Page 73

My heart tripped as soon as I spotted Faline and Albert … just Faline and Albert.

“Albert.” As soon as I said his name he looked guilty, as if he knew exactly what I would ask. “Where’s Cali?”

“She’s not with Eliza?” he asked.

“Eliza is with Sunny. Are you telling me I was with the king for less than a minute, and we’ve lost our knight?”

Albert put a forkful of cake into his mouth, clearly avoiding an answer.

“She can’t have gone far,” Faline said, concern knitting her brow as she looked around. “Perhaps she’s with her awful cousin.”

I sighed. “Unlikely.”

“She’s talked nonstop about these gardens since she arrived at the palace,” said Albert. “The sweet girl probably went exploring and took a wrong turn in the maze.” He finished the last bite of his cake before handing the plate to a server, but I wasn’t sure if it was his sense of duty or the impatient glares Faline and I were shooting his way that made him add, “But I suppose we should split up and look for her.”

“Ten minutes,” said Faline, “and we’ll meet back here. I hate to say this, but if we haven’t found her by then, we have bigger problems.”

I chewed on my lip. “God forbid.”

Vi had tried to run away often enough that keeping our knight from running had been built into our job descriptions. Not that I thought Cali would run—she liked it here, even if the king unnerved her. But if the Royal Knight went missing, the king wouldn’t care what the reason was. He wouldn’t do anything to me, I knew, but I couldn’t guarantee the safety of my friends if it came down to a punishment. We would just have to find her.

I took a breath. It was frustrating, but I couldn’t blame anyone in particular. I had lost sight of her too, after all.

“North, south, east.” I pointed to each of us, assigning a direction. “Faline, tell Eliza to check west. We’ll find her, don’t worry.”

“Don’t worry,” Albert repeated, grabbing my shoulder reassuringly.

I wasn’t worried, was I? Not about Cali’s safety, anyway. It was more that my body wouldn’t let me forget that I wasn’t near her, the anxious ache in my stomach that began as soon as I had left to speak with the king growing ever sharper.

CHAPTER27CALLIOPE

I couldn’t believe I’d made such a grand escape—slipping past the closest bush as soon as a server had brought a tray of cake around. It absolutely only worked because Beric had been called away, but then I wouldn’t even want a moment alone if he hadn’t. As it stood, I touched Vi’s journal in my pocket, excited to find a quiet spot to continue reading. I didn’t know why I’d brought it, since I’d planned to spend the entire time with Beric, but it was never a bad thing to be prepared.

I shoved through more wild shrubbery and found myself in a small clearing. This part of the garden didn’t look nearly as kept as the rest. It was wild, untrimmed, and unbothered. Full of high grass and unruly branches and the most gorgeous wildflowers I’d ever seen.

I sang light birdsong to the bushes and flowers—I didn’t want to get caught by singing words, as I wasn’t entirely sure how close I was to the party … or how I would get back to it, for that matter. I hadn’t exactly navigated the brush in a straight line.

A sparrow sang back to me somewhere in the bushes and I giggled in excitement. This was what I’d wanted out of a trip to the gardens. Not another party, although I loved my friends. I’d wanted beauty and peace. The smell of roses in the air.

“Were you singing to your beloveds, little sparrow?” Beric stepped through the bushes, and I felt an overwhelming sense of warmth and comfort at seeing him. “We turn our backs for one minute, and you get yourself lost in the hedgerow.”

“It is a bit of a wonder that four people—including a professional babysitter—managed to lose track of one solitary knight,” I teased. “I suppose Faline and Eliza will never let me out of their sight again, after this?”

“You suppose right.”

“To be fair, I thought your meeting with the king would have been a bit lengthier. What did he want to speak to you about?”

“Oh … nothing.” He cleared his throat, a blush growing with each passing second. “It is a bit fortunate that I found you though. This isn’t part of the official gardens, and the path in is so overgrown, no one ever comes this way.”

“A secret garden?” I don’t know why that thrilled me so much. Somehow, the knowledge made it appear even more beautiful. “Just for us.”

Beric grinned. “I suppose it is.”

“Then let’s stay here, just the two of us, for as long as we dare.”

“You have another five minutes before your maids and guard start really worrying about you.”

“Five minutes today,” I said, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Five hours tomorrow.”