The steps were coming around to the other side of the room. I pushed my body as deep into the desk as I could.
I saw the boots. Black. With dark blue stitching.
It couldn’t be. It had to be someone else, even someone else from the Court of Sigbin, with the same boots.
The boots turned the opposite direction, and I saw the custom stitching on the heel, a looping letterL.
Lucas.
14
“You look asif you’re running a fever, Princess!” Jinky had come to wake me up the next morning. For once in my life, I wasn’t faking. I’d actually made myself sick.
“Stay in bed today,” she said. “I’ll go and fetch you some pandesal. And I’ll ask the healer to come see you.”
I nodded weakly. It was just as well. Hiding seemed like a reasonable solution to all my problems, in particular to facing Lucas after what I’d witnessed the night before. I wasn’t ready.
I welcomed the opportunity to rest, though without internet or even trashy daytime television, a day home from school was not a whole lot of fun. All I had were my schoolbooks and a window to sit at and watch palace staff go about their business—an endless procession of food deliveries and bolts of fabric and slatted crates filled with who knew what—baffling in their sheer volume. I wondered when their activities would end, how much more they could possibly do. Or maybe I was just irritated because it was a nonstop reminder of impending disaster, like the gathering storm over the mountains, which not only hadn’t gone away but was getting bigger.
Because of course, three weeks before the coronation, I stillhad no clue what my talent was. Maybe I had no magical ability and should just let the Court of Sigbin take the throne.
So I stayed away from the windows, too. The view was only making me feel sicker.
I thought about going to the library to see if I could find more about the beetles—or maybe even tips for magicless mortals on how to pull an enchanted scepter from a chest. But I didn’t want to draw any attention in case someone decided I was well enough to have another impromptu fitting or to answer another question about flowers. Medium pink or dark pink? Which type of filler flowers did I prefer?
Althea, the healer who was Nix’s friend, arrived. She gave me some black tea, like my mother used to do, and explained that sometimes encanto food and the air in Biringan are hard on the human nervous system. Maybe I just needed some time to adjust to living here. She instantly made me feel better and made me miss my own mother. Taking her advice, I slept through lunchtime and into the afternoon.
After I woke up, I read from the Hayop at Halaman text and finished an essay a week ahead of time. Then I heard Jinky out in the hall. She’d gone down to the kitchens to get our afternoon merienda of fried bananas in sugar.
I wrapped my robe around me as I opened the door. “Jinky, could you ask if there’s any—” A surge of fear and anger shot through me when I saw the face on the other side. “What are you doing here?”
Lucas looked like he was trying to run away, but he’d been busted. “Oh, hey,” he said sheepishly, raising his hand in a slight wave.
“I said, what are you doing here?” I demanded, a little more stridently than was warranted perhaps, since he didn’t know that I had seen him in my father’s office the night before. Plus, it was irritating being so close to him; he was so annoyingly good-looking, and I couldn’t help but notice how long his lashes were. Ugh.
He looked around helplessly, as if someone might help him. “I was...”
But I didn’t let him finish. “Lurking around my room?” I accused. “Is that it? Like you lurk around my father’s?”
To my surprise, he began to walk away. He didn’t even try to answer me.
“Wait! Where are you going?” I called after him. “Lucas! Get back here!”
He only walked faster, almost tripping over his own feet.
“You better keep running, then! And stay away from here!” I yelled, feeling a bit foolish after having just told him to come back. “Guards!” I shouted. “Guards!”
His footsteps faded down the hall and around the corner.
In anger, I’d been bold, but now that the immediate surprise had passed and he was out of sight, I realized I was shaking, from my hands to my feet. I felt kind of weak, like I needed to sit down.
Lucas had been in my father’s rooms, and now he was outside my door, when I was alone. When confronted, he’d offered no explanation; he just ran away. Staying home hadn’t protected me. I was foolish for letting him get away. In my panic, I wasn’t thinking straight.
I clutched my dressing gown tighter around me, as if that would shield me. “Jinky?” I called out. She should be nearby. I shouted again, louder this time: “Jinky!” And where were theguards? How long could a shift change take? Had they allowed Lucas to walk right up to my door? If so, that meant anybody could take advantage of that window. Something would have to be done about this. They were always around to stop me from doing things I wanted to do but not around when I needed them to be.
Then I noticed it. My blood ran cold. A crack in the stone wall, something moving around it. Many somethings.
The same ones I’d seen all over the king’s desk and window.
