Page 230 of Of Masks and Fury

CHAPTER SIXTY

ISI

“I’ll help you dress quickly, Princess,” the woman said. “If you hurry, you’ll get there before the ceremony begins.”

“Of course,” I said, my voice steady despite the panic clawing at my throat.

“I do apologize that there aren’t more ladies here to help. I stayed behind. I thought you might need someone when you came home.” She tugged the cloth off the sapphire blue I’d worn countless times before. The fabric whispered as she shook it out, and my stomach turned. “They’ve already left for the village.”

“It’s fine. We can do it ourselves.” It was all I could do to force a fake smile.

She assisted me out of my cloak, tunic, and pants, tutting about my outfit but wisely not asking why I wasn’t wearing a gown.

“Arms up, Princess.”

I raised them mechanically, letting her pull the robe over my head. My body moved through familiar motions while my thoughts screamed.

Mae. My friend who’d held me when I cried over my mother’s death. My lady who’d smuggled me food she stole from the kitchenwhen Father punished me with fasting. The woman who’d risked everything to help me escape this cursed castle.

The robe settled over my shoulders, heavier than I remembered. Or perhaps I’d simply grown strong enough to feel the true weight of what it represented.

The silk whispered against my skin like a lover’s secret, but it choked like chains.

Fates, I craved Trew’s touch now, his heat chasing away the cold dread pooling in my veins.

But we had a plan. I just had to survive long enough to ignite it.

“You’ve changed,” the woman said as she fastened the clasps. “You seem taller somehow.”

I was the same height I’d always been, but she was right. Everything about me had shifted, realigning to become more than the obedient girl who’d worn this costume before.

She arranged my hair, twisting it into a simple knot at my nape. She’d done this many times, never once questioning what the ceremony truly meant.

“The mask, Princess.”

When she lifted it from the velvet-lined box, the bone-white face stared at nothing with empty eyes.

My hands trembled as I reached for it. The last time I’d worn this mask, I’d believed in small rebellions and that saving a few lives over sixteen years could be considered a victory.

Now I knew what true defiance looked like.

The mask settled against my skin, cool and familiar and utterly horrifying. But I needed it.

I’d give one final performance before I tore this entire illusion down.

As it clicked into place, I whispered to myself,For Trew. For us.

His love was my true mask now, armor against the man who’d tried to break me.

I turned to face the mirror, and my reflection stared back, a stranger in sapphire and white. But beneath it burned the woman I’d forged, the one who’d faced death in the Rite and emerged bonded to fire and fate.

“You’re unbreakable,” Trew had whispered once, his rough hands framing my face, his lips brushing mine in a kiss that tasted like forever. That memory held me now, turning dread into defiance. I wouldn’t just perform; I’d shatter everything.

“You look beautiful, Princess,” my lady said. “Your father will be so proud.”

The bells rang louder, their crystal tones vibrating through the stone walls.

“I need to leave,” I said.