Page 38 of A Vow of Embers

The entire dining hall erupted into cheers. Musicians in the corner immediately began to play. Performers appeared around the edges of the room—jugglers, acrobats, gymnasts, dancers. Food was set out on various tables in the Ilionian way so that guests could serve themselves.

Prince Alexandros put his hand on the small of my back and I tried not to jump in surprise when he touched me. He pushed slightly, indicating that he meant to lead me. The heat from his palm seemed to radiate out in circular waves so that even my toes were throbbing.

“We are sitting there,” the prince said. This was more of him showing off to the court, being the picture of kindness and solicitousness. The tables were arranged in a U shape and he took me over to the center of the main table, visible to everyone. He pulled out a chair and I was grateful for the opportunity to sit down and hopefully escape some of the attention.

I didn’t care about the entertainers or the music or even the food. I had done what Alexandros wanted. Now I needed to see my sister.

“Can I get you anything to eat?” He spoke before I could and had a fake smile pasted on his face. I didn’t trust his offer.

“I’d rather not be poisoned.” Obviously I knew he wasn’t going to poison me. Not only because of the contract but because of the lengths he’d gone to, to ensure this marriage happened. He wouldn’t have done all that just to finish me off at our wedding. I was snapping at him because my nerves were frayed.

“That sounds like a guilty conscience. Is that your plan? To poison me when I least expect it?”

“I’ve already told you that it’ll be with a blade. Poison is pathetic.”

Now there was a hint of a real smile on his face. No one around us would have guessed at the kind of conversation we were having.

He didn’t respond and went over to the food tables, joined by Thrax.

I again visually searched the dining hall thinking I might have overlooked Quynh. I scanned each face. So many unfamiliar people.

Erisa, the prince’s stepmother, was seated close by and picked at her food. She looked bored and annoyed until an older, yellow-haired man sat down next to her. When he spoke she beamed at him. I could see why the king had married her. But that beauty concealed a truly monstrous person, one who would harm sweet, innocent girls. I tamped down the desire to avenge Io.

Given the way the man and Erisa were interacting, it seemed as if they had some sort of relationship.

Possibly physical.

That was not my problem. I looked at the person on the man’s left and recognized her. Chryseis. The woman who had led the harvest festival, elected by the citizens to represent the goddess. The one the prince had told me that he wanted. I had once hoped he would turn his attention to her and leave me alone.

That hadn’t happened.

She was just as stunning as I remembered. It surprised me to discover that the jealousy I’d felt toward her hadn’t gone anywhere. I didn’t know why. She was welcome to Alexandros. I didn’t want him.

But something about her raised an internal alarm.

Chryseis realized that I was looking at her and stared at me with such seething hatred that it startled me.

Then she put on an easy smile and raised her glass to me. It happened so quickly I wasn’t sure whether I had imagined it.

I averted my gaze and continued to search through the tables for Quynh’s face.

Nothing.

She wasn’t here.

Where was she? Alexandros had said I would see her at the feast.

“Congratulations,” I heard a voice say. A boy of about twelve had seated himself next to me, in the prince’s chair.

“Thank you,” I said.

“I am Prince Kyros.”

This was Alexandros’s younger half brother. Erisa’s son. “I am Princess Thalia.”

“I know.”

He bore no resemblance at all to Io or Alexandros. I wouldn’t have guessed that they were siblings. His eyes unsettled me. There was a blankness there, an emptiness, as if he lacked a soul.