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Her mother smiled cheekily. “And I suppose you also know the elemental composition of each enhancer, along with its prerequisites.”

“I do. Should I list them for you?”

“Did you also know that coming in here late, and dressed so ostentatiously, is a flagrant show of disrespect for the station you presume to hold?” Her mother glared, and something in Nore snapped.

“I answer your condescending questions and you attack my accessories?” She was done tiptoeing around this woman. She pulled her hair back and wound it into a messy bun. She turned her head, touching her earrings, making sure everyone saw them. Her brother watched, his spoon frozen on the way to his mouth.

“I’m looking for a necklace to match.” She sipped her drink. “If anyone has any jeweler recommendations, do let me know.”

“Nore,” her brother muttered.

She leaned across the table. “You know, my first plan was to burn your eyes out of their sockets with Sun Dust, but my brother talked me out of it.”

“And your second plan?” her mother asked, unfazed. “The real reason you’re at my table.”

“For now, it’s to enjoy wearing my earrings.”

Her mother rose from the table. “Ellery, don’t delay.”

“Where are you going?” Nore muttered. “I need your help.”

“I’m proposing to Elena Hargrove today.”

“You’re what?”

A smile curled her mother’s lips.

“You find her boring and—how did you put it? An intellectual dud. You don’t even like the way she smells!”

“It keeps the peace.”

Nore stood so suddenly that her cousins at the end of the table jumped. She glared right at her mother. No one ever told Isla Ambrose the truth. And that was part of the problem.

“You’re a terrible person, Mother.”

Her mother froze.

“You ruin everyone around you. Especially those who should be closest to you.”

Her cousins excused themselves from the table. Her mother did not move or blink. Nore’s heart pounded in her chest. There. She’d told her mother what she really thought of her. What everyone probably thought of her.

“Thank you, dear, for your perceptive assessment of my maternal duties. We can only hope to the Sovereign that, one day, your intellect will match your reckless mouth.” Her mother was about to say more when someone entered and whispered something in her ear. She held her chest. Her mouth thinned. “If you’ll excuse me.” She tossed her napkin on the table. “Oh, and one more thing. You will be at the ball we are hosting this weekend.”

“I will not!”

“You will. Your brother will be announcing his engagement, and you will not be an embarrassment.”

Anger burned in her chest. The audacity of her mother to take away her freedom and her brother’s, when he deserved nothing but the best.

Her mother turned to leave.

“On your list of ways to ruin others’ lives, could you add finding a way to get rid of this t—”

“Mind your tongue.”

The servers froze.

Nore’s mouth snapped shut. Once her mother was gone, she turned to Ellery, who rubbed circles into his temples.