But unfortunately, more eyes fell upon her as soon as she stepped inside that room; a half dozen servants were waiting for her.
“My lady,” said the one closest to her, sweeping into a low bow. “We’ve changed your linens, cleaned every surface, aired the room out, and we are here to provide you with anything else you may require—”
“I require nothing but privacy,” Sephia told them as politely as she could.
They didn’t budge.
She wondered if they were under orders to not leave her alone. Her gaze narrowed at the thought, and she fixed it on each of servants in turn.
The woman who’d spoken to her stepped closer. Her mouth pressed into a thin little line. It reminded Sephia of the way Nana Rosa’s used to twist right before she launched into a lecture—and so it hardly fazed Sephia.
“Leave,” she ordered. “Now.”
The woman huffed a foreign word under her breath, but then she curtsied quickly and motioned for the others to follow her out of the room.
Once they were gone, Sephia closed the door and sank back against it. Memories of the morning flashed through her mind, and she cursed into the silence settling around her.
She had meant to search the kitchen for things she could use as potential weapons, for ways she might mask poison in the prince’s food. She had meant to have more useful conversations with that prince—something that would have revealed more of his weaknesses.
Instead, she had ended up laughing with him. Kissing him.Enjoying his company.
“Idiot,” she said to herself. With a sigh, she pushed away from the door and wandered toward the bed. She picked up the letter Nora had sent. Her eyes misted over as she read it for perhaps the hundredth time.
She could hear her twin’s voice in her head, gently rebuking her:You’re too hard on yourself, Sephia. Let’s focus on the things you’ve accomplished.
Sephia tried to.
She had made it over three days now without her true identity being discovered. The prince had given her a ring—one with protective powers, thus leaving himself less protected. That prince seemed to be growing less hostile toward her, and that counted for something, didn’t it? It would make moving around the palace and gathering more information easier.
And yet all of these things counted for nothing when she thought about how she’d felt when he’d kissed her.
It had felt entirely too good.
Tooreal.
Breathing out another curse, she folded Nora’s letter and placed it on the nightstand, next to the ring Tarron had given her.
She’d left that ring on this nightstand earlier—pretended to forget it—because she was afraid of what would happen if she wore it too long. But now she couldn’t stop herself from picking it up and sliding it onto her finger.
It still burned against her skin, but she left it on. The prince would want to see her wearing it, she told herself. Another way to build the trust between them. And perhaps it would help her keep her Shadow magic buried more deeply inside of her.
With this comforting thought settling her mind, she plopped down on her bed and curled up with one of the overstuffed pillows. Before long, her eyes closed and she was drifting off.
Something startledher back awake a short time later: A feeling that she was beingwatched.
She bolted upright, clutching the pillow to her chest. She scanned the room, expecting a servant, or perhaps a mischievous Ketzal—but the space was empty save for herself. The windows were closed. The doors were shut.
“Nothing there,” she whispered, trying to reassure herself.
But she stillsensedsomething. Bumps had shivered to life across her skin. Her blood felt cold, her body lighter. It was the same sensation she felt whenever her Shadow magic started to rise to the surface.
The same sensation she’d felt when she’d encountered that shadow beast attacking the king.
She recognized that dark energy. There was no mistaking it. And after a moment of sitting with it, a possibility occurred to her: The Sun magic possessed by the king and his followers… did it blind them to those shadows that were stalking the halls of this place?
She yanked the prince’s ring off and tossed it back onto the nightstand…and then she gasped.
Because her suspicions were instantly proven correct: The same shadowy creatures she’d seen prowling the grounds outside were curling around the posts of her bed, peering out from behind the dresser, perched on the windowsill and watching.
