Page 32

SILIA

After collecting myself from the bathroom floor, I dry off and sprawl my naked body on the bed, aimlessly staring at the ceiling. I decide I’ll sneak out of the ball when the guards and Erebus are distracted with the festivities, steal one of his horses from the stable, then ride straight back to Eza to warn my father. I’ll ask him to send a fleet of his men to Daqet to stop Erebus from executing whatever plans he’s put in motion. It’s hard to formulate a strategy to stop Erebus when I don’t even know what he intends to do. Odious’ warning hints at it having something to do with me, and I don’t plan on staying around long enough to find out.

By the time I finish sulking in bed, it's late afternoon, and the ball will be starting soon. I rise from my death-like state, half falling off the bed, and I open the wardrobe, fully expecting another mysteriously placed dress to be in there. Unsurprisingly, hanging all alone is a black silky velvet dress. I remove it from the wardrobe and hold it in the air.

It’s beautiful. The gown falls long enough to sweep across the floor even with my taller-than-average stature. It has a square neckline with slightly puffed sleeve caps that are looser to create an off-the-shoulder look. I find myself not even caring who put this in my closet. Its beauty makes up for it.

As I go to close the door, something white catches my eye. I look to the floor of the wardrobe and find a mask resting there. My heart sinks to my stomach as I reach for it and take in its details. Gazing ominously at me is a mask identical to the brand Lars has on the back of his neck. A mockingly jovial face greets me as I stare daggers into it.

Is this some sort of sick joke?

I don’t know if this is Erebus’ doing or Lars’, but the way I feel about it makes no difference. They cannot really expect me to wear this horrid thing.

Please do not lose hope. I may be branded a fool, but I hope you see that nothing about my love for you is foolish.

Words I heard in my dream circle my thoughts as I graze my fingers along the details of the mask. Once again out of thin air, a bundle of baby's breath and honeysuckle appear in the space the mask had once taken up. My heart breaks all over again at the sight of them.

Is this another manipulation?

Is it his way of apologizing?

I slam the door shut and don the dress. I don’t have the luxury of wasting time trying to figure out this gesture. I stare down at the ring on my finger, and I swear I can feel the metal heat as I glare at it.

A mix of hatred and regret swirl around in my mind as I head to my dresser and snatch the elbow-length gloves. I need to hide this ring so I’m not staring at it all night.

And so he gets the message that I want nothing to do with it.

I’ve been at this ball all of two hours, and I already want to leave. The music is painfully boring, and I’ve met more people whose names I did not know tonight than I ever have in my life. It seems Erebus had invited the whole damn realm to this ball, and by the looks of it, a large portion of them showed up.

From the moment I walked into the ballroom, Lars’s gaze never left me. Confirming my suspicions, he wears the twin to my mask. The poor, tragic face sends a shiver down my spine every time my eyes find him. I put off wearing the mask for as long as I could until Erebus spotted me and insisted I put it on.

“Come, Silia, this would not be a masquerade without a mask! Put it on. Now.” I rolled my eyes and relented, then worked on avoiding him and Lars for the next hour.

Between denying dance partners left and right and running away from Lars every time he looked in my direction, I’m finally able to seek out the star of tonight’s festivities.

Diana and Odious are speaking to each other in one of the corners of the room. The mirrors make it nearly impossible to hide from prying eyes, but I can appreciate their effort.

I weave in and out of dancers and make my way over to them. “Diana, happy birthday!” I wrap my arms tightly around her and kiss her on the cheek. She smiles widely at me, the glance reminding me of a time when we were at home, limbs splayed out on each other while we read aloud the dirtiest books our library had to offer.

“Thank you, Silia.” She reaches up and fiddles with the necklace draped on her chest. It’s one I have not seen her wear before.

“Where did you get this?” I ask her, genuinely curious.

The stone in its center is that of a beautiful teardrop-shaped ruby, catching the firelight from the chandeliers at every angle, making it sparkle as brightly as the constellations. It must be extremely expensive.

“It was a gift from Odious.” She smiles sheepishly up at him, and he looks down at her like he wants to devour her whole. He lightly palms her neck and pulls her in for a kiss. Her cheeks now match the shade of her necklace as she pulls away, playfully hitting Odious on the arm, and utters something about not being inappropriate in front of me. He only sends her a wink in response and turns his gaze to me.

“Would you like to ask the birthday girl your question, Silia?”

Diana looks between us, waiting for me to answer. The silence passes a little longer than I intend while I try to figure out how to ask this question without drawing attention to us.

“What special plans do you two have? If there is anything I can do—” Diana’s eyes widen, and she grabs my hands and squeezes them hard.

“Silia, not here. I promise I will explain everything tomorrow.” Her eyes dart around the room, and she leans in to me to whisper in my ear. “Our first phase is tonight. You need to be far away from this ballroom when it happens. Please, trust me.”

She begins to laugh loudly as she pulls away from my ear. “Oh, sister, you jest!”

I awkwardly laugh along with her and adjust the mask on my face. Odious tips his head back in an equally loud laugh. “Who knew your sister was so funny, Diana? You would never know, with the permanent scowl she always wears!” He reaches over her and clamps a hand down on my shoulder, still drawing out his laughter.

I reach up and pinch him for the unnecessary insult, then look around the room. Thankfully, the music is loud enough to drown us out and not draw any unwanted eyes. But as I gaze in the mirror on the wall behind Odious, that familiar tortured mask greets me. Standing unmoving in the middle of a dance sequence, Lars’s eyes flick down to Odious’ hand on my shoulder. I move my gaze down the mirror and spot him balling his fists tight, then flexing his hands.

Satisfied that I conjured jealousy from Lars, I rest my hand atop Odious’ and tip my head back as well, releasing the most guttural laugh I can muster.

Then suddenly, a hard body presses against my back, and I know who it is before I can even look back in the mirror. His musky scent flows through the underside of my mask, and my eyes almost roll into the back of my head. Abruptly, I begin to feel…happier. The nonexistent joke I told strikes a chord with me, and I double over in laughter.

What is happening?

Tears begin to flow from my eyes, and my stomach muscles begin to cramp from laughing so hard. I earn a few glances from attendees, but as quickly as the feeling came, it’s gone, replaced with anger and jealousy. I turn around, ripping off my mask, and stare up at the matching one on his face as I see the faint glow from behind his hair slowly fade. He made me do that.

“Laughter sounds heavenly coming from your lips, Little Flame.”

Even in my mind, I can hear the smirk on his mouth as he sends his message in the eather.

He’d told me not to shut him out, and I couldn’t find it in myself to disobey him. He looked so broken, so defeated. As much as I wanted to wipe his existence from this planet, I could not shut him out. But that did not mean he could enter it whenever he pleases.

“Out. Of. My. Head,” I grit at him through my teeth, trying to keep my voice as low as possible. The last thing I want to do is cause a scene and get any one of us into trouble. I don’t know what Diana has planned, but I won’t ruin it by starting a fight in the middle of her birthday ball.

Lars holds out his hand to me and angles his head towards the dance floor. “Would you grace this fool with a dance?”

As I put my mask back on to hide the blush threatening to appear on my cheeks, a familiar tune begins to sound from the orchestra stationed on the stage, and couples flood the floor. The sweet notes of the ensemble almost bring me to my knees. It’s the same song Lars had hummed to me that night in the library. It’s a slow, sober song, but beautiful all the same. I had asked him once what the song was, and he told me it was a long-forgotten ballad of the Gods, written by Gennos after the kidnapping of Hecate. It tells the story of the love she and Zothos shared, then the betrayal and catastrophic downfall of their relationship after her kidnapping. Little had I known that he was already confessing his sins to me without even realizing it.

I almost laugh at how on-the-nose it is, but the notes are comforting. Something about the composition of the melody beckons me to listen more and more deeply.

Without second-guessing myself or wanting to cause a scene, I take his hand and follow him to the sea of bodies. Couples all around us begin to move in unison, spinning and gliding around the polished wooden floors as if they were floating.

We’re moving too, my body already familiar with the steps to this dance without my mind ever knowing it. Lars’s hand snakes around my waist, pulling me flush with his chest as his right hand gently cradles my left. Our masks are mere inches apart, and I watch as his mouth hardens to a fine line through the mesh sewn to the mouth of his. He fumbles with my raised hand, rubbing his finger across the ring snuggly attached to mine under the glove. I can feel the wave of relief waft from him, and his lips twitch up and his gaze turns a hazy black.

“I take it you liked my gift?”

“No. I just can’t get the fucking thing off.”

His smirk wavers for a second, but then returns to its previously smug state. He seems confused by my confession.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night. But you are mine, Silia, and I want everyone to know.”

Without looking away, he rips off the glove from my hand and tucks in the belt of his doublet. The possessiveness in his tone sends a wave of heat through my body, and I almost melt into his touch.

It’s hard to be angry at him in moments like this. His need to claim me in front of the whole realm makes my heart double its pace, and my mind floats into a dreamlike state. He wants me just as much as I want him. He loves me.

We glide across the dance floor, staring at each other like we are the only two people in the room. My feet somehow find their way on top of his, and he guides me through the rest of the dance. The storytelling of the sweet notes brings a tear to my eye—a goddess in love, then a goddess betrayed. As the music reaches its climax, couples all around us become blurry swirls of bodies as we pick up speed. Ear-pinching screeches blast from the string instruments as the woodwinds begin to quicken their pace.

Then almost too soon, the music abruptly stops, signaling the end of the dance. We break from each other and Lars gives a curt bow while I curtsey, realizing it’s the first time I've ever done that to anyone but my father. Lars takes my gloved hand and removes my remaining glove to kiss my bare knuckles, raising his mask just so his mouth is exposed. When his mouth connects with my skin, my brand tingles in delight and my traitorous heart swells.

I am angry with him. He’s a liar, and he is nothing to me, I repeat in my head as I quickly pull my hand back, cradling it to my chest. The sweet and minty scent of his breath lingers on my skin as I try to settle my rising need.

I allow myself just a moment to gaze at Lars’s body. His black and gold doublet hugs his lean waist and broad shoulders, and his hair has returned to its normal raven-black shade. The long strands are slicked back and tucked behind his ears. His whole ensemble ignites a spark deep in my core.

Lars lets out a low groan, no doubt sensing my arousal. An image of us naked, tangled in my bedsheets, materializes in my vision, then quickly vanishes. Then, a new memory he’s never shown me before appears from his perspective. My mind is thrown into the memory as if I were Lars himself.

He walks through the palace doors alongside Rein, bag in hand. His gaze flicks up from the foyer floor to me. Surprise, confusion, and astonishment take over my senses as I realize these are the actual feelings Lars had the first night he saw me.

This was a memory from the night he’d first arrived in Eza, after my father hired him.

The memory is gone in a flash and replaced by the same man standing in the middle of the ballroom, watching me with anticipation.

No. It’s a lie. He’s manipulating me, and I am an idiot for falling for it again.

“Silia, I—" Lars begins to speak, but is cut off by the clinking of a glass.

I turn my head to the noise and find Erebus standing at the center of the stage, champagne glass raised high in the air. I look back to Lars, but he’s already gone. Thankfully, I don’t have to entertain him anymore. I don’t know how long I could have held myself back from him.

I turn my attention back to the stage. All the guests begin to congregate toward Erebus, and I feel a squeeze on my arm as Diana joins me at my side.

“You two looked like a handsome couple out there,” she leans in and whispers, her mouth curving up in a smile. Her mask only covers the top half of her face, and it looks like it’s supposed to be some sort of bird. White, long feathers cover every inch of the mask, fanning out at the edges. Her dress is the brightest shade of white I've ever seen. Layers of tulle and beaded strings of pearls flow through the breeze as if she were standing on a cliff's edge. The ends of her beautiful orange hair are neatly curled, and the top half of her hair is fastened into a swirl of braids at the back of her head.

I roll my eyes and whisper back, “It was either that or knee him in the balls. Be grateful I didn’t start a fight at your party.”

She playfully slaps my shoulder and links her arm with mine.

“Esteemed guests, thank you from the bottom of my heart for traveling from far and wide to celebrate the birthday of my dear niece.” Erebus starts his speech, and it’s so obviously fake to anyone who really knows him. But all the guests are none the wiser, and a loud applause sounds after his words.

Odious and Lars walk up the back steps of the stage and appear on either side of Erebus. Lars’s gaze immediately finds mine, and I look away before I defy my own wishes and rush up to the stage, rip his mask off, and take him right in front of everyone.

“Simmer down, Little Flame, or else I'll explore this voyeurism kink of yours in front of every kingdom in the realm.”

I glare back up at him and groan to myself as I rub my thumb against the piece of permanent jewelry on my finger.

Fighting the constant battle in my mind to either see him for the liar he is or throw it all out the window and forgive him is exhausting.

Tonight could not get any worse.

“With that, I would like to invite my precious Diana to the stage.” Erebus gestures down to us. Every head in the room turns to face Diana as she sheepishly tips her head in greeting and removes her arm from mine. I squeeze her hand before her arm can fully slip away, and she gives me a weak smile.

My gaze follows her as she takes to the stairs and steps in front of Erebus, giving a low curtsey to him and the pair of brothers standing behind him.

With how wretched Erebus is, I sometimes forget he’s an actual king. Even though we are family, as princesses, we must show our respect to any leader of a kingdom, even our grimy uncle and his stepsons.

Erebus grabs Diana by the shoulders and kisses her on each cheek before spinning her around to face the crowd. The gesture makes me sick to my stomach as I remember all the vile things he’s said with those lips and all the awful things he’s done with those hands.

“I have a very special gift for you, my dear—for everyone, in fact!” Erebus slams his cane on the marble floor of the stage twice, and two goblin men emerge from the main entryway and stride to the wall covered with a sheet.

The sheet is almost as large as the entire wall, neatly pinned up by two small bronze stakes in the top corners. In the middle, a long golden rope hangs low enough for one of the men to reach it. This is an unveiling, I realize. With how vain Erebus is, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a portrait of himself commissioned for his niece's birthday.

“We have a special guest joining us tonight. Unfortunately, he expired at his own hand, but his spirit lives on and is here to give his birthday wishes to the princess.” He waves his cane in the air, and one of the men gives the long cord a yank. The corners of the sheet are pulled free from the stakes, and the white sheet slowly drifts to the ground.

The wind is knocked from me, and horrified screams flood the ballroom.