenade in my chest was a bit of an attention hog.
“Distracted?” Thank God for Jayd and her royal ability to put a veneer of propriety atop a mountain of suspicion. “By what?”
Or whom?
I forced aside my mind’s auto-add. There was no damn validation for it. If Shiraz had rebounded from my fuck-off by fucking in to Ambyr, I had nobody to blame but the girl in the mirror. He’d sure as hell not made it official yet, since she didn’t make it a point to flash her ring finger with every other word—but my belly knotted with a strange certainty that it was a foregone conclusion now. There was something about Ambyr’s energy, oddly confirming exactly that. The regal upturn to her chin. The way she coyly brushed a toe on the floor. The return of Dolores Umbridge to the edges of her smile.
“I have been working on…a secret project.” The woman’s eyes gave away the mental trumpets she’d inserted into the middle of it—quashed by Jayd’s unimpressed answer.
“Oh. A project.” If her tone were any flatter, we’d have to peel it off the floor like a wet pancake. “How…nice. Like what?”
The toe swishing stopped. Tough to swish when a girl was busy bouncing on that toe instead. “A party.” Ambyr beamed at the other two women. It hadn’t escaped my attention that after her initial hello, she’d all but dismissed my presence. “A celebration of romance, to give our people hope and cheer!”
Jayd rose. Her ebony curls brushed her shoulder as she cocked her head. “A…what?”
Ambyr blinked, clearly bewildered. “A party, Your Highness. Taking place this Saturday night.”
“This Saturday night.” Crista’s echo carried the fog of someone who’d slept through a lot of the last few days. “Errr…when is that?
“Three days from now,” Jayd supplied, gritting it hard.
“Whoa,” I kicked in, beneath my breath.
“It shall be an engagement party, Your Highness.” Ambyr beamed. “To celebrate the love your brothers have found—”
“Two of my brothers,” Jayd injected.
“Yes. Of course. For now.” The woman had to be given credit for turning catty into an art form—as well as redirecting the spotlight of a conversation in seconds. “It is going to be…spectacular!” She fanned her arms, fingers outspread. “The Altor Ballroom is being prepared as we speak!”
“The Altor Ballroom?” Both Jayd’s arms dropped to her sides. Her fingers twitched, as if craving to form into fists. “That is…impressive, indeed.”
Ambyr practically preened. “I know.”
“There is a full staff preparing it?” Jayd pressed. “Polishing the gold inlays? And buffing that huge floor?”
Ambyr nodded. “Happily so, Your Highness.”
Jayd’s lips thinned. “Does His Majesty Evrest know about this?”
“The queen mother and king father do.” It was better than a yes, and we all knew it. Even as an outsider, I knew Evrest capitulated to his parents about social events, with the understanding that the kingdom’s government, military, and operations were his jurisdiction.
“The entire evening will be broadcast live to the whole country,” Ambyr went on excitedly. “Several entertainment shows from around the world will also be carrying the feed. It shall show off the best of the best about Arcadia!”
A blast of breath burst out of Jayd, visibly startling Ambyr but not Crista or myself. To be cliché but accurate, the fuse had been smoldering for at least five minutes. “I would think, at this juncture, that would be our ability to get the internet working, the homeless sheltered, and the streets dry.”
Ambyr blinked. Then again. The blast zone had finally stretched into her brain. “They also need to know we will not be this way forever. Seeing their monarchs happy and in love—”
“And pressured to propose by a public relations stunt?” Jayd volleyed.
Ambyr flattened a hand to the base of her throat. Blinked with huge, hurt eyes. “With all due respect, Your Highness…I did not think, for one moment—”
