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“How long have they been at it?” I heard Arran ask Lyrena.

“Fifteen minutes,” she answered. “We’ve started placing wagers.”

IfeltArran’s dark chuckle.

“My gold’s on—”

“We can hear you!” I hissed, just dodging Gwen’s fist.

“Good. Maybe that will motivate Gwen to end it,” Arran crooned.

He wanted a show.

Bastard.

I knew his dark eyes would be burning if I spared him a glance. But I didn’t dare, not with Gwen on the other end of that vicious sword.

I clenched my teeth, summoning every bit of strength—

A swirl of white flashed in my periphery.

The blow came down hard enough to knock me off my feet, down to my knees, scraping in the unyielding red dirt.

I didn’t expect an apology. And, of course, none came.

But a dark-skinned hand did reach out, hovering at the edge of my vision as I struggled to regain the breath Gwen had knocked out of me.

I slid my pale hand into Gwen’s, letting her tug me to my feet. But I barely noted the half-smile of triumph on her face. My eyes caught on the figure standing behind her—that flash of white.

I was before Charis in a second. Her bare arms were covered with gooseflesh despite the warm evening, and her pale wings were trembling.

I felt Arran arrive at my shoulder as I asked, “What is it?”

Her lower lip trembled. “Cyara has not returned.”

I ignored Arran’s sharp inhale.

“She said she would be gone the day,” I said.

A jerky nod. “But she ought to have returned by now. She planned to be here to serve your dinner.”

I glanced over my shoulder, finding Arran’s expression closed.

“Is it possible she elected to stay the night with your parents?” I asked Charis, channeling that emotionless veneer I’d worn for months. It was the closest I could come to calm.

But Charis shook her head, lovely copper hair shaking as the trembling overtook her entire body. “She’d never leave you alone, Majesty.”

Shit.

This was why I didn’t have friends.

* * *

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Arran demanded over the thundering of our footsteps. Down, down, down that spiral staircase.

“I haven’t seen you,” I bit back.

“And apparently all the palace messengers have gone missing, as well as your handmaiden.”