“He didn’t have a costume. And I thought—I thought Thibo, wherever he might be, might find it amusing.”
A hand clapped on my shoulder and Luca pulled me into an embrace.
I hugged him back, fighting a cascade of dueling emotions. Over his shoulder, I saw Lullaby look down and scrub at her eyes. I drew back, holding Luca at arm’s length. Although he wore Thibo’s fine clothes, his costume was clearly meant as a mockery of court fashion—his face was heavily painted a few shades too pale, and bright spots of rouge stood out on his cheeks. His lips were drawn in an exaggerated bow, and his naturally curly hair had been heat-tonged into curlicues.
“Rude.” I hid a smile.
He cocked one nattily-stockinged calf and I saw he had on courtly heeled shoes he would normally never wear. “Do I fit in yet?”
Behind Luca, Gavin held a hand over his mouth, his shoulders shaking. As usual, I couldn’t resist a rising bubble of laughter in response. I fought it, but Luca put his hand on his hip and began an exaggerated courtly promenade around the pergola. Before long, Gavin and Lullaby were doubled over cackling. I couldn’t help cracking a smile.
“Come for the drinks, stay for the comedy?” laughed Gavin.
“I can get behind that.” Luca slung a familiar arm around Gavin, who threw him a cheeky salute. “Maybe you were right about this place all along, Mirage.”
A flare of envy curdled my mirth. I knew Gavin and Luca’s friendship had progressed past equine adoration, but it hurt to see them so close. I knew one Nocturne of drinking games couldn’t patch all the holes in my relationship with Luca, but now I wasn’t sure I’d ever get the chance to patch the rest. My cousin had managed to charm Luca as he did everyone else.
“Did either of you get one of Oleander’s special drinks?” I asked.
“Were they in these glasses?” Gavin held one of the crystal flutes the poisons had been served in.
“I didn’t.” A distant thrill strung the lines of Luca’s painted face at eager angles. He disentangled himself from my cousin and reached a hand toward Lullaby. “Your glass is empty, my lady. Would you care to stroll with me in search of libations?”
Lullaby caught my eye, then shot a questioning look at Gavin. I slowly nodded, grateful for her concern. She shrugged, grasped Luca’s hand, and walked out with him.
“Did you mean to be late?” I asked Gavin.
“Yes.” He grinned back. “Would you rather I came early?”
“What’s your costume meant to be?”
“Did you tell me I was supposed to wear one?”
“Did you read the invitation?”
“Yes.” He laughed, but this time a shadow of annoyance crossed his jolly features. “Did it mention you’d be dosing all your guests and interrogating them?”
So he’d already learned the game. I’d hoped to catch him before he learned the trap I set, but for someone who claimed to hate court, he was no stranger to guile. I rolled words around my tongue, searching for the right phrasing to make him admit what I really wanted to know. But did it matter, in the end? I could never be completely sure whether he was telling the truth or not.
“Did you cheat in the first Ordeal?”
“No.” He smiled all the way to his cracked-topaz eyes. I couldn’t not smile with him, and I hated myself for it. “Did you?”
“Gavin—”
“Didn’t the note you wrote me say,rivals, not enemies?” He reached out, impulsive, and took my hand. I jolted at his touch. “If we’re not enemies, then shouldn’t we be dancing?”
“I don’t really—”
“She doesn’t ride,” he complained to the ceiling, “andshe doesn’t dance? What did they do for fun out in the Dusklands?”
“Nothing much,” I admitted. “Unless you count paying obeisance to an absent Scion multiple times a dayfun.”
He gave another laugh and tugged me out into the hallway. I followed, half-reluctant. I didn’t want to dance. But I had more questions for Gavin now I knew he’d drunk the truthful poison.
Hadn’t he?
In my head, I tallied Gavin’s answers against my own questions. He’d been evasive, sure. But so had everyone, this Nocturne. No one wanted to tell their hearts.
