“Then do you consider my brother’s promise to you fulfilled?”
He nods.
“Say it aloud,” she hisses.
“I consider Prince Franco’s promise to me fulfilled.”
My heart clenches, and the breath flees my lungs. What does he mean by Franco’s promise? I recall when Marus confronted Franco at the ball last night. He mentioned something about a promise then, but…
He couldn’t have…
He wouldn’t…
“Wonderful,” Nyxia says with exaggerated sweetness before turning back to the door.
Imogen rises to her feet. “Wait, Your Majesty!”
Nyxia turns around with fire in her eyes. “What now?”
My stepsister burns me with a glare and dips into a low curtsy. “This girl, my stepsister, has been impersonating Princess Maisie. This,” she holds up the shoe still grasped in one hand, “is the item that held the glamour. I have discovered her vile subterfuge.”
The queen takes the shoe and pins me with a dark look. “Is this true?”
My knees quake and I’m unable to find my words.
She brushes past my stepsister toward me. Imogen stands and staggers back toward Marus as dark tendrils of shadow, much like the ones I’ve seen Franco wield, emerge from the queen and attach to my skull. Fear lances through me. “Answer my question and speak only the truth. Now.”
“Yes,” I gasp. “For the last two weeks, I’ve worn a glamour that makes me look like Princess Maisie. We had a bargain. She asked me to impersonate her.” Everything comes out in a rush, and I know it’s the queen’s magic that compels me. Still, I maintain a sliver of free will, and with that I avoid revealingtoomuch—particularly that Maisie seemed to be in danger and used our bargain to run away. I also leave out mention of Franco’s involvement with my scheme. Despite how my heart aches from his confounding betrayal, I can’t bring myself to condemn him. Not until I have a clear understanding of what’s going on.
Nyxia releases me from her shadows, and I inhale a sharp breath. Glancing at Marus, she says, “Are you sure this is your chosen bride? A criminal? I could punish her for what she’s done.”
Marus gapes before answering. “She obviously got embroiled in some unsavory business involving the princess. You heard her. She said Princess Maisie asked her to impersonate her.”
She snorts a dark laugh. “And you’re still determined to marry her?”
“I am. All that awaits is the signing of our marriage license.”
“No,” I say, stepping toward the terrifying queen. My heart riots against my ribs. “I do not agree to this marriage and I never have. Until midnight last night, I’ve been serving a bargain with my stepmother. She used that bargain to engage me to this man, but I am not a minor. She had no right to offer my hand without my agreeing to it.”
Nyxia grits her teeth, closing her eyes for a moment before facing Marus again. “Is this true?”
Marus says nothing, his face a stone mask. Imogen, however, speaks up. “My stepsister has been evading the fulfillment of her bargain with my mother by hiding here. We knew not where she was this entire time. Don’t be fooled by her wicked manipulations.”
I glower at Imogen and take another step toward the queen. “I was evading the bargain because my stepmother was using it for corrupt purposes. She should not be allowed to force me to marry a man against my will.”
Nyxia’s eyes are still on Marus. “If she’s been evading a legally binding bargainandimpersonating a princess, she belongs in the dungeon, not a chapel.”
“I will not press charges for her previous disobedience, and neither will her stepmother,” he says. “Regardless of how she feels about the ethics of our engagement, it stands becauseyoupromised me my choice of bride, Your Majesty.”
She pinches the bridge of her nose. “I don’t have time for this,” she mutters. “Marus, I promised you your choice of bride, but that does not mean you get to steal whomever you want like you’re some storybook barbarian.”
My heart lifts, flooding with hope that the queen might take my side.
“Then again, she has committed many crimes,” she says, sending my stomach plummeting to my feet. “I promised not to let anyone hurt her, and her only other option is the dungeon.”
I step forward. “Then I’ll go. I’ll do anything but marry him.”
Her lips lift into a smirk. “No, my dear. It seems marrying him just might be theonlyappropriate punishment for you.”
