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Either way, I wish I had known. All the songs and stories had made him seem so charming, so kind.

Lies.

I had to remind myself it was the pain and fatigue that had made him this way. Perhaps losing the knight he had worked alongside for thirty years had been too much grief to take. And that, perhaps, Kat was right—everything would be better after a bath.

CHAPTER6CALLIOPE

At a certain point, Kat handed me over to a guard, who led me down nearly too many twisting halls to count. Security was one thing, but if I lost my way here, no amount of seclusion would help people find me.

But seeing as I’d gone from walking beside one person to another, perhaps I would never be left alone long enough to navigate it.

“What should I call you?” I asked.

“Albert, my lady.” The guard glanced at me quickly, before resuming his alert observation of the hall. “Although, Lady Vi never called me anything.”

“Nothing at all? So what did she do, walk around acting as if you didn’t exist?”

He chuckled, glancing at me again, now with a grin. It was nice to see that more than just the women here knew how to smile. “I think she considered me a bit of a second skin. I went most places with her, after all.”

“When did you sleep?”

“The king doesn’t permit guards in the vicinity of his room, therefore no protection for his knight either.” He shrugged, but perhaps he saw a bit of the concern I felt in my expression, because he added, “But you’re well protected, I promise you. The palace was designed so that no one can find your room.”

Yes. That’s what I’m afraid of.

Of being left alone with the dragon.

“It is a bit of a labyrinth,” I said, instead.

He chuckled. “I’m really not supposed to say.” He paused, leaning a bit closer to whisper, “But there is a guiding stone on the wall of each hallway we’re taught to look for.”

I looked at the wall, but he clucked his tongue, drawing my attention.

“Don’t let on to anyone that you know,” he said, winking.

I mimed tying my lips in a knot. I didn’t want to consider why I wasn’t allowed to navigate my own home by myself. That perhaps I was trapped here, if I was ever without assistance.

Because Albert was nice. And it was refreshing to be treated like a person, for once.

We stopped in front of a large elegant door, and he took hold of the handle. “I understand why Beric selected you, Lady Cali,” he said. “You have a good heart.”

I don’t know why, but warmth spread through me, as if Albert was the father I never had. It was exactly how I imagined a father’s pride might make me feel.

You’re being ridiculous, Cali.

I didn’t care.

“Thank you for everything, Albert,” I said.

He nodded and opened the door.

And as much as I hated letting my cousin control my mood, seeing her in my room made me anxious. I almost wanted to ask Albert to come back as he shut me inside the room with her.

Anise looked at me through the mirror, where she was trying on embroidered scarves. “Finally. What could you have possibly been doing for so long?”

I hesitated, unsure of what I should or shouldn’t say. “Meeting the king.”

Ann turned to me quickly, eyes wide with a mix of shock and jealousy. “Deus Rex?”