“Continue to torture the tutor—I feel as if there’s a chance she could crack. Especially if you tell her that you’ve killed Victor and Hansel.”
Havelock paled.
Apollo clapped him on the shoulder, and once again, he was tempted to change course. To tell Havelock just to leave Victor and Hansel in prison. He hated to lose these particular soldiers. They’d proven themselves quite admirably. But he couldn’t be sure how long their loyalty would last. And the last thing he needed was whispers getting out that he had been the one to orchestrate the latest attempt on Evangeline’s life. “I know Victor and Hansel were your friends, but they betrayed Evangeline. We need to do this as an example.”
Havelock nodded bleakly. “I’ll make sure it’s done tonight.”
Apollo felt a pang of something like guilt. He hated to do it, and he hated that things had come to this, that Evangeline’s lack of trust in him had forced him to take such drastic action. But he was doing the right thing.
He was protecting his wife from everyone, including herself.
Chapter 14
Evangeline
Archer was not an angel or a savior. He was unhinged, possibly unsafe, and yet, he felt like Evangeline’s greatest hope for getting her memories back.
Once more Evangeline looked at the dagger Archer had given her. What she remembered of it didn’t give her much to go on, so perhaps it was more like a bread crumb than a proper piece of a memory, but every lover of fairytales knew that bread-crumb trails were always worth following.
And Evangeline planned to follow this one wherever it led.
One memory could be shaken off as a coincidence.
But she’d seen Archer twice, and twice he’d brought back vivid memories, and along with them her hope.
After waking before dawn and spending the darkest hours struggling in the rain against Archer, Evangeline should have crawled back in bed, exhausted.
Instead, she was exhilarated. It felt as if she’d found a bit of her old self. And it was one of her favorite pieces. It was the part of herself that loved to hope. She’d forgotten how hope could make colors brighter and feelings warmer, how it could shift thoughts from what wasn’t to what was possible.
Her memories were not gone forever, they were merely lost, and Evangeline now had every hope that she would find them.
Since Archer had already prompted two memories, it made sense to hope that when she saw him again, he’d bring about more. And if he didn’t, she was at least going to get him to tell her how they knew each other.
But this time she wasn’t going to wait for him to find her.
Evangeline planned to ask for a tour of Wolf Hall—one that included the quarters where the guards and soldiers lived. She knew that Archer had said they’d have another lesson later, but she didn’t want to wait until whenever later happened. She wanted to find him again today.
“Pardon me, Your Highness,” squeaked Martine. “Before you leave, you might want to take a look at this. It arrived as you spoke with the physician’s apprentice.” The maid handed Evangeline a cream-colored note with Apollo’s seal in the wax, which Evangeline swiftly broke before reading the letter.
“We should start getting you ready straightaway!” exclaimed Martine, not even attempting to hide that she’d been reading over Evangeline’s shoulder.
“Do I really need to start dressing for dinner right now?” It was just shy of noon, which should have given her at least a few hours to search for Archer. “It’s just a dinner.”
“Nothing is just a dinner if it’s in a castle,” said Martine. “When a prince says dinner, he really means banquet. Everyone will be there. Every courtier, every noble, every Great House, every guard—”
“Every guard?” Evangeline asked, her thoughts immediately going to Archer.
If he was at the dinner, she wouldn’t have to look for him now. And if this dinner was as large a gathering as Martine made it sound, then surely it should be easy to sneak away for a private chat.
Chapter 15
Apollo
Apollo should have chosen a different location for dinner.
The Court of Columns was one of Wolf Hall’s more impressive rooms, with a three-story domed glass ceiling that provided an excellent view of the stars. Eight enormous columns formed a circle in the center of the room. The columns were carved in the likenesses of the Forgotten Saints. Apollo thought they were far more spectacular than the carvings of the Valors that sat in the bay, as these statues still had their heads. They were also carved of rare starstone, which glowed at night, adding an otherworldly quality to the court that he hoped would delight Evangeline.
But now he regretted the choice.
He should have thought more defensively.
The columns were impressive, but they also obstructed his view of the entire court and the doors leading out. Guards were there, of course, to look for any hint of Jacks. But by the end of the night, half the guards would be as drunk as the guests. It was how these things always went.
Apollo was never too strict with his guards during festive dinners. The greatest danger at these things was usually that the toasts went on too long, and letting the guards imbibe was an easy way to keep them loyal. Apollo didn’t want to risk losing any of that loyalty now—especially since he’d had to lose Victor and Hansel. He’d just have to keep Evangeline close to him all night.
He felt it as soon as she stepped into the court. A buzzing across his skin, pleasant and uncomfortable all at once, like the pull he felt toward her. It was a leftover effect from the Archer’s curse. Although when he’d been under the curse, it had been much stronger—like a fire burning his skin that he felt only she could put out.
He turned to find her as she entered the room, and everything else went out of focus.
The tables of food, all the guests in their finery, the columns, and the great candles that surrounded them became hazy for a moment, like a watercolor painting blurred by the rain.
In the midst of it all, Evangeline sparkled, graceful and innocent and beautiful.
Once the party returned to focus, Apollo could see every other eye had turned to her as well. He couldn’t look too long at the way other guests watched her. Some were merely curious, but certain gazes put him on guard, and a few made him want to slit throats.
He tried not to get too angry—she was the most beautiful woman in the room. He couldn’t blame others for looking at her that way.
But he wanted to make it clear that she belonged to him.
Evangeline didn’t see him as he approached. She moved quietly through the room, eyes wide with wonder as she looked up toward the glowing columns.
Her hair had been swept up and her dress was low-cut, with thin little straps that Apollo imagined he could break with a snap of his fingers. Maybe if he played this right, she’d let him do so later that night.
Quietly he stepped behind her.
“You look beautiful,” he whispered. Then because she was his, and because he could, he pressed a soft, lingering kiss to the back of her neck.
He felt her skin go warm against his lips. But then she stiffened.
He hoped he hadn’t triggered a memory.
Slowly he put a hand on the small of her back and came to stand beside her. “I hope I didn’t frighten you.”