Hopefully, I will not have to. Soon enough, I detect the patter of heels. It must be Aurora, hurrying back to her rooms.
Hurrying after her star-chosen prince.
Her steps lead me up several flights of stairs and through a dozen winding turns, until they abruptly stop and I come upon a still-swinging tapestry. Mustering what little of my courage remains, I push through the narrow door and into the crown princess’s private chambers.
Everything is quiet. Not even the candles are lit, and I have to pause for a few ragged breaths to let my eyes adjust. I clamp my hands over my mouth, smothering my relieved sob as I let my Shift slide away and my limbs reappear.
One hand on the wall to steady myself, I cling to the shadows of what I believe to be a sitting room. Lounges and chairs are arranged around small tables, books on every surface. The last vestiges of a fire wink from behind a grate. Sheer curtains do little to hide the tall windows, the star-scattered sky casting the room in silver. In the corner, there’s a large rounded object covered by a thin cloth.
I inch my way across the rugs, toward a set of double doors. Rustling sounds leak through the opening, as well as the faint glimmer of a single taper. Aurora’s bedchamber. A creaky plank of wood betrays me as I tiptoe inside.
“I said I wished to be alone!” Her voice is harsher than I’ve ever heard it. She wrestles off her necklace and tosses it away.
I don’t move, frozen in place, and she whirls, mouth open to hurl another royal command. And then her jaw drops, one hand going to her throat, the other bracing against the dressing table.
“Alyce.”
My name on her lips. Something runs through me, and I can’t tell if it’s longing or rage. Maybe both. “Are you surprised?”
“What are you doing here?” Her gaze jumps to the doors behind me and the darkness beyond. “How did you get inside?”
“I don’t see how that matters.” I push farther into the bedchamber, determined to keep control of the conversation. “You came to see me often enough—uninvited. I thought it only fair to return the favor.”
She looks away, flustered, and pulls pins out of her hair. “I’ve hardly been able to draw a breath of my own since Elias’s ship was spotted.” Silver clacks against the glass top of her dressing table. “Did you know my mother ordered a wedding dress made? Before the curse was even broken.” She laughs, but it’s stilted.
“It didn’t look broken to me.”
“No.” Her arms droop to her sides and she sinks onto a stool. “It didn’t break.”
“What a pity. I know how much you were looking forward to the prince’s arrival. And I’m sure it was a beautiful gown. How much did it cost? Twenty thousand gold?”
“Twenty thousand—” She blinks. “What?”
Even now, she lies to me.
“The gold you stole. My gold. My way out of Briar. How long were you and your father planning it? I want to know.” Her brow rumples. What a clever, talented actress she is. Fury gallops through my veins. “Was it amusing? A romp—trick the Dark Grace into trusting you and then take everything she has?”
“I don’t understand you, Alyce.”
“You lie so well.” My power thrums, spurring me to act. Her mortal magic would be so easy to destroy. It would feel like one of Rose’s glass baubles shattering under my heel. “Did your father teach you? Your mother, perhaps. Was it after your birthday masque that they bade you visit me? Or after the duke—when they realized how much of a Vila I really am?”
She gapes at me like I’m speaking a different language. “You…you think I’ve been spying on you?”
“Why shouldn’t I? My gold is gone. Conveniently after you saw where I stored it. After you knew I was planning to leave.”
“You think I told on you?” She launches to her feet, setting the candle wobbling. Shadows dance over the walls, as they do in the black tower. “Even after the trial? When I knew what my father would do to you—that’s what you think of me?”
Doubt cracks like a rotten egg and trickles down my spine. I shake it away.
“Don’t look at me that way. What else was I supposed to think? Spoiled princess. You were done playing with your Dark Grace and so you threw me away.”
I don’t let myself feel guilty for the way she winces when the words hit her.
“Stop it, Alyce.”
“Does it hurt you to hear the truth? It should. I hope you feel a fraction of what I felt when my whole world was ripped into pieces. My one escape blocked. Now I’m chained to the role of Dark Grace forever.”