Both girls quickly leaped from the bed, spilling more tea, on the carpet this time. The only person who’d ever knocked on their door was Frangelica, but her taps were gentle. These sounded almost angry.
Evangeline only spared a second to throw on a wool robe before rushing to the door. The wood shook as she approached.
“Evangeline!” Apollo’s voice cried from the other side. “Evangeline, are you there?”
“Open it!” Marisol urged her. It’s the prince, she mouthed, as if his title meant his actions weren’t at all alarming.
“Evangeline, if you’re there, please let me in,” Apollo begged. His voice held shades of fear and desperation.
She undid the latch. “Apollo, what’s—” Evangeline was cut off as the door opened and Apollo poured into the girls’ suite, along with a dozen royal soldiers.
“My heart, you’re safe!” He took her in his arms. His chest was heaving. His eyes were shadowed in circles. “I was so worried. I should never have let you leave last night.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
The closest soldier held out a damp gossip sheet for Evangeline to read as Apollo loosened his hold on her.
* * *
The Daily Rumor
ENGAGED!
By Kristof Knightlinger
In the past, Nocte Neverending has gone on for weeks, sometimes months. But last night, mere minutes after arriving at the ball, Crown Prince Apollo Acadian proposed to everyone’s favorite southern wild card, Evangeline Fox.
Apollo sealed his engagement with a kiss that left half the ladies weeping. Although a number of girls appeared more angry than sad. After the prince abandoned Princess Serendipity Skystead in the middle of the dance floor to propose to his new bride, the princess looked practically murderous. The Cursed Bride didn’t succeed in harming Evangeline, but as she watched Apollo’s declaration of love, it looked as if she wanted to turn the couple to stone. And one of my keen-eared sources also heard the matriarch of House Fortuna mutter to her granddaughter, Thessaly, how the prince should have chosen her, but that it wasn’t too late to change that.
Prince Apollo and Miss Evangeline Fox are to wed in one week’s time—that is, if no one harms her first.
* * *
Evangeline stopped reading.
“What does it say?” Marisol asked.
“Just another twist on the truth,” Evangeline hedged. She took the paper from the guard and tossed it into the fire before Marisol could see any of the words about her. “Kristof is just trying to sell papers by saying I’m in danger.
“No one has tried to harm me,” she assured Apollo. “After you and I parted last night, Marisol and I returned here, and I slept until a bit ago.”
Apollo cracked his jaw and turned to Marisol as if just now noticing her presence.
Marisol tensed. She had stopped her tears, but she still looked small and fragile. And Evangeline knew she needed to jump in before more mistakes could be made. “My stepsister would never hurt me. In fact, is it possible to stop Mr. Knightlinger and The Daily Rumor from printing more nasty lies about her?”
Apollo looked as if he wanted to object; clearly, he believed the gossip. But the longer Evangeline looked up at him, the more he seemed to soften. The lines around his eyes disappeared, and the hard set of his broad shoulders relaxed. “Would that make you happy?”
“It would.”
“Then I’ll make sure it’s done. But I need a favor from you.” Apollo cupped Evangeline’s cheek.
She still wasn’t used to the feel of him. His hand was larger than Luc’s, but his touch was more tender. And yet the look in his deep-set eyes was entirely haunted. “I want you to move into Wolf Hall with me, where you’ll be safe from any type of threat.”
21
* * *
The Daily Rumor
SIX DAYS LEFT!
By Kristof Knightlinger
No one knows exactly how old Wolf Hall is, but legend says Wolfric Valor built every spiraling tower, every vaulted great room, every torturous dungeon, every romantic courtyard, and every secret passage of the castle as a wedding gift to his bride, Honora.
I don’t know what Apollo plans to give Miss Evangeline Fox as a wedding gift, but I’ve heard a rumor that he’s already moved her into Wolf Hall, along with her stepsister, Marisol Tourmaline, who my sources have assured me is not cursed, nor does she have plans to curse her stepsister. In fact, it has been confirmed that Miss Tourmaline will remain here as part of the Northern royal court after the wedding.
（continued on page 7）