Her gaze snapped back to mine.
"Don't do anything foolish tonight, Dante," she warned.
Then she was gone, without even waiting to allow me time to defend myself. Not that I had any defense to give. I watched her go before plucking a new goblet of wine from another passing waiter and taking a deep sip as I slid off of the wall and headed toward the opposite side of the room. If I positioned myself near the door, maybe I could slip out at an opportune time later. It had always worked at my grandfather's parties, at least.
"Viper," someone barked before I'd even made it halfway.
I closed my eyes and sighed. I knew who it was before he approached but I turned to greet the Captain anyway, not bothering to paste a smile on my face for his benefit. We both knew it would be false.
"The king wishes for me to remind you that you're to be seen and not heard this evening," he said. "I know how difficult it is for you to hold your tongue."
I ran an appraising eye over the pristine uniform he wore now, burgundy brocade and golden medals I'd never seen before. I lifted a brow in the bored expression I'd perfected back in Sanctuary.
"Consider it held," I informed him. "I would beveryquiet back in my room, you know."
"Seenand not heard."
Then he turned and walked away, leaving me shaking my head in the middle of the ballroom. I took another sip of wine and turned.
Then I saw her. Entering in a gown of glittering gold, she lit up the room. Men and women alike stopped to stare as she strode forward in a dress that seemed to be melted straight onto her body. It hugged her curves, dipping low to expose a generous amount of cleavage, held together by a single tie that trailed down the length of her exposed back. The Second Ringer, Zya, was at her side, braids gathered atop her head as sheslunk forward in a burgundy gown accented with the same gold Adrian adorned. A man was on her other side. I didn't know him. I'd seen him before, trailing at her heels, shaggy dark hair brushing his shoulders as he shot her goofy grins. But I couldn't remember his name. Zane, maybe?
The general stepped forward and Adrian gazed up into his eyes as he spoke, not smiling but not hating either. What I would give for such indifference.
A moment later, they separated with a neat bob of her head. Zya and Dane peeled away to follow the general back to his group of warriors in the corner while Adrian made her way to the dais where the king beamed at her, waiting.
I took another drink of wine and watched as she took the few steps up to the royal dining table, as Prince Leo smiled warmly in greeting and the king patted the seat between them. I watched her fold her golden gown beneath her before she sat, watched her eye the wine offered and refuse, watched her frown as the king leaned a bit too close to speak with her. She was terrible at this, always had been. Adrian didn't have the temperament for politics. Every thought and feeling was written plainly on her face. Something about that had always made her feel so genuine, more real than the people I was used to spending my days with. Here, they would simply eat her alive.
I cast a glare in the general's direction. Shouldn't he step in? Shouldn't he be defending her from this?
"The boy who stares," someone spoke suddenly.
I jumped, caught off guard by the nearness of a stranger's presence, and turned to see an old woman with sharp eyes a strange shade of violet. She stood directly behind me, blending into her surroundings in her simple brown dress, gray hair plaited down the side and wrapped around the crown of her head. Her wrinkled lips stretched into a grin at my examination.
"You worry for her," she said then, cocking her head to the side. "Why?"
"I—excuse me?" I asked, still confused.
"The girl," she replied, nodding toward the dais where Adrian sat between the King and the Prince. She was speaking now and both of them leaned forward to hear, rapt with attention. "You tried to kill her. You betrayed her. And yet you stand here watching her, worrying for her, drinking yourself to an early grave. Why?"
I glared at the woman now, lowering my glass and staring her down.
"Who do you think you are—"
"Ophelia," she answered proudly, extending a hand. "I am a Seer, Dante of House Viper, and I Saw your coming years ago. Did that fool king believe me then? Of course not. 'No one has defeated the Trials in a thousand years', he reminded me. Who's laughing now?"
At that moment, the king's booming laugh could be heard throughout the room. I turned to see the Prince chuckling along as well. Adrian looked uncomfortable between them. I turned back to the old woman and raised a brow. She snorted.
"A turn of phrase," she told me, waving her hand. "Would you like to hear what else I've Seen, Dante of House Viper?"
I frowned. I'd always been taught that seeing the future was impossible, a Blessing bestowed on very few priests Chosen by the gods themselves. But I'd since learned the gods themselves were a load of bullshit so who was the say the rest of it wasn't as well.
"You can tell me," I told her. "I won't promise to believe you."
She grinned back, the lights of the chandeliers shimmering in her violet eyes.
"I would expect no less of a Viper," she mused. I bristled but she didn't wait for my argument. When she spoke again, hervoice seemed to change. It was still hers but had taken on a dreamlike quality, a tone of things far away. And her violet eyes turned away from me, boring a hole through the opposite wall as if she could see right through it to what lied beyond. "I've Seen a path which Darkness walks alone. It forks in the end and offers a choice. To the left lies familiarity, a thing that's been as it ever was. To the right lies something new, a risk. One brings destruction of the light, the freedom of a god, the reunion of a people. The other brings the separation, the past impressing upon the future, the misery of millions."
I frowned.
