Lifting the skirts, Princess Carys hurries to the floor-length mirror. The other two ladies follow while I remain rooted to the spot.Deep breaths, I remind myself. I close my eyes, gathering my composure. I finally convince myself to move as Princess Carys steps back from the mirror in apparent shock. She edges forward again and leans closer as I approach. She blinks once. Twice. She turns her head slowly to face me.
“Durvla…” She says. “Durvla, Durvla, Durvla, I knew you’d come through for me. I knew it. Iknewit! This is bloody brilliant. Incredible!” She turns and spots the low back of her dress in the mirror. Her jaw drops. “Oh, my gods, I’m going to knock them all dead! Their heads will explode! Durvla, Iadorethis dress!”
I turn her words over in my head again and again.
She adores the dress! My tension finally dissipates, though now I’m shaking, relief and excitement coursing through me.
My smile spreads so wide, my cheeks twitch in protest. “Is it the dress of your dreams?” I ask.
Princess Carys grins. “More than I could’ve ever dreamed. Look at this! Damn all the gods above and below.Youare a goddess, Durvla.”
I’m so surprised at the statement that laughter bubbles out of me. If I were coordinated enough, I’d do a happy dance right now. Instead, I stand there like a fool.
Princess Carys steps toward me. Is she going to hug me? Her hands raise, her body leans in, but she stiffens and lays a hand on my shoulder instead. “You’ve gone above and beyond, Durvla. I owe you.”
CHAPTER 29
Carys
One momentI’m soaring sky-high, and the next I’m plummeting back down to reality. Moments after I’m dressed in my regular attire again, a knock on the door brings a summons to my mother’s chamber. Tiernan and I practically run across the castle, and I barge into my mother’s bedchamber, expecting the worst.
Instead, she’s sitting up in bed, wide awake.
I nearly collapse, relief and surprise washing over me. “Mum…” It comes out as a pant as I try to catch my breath.
“My sweet cariad,” she says. Her voice is hoarse, her words languid, but I couldn’t be happier. Beside her, Alys is perched on a chair pulled close to the bed. Iywan is nowhere in sight.
Everything about this situation is so odd. I stride toward my mother and take her pleasantly warm hand in mine. Weariness mayhave dulled the vibrance in her eyes, but they’re lucid, nonetheless. “How…?” I glance at Alys for a moment, then back at my mother.
“We don’t have much time,” my mother says. “Even now I can feel the drowsiness looming over me.”
My shoulders droop. This isn’t permanent?
“Listen to me, cariad. Don’t let that book of fairytales I gave you out of your possession.”
“Never,” I say, but I’m perplexed she’s chosen to talk about fiction when this is the first time we’ve spoken in weeks. “Mother, I’m so happy to see you so wide awake.”
She smiles and reaches a shaky hand to caress my cheek. A moment later, her hand falls heavily away. She blinks slowly. “Before sleep takes me again, I need you to remember something of the utmost importance.”
I tilt my head at her. “What is it?”
“I need you to remember what happened to your brother.”
My face crumbles, that familiar inexplicable guilt and unease clouding my mind. “Mother, you never told me what happened to Aneirin. How can I remember?”
“Because you werethere,” she says. Her words are slower.
Alys’s face is strangely neutral, as though she doesn’t want to give anything away.
“I wasn’t,” I remind my mother. “It wasn’t until I woke up the morning after his death that I found out he was gone. Remember?”
“You… were… Think… about it.” The rise and fall of her chest becomes more prolonged, more prominent. Her gaze dims as she slips back into the prison of her deteriorating mind.
“Mum, stay with me, please. I need to know. Were you also there? Can you tell me?”
No response.
I turn my focus to Alys, silently demanding that she does something. With slight hesitation, she puts her hand over my mother’s. Her eyes close as if she needs to focus, and my mother’s flutter open.
