“It is not as simple as that,” Lanneth says, her voice hollow in my ears. “We need her.You know this.”
“Then these are your problems to solve,” Daedalus replies sharply. “You are the ones who burdened me with this human wife.”
“Would you rather it had been a Fae bride?” Lanneth exhales. “Like she was?”
My ears prick and my hand grips the wall, my fingernails digging into the grooves between the stone.
What did she say? Like who was? Am I not the prince’s first wife? I recall the portrait over his mantle and the very thought of it fills me with a sadness edged with jealousy.
I am no longer thinking about escaping. I’m not thinking about anything at all. All I want to do is hear more. I take a step forward, closer to the door, but as I move, my foot gets tangled in the beaded hem of my dress. I brace myself on the wall, catching myself before I fall, but all I can do is watch when the string of beads snaps, and dozens of tiny black orbs hit the ground and roll across the stone.
The voices fall silent, and my entire body pulses with every boot step that thunders towards the door.
There is nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. They will walk in here at any moment, and soon know that I have heard many things. Things I should not have heard. Compared to what I fear they have in store for me, sending me back to The Grove would be a blessing. All I can do is wait.
Suddenly there is a pop in my ears and a burst of smoke fogs my vision. A chain-mail glove covers my mouth, muffling my stunned squeek, and a second later, I am swallowed up into a black void before reappearing in the familiar surroundings of my chambers.
I keel over, stumbling forward and bracing myself on the bed. The nausea is too intense this time, but I’m aware enough to grab a vase hurriedly from the side table to use as a vessel. I drag my sleeve across my mouth when I’m done, my chest heaving with shallow breaths.
“Are you alright, Your Highness?” Arax asks.
With my head still bowed, I return the soiled vase to the table. “No. Not really,” I mumble, wrapping my arms around the bedpost to keep steady. I glance around my chambers in a haze. “You can void walk such a great distance?”
“I have been wielding the void long enough to know it better than most. You shouldn’t have been in that room,” he grumbles, the disappointment evident in his tone.
I give a floppy nod. “I understand that now.”
“What did you hear?” he asks.
I turn my head to take in his face, his brow furrowed, his hooded eyes staring at me beneath his bushy gray eyebrows. Even though Arax has shown me some semblance of kindness, I can not let myself believe he is someone to be trusted. Nothing is real in this place.
“I didn’t hear anything,” I mutter, slowly standing on my own two feet.
His eyes narrow. “I don’t believe you.”
I shrug, meeting him with an unflinching glare. “So what happens now?”
Arax rolls his broad shoulders and weighs me up in his stern gaze. “Now I return to the banquet to tell the king and queen that the food did not sit well with you, so I escorted you back to your chambers. I’ll find Solena to help ready you for bed.”
I nod my agreement, but keep my face impassive, my mouth a straight line.
Arax bows, then turns on his heels, closing the doors behind him as he leaves me alone in my chambers. As soon as he’s gone, I slump forward, bracing my hands on my knees as I draw in as much air as my lungs can hold. My relief makes me dizzy, but still my nerves and fear knot in my stomach. Arax saved me. He saw I was about to be caught, but rather than raise the alarm or simply watch and do nothing, he aided my escape. Now he goes to lie on my behalf. Those are not the actions of someone who means me harm.
The doors to my chambers swing open, and Solena slips into the room, her expression a mix of concern and curiosity.
“What happened? Where did you go?”
I remind myself to keep my thoughts guarded for my own protection. “I felt unwell,” I reply, continuing the lie Arax spun.
“What a shame. I had hoped that now your hand is healed, you might feel better.”
There’s a genuine warmth in her tone that eases some of the tension coiling in my chest.
“Lord Reon was looking for you,” Solena says, a teasing lilt to her voice. “He wanted to request a dance.”
My brow furrows in confusion. “Really? Why?”
“Why, because you are beautiful, Your Highness?” she grins, mischief dancing in her eyes.
