Lo’s words should have dissuaded me. I didn’t need a man like that in my life. But there was something wrong with me, some broken cog that refused to turn right.
Because thinking about Kael felt like standing at the railing again, knowing I should run, yet wanting to see how far he could push me before I fell. The thought should have frightened me. Instead, it thrilled me.
“Wouldn’t I make a fool of myself?” I asked, picturing the moment over and over, the question, the silence, the thousand ways he could humiliate me.
Lo sighed, setting down his brush. “That’s a risk you’ll have to take if you want the truth,” he said, a faint smile curving his lips. “Better a heart bruised by honesty than one shattered by illusion, darling. Trust me, I’ve swept up enough pieces to know.”
I nodded. Lo was right. Not knowing was worse than any humiliation that might follow if I asked Kael directly. I didn’t want to end the night with guards escorting me out of the castle.
Now it was my turn to ask a question. He had started this conversation. I needed to know what had prompted him.
“Why did you ask?”
Lo chuckled awkwardly, which was soun-Lo it startled me. He looked caught somewhere between guilt and absurdity. “Because he asked about you.”
“What? When? What did he want to know?” That spark of excitement again, traitorous and alive.
“The day after that wonderful magisters’ dinner you just told me about,” he said, gesturing dramatically with his brush, “he asked if we were close. I told him we were an inseparable couple,” he winked, “and then he wanted me to keep him informed of your whereabouts.”
Why on Terra would Kael want to know where I was?
“So you were his spy!” I exclaimed, though the outrage felt more like performance than truth. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lo sighed, lowering his brush like a penitent knight setting down his sword. “I thought it was atrialsort of thing. I know how much this post means to you and didn’t want you overthinking it, which you always do. Besides, you were usually in the village talking to farmers and goats, hardly a threat to the Crown.”
I couldn’t even be angry. It wasn’t as though I’d done anything worth hiding. If Kael wanted to know my routines, he could. But why did he want to? And why not simply ask me himself?
Then his words echoed between my thoughts.
Stay away from me, Evie.
Did he only want to make sure I obeyed him?
Well, to the abyss with that. Tonight, all magisters would standbeside the Dean for the opening of the Academy Ball, and I would make certain to stand beside him.
I would ask Kael Forloren what his problem was and solve this riddle once and for all.
Lo finished my makeup, his deft hands tracing lines of kohl above and below my eyes, brushing rouge over my lips with surgical care. When he was satisfied with his art, he leaned back, studying me as if I were his masterpiece.
A sly smile touched his lips. “Darling, if I were into women, I’d be courting you tonight.”
Heat rose to my cheeks. “And I’d court you right back.”
He had drawn out every good thing about my face, warmed my cheeks, brightened my dark eyes, made my lips gleam like raspberries under candlelight.
I dressed, slipping into my beautiful Ciuffo gown. Twice I checked my reflection before leaving my bedchamber, confidence settling like silk upon my skin. My hair I left loose, dark curls spilling to the small of my back.
The Academy Ball was meant to celebrate life through reunion, music, and dance. And tonight, Lo and I would dance the nine hells out of ourselves.
The hallsof the Magi Academy of Hauvia were dressed in long veils of pale blue silk, and the great crystal chandelier above refracted a storm of dancing light across the polished floor. A sea of last-year students in jeweled gowns and velvet finery gathered before the banquet hall doors, waiting for the dark blue ribbon to be cut so they might flood into the ballroom.
We—the magisters, minus the Court Wizard, who was ever punctual only to his own design—stood upon the stage at the far end of the hall beside the teachers, all resplendent in robes of teal and gold. Dean Anita Durvelle stood at the center in a gown of silvered pearl that shimmered like moonlight on water, long grayhair tied in a knot fashioned like a rose. Her round collar framed the graceful lines of her throat; her bright green eyes glowed with quiet pride as she prepared to address the crowd.
I glanced over my shoulder, searching for Kael. He would enter through the side door leading from the gardens. Still no sign of him.
Then my gaze met Jorren’s. His red-and-gold tunic blazed in the light, his brown eyes full of bold admiration.
“Looking stunning, Evangelina,” he murmured. His gaze lingered far too long.
