Page 60 of Of Glass and of Gold

“Do you know where the guards are keeping the body of the man from the beach? I think my friend would like to confirm it’s him. Might bring her closure.”

“It’s been burned.”

My shoulders sagged, and he noted it.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you in that regard, but I did find something about the funds from the Crown’s treasury.”

Whatever he would tell me wouldn’t erase the bad news I’d have to pass along to Alaina. In fact, it’d probably be even more depressing.

“There’s been a discrepancy. The castle has been doling out a set allotment to help house and feed the homeless here, but it appears someone’s been skimming off the top. Now that it’s been addressed, the people should get the help they need.”

My thoughts turned to the dirt and tear-stained faces of children and their mothers huddled in the market. I wanted to weep at the thought that their bellies would be filled. Instead, I lunged for Chol.

My arms wrapped so tightly around him that I nearly knocked him flat on his back, but he caught us, supporting one hand behind him. It took a moment, but he slowly wound his other arm around my waist with a strength that secured me to him. I buried my face in the crook of his neck and inhaled his citrusy scent. My lungs took in a breath as if they’d never inhaled a full one.

“Those families haven’t received help in so long. I pass them every day, not able to spare anything myself.” The sobs began building, but I choked them down. Our chests swayed in rhythm with each other in silence when I cut myself off for fear I’d lose my ability to contain them.

“I’m sorry I didn’t help sooner,” he said, a solemn sadness dragging down every word.

My arms screamed to hold on, but I lazily released our embrace. He released his grip on me with the same slow speed until I stopped, only a hand’s length away from his face. His gaze assessed mine, and I lost myself in it until a sweeping wind forced my hood to billow and I jerked in reaction to hold it in place.

I shimmied back after ensuring it still concealed me. He adjusted, sitting fully upright again.

“Thank you. How the hell did you get access to that information? And manage to change it? Who are you?” I asked, somewhat joking, though the reality started to set in that he could hold a reasonable position within the castle.

He just shook his head. “Don’t thank me, Ella. Things like that shouldn’t have gone unnoticed in the first place.”

“It’s not your fault, Chol. The Crown is fucking corrupt. That’s probably a reason they don’t care that we wither in the streets. You don’t have to worry about an uprising if your opponents are weak.” I tasted the bitterness of my words on my tongue as I peered out over the cityscape.

“We’ll make it better,” he stated with such clarity that I fixed my gaze back on him. He’d also taken to staring out over the ocean, and I wondered if this time, instead of a seamless tapestry of moonlit waves and starlit sky, he saw a world in which we’d won. I scanned the dark horizon, searching for a hint of it myself. My father would have seen the same thing.

“Is that a statement of hope I detect?” I leaned into him, nudging his shoulder with mine.

Releasing a breathy laugh under his mask, he said, “I don’t know if I’m quite at hope, yet. More so, a determined focus because I don’t know what I’ll do if we can’t change things.” I could hear the mourning in his voice, a fear that he would fail.

I didn’t want to add to his doubts, since our task certainly seemed insurmountable. So instead of expressing my own fear that I wouldn’t make it out of this unscathed, to see the world we promised to create, I let those thoughts carry away on the battering wind.

“I won’t be able to make it out next until three days from now. But I’ll hopefully have more insights on the missing persons and their relation to magic. What will you do in the meantime?” I asked.

He filled his lungs, then released a deep sigh. “Being out here with you is the one thing I look forward to these days. How am I going to get by without you?” he teased, but it didn’t stop the heat from licking up my neck and stretching toward my cheeks.

I made an ugly, scoffing sound in my throat and rolled my eyes, though I did really enjoy hearing it. Knowing he thought of me during his normal life, like I’d thought of him, made my lower belly dance in strange ways. “Probably not easily.” I smirked and was sure he could hear it through my mask.

30

Nicholas

“Absolutely not!” Ricks shrieked at my sudden change in itinerary.

“I’ll be back by noon. I won’t miss the ball,” I countered.

Ricks stumbled over his words, flapping his lips without one coherent word leaving them. “U-utterly unacceptab-there’s too much pl-tasks that—”

“Oh ease up the umbilical cord, won’t you, Ricks?” Marco leaned casually against the nearest pillar, picking at the dirt under his nails, though I suspected there was none.

A flummoxed Ricks continued ranting. “There is too much prep work that needs to be done! Your suit needs to be tailored—”

“Tula has my measurements,” I said.

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