“Alright, Your Highness,” August says. “Back to work.”
Every moment over the next several days is spent preparing for Elle’s rescue mission. Asmo comes to bed exhausted every night, collapsing onto the mattress and falling asleep within minutes.
In a surprising turn of events, I’ve been teaching Holly and Cally the basics of self-defense and combat.Luckily, Etta knows how to fight and has been helping them practice. I walked through everything Elle taught me, my heart aching at her absence.
Despite my terrible teaching skills, they both pick up on everything far quicker than I ever did. Holly, Cally, and I work together the most, both of them slowly morphing from awkward blade wielders to something more like blade slingers. Etta usually ends up claiming some reason to leave after about an hour of practice, citing some errand or task that needs completing. And Cally, Mother bless her, would rather sit on a bench with a good book than spend time dodging and striking.
But I see the way Etta’s eyes turn heavy and full of longing as she watches Holly’s vines snap around my ankles, the way my wind and fire whip through the room like another weapon. I don’t miss the way her shoulders fall as she leaves the training center, the way the sheer relief of no longer having to pretend falls over her the moment she steps out.
Holly darts toward me, her own shortsword barely missing my forehead. Exactly what I intended. I duck and slide my feet out, catching hers. She goes down with a curse, but she doesn’t get back up. She sits there, staring up at me, eyes heavy and posture slumped like the weight of the world is resting on her slender shoulders.
I know when a girl is beat, so I drop to the floor beside her. A sigh escapes my mouth as I lean against the wall. Across the training center, Asmo paces behind a group of hybrids locked in battle against one another, hands clasped behind his back as he carefully assesses each group, nodding in approval or offering murmurs of feedback as he passes by.
“He’s going to be a good High King,” Holly whispers beside me. I know she’s right. Asmo was born to lead. I lift my head in agreement as I stare at him, at the way he seems to glide through the air, as if it parts for him.
After a few more rounds of drills, the princes end their group trainings. Hybrids rack weapons, thank the princes, and exit the training center. Barrett walks over to me, wide frame blocking out the light above as he nears. “How are you feeling about tomorrow?”
“Good,” I say, even though I feel like vomiting all over the dirt floor when I think about it.
The last time I faced Cora…the last time I saw Marik…
Dreadful bells toll in my memories, a flash of crimson blood coating the hardwood floor. Screams of terror and cries of pain cut through the air like untold reminders of not a wedding, but a funeral.
Facing the witches was nerve-wracking, but the idea of seeing Marik again, of seeing what he’s done to Elle, of seeing the only mother I ever knew…
Fear and anxiety are twin blades, aimed right for my throat.
Chapter 41
ELLE
Ruby and Noraarrive at my wing unannounced, their relentless banging on the door luring me from the staring contest I was having with the ceiling of my bedroom. When I open the door, Ruby’s mouth falls open in surprise, either from the state of me—currently in days-old clothes, greasy hair, and a general sour smell emanating from being tangled in tear- and sweat-soaked bedsheets—or from the sight of me, not Mae.
This is the first time I’ve seen Ruby and Nora since the wedding. I wave them in, then try to slam the door in the Serpent guards’ faces that follow closely behind them, but no luck.
Nora wraps me in her arms. She smells like five different flowers all at once, and a headache begins to bloom. I don’t let go. I was never a hugger, usually offering my own mother some backwards version of one to satisfy her. But I haven’t been touched like this in months. I return it, content to hold and be held. She pulls away too soon.
Ruby clears her throat, gaze flitting around the room. “We’re here to prepare you for the ball,” she says, casting nervous glances to the guards that surround us and watch us like hawks.
Questions rise like bile—How much do you know? Are you safe? Where have you been?—but I swallow them. I don’t say anything as Ilead them—and the hawkish guards—to the bathroom, nor do I apologize for the state of it. Dirty clothes are everywhere, but I’ve learned I no longer care. I don’t have the energy to.
I lower myself into the makeup chair, and Nora reaches for the matted mess of my hair. My ends hang stiff and dry from her hand. “Oh, Elle…”
I open my mouth to respond, although I’m not sure what I was planning to say.Why bother when they’re probably going to kill me soon?I know Marik said he was going to get me out, but I don’t trust him for a second. Even if my net didn’t snag when he said it. Whatever my response was going to be, it’s cut off by the sound of a door banging open.
I know it’s Marik.
Think of the devil and he will appear.
To nobody’s surprise, he wears his usual uniform of all-black. His entire body is rigid with irritation. Good. He turns to Nora and Ruby. “You were supposed to wait for me to enter.”
Something in the back of my mind twitches at his words. Liar.
“Apologies, Your Highness,” Ruby says meekly, eyes downcast. “We were told we were allowed in.”
Marik’s gaze snaps to the guards. “Out,” he commands.
“But, Your Highness?—”
