“It’s like you’re speaking a foreign language.”
I squeeze her hand. “You’ll get the hang of it soon enough.” Briony’s a quick learner. She’s going to have to be. Because the palace is full of unwritten rules and strict protocol and the palace is where I expect we’ll all be returning once our time at the academy is over. In fact, I expect the Empress to gift us a larger apartment worthy of three shadow weavers and their lumomancer mate.
But then Briony says something that has me wondering if my vision for the future is as secure as I imagine.
“I’m not sure I’d want to get used to this.”
I don’t know what she means, but the way she says it unsettles me. I don’t have the opportunity to quiz her about it, though, because we reach the end of the formal hallway and the tall doors that lead to the event.
Two guards are stationed either side of the doors, dressed in their purple finery tonight. As we approach, they pull back the doors and we’re hit by a wall of noise and color. Two hundred people talking, mingling, networking.
I’ve been to hundreds of these things. In fact, I was a kid the first time I was dragged to such an event. But I try to see things through Briony’s eye, to understand what she must make of all this.
I remember the outfit she arrived at the academy dressed in. I remember the other outfits too. Worn, patched up, dull, and ill-fitting.
I remember how she’d never tried chocolate before or ice cream. I remember how skinny she was.
The people here are draped in designer dresses crafted from expensive materials, precious jewels hanging from their ears and looping around their throats. Every single one clutches a priceless crystal flute, the champagne free flowing.
The sight screams wealth, exuberance, and indulgence. And I guess I’d never seen it that way before.
Our little thrall has changed me.
I squeeze her hand more tightly in my grip as if I’m afraid someone might snatch her from me, and lead her forward into the room. We catch the attention of the people closest to us and when they register who we are and the strange girl in our company, jaws drop, eyebrows rise and whispers begin, whispers that quickly ripple through the crowd, more and more of the shadow weavers gathered here tonight, turning our way.
I spot Henny and Linny’s parents, their daughters hovering a few feet away, and I spy Kratos’s father. I identify the Empress’s private secretary and the head of the army. I even glimpse Dray’s parents circulating among the guests. The Empress herself has not yet made an appearance, but nearly every other important individual in the realm is here tonight.
For a moment, I wonder if exposing Briony to all these people was a good idea, many of whom would like to see the Empress toppled and me at the bottom of a lake. But Briony is powerful, growing more powerful by the day. I’m less afraid for her safety than I once was. I mean, fuck, the girl just survived a lightning strike while riding a freaking dragon!
“Are those the Smyte twins?” Briony asks, scanning the crowd as well. “How are they here and not at the academy?”
“Their family is very high ranking,” I explain, which is one of the reasons Henny’s family is so damn keen that Henrietta and I end up together. Together, our claim on the throne would be pretty indisputable. I decide not to share that piece of information with Briony. It’s never going to happen. Unfortunately, the Smyte family don’t seem to have received that message.
Bonnitta Smyte, her hair as red as her daughters’, approaches us first. Her eyes are wild, one dragging a littlebehind the other, and the smile on her face is frankly disturbing. The whispers around the court suggest her husband has had to lock her away on more than one occasion.
I tug Briony to my side and square my shoulders.
“Prince Beaufort, Your Royal Highness,” she trills in her refined voice, dipping her head in a little bow before laying her hand on my arm and paying no notice of the woman standing beside me. “How wonderful! I understood you weren’t attending tonight. Your time at the academy is not quite over after all.”
“No, not yet, but I was asked to attend tonight,” I tell her.
“Yes, of course, the Empress always gives dispensation for some of the more deserving at the academy to attend this celebration – my daughters included.” She frowns at Dray. “I’m rather surprised you were asked to attend Eros.”
Dray simply smirks at her, grabbing a passing glass of champagne and taking a big swig.
Bonnitta snorts and returns her attention to me.
“Henny has been writing to me with all the academy details of course.” She tosses her head, her large diamond earrings sparkling under all the thousands of candles floating overhead. “This year’s trials sound so amusing. I bet you and your bond brothers found them no trouble at all.”
“Some were more challenging than others,” I say, feeling Briony tense beside me.
“Not for you, I’m sure, my darling.” She pouts. “When will you and Henny come visit again together? We had so much fun the last time you came.”
“The academy and the Empress are keeping me busy,” I say, diplomatically. Then I gesture to Briony. “Perhaps you’d let me introduce our companion to you, Lady Smyte.”
She turns her head slowly and peers down her nose at Briony.
“And do you have a name, child? Or would you simply like us to call you thrall?” Lady Smyte says with disgust.
