Page 24 of Crimson Kingdom
“All right, then,” she said amicably. “But…do you want to talk about the feathered monstrosity Lady Fenella was wearing?”
“That, I can do.” I huffed out a hollow laugh. “I was just thinking I didn’t have enough feathered dresses in my wardrobe.”
Mamá made a mock sound of relief. “I’m glad you feel that way, because I went straight from the ball to commission matching ones for the three of us.”
“Well, at least make mine in something other than pink,” Avani chimed in. “Why do the seamstresses still think princesses need to wear pink even after a lifetime of watching it clash with our very red hair?”
“It’s better than the lavender one they made me last year.” My nose wrinkled in disgust at the memory.
The gray undertones had lent a sickly pallor to my skin that no amount of cosmetics could hide, and it had ballooned oddly around my middle. I had spent the entire evening fielding questions about whether I was in a delicate condition.
My mother winced in sympathy. “That was...unfortunate. But you know if you insult Madame Freya...”
“Not worth it,” Avani concurred.
A beat of silence passed, and then another, enough time for my bitter thoughts to come creeping back in. My mother nudged for me to move over so she would have more room, and I obliged her, downing the rest of my wine as I moved.
A nasty feeling churned in my gut that had nothing to do with the alcohol.
“Well, I’d say based on the way things were going at the ball, this isn’t the only bed that’s...crowdedtonight.” The words fled my mouth before I could stop them, and each one was soaked in bitterness, like cherries soaked in brandy, potent and undeniable.
Mamá and Avani both shot me sideways glances. They didn’t ask who I was talking about, which was almost worse than if they had.
Instead, my mother just eased her way back off the bed. “I think I’ll go get another bottle.”
My sister examined me before turning toward the doorway, calling after my mother. “Better make it two.”
After a while, Mamá left, and Avani finally drifted off to a fitful sleep. I stayed awake, though, tossing and turning until I couldn’t take the ugly feeling clawing its way up my throat anymore.
Clumsily throwing on a dressing gown and shoving my feet into a pair of soft slippers, I eased through the passageway door. My parents knew some of the secret walkways, but Avani, Mac, and I had spent our entire childhood exploring the deserted paths.
It was a long series of hallways on slightly unsteady steps, and I had to evade several sets of guards before I finally found myself in the narrow corridor leading to the hidden back entrances of the guest rooms.
I paused outside the doorway I was looking for. If I continued down the hall, I would wind up at Theo’s room. That would be, at least, marginally smarter than what I was doing now.
Of course, the reasonable and much more sober part of me knew I shouldn’t be in this part of the castle at all, that I should turn around and go back to my sister. But I was driven by a compulsion I could hardly make sense of.
I didn’t do any of the rational things.
Instead, I took a single, fortifying breath before pushing open the passageway door to Evander’s rooms.
His hand was already on the hilt of his saber, his body halfway out of his desk chair, tensed for a confrontation, when he realized it was only me. His broad shoulders relaxed, though his eyes widened for a fraction of a second.
He let his sword rest gently back on the desk, easing back into his chair and adopting his arseling face once more. As usual, not a single thing was out of place in his room. Except...
“Lemmikki?” He said the word casually, as though he had run into me at the breakfast table rather than because I had burst unannounced into his room.
My eyes remained fixated on his bed, the way the covers were rumpled on both sides when he was usually so impossibly tidy.
“Does that bed offend you?” he asked, raising a single eyebrow.
“I’m only surprised to find it so empty.” As soon as the words spewed forth from my lips, I wanted to take them back.
Why, why,whyhad I said that out loud? I decided to blame it on the wine.
Evander blinked once, then twice.Surprise? Irritation?I couldn’t quite tell.
“And yet you came in without knocking.” He gave me a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes. “How very voyeuristic of you.”