The next moments are a blur. Nadya helps me back to my room, with Sir Holden escorting us. I strip myself of my suffocating mourning dress and fall onto the bed in my chemise, clutching my stomach as Nadya runs small hand towels under cool water to serve as cold compresses for my head.
It takes an hour until my healing magic relaxes me enough to fall asleep. When I wake, I’m finally feeling like myself again, and Nadya stays by my side the entire time. She sits next to me on the bed, stroking my head as it rests on the pillow, humming a soft tune.
“Thanks, Nadya. I’m feeling better.”
“Are you sure?” She sweeps some hair away from my cheek. “Because Lord Pedro said something about some special celebration Mersos has planned in honor of the tour ending. I think he said they were going to set the sky ablaze, whatever that means.”
I smile up at her. “And you have plans to enjoy the celebration with him?”
“Only if you’re okay,” she says. “You’re my priority.”
I sit up. “You’ve more than fulfilled your duties as my best friend.”
She lets out a laugh, but it gets interrupted by athudthat resonatesfrom the balcony.
Nadya’s eyes widen, as do mine, and in the next moment, we jump up from the bed and run to the balcony doors. When I tear them open, I find Dante standing there, straightening his clothes.
“How did you get there?” I ask him. I look up above the balcony’s overhang. “Where did you come from?”
Nadya eyes him. “Did you jump down here… or up?”
Dante chuckles. “My room is one floor above yours,” he tells me.
I grab his hand and pull him into my room.
“That’s so romantic.” Nadya heads toward the door. “I’m going to give you two some privacy.”
Before she reaches for the door, someone pounds on the other side.
“Your Highness?” Indira’s voice calls out, strained with urgency.
Instinctively, I stand in front of Dante, as if to hide him. Or protect him.
We scramble to figure out what to do, each of us apparently with a different idea, when the door suddenly bursts open.
I stand stiffly, while Nadya swallows hard. She mumbles something I can’t make out, and a second later, she adopts a casual stance, twirling a finger in her hair. “Oh, hello, Indira. Why do you look so flushed?”
My heart is in my throat, but when I turn around, Dante is not there. I wrinkle my brow. The balcony doors are still closed, and I don’t think Dante can fit under the bed.
“I saw Lord Stregasi jump over his balcony,” Indira exclaims. She looks flustered, spewing sounds of uncertainty. “I could have sworn he came in here.”
“Jumped over his balcony?” Nadya scoffs. “That sounds ridiculous. Indira, you must be weary from traveling and imagining things. No one is here except Celeste and me.”
I’m still awestruck, trying to figure out how Dante could just vanish.
Until I remember Nadya’s cloaking magic.
Indira brushes past us, checking the balcony to no avail. She then throws my armoire open. “I could have sworn…”
Although I’m thoroughly impressed with Nadya’s ability, I alsoremember she said it doesn’t last very long. Panic crawls back up my throat. “Maybe you can’t handle the Mersos wine,” I put in.
Indira runs a hand over the back of her neck, her brows scrunched together. “I didn’t drink any of the wine.”
“Oh, well, you’re missing out,” Nadya says, placing her hands on Indira’s shoulders. “You know, I was talking to one of the kitchen servants, who said she would gladly whip up a plate of delectable mulberry beignets if I wanted.”
Thatgets Indira’s attention. “Really? Just because you asked?”
“Well, no.” Nadya steers Indira toward the door. “As an exchange.”
