Page 73 of Ruby & Onyx

“Just a tattoo.” She quickly wipes the glove on a linen cloth beside the chair and then slips it back on as if nothing ever happened.

Then another similarity strikes me, another odd coincidence.

“You’re from Umbra, right?” When both the prowlers back in Carcera and the lady at the market noticed my birthmark, they asked me the same question. I don’t know what that means, but there must be some significance.

“Yes, once upon a time, in a life that I’ve long forgotten, I lived in Umbra,” she says dismissively.

Suddenly, all sense of reservation flees from my body as I forcefully ask, “What does the tattoo mean?”

“It’s an Umbrian symbol of womanhood,” she says, carefully cutting each word.

But that explanation doesn’t make sense. “How could I have an identical marking on my hand that’s been there since birth if it’s a symbol of womanhood?” I stare at my hand and the labyrinth of swirls and cascading lines that stretch up to my fingers. There may be small differences in the paths of the lines on her hand, but the overall effect is the same. Neither appears to be crafted from ink and needle. They look like poorly healed scars embedded into our skin.

Her lips quirk. “Curious, isn’t it?” She turns her shoulders to peer out the window like she’s no longer interested in the question. “It’s time. Shall we go?”

Curious doesn’t begin to cover it.

She doesn’t wait for me to press the issue further. Instead, she stands with the assistance of her cane and ambles out of the room. The clacks of her cane against the floor grow quieter as she moves further down the hall. Unless I want to go stag to the ball, I have no choice but to follow her.

I decide to drop the question for now, but only until the timing is right. Tonight, all of my focus needs to be on getting answers from Guylita. Climb one mountain at a time.

I try to contain my smile as I pass the invisibles stationed outside of my door, for they are no longer invisible to me.

Chapter 32

The grand ballroom sits on the far side of the palace, connected to the rest of the monolithic home by a single entrance. It’s like a hand extended to the outside world, to be used only for public events - or at least, that’s how Liliana explained it. She filled the silence of our walk with stories of the all-night soirees and drunken escapades of years past. But it was hard to take in the details while keeping my focus on tonight’s plan.

The orchestral horns echo into the hallway as we approach the entrance, and my steps synchronize with the rhythm, though Liliana’s cane hits the floor on every odd beat. As the music slows, so do we.

Liliana stops only a few feet from the door, turning to me. That maternal spark lights in her eyes. “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” I say, tying the mask’s ribbon behind my head.

“Good, let’s go.” She takes my hand with a firm grip and then taps the head of her cane against the door.

Two men wearing bear masks open it from the inside. Nerves catch in my throat as I take it all in. This single room is larger than I could even imagine possible, and it’s filled to the brim. Hundreds of people are dancing in circles, laughing in corners, and mingling inside. The air feels charged with this vibrant energy. It’s jubilant and carefree - the exact opposite of what I’m feeling.

Breathe, Radya. Tonight will go off without a hitch.

Wait for the tripudio.

This will work.

As soon as we step inside, eyes drift toward me. If Olly were here to escort me, then I might feel slightly better about the sideways looks being cast my way. At least with a prince, they’re more likely to be interested in him than me. But without him, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am the oddity.

I desperately search for a glass of the strongest drink available.

Liliana leans over and yells into my ear, “Don’t mind them. They’re admiring your beauty.” It’s hard to hear her over the combustible sounds filling every crevice of the space.

I count the guards and invisibles stationed around the room to distract myself. Two guards on either side of the dais, four total. Four sets of invisibles in pairs of two. One pair in each corner. These are the people that I must avoid when meeting with Guylita. How on earth am I going to slip away unnoticed?

As I try to map out my plan, someone taps me on the shoulder and interrupts my thoughts.

I freeze. The possibility that Lord Sherrod might be here tonight didn’t occur to me until now. If he’s here, then he or his henchmen could attack again. There’s no reason for him not to, for he would receive no punishment. If he wants me dead, then I’m as good as gone.

Slowly, I turn over my shoulder, bracing.

“Are you Princess Radya?” A short woman in a mask presumably made of blue jay feathers grins up at me. I exhale a sigh of relief at the sight of her.

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