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CHAPTER: JUST A LITTLE FAVOR

Tearloch and I woke the next morning to another knock at the door. Our friends had all crawled back to their assigned rooms sometime in the night. Stealthy servants had come at some point to haul away empty bottles and empty trays, but I didn’t remember hearing a thing. I also didn’t like the idea of strangers entering the rooms without asking permission, so I would lock the doors from now on.

Tearloch got up to answer the knock, then came back into the bedroom and started collecting his clothes. “I’ve been summoned. By Moire. Get dressed and come with me. The messenger is waiting.”

The thought of him alone with that woman was enough to chase the cobwebs from my mind and put me on my feet. I chose the yellow gown—no one could ignore me in that—and ran a jeweled brush through my hair. I pinched my cheeks to put a bit of color in them, but a kiss from Tearloch brought the pink to my lips.

How did I survive all those years without a mirror?

The moment we stepped inside the royal residence at the heart of the palace maze, a chill far colder than the air outside swept through me. There was something…haunting about the place, but I shook it off, pulled my shawl tighter around my shoulders, and hurried to keep step with the long-legged half of my heart.

Would I ever return to the rugged, sunbaked canyons of the south?

We reached a set of tall silver doors and I was directed to a soft bench and invited to wait. I swallowed nervously as Tearloch was allowed through the doors alone. My invitation, he had assured me, would come. I would mind my manners and be patient…for now.

The floor beneath my slippers was polished stone, smooth and glistening like the frozen surface of a lake. A floral pattern, just a shade lighter than the stones themselves, decorated the edges of each large square. As the messenger moved into another room, the creak of his knees echoed with each step. But if I had to guess, I would wager that beyond those tall doors I’d find a warm and welcoming setting.

My fingers itched to touch every surface, to leave my fingerprints—the drapes that framed marble sculptures, the heavy molded columns that held them, the pale wood paneling—but I didn’t dare. Everything in this antechamber was too fragile for the likes of me. And after our time in The Soundless, I was wary of breaking any rules, let alone ancient works of art.

Massive windows stretched out to my left, the glass as clear as those on the Semels’ keep. Outside, the leaves were turning on a large tree at the center of a private garden—deep crimsons and golds so vibrant I couldn’t look away. Beyond the tree, a fountain gurgled. The muffled sound would have been soothing if I didn’t know how cold the water would be.

My eyes traced the arching ceiling, soaring far above me, disappearing into delicate carvings of gods and beasts. The chandeliers dripped with crystals—a waste when so few would ever see them. But I supposed they were intended to intimidate.

I stood and started moving to keep my feet warm. I wandered past paintings taller than I was, depicting scenes of battles and conquests. The faces of heroes and kings and queens stared down with eyes that followed me, demanded to know how I dared to walk among them.

How many of them had stood in my shoes? New to this world, sure they were unworthy. How many of them had come to this palace in costume?

“Run,” they whispered. “Run home and await your fate where you belong.”

“Asper!” Tearloch’s voice cut through my imagination. Just my name on his lips dissolved my anxiety. “Where is she? What have you done with her!”

“I’m here!” I shouted. “I’m here!” I hurried back to the foyer with a smile on my face. I couldn’t help but be touched by the fact that he was as anxious to stay together as I was. I didn’t care if others saw us as insecure children after all we’d been through. It was far too soon to feel completely safe.

“Forgive me,” he said, and kissed my forehead. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Maybe you were remembering that you promised not to leave me.”

“Yes, well.” He took my hand and led me back to that bench. We sat and he took both of my hands, then bit his lips together.

My stomach sank. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I do owe her something, though, for rescuing us.”

“What does she want?”

“She has only one daughter left that has not chosen gevri. She wants us to fetch her home for the announcement. She says she will explain nothing until her daughter is here.”

“So, another long dragon ride.”

“Yes, and no. She wants Sweetie and Minkin and Bain and I to make the trip.”

“Oh. Not me.”

He bit his lip again, this time embarrassed. “I tried to explain that I need you with me, but she insisted that you’ll be perfectly safe here. Besides, it should only take two days. One there, one back.”

“And if I want an audience?—”

“There will be no audience. I’m sorry. She says you’ll have all the answers you need after it’s over.”

“And she’ll allow me to stay for it if…”

“You’ll let me go.”

“And not make a fuss.”

He blinked a few times. “You make all the fuss you want, my Asper. Bend the world to your will as you always do. Just promise me…promise me you’ll be here when I get back.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. I won’t give her a reason to send me away.”

He inhaled deeply and sighed with acute relief. “Thank you.” He kissed each of my eyes. “You are all I ask for.”

“And when you get back, will she have other errands for you?”

He looked unsure, but he said, “After the ceremony, you and I will be free to leave all this behind.”

“If there’s any time left.”

He nodded and sighed again. “If there’s any time left. But I can’t believe she would ask me to leave you if two days was all we had.”

“Can’t you?” I heard a creak and looked past him just in time to see a brunette figure slipping back inside the royal residence. “I can…”