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“Why didn’t you engage him in conversation?” he cut me off.

“Pardon?” I had when I called him out for being inauthentic in his greetings, but I possessed no desire to share that.

“You said for the five minutes he spoke with your sisters. Did you stand there, like you’d lost your tongue?” His fist clenched on the desk as he tried to rein in his vitriol.

My feet twitched, an urge to run pricking my toes. “No. The five minutes were for the attendees. I joined as a chaperone. I’ve aged out of the running.” Either this would help my defense or—

“You what?” His eyes bulged, the whites of them circling his irises. That vein started to throb with a vicious beat. The room suddenly became suffocatingly humid, and I fought against shifting in place from the discomfort of his widened stare.

Yep, made it worse.

“I-” Anything I said to defend myself would only irritate him further. Wisely, I decided to clamp my lips together instead.

He slammed his flat palm against the wood, and I jumped despite trying to keep myself calm. “You know what happens if your family doesn’t acquire the prince’s hand?”

I gulped. “Yes.”

“At the next event you attend, you will throw yourself at the prince. You and your sisters. It will take more than ‘fine’ to claw your ways to the top of the running.”

I would rather live on the streets. The way the prince’s charm and good looks had gotten to me today was a warning of how dangerous close proximity to him was—especially with the local connections I had been making. I wouldn’t let him disarm my anger for what he’d done to my people. More so, what he hadn’t done.

“I am no competition to my sisters, believe me. They hold the grace and the charm to woo Prince Nicholas. I did speak with him during the luncheon, and I assure you, he does not see me fit to contend for queen.” Not after I’d voiced my blatant rejection of participation in his search.

“You and your sisters will do everything to make him see you fit.” His gaze was unwavering, the darkness in his eyes growing until he was menace personified. “You will lie, cheat, and steal to win the attention of the prince if you have to. I won’t have you lose. He may be a prince, but he’s still a man. Coat your lashes and lips and eye-fuck him like a whore and he’ll forget all about the age restriction.”

Simply conversing with the prince painted me a traitor to my morals. But to butter up the man whom I despised? To cross that threshold further and bury myself so deep no bath could ever wash away the stain? Absolutely abhorrent. Melody could play the prince like a fiddle with her effervescence and wit and stood more of a chance than anyone in our village, especially me.

Caine held the deed to our house. Why did he care so badly if we failed? Either way, he’d have his money. I wouldn’t bend to his will for this. I’d been forced to work under his thumb for years because of my father’s debt—which I still didn’t understand how that’d come to be. I wouldn’t let him control another facet of my life, especially to go against every moral fiber I still clung to.

Not that I’d let him ever suspect such a thing. I nodded.

His fingers danced around each other while he continued to stare me down. He sucked on his teeth before he said, “Get back to work.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I was out of his office before he could blink.

17

Nora

It wasn’t the cold walk that left a lingering chill beneath my skin by the time I arrived home. My arms remained wrapped around me as I made my way up the stairs, ensuring to keep my steps quiet. Aware of every spot the stairs would creak, I skirted them with feline grace.

As I approached the top floor, an orange glow spilled onto the wood from beneath my door. Did I forget to blow out a candle before my shift? The door was cracked open only an inch or so. I had sworn I’d closed it before I left.

When I opened it, I almost jumped back at the unexpected shadowed woman sitting on the end of my bed. My hand flew to my chest. “Eucinda, you startled me.” Once the initial shock settled, her presence in my personal space made me uneasy. I couldn’t remember the last time she’d bothered to venture up here—one of the reasons I enjoyed this room so much.

Beside her on the bed, she set a hand over an envelope. Her stoney gaze remained fixed on the window she faced, not wasting the energy to turn her head to greet me. She slid the envelope in my direction until it reached the edge. Silent instruction.

I closed the distance and picked up the parchment. The dark blue wax seal had already been broken. The shadows of the room staked their claim, and I had to adjust it closer to the candlelight.

My brain stopped processing the rest of the cursive ink, gleaning that it just provided details about the event. Eucinda’s profile remained unchanged even after I tucked the letter back into the envelope.

“This is good news,” I said, keeping my comments concise in her presence. Ignoring the flips my stomach had made at the prince requesting me by my full name, eliminating anonymity, I stilled.

“Caine stopped by tonight,” she said, her words as cold as a winter’s frost.

The flipping stopped, my stomach turning leaden. “What did he say?” I recalled the relief I felt watching him leave the tavern early. I thought that meant I’d be free of him until my next shift, but I never expected he would have come here.

“You will attend with my daughters.”