Maybe this will be easier than I thought.
By the time I make it to the central atrium of the palace, the soft hum of activity is echoing off the vaulted ceilings. I’m at the top of the main staircase, allowing a wide view of the sprawling room below. Servants and footmen and guards are everywhere, standing along the wall, arranging flowers, dusting fixtures, placing chairs, fluffing the tapestries. There’s a bit more light here, from the stained glass along the front wall that paints vibrant shades of blue and orange along the walls, to the massive windows beside the main doors that allow the first glow of dawn into the room. I search faces, but there’s no sign of myfamily. My gaze stops on Drewson, the head butler, who seems to be engaged in a tense discussion with two men in black armor.
Black armor! Are these soldiers from Incendar? I creep closer to the steps.
“You there!” a woman hisses from behind me. “What are you doing?”
I whirl, choking on my breath. A hall maid stands behind me, and she’s older and pencil-thin, with hair drawn back in a tight bun. When she meets my eyes, I expect her to gasp and curtsy and say, “Oh, YourHighness,” in appalled shock.
But she doesn’t. She repeats her demand with more emphasis. “Whatare youdoing?”
I stare at her, my mouth working, but no sound coming out.
She snaps her fingers and points past me. “The servant stairs are that way,” she continues in a furious whisper. “You new girls can’t seem to manage to follow the simplest rules. You’re not serving mead in an alehouse anymore. What is your name?”
I can’t help but stare. I don’t know if I want to snap at her for being so irascible or if I want to hug her for not recognizing me.
When I don’t answer, she gives an aggravated sigh. “Well, I obviously won’t need to know it for long. Get out of the main stairwell!” She points behind me again, like I’m a disobedient hound. “Get! Go on,get!”
Iget.
But as I cross over to the servant stairwell, I realize one of the soldiers is looking up at me. His hair is brown—no, dark blond. There’s a night’s worth of beard growth along his jaw, too. The crest of Incendar is stamped into the black leather of his armor, though he’s too far to make out much detail beyond the sword and hammer. It’s his eyes that catch me, because he’s staring up at me so boldly. My heart kicks again, giving an odd little flutter, and I have to remind myself that I’m dressed as a maid. No common soldier woulddarestare at the princess.
A flare of challenge sparks in my gut, and it takes me by surprise. No one ever challenges me, not really. I’m protected. Sheltered. Dismissed. Ignored. Neverchallenged, not even by Asher. I want to stop fora moment, just to stare back and see who yields first. But that maid is still behind me, clearly waiting to make sure I obey, and these brutes from Incendar might stare at everyone. I avert my eyes and hurry along.
As I cross to the other side, I can’t help glancing back at the soldiers. The man isn’t looking at me anymore, and it sounds like Drewson is arguing with them now.
“You will stand to the side,” the butler is saying, his tone exasperated. It sounds like he’s given this directive more than once. “We will alert His Highness as to your arrival once yourkingis in attendance.”
The darker haired soldier draws himself up sharply. “You are speaking to the—”
“As you say.” The blond one gives Drewson a nod, then looks to his companion. “You heard the man, Captain. We will wait.”
Then I can’t hear any more, because I’ve reached the narrow entrance to the servant stairwell. Once I’ve gone down a few steps and around a tight bend, it’s suddenly pitch-dark from the lack of torches and lanterns. I can hear my own breathing, and I freeze on the steps.
I’m not afraid of the dark, not really, but the hair on the back of my arms stands up. For a terrifying moment, this feels beyond reckless. There are strangers in the palace, and I’m hiding in a dark stairwell. I think of Asher, the way he slips through the shadows. Someone could kill me right now, and no one would have a clue who did it.
But if I turn back, that old maid is going to pitch a fit, and I’m going to have to tell her who I am. She’d be humiliated, and likely punished if my brother heard about any of this.
And those soldiers are at the base of the stairs. Would they hear what was going on? Would they report back to Maddox Kyronan?
Or...would I be at risk? They have no idea who I am, and everyone seems to be afraid of these men and their king. Perhaps this is the most reckless part of my plan at all.
But I’m so desperately curious—especially since Dane kept me away from the negotiations. Everything I know about Incendar has always been a matter of rumor and hearsay.
But these are real soldiers, and they’reright here.
The steps end at a door, and it’s so dark that I nearly walk right intoit. I push gently, unsure of what’s on the other side, hoping I don’t find another maid waiting to yell at me.
Instead, I find myself on the main floor of the atrium, in a bit of an alcove between two tables full of striking flower displays.
I’m also right behind the two soldiers.
I catch my breath and hold it. From behind, there’s something very tense about the set of their shoulders, the way they’ve taken a spot to the side of the room. They stand at ease, like soldiers awaiting an order, but they’re speaking in low tones to each other.
This close, I can hear every word.
The dark blond one from earlier is saying, “Now it’s a power play, Sev. We’ll be forced to wait for the others.”
