I’d spent so long staring at this view, wishing I could go beyond these walls and explore the world. Ride a horse across that plain, like a driver from Winspere. Sail down the river. Stand in the mystical forest of Twaryn. Meet new people. Experience new things.
I’d done all that. Not in the way I’d always imagined. But daydreams rarely included the mess of suffering and loss.
The iron chairs and stone table on my balcony were also clean. As if Mother had just eaten her breakfast with us this morning before disappearing into her garden.
I sat on a chair and closed my eyes. Listened to the gentle breeze. And dreamed new dreams.
The next morning, I awoke to a knock. I’d changed into my thickest sleeping gown before going to bed last night, but I still threw on a dressing robe.
I knew who it was before I opened the door.
Renwell stood in my doorway, looking well-rested in similar clothing to yesterday’s. But without the crown or the cloak. A familiar wooden box was tucked under his arm.
He smiled, soft and pleasant. A lie. “Play with me?”
Memories nipped at the back of my mind. He’d asked me the same question in the same stance many times during our years of training.
But everything else had changed.
“No.”
His smile grew. “Not even to get your precious siblings out of Aquinon?”
My breath snagged. This was his plan? To get me to wager their freedom? For what?
It didn’t matter when neither of them wanted to leave just yet. But Renwell didn’t need to know that.
“And if I lose?” I asked.
“Then you will grant the favor I ask.”
Dread churned in my stomach. This was precisely what Aiden had worried would happen. “What favor?”
Renwell’s eyes narrowed with predatory confidence. “Play with me and find out.”
Chapter 57
Kiera
Renwell had thought of everything.
When I went to change clothes, I found my old training outfits, instead of my princess dresses, in the closet.
My lip curled.
Clearly, he was trying to make me comfortable—leaving me alone with Everett and Delysia, giving me my old room and my preferred clothes, asking me to play our usual game.
I might as well let him think it was working until I got what I wanted. I had six days left before Aiden and Henry were supposed to arrive. I needed to make them count.
I slipped into a comfortable pair of brown pants and a black, long-sleeved shirt that hugged my skin. He’d also left me a new pair of boots, but I laced on my worn ones, just as he still did.
Moments later, I entered Renwell’s study without knocking.
He sat behind his desk, the Death and Four tiles already scattered facedown in front of him. A steaming teapot, two cups, and a simple breakfast of eggs, sausage, and toast sat on a tray at the edge of his desk.
The food smelled amazing, but Renwell’s scent was steeped in the simple furniture and black rug—rose petals and candle smoke. The dangerous reality living under the calm surface.
The heavy curtains were drawn, and a fire warmed the room from the hearth. No matter what time of day it was outside, night always reigned here.
