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I looked around the hallway. There were only a few maids at the end of it and they looked preoccupied with their duties.

I leaned close to her.

“It’s not over, is it?” I whispered, my gaze shifting to hers. “Tell me what you know.Please.”

For the first time, a sort of regret crossed her face.

“I can’t,” she answered with a grimace. “Just know I’m on your side. Always, okay?”

“When have you ever been on my side?” I asked in a low hiss. “Tell me—am I or am I not your job?”

She let out a scoff and shook her head. “If you don’t see everything I’ve done as being on your side, I don’t know what to tell you.” She looked down the hall, her eyes narrowing. “Good luck with everything.”

A part of me wanted to call out to her as she turned and walked back down the way we came, but I stopped myself.

It wasn’t my job to try and smooth this over. Yes, she had helped, but she wasn’t being as truthful as she could be, and at that point, I couldn’t afford to be in the dark much longer.

It isn’t over.Her words told me that much, but her expression told me even more.What does she know, and is that the cause of her pained expression?

I shook my head. The princess was waiting for me. I didn’t have much time to waste.

Our routine had been the same over the weeks following my “rescue” from my family’s house.

I still stayed in the guard dorms. Mostly to save my own face. Most people knew the princess and I were together, but in a work sense. If I started staying in her room like she wanted me to, there would be no denying I was her plaything and not her guard.

The princess didn’t care, even if the rumors surrounding the prince’s demise went from him being a traitor to the princess having an affair.

I continued down the hallway, only to almost run right into one of the maids. I looked down to say something to her when she grabbed my wrists and pulled me into one of the dark, unused corridors.

Before I could even look at her face, my instincts kicked in, and in seconds, she was pushed up against the wall, my sword at her throat.

I was ready to slice it through her neck when her voice stopped me.

“Stop, Vesper! It’s me!”

I paused, recognizing the voice. When I pulled back to take her in, my heart stopped in my chest.

I knew her. Not only did I know her, but our families were the same.

Long brown hair pulled up into a bun. Hazel eyes. Three—no,four—small moles on her face. She was in the standard maid uniform the palace supplied, but hers had a turtleneck instead of the standard crew neck.

Nadine.

I hadn’t seen her in years. The last time had been at the boarding school my family sent me to. We were in a few classes together. At the time, the students tried to memorize every family symbol and child who was a part of the school. It was part of the information we were allowed to know about how the organization worked.

Our fathers knew each other. Just like us, they had gone to school together. But after we graduated, I never saw her again. That was the point. We were sent to different parts of the country, with each family settling in a specific place to carry out the orders given to us.

If she’s here, this means…

My hand immediately went to her turtleneck to make sure the person in front of me really existed.

She shouldn’t be here. No one should.

My breath caught when the pitch-black image of a dragon came into view. It was stark against her skin, the image startling me.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Had Cedar known? Was that why she gave me that look? I thought I had time. At least more than a few weeks before they would ship one of my own here.