It was that smile that woke me up. I pulled away, just enough to feel his lips lightly press against mine. I exhaled slowly as I parted from him. That cocky smile brought me back to reality as I stared at him with wide-eyed shock.
Did I really just kiss Prince Cyrus, heir apparent to the Dusk Kingdom, like we were two desperate adolescents? My heartbeat escalated, as I tried to convince myself this hadn’t actually happened.
Cyrus was breathing hard, and his cocky smile formed itself into a hard line. The moment of honesty between us was lostas the desperation and sadness quickly faded from his eyes, replaced with a gleam of satisfaction and arrogance I hated.
“See, my dear? It’s only a matter of time.”
Chapter 11
Priscillaswept into the room after breakfast the following morning and began to help me dress for the day. We chatted over what we discovered about the happenings around the capital. While she saw more of the city than I did, I observed more of the court. She was limited in her service to the princess, so I managed gathering intel for the most part when it came to court gossip. But Priscilla could freely enter the city when she wasn’t busy helping the princess or myself. By swapping the information we’d each gathered every morning, we figured we would not only have a more complete picture, but we’d have an advantage by working together as a team.
“It’s insane, Pris. This family is constantly at one another’s throats.” I said, rather emphatically as I waved my hands around. Priscilla artfully dodged my hands, pressed her own into my hair, reminding me to still, while we shared knowing smirksthrough the mirror. “Cyrus wants to get Emmie into the king’s service to get the upper hand on him.” I gulped as I thought about what needed to be done, despondent at the very idea. “How am I supposed to send her into the king’s service? I’ve seen what he’s like.”
“I don’t know, Hun.” Priscilla murmured quietly, weaving what must be some kind of magic through her fingers, making my hair look perfect.
“He figured that since she’s a gossip, she’d tell me anything the king tells her.” I explained, a crease forming between my eyebrows. “And King Astraeus apparently gets chatty when he’s…sated.” My face wrinkled in a grimace, then giggled when I saw Priscilla’s pretty face mirror my own.
She sighed as she grabbed my hair and began brushing out the bottom half. “It could be worse, trust me. Cyrus is being fairly tame right now, by his standards anyway. I think he’s trying not to scare you. But be careful. If he keeps twisting you into his plans, I’m worried what may become of you.” She finished quietly, her eyes beseeching me. The warm honey brown full of worry and care I was unaccustomed to.
I could feel myself warming even more to her and struggled with how to manage it. I couldn’t afford to care, to love—hadn’t I learned long ago that only the Fae got that particular luxury? But I could feel my walls shaking and cracking, no matter how much I wished they wouldn’t. Priscilla and Emmie were the closest to friends I’d ever had. I worried for Emmie because of Cyrus’s plans, and I worried for Priscilla, a warm soul caught in a cold kingdom, one I was using to help spy on a princess. I could feel the beginnings of real connection stirring within me. I couldn’t help but fear what would happen if I didn’t get control of it.
I told myself not to think of how I warmed to Cyrus the other night. I tried not to remember the way his eyes softened on me when we had a moment of understanding, the desperation I sawmeeting my own loneliness. I tried not to recall how generous his smile had been before it turned cruel and calculating. I tried not to want the possibility of who Cyrus could be, had he not been a monster, a Fae. I tried not to regret that, had our lives been different, the people we may have become might have had a different ending—but thinking that way led only to disaster.
The worry I allowed myself was solely for Emmie and Priscilla. But I knew I needed their help just the same. They’d proved to be my only paths of information outside of Cyrus and his own spies. And here, knowledge was assuredly power.
“I have no desire to be part of Cyrus’s plans.” I reassured Priscilla. Her brow raised up in disbelief, and I waved her off. “Seriously, you should know that by now. But I worry about what he might do should his plans actually come to fruition. At least this way, I’m in the know and can control my own fate to some degree.” Priscilla snorted, still looking dubious, but didn’t call me out on the deflection.
“Now, what is happening out in the big, wide world?” I smiled up at her and she rolled her eyes at me.
“The people are…nervous, is probably the best way to describe it.”
“Well—” I stifled an eyeroll of my own. “Obviously. I saw them during the attack; they didn’t exactly look at ease.”
Priscilla leaned down to pull out the jeweled hair clips Cyrus had gifted me. Beautiful white and pink diamonds sparkled on the ends, which contrasted magnificently against my dark hair when Priscilla placed them in just so. Once she was done, she paused and looked up to meet my eyes.
“They know the Night Kingdom will attack once more, and they worry now that their rulers cannot protect them.”
I bit my lip as I considered how right the people were. Their own rulers, those who should be protecting and defending them,were the ones leaving them vulnerable as they played their games from the safety of the palace.
Priscilla lowered her voice to a murmur as she nervously glanced at the door. Seeing it undisturbed, she continued. “They know both Prince Cyrus and Weylin have overseen defenses that have failed and wonder why the king allows them to continue. They question why the king doesn’t just take over himself. They worry about their futures, and what will become of them if the royals cannot protect them.”
All understandable concerns. I worried myself what would happen should Night Kingdom breach the palace walls. I couldn’t count on my last interaction with my—thesoldier, being typical of such brutish people.
“There is dissent growing throughout the city.” Priscilla continued, her voice barely a whisper in the wind. “Just small pockets here and there, but Asteria, they’re growing louder as time passes and nothing changes.”
I took in a sharp inhale while I considered her words. The city’s growing resentment wasn’t really a huge surprise. Not with how Cyrus used his people like lambs to slaughter just to prove his brother incompetent. A large part of me wanted to cheer them on, despite them being Fae. But dissent could be dangerous. If they attacked the palace, or the royals attacked the people, humans would get caught up in the middle, and they would be the ones to suffer.
The creak of an opening door caused us both to fall silent. The low murmur of two voices reached us through the papered walls. Priscilla quickly finished her final touches of my ensemble, and I stepped out of my room and into the living space, looking around to see who had arrived.
I blinked in surprise at finding Princess Twyla. Her long brown hair was braided over her shoulder, a style she often preferred, whereas her sister generally let her red hair flow down her backin loose waves. Her blue eyes, so like Cyrus’s—if a bit lighter, cut to me as I entered. I froze, unsure of what to do in this situation.
Cyrus seemed to notice his sister no longer paying him attention. He turned to me and instantly a small smile took over his glum face. “Ah, yes. Sister, this is Asteria. Asteria, my youngest sister, Princess Twyla.”
I saw the surprise in Twyla’s eyes before she hid it, her eyebrows twitched like they wanted to rise, but she controlled her expression. Frankly, I was just as surprised at being formally introduced to a royal.
“Princess Twyla.” I curtsied. As I rose, I saw a gleam in her eyes that made me slightly uncomfortable, but I couldn’t figure out what it was exactly that caused it.
“Asteria. You must be something special for my brother to have bothered introducing one of his playthings.” Princess Twyla was cool and condescending in her tone, which only made me want to bristle. “Does your cunt do magic? How have you managed to bewitch him?”
