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Thea’s eyes burned.

‘If you say we need to get Hawthorne out of the dungeons, then that’s what we do,’ Kipp added.

‘You know what will happen if you’re caught getting involved in this…?’ she ventured.

‘We’ll probably die long and painful deaths,’ Kipp offered helpfully.

Cal made a noise at the back of his throat. ‘Let’s try to avoid that.’

Thea shook her head. ‘I’m being serious.’

‘As are we, Your Royal Highness. We’re just glad you’ve seen the light,’ Kipp replied – then, more gently, ‘He loves you. That was never in any doubt. Not to us. I’ll wager that everything he does is for you.’

For the first time, Thea didn’t argue. She only vowed with that much more ferocity that she’d get him back.

As the sun passed over the mountains and lake beyond the floating domes, the trio strategised late into the day. They were going to get Wilder Hawthorne back, and they were going to use the masquerade ball to do it.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

THEA

The next night, on the evening of the eclipse, Thea readied herself for battle. In the privacy of her chambers, she donned a rose-gold gown like armour, and strapped her dagger and throwing stars to her legs beneath her full skirts.

The others had ensured that the rest of her weapons, and Wilder’s, were stashed just outside the ballroom, and her pack was hidden away in Cal’s quarters. Everything was in place, almost. Steadying her hand, she swept a line of dark kohl across each of her eyelids as Wren had once taught her, and painted her lips a deep blood red. She braided her hair in her usual warrior’s style, only to pin it to the crown of her head, exposing the line of her neck. When she was finished, she studied herself in the full-length mirror, hardly recognising the woman before her.

Good, she thought, raising her mask to her face and tying it at the back of her head. The woman she had been this past year would be no good to her tonight. She had to rid herself of that person, had to shed her like a second skin. Wilder needed her, and she would see him free of the shackles she’d forced him into.

With a final glance at her glittering appearance and drake-inspired mask, Thea left her rooms and sought Princess Jasira.

In her royal suite, the Princess of Harenth was surrounded by fussing attendants, but when she saw Thea, her face broke into a wide smile.

‘Thea, you’re here!’

‘I wouldn’t miss it, Your – Jasi.’

The princess shooed away her assistants and gestured to her gown. ‘What do you think?’ She was resplendent in deep-sea blue, jewels glistening all over.

‘Beautiful,’ Thea told her.

‘As are you, my friend.’

Thea offered a grateful smile and her arm. ‘Shall we?’

Jasira took it and started towards the door. ‘Care to make a wager on how many men ask us to dance tonight?’

Thea forced a laugh. Dancing was the last thing on her mind. ‘I imagine you have a better idea of these things than I do. It would be a foolish bet on my part.’

‘Nonsense.’

The princess’ royal guard escorted the two women through the corridors of the floating dome, everything bathed in golden torchlight and garlands of native Aveum flowers. Thea kept her chin up and forced one foot in front of the other, holding the thoughts of Wilder in that ice cell at bay. He was strong. He was the strongest person she knew. Now, she had to be strong for him.

As the entrance to the grand ballroom came into view, she threw a final plea up to the Furies themselves that all would not be in vain before she squared her shoulders and the double doors opened inward.

She stifled the gasp on her lips.

In the heart of the floating dome, surrounded by the snow-capped peaks and evergreen forests beyond the windows, was aballroom unlike anything she had ever seen. It was as though it had been plucked from a dream, bathed in moonlight, the vaulted ceilings adorned with glimmering chandeliers made from icicles. Everything about it was a testament to the genius of the kingdom: the wintry glow, the enchanted warmth, the illusion of falling snow. Every surface sparkled and shimmered, fashioned almost entirely out of crystal and glass, light refracting and dancing across the space in a myriad of colours. Garlands of blooms wrapped around white stone pillars while thick velvet curtains framed every entrance.

Thea and the princess watched from their private vantage point as at the other entrances, noblemen and warriors were stripped of their weapons. There were to be no blades of any kind amid the celebrations, no temptation for violence and darkness. Thea had been warned of this beforehand. But for the first time in her life, dresses and cosmetics worked in her favour. She and the princess breezed past the palace guards and through the royal entrance without being checked.