When I am mistress of Elegy, I will wear black gowns until they’re the fashion,Magdala thought, staring straight ahead.And then I will wear pink just to spite them. I will wear peacock feathers in my armpits and laugh when they all do the same and look ridiculous.
“No, my beloved, you know how it is,” Julian said with fond condescension. “The guards must wear ugly clothes to make you look more splendid.”
“I’m not much worried aboutherdimming my splendor,” Angelonia muttered. She shook out her wings. They rustled like paper.
“She is imposing, though, is she not?” Julian said, grinning at Magdala.
Why do I always have to be imposing? Why can’t I be lovely or witty or bright?
“Do you know who else will be at the ball tonight?” he asked.
Magdala stifled a groan. Everyone, probably. Everyone and their mother and their mother’s cousin. So many people that the dance floor would pulse and swarm like a battlefield and the drink table would be as barren as a desert.
“The prince, Asherton Ageric.”
Magdala’s stomach rose, and for an instant she was plunging again, through open air into dark water.
“I went to school with him, you know,” Julian continued. Magdala resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course she knew. He mentioned it every chance he got. “Military school. Asherton and his older brother, Tiernan’s legitimate son. They’re both quite unhinged. He used to wander about at night, in the rain, and come back covered in mud. He used to eat poisonous mushrooms for sport. He had violent tempers. He broke my nose once.”
Well, that was no crime. Magdala had dreamt of breaking Julian’s nose ever since the Largotian river closed over her head.
“Oh, he’s very strange,” Angelonia said. “Very inappropriate. The queen is ashamed of him, that’s why she keeps him hidden away on that island in the middle of the sea.”
“Or maybe he hides on that island because he’s got a shameful secret,” Julian said with a sparkling smile. “And of course, there’s the curse.”
“I do worry about the curse,” Angelonia said, dabbing blood-red stain on her lips. “Do you believe in them, Devney?”
Magdala’s mind had wandered, and she snapped back with a jolt. “What? Oh, no.”
“You should,” Angelonia said, grim. “They’re real. If he so much as brushes the throne with his fingers, he’ll drop dead. That’s the prophecy, isn’t it? That all Tiernan’s children die young?”
“Now, Asherton is interesting enough, but the real puzzle is the valet.” A shadow passed over Juian’s face. “His valet is even stranger than he is. A handsome man, but my grandfather knew him when he was young, and he was older than my grandfather in those days.”
“Zephyr?” Angelonia asked. “But he can’t be over thirty-five.”
“He’s at least eighty,” Julian said.
Angelonia ran her hands over her slicked hair. “Your grandfather was mistaken. Perhaps he knew Zephyr’s father. Anyway, I shall be ready soon. I’d like to be early so I can get a few drinks to steady me before the dancing starts. Miss Devney, go and change. You look sweaty.”
Julian winked at her, and Magdala moved noiselessly from the room. Boots pounded on the tiles as she made for the front door. Before she stepped through it, Julian caught up to her and grabbed her wrist.
“Are you going to tell Huxley?” he whispered.
Magdala tried to wrench her hand from his grip, but he held, his fingernails biting. “No, I haven’t told anyone.”
“But you’re going to.”
“Let me go.”
“I’ll lose my position, and Angelonia’s father could force us to break off the betrothal.”
“You should have thought of that before you let the crowd break through the line. Before I was nearly trampled.”
Julian yanked her closer. “Huxley cannot know. Please, Magdala. I am begging …”
“Why all this panic?” Magdala asked sharply, sliding her arm free. His nails left white scratches on her skin. “Huxley doesn’t care.”
“A villager broke into the prince’s carriage and tried to assassinate him,” Julian admitted. “Huxley might lose his promotion; if he discovers it was my fault …” Magdala bit her lip, and a slow smile spread over Julian’s face. “You wouldn’t happen to know who thatvillagerwas, would you?”
