Page 73 of Taste of Thorns

“How am I only just hearing about this?” I say.

“Too busy screwing all those men,” he says, examining his fingernails.

“Fly,” I say, “do you think you could take me to see Naomi?”

“Sure,” he says.

Turns out Naomi’s room is located in the same tower as my sister’s. I haven’t been here since those first few weeks at the academy and stepping back inside the tower sends a shiver of awareness through my body, as if my sister herself is here with me, right by my shoulder, willing me on.

I can’t shake the feeling all the way up the staircase and to Naomi’s door.

“I’m not sure we should be intruding on her grief,” Clare says, shuffling on her feet uncomfortably. “They were really close.”

“This could be important,” I say, knocking on the door before Clare’s qualms have me chickening out.

There’s a long pause, and I’m on the verge of turning away, when the door creaks open and through the gap, I see a short, dark-skinned girl with red-rimmed eyes and tear tracks down her cheeks. She’s dressed in an oversized T-shirt and sweat pants and around her neck hangs a silver chain with half a heart pendant, crimson in color, resting against her chest.

Immediately, I’m struck by guilt. I recognize myself in the girl standing before me – in the sadness and shock radiating from her eyes, in the way she clings to the edge of the door because her legs might give way beneath her. I know what it’s like to lose someone you love – the agony, the distress, the littlest glimmer of hope that it was all just a terrible mistake.

“Hey girl,” Fly says, “how are you doing?”

Naomi sniffs.

“Oh sweetheart,” Fly says, “do you need a hug?”

The girl looks up at my tall friend and then to my surprise nods. Fly steps forward and wraps her in his arms, whispering what I think must be words of comfort into her ear. She sobs a little, laughs and then sniffs again.

Finally, they break away, and she examines Clare and me with obvious curiosity.

“I’m so sorry to disturb you,” I say, “I know this must be a really difficult time for you but do you think we could talk to you for a moment?”

The girl assesses us both.

“About Esme,” Fly says gently.

“I don’t know,” she says, her voice cracking in her throat.

“It’s important,” I explain.

Her gaze lingers on me. “You’re the Princes’ thrall?” I nod. “Esme was curious about you.”

“She was?”

“Yeah, said there must be more to you than meets the eye – and given you just scored maximum points in the trial, I guess she was right.”

“Esme was really smart,” Clare whispers.

Naomi closes her eyes and fidgets with the pendant hanging around her neck. “The smartest person I knew. I don’t see how this could’ve happened.”

“What did they tell you?”

“Nothing really. Maybe that’s for the best. I’m not sure I want to know.”

I guess we’re not so alike after all. Because the mystery of my sister’s death has haunted me continually. It’s been an obsession. And yet, this girl would rather be kept ignorant.

“Do you know what her biggest fear was?” Clare asks.

Naomi’s eyes fill with tears and a sob gurgles in her throat. “Drowning. She watched her pet dog drown when she was little. She said it was an awful way to go. I can’t …” She leans her head against the door, hand clasping the pendant tightly, and her entire body shakes. “I hate to think that is the way it happened – struggling for air, being dragged down by the water, all alone, no one to help her. I’d rather pretend it didn’t happen that way.”