We’re going to stop this somehow. He won’t be able to call off Felix’s ships, but he can cause a rift with his mother easily enough. I tell him not to do so on our behalf—she’s an old woman, and who knows how much time they have left together? But he assures me that it’ll be easier to cause a rift with her than keep the peace, and that she’ll welcome him back with open arms in the end, like she always does.
Then there’s the matter of Seth’s army. I explain to Larus what I’ve asked of Ronan regarding the grain, and he thinks it’s a good start, although he worries that it will give Seth additional resources and it won’t prevent our more loyal or aggressive subjects from joining the fight. He believes that organizing the troops will be relatively easy to sabotage, considering it’s the last thing we’re waiting on to be ready. Coordinating just the forward armies involves a large number of people who aren’t given the full information on what’s happening or why they’re arriving in Selara prepared for war, and Larus thinks there are plenty of opportunities to ruin Seth’s plans without exposing him to the king and provoking his justice.
Which leaves Adria to me. Larus believes my best chance of stopping her from taking out Ronan is to act as his personal protector. She’s a lot of things, but she isn’t reckless. Once she sees the plan has fallen apart, she’ll be angry, but she’ll likely withdraw to regroup and try again later. But just in case she decides to go for revenge anyway, consequences be damned, I can be there to keep him safe.
Which means, after three agonizing weeks apart, I can finally see him again. I can finally be with him, knowing that I’m doing everything I can to protect him and all of our people. I can’t tell him the truth about the plans we had, but it won’t matter once they’re ruined.
I meet Quinn at our usual palace exit for the day’s events. It’s the last week of the Festival of Arts, and the final competitions are taking place, which means that some of the very best shows are about to happen. But Quinn is distracted—she met a dancer at a tavern last night.
“Blonde hair down to here,” she says, gesturing to her ass. “Like spun silk. And her mouth. Sylvie,her mouth.”
“I’m jealous,” I admit. “I wanted to talk to you about that.”
Her eyes light up. “Coming over to the fun side at last? I’ve got so many great options for you. There’s that musician from the Redwoods Band. The one with the stringed thing. Harp? Lyre? Something. Or the sculptor from a couple of weeks ago. He was looking at you like he wanted to study your curves.” She mimes running her hands down my body. “Or the painter from House Juni. The one who also throws the javelin—”
“None of those,” I say, though I have to admit her encyclopedic knowledge of fuckable people is impressive. “I’m thinking of someone a bit more…regal.”
Her mouth drops open. Then she bursts into a broad smile. “Really? I thought you were for sure over it after nothinghappened last week. Oh man, he’s going to be thrilled.He’s beenpining.It’s so pathetic.”
“Has he?”
“Gods, yes. I didn’t want to say anything—I thought it would be weird if I did. But he isbereft. A shell of a man. Shit, he’s going to come on so strong when you see him again. Give me a chance to warn him so he doesn’t scare you off.”
“No,” I say quickly. “I—that is—don’t do that.”
“Ohnooooo,” she says, putting her arm around me. “You’re a better liar than he is. I thought you were over it, but you were pining this whole time too, weren’t you?”
“I don’t know about pining…” I say.
“Oh gods. You weremadefor each other. Can I be there? Can I be there when you tell him? I just want to see him be happy. And you too, Sylvie.”
“Well, I was hoping you would help me find him.”
Her eyes flash with an idea. “He’s going to the opera tonight. Father is joining him in the royal box. But what if you show up instead?”
“Just show up? Don’t you think I should tell him first?” What if he doesn’t want me there? What if he’s changed his mind in the three weeks it’s taken me to decide?
“Surprise him. Trust me. He loves a surprise. It’ll be so sweet and romantic. I almost want to vomit, it makes me so happy. Come on, let’s skip the day and go get you ready. There’s so much to do. You need a killer dress; you need jewelry. Oh, we need to remove every single hair from your body—”
“Quinn!”
“Just trust me on that one too, alright? I don’t know his preferences, but I do know a bit about getting things tangled in your teeth—”
“Gross.”
“Exactly! Which is why we’re going to remove it all, starting with this unibrow—”
“I do not have a unibrow!”
“Not yet, but it’s on its way…”
After an excruciating day of plucking, waxing, shaving, and cramming myself into a thin and silky black dress that leaves exactly nothing to the imagination, Quinn declares me ready to seduce the God-King himself.
“If he turns you down, I’ll take pity on you.”
“Quinn!”
“I’m kidding. You’re gorgeous. He’s going to explode when he sees you. Hopefully not literally, but don’t be surprised.”
