It had been a really bad twenty-four hours.
“I heard you,” she whispered with a soft smile, a finger combing through my still-wet hair. “On my way in—it’s the only reason I stopped fighting them as they dragged me through the castle. I was glad to know you were all right.” She must have read the warring emotions on my face. “Though thisisa bit nicer than I expected a prison cell to be.” Her eyebrow rose. “What exactly have you done, girl?”
I tugged Edith gently to sit in one of the overstuffed velvet chairs, making a plate of food to serve her. The warmth of the firelight spread through the room, casting a soft glow over everything.
“It wasn’t just a loose tyger that attacked the hut,” I started, dropping my voice. “It was their tygress queen. And she Bonded with me.”
Edith paled, her hand going to her throat. “What?”
I nodded. “I know. But they’re very angry, the king and his nobles, it seems. And now I’m to be presented to them. I think—” My throat closed up, my eyes following soon after. I couldn’t stop the well of fear and nerves; I felt too safe in her presence to stifle them. “If they deem me unworthy, they will kill me. And, Edith—”
“Shh, my dear,” she breathed, pulling me into the cradle of her arms. My breathing was softer now, slowing as she soothed me.
I won’t allow it, Flame fumed.
“All will be as it should,” Edith said, pulling my face back in her hands.
“What if I—”
“Rubi Morningtail,” she said louder, “the tygresschoseyou.You know what happens to Azures during Bondings—and yet here you stand. You will do this.”
You will do this.
Flame’s voice echoed her within my mind.
There was a knock at the door. Surely, this time it had to be the Nelly who Blake had mentioned. Probably some elegant, bossy older woman who would look down her nose at me and sniff at the idea of trying to make me presentable for the king.
I pulled myself together, then called, “You may enter.”
To my surprise, a plump teenage girl walked through the doorway with rosy cheeks and thick tin-colored hair bound in two pigtails.
She bobbed a curtsy at me. “Pardon me, lady. I’m Nelly and I’m here to help you get dressed.”
I stared at her. “You’re Nelly?”
“Yes, lady,” she said, her cheeks flaming bright. “The great Ambush Master’s housekeeper’s assistant is my second cousin once removed, and she’s the one who got me my excellent and undeserved position in the kitchens, even though Head Cook is extremely bad-tempered and impatient, but I’m not supposed to mention that to strangers. Or to anyone, really. Only to myself and silently at that.”
I hid a smile.
“How old are you?” Edith asked with a grin.
“I’m a Dog, lady.”
I did a quick calculation in my head. Every person was born under one of the zodiac animals. It was now the Year of the Dragon, and the Year of the Dog came six years later in the twelve-year rotation of animals. “Eighteen years old?” I asked.
At her nod, Edith offered her another smile. “I’m not a lady here.”
“Neither am I,” I added. “You don’t need to call us that.”
Nelly’s cheeks flushed a deeper red as she bobbed a curtsy again. “Of course not, lady. Begging your pardon. I’ll never do it again, lady.”
I dragged my hand down my face. “All right, Nelly. What do we need to do, and how are we going to do it?”
“I am here to help you impress the king and nobility, if that were possible, which it likely is not. Honestly, the Ambush Master despairs of making you presentable, and so I am his last hope, and a pathetic hope I am, too, lady.”
“Why did he pick you?”
“Yes, you must have a talent for this?” Edith said, sitting with her tea and wagging her eyebrows at me.
