“Ah, what a good plan,” our housemistress says, relief expelling a huge breath from her ample chest, the sticky situation already smoothing itself out. “Always so reasonable, Laurel. Perhaps you’ll be the one to earn the house a royal crest one day? Think of what it could do for our standings.”
She winks and Rose blanches, stirring her tea with vigor. But I can take no satisfaction in her discomfort. I make to leave, but Mistress Lavender isn’t finished with me.
“Alyce. Do take care next time. These accusations are thoughtless and hurtful. Think of your sisters’ feelings.”
I don’t even turn around.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
For the next week, I am either in my Lair, my room, or at the black tower with Kal. I do not wish to endure the smug, sidelong glances from Rose and Marigold. They may not have taken my gold, but they’re more than happy to reap pleasure from my misery.
Aurora doesn’t come. I’m not surprised. With each new day I’m more convinced than ever that she betrayed me. Was anything between us ever real? The library, where she shared her deepest secrets and applauded me as I added tiny horns to mice. Her visits, when she told me her plans for Briar’s future in a rush of excitement. Does she even want to rule alone, like Leythana? Or was it all just a ruse? A way to glean information about the Dark Grace on behalf of her father? And now that her duty is done, she has no reason to return.
It doesn’t matter, I remind myself, though the questions chip at my heart until it’s nothing but a hollowed-out stone. Even so, I can still hear the melody of her laughter. Feel the velvet softness of her skin against mine when our hands met. If I inhale deeply enough, I swear I catch hints of lilac and appleblossom amid the sooty smoke and mold of my Lair.
Stop being an idiot, that ruthless voice inside me commands. She never wanted you.
The memories disintegrate like foam on the sea.
* * *
—
A few nights later, my Lair is too cold to inhabit and I find myself once again in the main parlor. Laurel joins me. She arranges herself on a chair in front of the fire with one of the books I’d given her. Ancient Briarian Rulers, I think.
“I wish you’d be more discreet with those books,” I say to the snow, my breath fogging the glass.
A page turns. “You don’t want anyone to know you’re stealing from the old royal library?”
I whip around so fast I tip halfway out of the window seat. “How did you—”
She taps the inside cover of her book. “They’re stamped. Do you think I’m a fool?”
“Clearly, I’m one.” I resist the urge to beat my head against the window.
“I haven’t told anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She sifts through a few timeworn pages. “If I did you’d stop bringing them.”
“Well, enjoy it,” I grumble, drawing my knees up to my chin. “There won’t be more.”
For a while, there’s only the gentle cadence of the fire. The soft ticking of the clock on the mantel and the glass creaking in the windowpane.
“I’m sorry about your gold,” she says at last. And I think she means it. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think Rose took it.”
“Why not? Doesn’t she hate me enough?”
“She’s too self-absorbed,” Laurel reasons simply. I can’t help but laugh. “The only gold she’s concerned about is her own. If she wanted to steal yours, she’d have done it ages ago.”
I agree with her, though I won’t say who my true suspect is. “Maybe.”
“It is interesting, though. Do you think your missing earnings have anything to do with the absence of the princess?”
She might as well have punched me. I jerk forward and my foot smashes into the window casing. Laurel just looks at me as if she’d asked what the weather might be tomorrow.
“You do realize I’m gifted in wisdom,” she says. “And I saw her here myself.”
The night she came asking after the books. “I—” I splutter, unable to latch on to a coherent excuse. “I thought…”
“You thought she’d properly disguised herself?” Laurel crosses one leg over the other, thoroughly amused. “Perhaps for someone less observant. But not when I saw the stamp on these books. And she took no trouble concealing her voice. I heard her before I entered your chamber.”
I duck my head into my arms, muttering curses.
“No one else knows, if that’s any comfort.”