Authors: Barbara Ann Wright
Dawnmother waved the apology away and straightened Starbride’s clothing again. Standing still seemed a small price to pay to put her at ease.
After night had fallen, Katya arrived as promised, her face a little haggard but her attire impeccable. She wore a dark coat slightly less embellished than the one she wore at the Courtiers Ball, and Starbride noted with a chuckle that her trousers were just as tight.
“You look tired,” Starbride said. “Has something happened?”
“I found something out. I don’t know if I was ready to hear it. To tell the truth, I’m not ready to repeat it.”
“Don’t speak of it. Do you still want to have dinner?”
“It’s the only thing today I’ve looked forward to.” Katya offered an arm, and Starbride slipped hers through as they ventured into the corridor. “Averie’s arranged everything on Hanna’s Retreat. Let’s take a more direct route than last time.”
Starbride resisted the urge to snuggle close until they were out of the halls. “Direct route?”
“Well, since my enemies already know about you, I want the courtiers to know we’re seeing one another, but tonight, I want to avoid enough of them not to get stopped.”
“Why do you want them to know we’re seeing one another?”
“To show you off, of course. That, and the more eyes on you, the more you’ll be protected.”
Starbride squeezed Katya’s arm and chuckled. “I’m not a prize pony.”
“One look at you and the courtiers will be envious of me as a suitor, rather than as the princess.”
Starbride shook her head even as she blushed. There was that Katya charm again. The recriminations she’d been guarding all afternoon were slipping away. She lined them up in a neat row in her head and built a wall around them.
Katya led her near gangs of whispering courtiers but not among them, and the surge of muted conversation at their appearance was like a disturbed beehive. Starbride had to wonder how many people would be following her through the hallways from then on. She ignored the stares and the whispers, though she clutched Katya’s arm a little tighter, and she was more than happy to leave them behind and reach Hanna’s Retreat.
As she mounted the steps, Starbride saw that a candlelit table had been laid under the starry sky. “Romantic.”
Katya’s teeth shone in the trickle of light. “You asked me once if I was going to seduce you.”
“And?”
“I wanted you to see what it’s like when I really try.”
Starbride took her seat, and Katya lifted the silver covers from the food. Starbride leaned over her plate, inhaling the heady aroma. In the dim light, the dinner was hard to see but delicious all the same. Perfectly cooked roast beef and creamy potatoes melted in her mouth. The mousse was like chocolate velvet, and she couldn’t help thinking it must be nice to be royalty once in a while if that was their standard fare.
She waited until dessert was almost over before she opened the gate to her wall and let her feelings out. “I don’t want to pick at your bad news, but you did say there would be an explanation of today.”
“I know.” Katya tapped the rim of her wineglass with one finger. “I don’t know quite how to reveal this—I never got a chance to ask anyone how to handle it—so I’m just going to blurt it out. When it comes to protecting my family, I am the first line of defense.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I protect them.”
“Like a guard?”
“Exactly.”
“But…what…? And why…?” It was obviously a secret, but why would the princess be a secret guard? Frowning hard, Starbride got her tangled thoughts together. “Do your parents approve of this?”
“My parents insist. The second child of the King or Queen of Farraday has always led a secret order—the Order of Vestra—tasked to protect the royal family and the crown. That’s why I tackle problems on my own instead of calling the Guard. Conspiracies are easier sought out in secret, especially if they touch on affairs that the king wants hidden from the public.”
“But…” Starbride paused, and pieces of the puzzle fell into place in her head. “Ah, the mystery of the princess who loves and hates hunting becomes clearer.”
Katya raised her glass in salute.
“This Order seems a good idea in itself, for the very reasons you stated, but must it be you who leads it? Isn’t it terribly dangerous? If something happened to you and then to your brother…”
“The throne would go to my brother’s daughter—his eldest—after my father’s death, and Maia would lead the Order until my nephew was old enough or until she…died.”
Starbride heard the pause and knew there was more behind it than just the thought of a cousin’s death. “Has someone died?”
“Yes.”
Starbride placed her hand over Katya’s cool fingers. “I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago, but I just found out the details tonight.”
“I’m sorry anyway.”
“Thank you.”
“So, you went out alone today to fulfill your duties as leader of this Order.”
“Yes, and that’s why you must never follow me again.”
Starbride heard the admonishment in the statement and tossed her hair over one shoulder. “
And
why you mustn’t keep secrets unless you want me to act impulsively.”
Katya placed a hand on her chest in mock indignation. “Oh, so your following me today is my fault?”
“Yes.”
“I must remember that one. When in doubt, pass the blame.”
“A tactic that has worked for my mother for years.” Starbride toyed with her wine for a moment. “And the men you found, they had something to do with this long-ago death?”
“We’re still trying to determine that, Star. Things aren’t always simple enough for an easy explanation.”
Starbride held up a hand, forestalling the aggravated lecture. “Based on what the bearded man said, I think he was connected to the men who accosted us in the scarf shop. He seemed to know what had…almost been done there.” She cringed to think about the table and the knife and shook her head to banish the memory.
“Really? Tell me.”
Starbride told her everything the three men had said and done, keeping back one fact for last. “The bearded man called me a pyradisté when his pyramid wouldn’t work on me.”
“Well, well, well.” Katya tapped her chin. “Now that I think about it, the shopkeeper held his pyramid in front of you, and nothing happened. I didn’t put two and two together at the time, but now…You
are
a sleeper, aren’t you?”
“Is that another Farradain saying that doesn’t make any sense?”
“It means that you have unexpected talents.”
“But everyone knows how to sleep.”
“I don’t know the origin of the expression, but it’s wonderful to watch you try to work it out. I could watch you do almost anything.”
“What do you
think
of my being a pyradisté?”
“I think it’s wonderful. We’ll talk to Crowe in the morning. After everything that’s happened today, I ordered him to bed.”
Starbride pulled her soft napkin through her fingers, pausing at the embroidered royal crest. “My people have no pyradistés. Those who use the pyramids are called
adsnazi
, and their pyramids look crude compared to those I’ve seen in Farraday.”
“Here, everyone is tested at thirteen to see if they could be a pyradisté. It’s not the same in Allusia?”
“It’s not really an honor there. And the
adsnazi
can’t accomplish the wonders I’ve seen in Farraday. They live in the hills north of Newhope. They rarely came into town, but they always had a pack of children following them by midday when they did.”
“Did they give out sweets?”
“No, strings of red amber beads. They wore multicolored shirts and cut their hair very short, except for one long lock at the back of their heads. Whenever we elected a new governor, they’d gather in the square and make lights dance in the sky.”
“You won’t have to cut your hair, will you?”
Starbride curled one of her locks around her finger. “Not if I’m a pyradisté instead of an
adsnazi
.” She didn’t even know if she wanted to be one, but she saved that worry for later.
“Good. I’ll buy you all the multicolored shirts and amber beads you like. Just leave your hair alone.”
“Speaking of people in need of shirts, what will happen to Lord Hugo?”
“He’ll be watched until I’m sure he has no connection to these traitors.”
“He won me over when he got stabbed.” She rested her head on one fist. “He feels that he and Maia are kindred spirits.”
“I noticed his shock when he first saw her.”
“Could it be that he saw her sometime or met her, and his memory was erased but not completely? Do such things happen?”
“Something else to discuss with Crowe, but good thought.”
Starbride tossed her hair again. “See? You should have let me in from the start.”
“So I see.”
Starbride folded her napkin beside her plate. She paused before she spoke again, thinking of Katya kissing Miss Greyson’s hand. “I always thought your personality was…different with me than with the other courtiers, especially a certain lady. Is your court face all an act, something to throw people off the scent of the Order?”
“Most of the time. I couldn’t live the lie with you, though. Rather, I didn’t want to.”
Starbride tried not to let suspicion get the best of her. Still, she had to speak one of her worries. “It’s a little disconcerting to know that you’re such an exceptional liar.”
Katya sputtered a laugh, but Starbride heard sadness in the sound. “The court face, as you call it, is second nature now. Sometimes, I worry that it’ll become reality, and I’ll lose my real self one day.”
Sadness tightened Starbride’s throat. Katya had three faces, not two as Starbride had originally thought. She pretended to be fully human; she acted the pampered princess; she had the dangerous job of guarding not only her family, but the crown of Farraday. It was no wonder she felt she was losing herself. “Let’s move away from the candle and look at the stars.”
“No more questions?”
Starbride shook her head, but her mind didn’t stop poring over the answers she’d been given. A family of Fiends guarding each other made an odd sort of sense, though she didn’t want to say that aloud, not wanting to spoil the evening by bringing up Katya’s heritage. She’d have to put it together in her mind later and make sure she got any new pieces of the puzzle. Hopefully, she’d proven the worth of her insight.
They moved their chairs in front of the table, their backs to the candlelight, and sat side by side, gazing up at the twinkling sky. “I’m surprised you don’t have a string quartet hidden somewhere,” Starbride said.
“I’m keeping them in reserve. They’re hanging off the ledge in front of us.”
“Their fingers will be too tired to play.”
“They’re in a harness; they’ll be fine.”
Starbride laid her head on Katya’s shoulder and breathed deeply of the chill night air. “Can we stay here?”
“For how long?”
“Forever.”
“I’d love to. You have to explain to my mother why I’m shirking my court duties, though.”
“Done.” Starbride picked her head up and looked into Katya’s eyes. “I’ll just say, ‘it’s love,’ and the world will smile upon us.”
Katya’s mouth slipped open, her expression one of wonder. She leaned forward with a suddenness she hadn’t shown before, and Starbride almost drew back in surprise. As their lips touched, though, the passion behind the kiss washed over Starbride, and she pressed forward.
Their mouths opened together, tongues meeting. Katya stood and pulled them together with such force it was a wonder they didn’t wind up on opposite sides of one another. Starbride gave herself to the sudden heat that hammered in her and pleaded with the spirits of both their peoples that no one would interrupt them with the clearing of a throat.
Katya’s hands wandered, leaving Starbride gasping and arching, and her kisses left trails of fire along Starbride’s neck and shoulders. When Katya stepped back, Starbride nearly growled in protest.
Katya’s breath came hard. “This is not the venue I imagined for this.”
“You started it.” She tried to keep from gasping. “And you’re the one that spoke of seduction.”
“I was joking, well, half-joking. But I didn’t want us to be together for the first time on top of cold stone.”
“Be together? What were you thinking? One dinner and I’m yours, Highness? I was just about to stop you.”
Katya leaned to the right, and Starbride held her breath as soft lips trailed along her jaw. “Shall we test your willpower?” Her breath tickled Starbride’s ear and sent sweeps of desire down her spine.
“I was just testing yours.”
After a kiss or two, Katya pulled away again. “My willpower’s in tatters when I’m around you, but I still object to the bare stone.”
Starbride caressed Katya’s face, and her next words tumbled from her lips before she could think too hard about them. “I’ve never been…intimate with anyone.”
“Never?”