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“Off we go, Andrya,” Sidney murmurs, amused. He can’t keep his eyes off either one of us. Licking his bottom lip, his eyes sparkle behind his mask. Gods, I can only imagine what his next words will be. “You can eye fuck each other later. There’s work to be done.”

Reaching out, Andrya squeezes my hand. “Break a leg, Beautiful. Magical things will happen tonight. I can feel it,” she says softly.

I can feel the anticipation in the air as she disappears into the first car with Sidney. Each car will take a different route to the ball, so we all truly arrive at different times. I have my clutch with my phone and invite, all we need to do is get there.

I hope Andrya is right, we could use a little magic tonight.

Thirteen

SILLA

Taking a deep breath when I arrive alone at the Trainor Mansion, I step out of the car. Marion Trainor was an author who wrote incredible fantasy stories about dragons who fell in love with princesses. The kingdom’s citizens still read her books, even though she passed away ten years ago. Her daughter now owns the property, renting it out for events like this.

I’ve never had the honor of being inside the gates, but I remember walking by it when I would run errands for my mother. It’s one of my happier memories, because it allowed me to dream, even if it was just for a few minutes.

Life has not been kind to me over the years.

Smiling as I walk up the side gate where the guard is admitting people, I hand my invitation to him. He’s wearing a mask as well, dressed in a black tuxedo.

“Good evening, Miss. You’re all set to go in. Have a lovely time,” he murmurs pleasantly, keeping my invitation.

Thanking him, I walk through the gate when he opens it. The entire front yard has Edison twinkly lights strung up through the trees. There are also poles where more lights are hung to beat back the darkness as I walk across the stepping stones on the grass. Quickly glancing at my phone in my bag, I see it’s now after nine, so the party began an hour ago. It’s nice not to have to worry about my heels sinking into the grass, so I take my time as I put my phone back. There’s nothing worse than ruining a gorgeous pair of shoes.

The walkway leads me through the canopy of trees, and out to where there are more attendants. I can feel the warm air from the heaters now, and it helps me relax as I hand my coat to someone. I hate being cold, and can tell it’ll be warm enough for me. Taking the tag so I’ll be able to retrieve it later, I slip it into my bag.

Walking slowly, I see a literal wonderland. People are dancing on the black and white checkered dance floor, there’s a live band playing, and it seems just about everyone is here as the party is well under way. I am the focus as planned as I’m fashionably late.

I can feel the weight of their eyes as I skirt around the dance floor. This is what is supposed to be happening, so I force myself to embrace it. I’ve spent my entire life attempting to stay out of the limelight, but today this stunning dress and I are going to steal the show. Grabbing a glass of champagne, I pretend to sip from it as I go exploring.

Small talk isn’t my thing, and I’m terrible at it, so I spend some time listening to everyone around me. This event tends to gather a ton of funds for orphaned children every year it seems. The uptick of children without parents is due to Cinder’s bloody ways of dealing with her displeasure with people.

It’s sad that the queen of our kingdom is the reason this is even needed. I’m flabbergasted, and can feel inappropriate tears of sadness beginning to well. I need a moment to gather myself, because I’m not callous enough to hear these stories and not react.

You’d think I’d have a thicker skin, but that’s just not true. People are freely speaking about the queen as well, which is surprising to me. So often there are whispers, but everyone who is willing to speak out is quickly silenced. The newspapers don’t discuss the executions, so naively I wondered if anyone even knew about them, or cared.

Walking further into the yard where the private auction is occurring on the other end, I wonder what things would be like if someone else was queen. Would life be vastly different?

The shrubbery opens into a tunnel-like passageway, and isn’t well lit. I watched other people go through here, so I know it’s safe to pass through. Unfortunately, there isn’t much light outside of the very dim twinkle lights that line the pathway so no one trips. The air smells of honey from the crocus flowers that are growing in the shrubs. Looking up, it has been shaped into a huge archway all the way through to where I believe the maze begins. That’s not creepy at all.

“You’re thinking awfully hard while attending a party,” a man says, stepping into my path.

Startling, I swear I can feel my heart in my throat.

“Gods, I wasn’t expecting someone to jump out at me like that,” I gasp. Faintly, I realize that I didn’t curse when usually I would have if I was with the guys. I think I’ve developed a block when it comes to language and how I use it around people I don’t know.

Cinder has beaten the art of being well spoken into me, and ‘ladies’ don’t curse. I am not far enough gone to use words like “fiddlesticks”, so I’ve just removed them entirely from my vocabulary.

“I know this is a masquerade, and it’s meant to hide identity, but who are you?” I ask.

If this is the leader of the Underground, I want to know now. If it isn’t, I’ll be polite, but continue on my way. This path to the mazes is darker than I’m comfortable with, though I can see where it brightens again where the lamps are hung. I’m surprised they didn’t add any to this walkway.

Walking toward me, he lifts his hand to cup my face. Flinching, my eyes widen. I’m uncomfortable with people touching me for many reasons.

“Fuck, who hurt you?” he mutters, making me shake my head.

“That seems a very personal question for a stranger,” I murmur. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I was taking a walk and had a destination in mind before you interrupted me.”

Pulling away, I move around him. The boutique’s seamstress was kind enough to bustle the dress in such a way so that it wasn’t obvious and I could still move. Otherwise, I’m sure people would be stepping on it.