Page 10 of Seduced By Darkness

“Know what?” my sister asks.

“That she’s sold me to Etan,” I snap.

Andraste pauses, her gaze sliding over everything. It returns, hesitantly, to me. “I thought you were enamored of him. You wrote of him when you served in Queen Maren’s court. You seemed… to bear feelings for him.”

I can’t stop myself from pacing. “That was before I came toknowhim. He found me today in the tents. He….” I bite the words off. “Marrying him would be… unpleasant.”

Andraste’s eyes sharpen. “Did he threaten you?”

“He practically said I would be his property.”

“Mother’s signed the contract,” she says slowly. “All it requires now is your signature. It was supposed to be announced on the final night.” Her mouth tightens. “I thought you knew.”

How?I can’t stop my gaze from lifting to meet hers in the reflection.

Mother barely speaks to me, and Andraste is too fucking busy with her little court within courts to have time for me.

The courtiers all know which way the wind is blowing.

I’m the queen’s unfavored daughter.

Without magic. Without power. Not even half as pretty as my mother and sister.

And Andraste is angling for the position of heir. She’s built a small court of courtiers around her—the Crown Princess’s Larks, they call themselves. An unofficial title, but one which I’m certain is not too far away.

I don’t know where that leaves me.

“Here.” Andraste pushes me into a seat and gathers my hair into a pile on my head, twisting sections of it into place and considering it. Those blue eyes wear the weight of a thousand years, and sometimes I wonder what she’s seen at court. “Let me fix your hair. Mother will have your head if you appear looking like this.”

It’s been years since we’ve even touched.

I hear the echo of laughter in my ears as she rifles through the pins on my vanity and finds the comb.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I know.” She begins to soothe the silken weight of my dark hair with the comb. “She won’t renege on a signed contract with Maren. If you even mention it, she’ll be furious.”

“I know.”

And Mother’s fury is to be avoided at all costs.

My stomach sinks like a lead weight.

What am I going to do?

“Tell me about Etan,” Andraste murmurs. “Why would marrying him be unpleasant?”

It feels strange to confide in someone, especially her. But Andraste might be my only hope. If Mother will listen to anyone, it’s her.

I tell her everything, finishing with, “He said he intended to visit my tent tonight.”

Andraste weaves golden chains through my hair. Little stars hang from the end of them. “If he wants to get through, then he will. He’ll bribe the guards, and someone of them will have overheard Mother gloating. They’ll know that encouraging Aska’s favor is to be allowed—”

“That’s hardly reassuring—”

Our eyes meet in the mirror again as she says. “You don’t have to be here.”

My mouth feels dry. “Where am I going to stay?”