Page 56 of The Rose in the Shadows

I ran as fast as I could out of the palace gardens and onto the courtyard, ignoring the bite of pain each time I placed weight on my injured right knee. Thankfully, the square was filled with people, making it easier than expected to lose myself in the crowd without anyone realizing who I was.

By the time I reached the outside of the tavern, the sun was just beginning to make its descent and Mara stood patiently waiting for me. As she met my eyes, her lips turned upward.

“You made it.”

I nodded, slightly out of breath. Her calculating eyes scanned over me slowly, and she jerked her head, urging me to follow her into a small house across the street. We entered a tiny kitchen, with a broken wooden table and black pot seated above the dwindling fire. The room smelled of musk and food that had gone rotten, but it didn’t seem to bother Mara as she kicked off her boots and drank heavily from a jug on the table.

“You look awful,” she criticized. “And you can’t wear that. There’s a bedroom upstairs with a gown waiting for you. We’ll be joining the Alchemist for a masquerade ball.”

A party? Mara had mentioned she was making a trip to see the Alchemist, but she had never indicated it was for a party. I didn’t havetimeto go to a ball.

“How long will it take us to travel there?”

I needed to get there, get the potion, and get back to the castle before anyone noticed my absence.

“Does it matter?”

Did it?

“No, I suppose it doesn’t.”

With a sense of dread settling in my stomach, I went to the staircase. I needed that potion; I wasn’t going back to the castle without it. I’d just have to hope I could get it quickly. Clay would kill me if he found out I had left.

The Dragon would do something worse.

After I dressed, Mara had ushered me into a carriage where I sat with two other young women on a bed of hay while we made our way to the Alchemist’s estate. The blood-red gown she had instructed me to wear was hardly more than a scrap of cloth. While its halter neck rose high enough to cover my Descendants Mark, the back of it barely skinned the tops of my hips, leaving all of my spine and much of my sides completely bare. Two slits rose high across both of my thighs, ending at the tips of my pelvis. Any movement in the wrong direction would leave me entirely bared to the world. She insisted I complete the ensemble with a black mask that she had tied across my eyes.

The other women in the carriage were younger than me, but just as scantily dressed.

“Is this gown not a bit indecent?” One of the girls asked in a soft voice that reminded me a bit of Geia’s.

Gods how old was she? She had to be barely over sixteen. Where were her parents?

“These dresses are very in fashion in the district we’re going to.” Mara promised. “You’ll fit right in.”

“Why aren’t you wearing one, then?” I demanded.

Mara grinned, but didn’t bother answering me. While the two other girls and I had large portions of our body on display, she had dressed in an oversized tunic and cotton leggings.

As the carriage pulled to a stop, after what felt like hours, two large men appeared to help us out. They grasped onto our hands as we climbed down and I leaned away from the smell of them. As inconspicuously as possible, I scraped my palm against my dress to wipe away the sweat that lingered on my skin from where they had touched me. They each took responsibility for the other women, while Mara grasped hold of my arm and began leading me towards the house.

The estate was a large brick-faced home with treacherous gargoyles hung above the stone stairs that led to the entrance. Sounds of festivities were already escaping from inside as a line formed to gain entry into the party. Many of the guests were men who chatted and smoked with each other as they waited to enter. They watched us as we walked past the line towards the entrance, their eyes lingering on the patches of exposed skin.

“Mara!” One called out to her.

He was a thick man with a swollen belly and overgrown beard. He stared at us – at me – with a grin while a cigar dangled from his mouth.

“How much for her?” He asked.

I bristled.How much for me?

Did this man think he could purchase me, as if I was no better than some common household object?

Wait. My thoughts swam suddenly with memories of the night Iris and I had escaped the castle.

Was this party meant for something else? Somethingmore,like Madame Stefania’s was meant for something more. My eyes trailed over the gown I was wearing once more. It certainly looked like some dresses I’d seen the ladies of Madame Stefania’s wearing.

Good Gods, what kind of party had I come to…

---