“It will not,” he snarls, “because you will be leaving this palace within the hour.”
“What?” I look up, hoping to see a twitch of a grin, something to say this is all a big joke. But he can’t even meet my gaze. “Father, what do you mean?”
“I’ve found you a suitor.” Blood rushes in my ears. “One who is willing to look past your filthy activities at the ball.”
“Father…” I want to say more, but the air gets caught in my throat. It’s too warm in here. My palms are sticky. “Father, please, you can’t…”
“It’s already done. I’ve arranged a carriage to take you part of the way. My guards will escort you to it now.”
“Now?” I stutter. “But you can’t just?—”
“I am your king,” he spits. “I can do whatever I please.”
“But where am I going? Who is the suitor? Have we met already? Was he at the ball?”
Questions fly out of me, but Father ignores every one, snapping his fingers at his guards. “He’s not that foul monster of a man who had you up against the wall, if that’s what you’re hoping for.”
I barely hear him through the wall of guards closing in on me. My sisters’ faces flash across my vision. Amaryllis. Blossom. Fern. Eden.
They won’t know where I’ve gone. We won’t get to say goodbye.
“No, stop!” I yell. “FATHER!” I twist my arms against the guards’ hold, but there are too many and they’re too strong. “Father! Please!”
“You are no daughter of mine,” he sighs, moving to watch the dying flames.
A hand covers my mouth and I’m hauled out of the room before I can scream.
5
DAHLIA
The carriage I’m thrown into is old and smells like stale bedsheets. The guards dragged me straight to the back entrance of the palace, ignoring all my protests and begging to at least let me say goodbye to my sisters or change out of my dance clothes first. My face being thrown into the carriage’s worn carpets was my only reply, the door slamming shut behind me.
We’re moving before I can scramble to my feet, the wooden carriage lurching as it pulls away.
I try to remain calm, at first. Steadying my breathing as I try the door, the windows. All locked, of course.
I throw myself against the door, slamming my body against the wood until my arms are as red as my dance gown.
Nothing works. The carriage keeps moving.
Eventually, I resort to screaming. My fists clench and I double over as sound tears from my throat. There’s no reply, and the carriage wheels keep rolling, and rolling, and rolling.
It’s dark outside when it finally pulls to a stop. I’d fallen asleep on the bench, and the sudden stop has me tumbling off the seat, my dance shoes smacking against the door.
The moment it opens, I snarl, “How dare you have me thrown in here. You cannot just kidnap me like a?—”
“Princess Dahlia, I presume?” a stern guard says from the doorway. “You’re still a day’s ride from Lord Elheart’s palace. We’ll rest at this inn for tonight. Lord Elheart has provided a lady to attend to you.”
My teeth grind together. I want to demand he spin this carriage around and send me straight home to my sisters, but my gaze catches on something – orsomeoneelse – and my mouth pops open.
A young woman stands beside him, her hands folded neatly against her pale blue gown. Blonde ringlets frame her face, falling just past her shoulders. But it’s not her pretty hair that steals my breath, nor is it her eyes though they’re darker than a moonless night. It’s the two black horns sticking up from her head, each one about as long as my little finger.
I gasp at the sight of her. She seems to notice my fear, flushing slightly and passing me a kind smile. It calms the rocking in my belly enough for my anger to return.
“Return me to my family,” I demand.
“You will come with us,” the guard ignores me, extending his palm.
