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It feels like the band plays just for us.

That there’s no one else on the floor. Only the press of his hand at the small of my back, the all-too-familiar warmth of his body, the firm grip of his fingers on mine that pulls on the tension that stretches between us, tighter and tighter, like a trip wire we’re dancing across without a care in the world…

As if there isn’t an abyss beneath us, threatening oblivion with one misstep.

“You’re beautiful tonight. As always.”

“You don’t look so bad yourself.”

“Are you ready?” he whispers, lips so close to my ear that the warmth of his breath sends shivers down my arms.

“Yes.”

“Your co-conspirators?” He extends his arm, and I spin underneath. Kaelis pulls me back with force.

“Professionals,” I say quickly, barely moving my lips. “They’re all here, ready.”

“Good. You’ll have one shot.”

I tilt my head back enough to look him in the eyes. “You think I don’t know that?”

Kaelis’s expression hardens. I can feel his worry. I’ve intentionally kept him in the dark on a few of the details, at Twino’s request.

“I’ll get the cards,” I reassure him.

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” His gaze sharpens with something akin to desperation.

“What, then?” Another turn. The music swells as he draws me closer, tighter this time.

My breaths are short, breasts straining against the corset.

Against his chest. Fingers pierce the lace between my shoulder blades and find skin.

He clings to me as though the moment he lets me go, he’ll lose me forever.

“I’m worried about you, ” he chokes out.

The room goes silent, and all I hear is him.

I can feel the fear that furrowed his brow the other night at dinner.

That had him holding me tightly throughout the night.

“If this fails, if it doesn’t go according to plan, I don’t know if I can protect you this time. As pathetic as my last attempt was…”

There is nothing but raw sincerity exposed by the fear that so obviously gnaws at him. The last emotions I expected to ever see from him, for me. Emotions I’d willfully ignored. Outright told myself couldn’t exist.

“This was supposed to be simple,” I whisper, anger tugging on my words. I’m angry with him—with myself. How dare he draw me in like this, body and soul.

“Nothing about us will ever be simple.” The timbre of his voice is so low it causes me to shiver. “Clara, you are—”

The melody transitions, and a new figure comes into view. It is another man who carries himself like a force of nature. The one Kaelis gets it from.

King Oricalis, regal in red and gold, seems to materialize instantly at our side.

We break apart like two children caught sneaking behind the hedges to steal a first kiss. The room floods back around us like the blood rushing to my head. Pull yourself together, I scold myself. I was just telling Kaelis how he didn’t have to worry. Time to show him I have these matters in hand.

I sink into a curtsy as Kaelis gives his father a begrudgingly respectful nod.

“May I cut in?” The king’s tone suggests it’s a command more than a question.

“You honor me, your majesty,” I say as I stand.

Kaelis’s gaze meets mine for a heartbeat before he steps back.

My hand is passed from one Oricalis to another.

Without a word, the prince leaves me feeling as though I’ve been abandoned to a monster’s den.

But my plastered-on smile doesn’t leave my face as the king takes me into his arms, and I remind myself to breathe, or else I might seize up from the sheer terror that tries to grip me by the throat at this man’s mere proximity.

“He dresses you well.” The king’s eyes miss nothing. “Once more, he has you looking like the part.”

“I am honored by his highness’s affections.” I’m not sure what else to say, so I defer to platitudes. This is the first time I’ve ever spoken to the king alone.

“As you should be.”

The music shifts, and we turn. I take the opportunity to subtly brush against the king’s chest, feeling for the contours of the mechanical box. It’s in the same place as last time. Simultaneously, I scan the room, looking across all the serving men and women for a familiar face.

Jura stands with a platter of flutes filled to the brim with sparkling wine. We share a purposeful look that lasts only for a second.

“Take his kindness, and his infatuation.” The king seems none the wiser to my movements. But he stares at me with renewed purpose that draws my focus back to him, and him alone. “But discourage my son from his bold ambitions.”

My heart pounds. He knows? He can’t. But his eyes suggest otherwise.

“Kaelis has grand dreams for the academy; I doubt anyone could discourage him from that.” I try to plaster on the most oblivious smile I can muster.

The king’s grip on me tightens. “I know what my son is,” he says solemnly. “And that is precisely why I think you, of all people, are the only one who can be with him. Tame him. Temper him. Though it will never be in the way he has promised you.”

There’s something wild, almost feral in the shadows of the man’s hardened gaze. For a moment, he’s unrecognizable as being related to Kaelis at all. The intensity I’ve seen in the prince is nothing like this, and my words almost catch in my throat.

“What do you mean?” I dare to whisper.

Before he can answer, the song ends, and polite applause fills the room. The king smiles and steps away, readily discarding me after issuing his cryptic warnings and partial commands. There’s only a second’s worth of time for me to doubt the plan. If he knows Kaelis will move against him…

I watch helplessly as Jura hands the king a specific flute. The wine is spiked with clear liquor—enough to set off a headache, according to Silas.

Whatever doubts I might have, whatever the king does or doesn’t know and what it might mean, the plan is in motion.

There’s no going back.