Page 69 of When Wishes Bleed

“My grandmother is dying.”

His brows kissed in concern. “How do you know?”

“Mira can communicate with those in Thirteen.” I didn’t tell him how or divulge anything further, but I could see the question painted across his face.

“Go to her,” he quietly urged, crossing the room and taking hold of my elbows. I couldn’t look at him. When I tried to pull away, his grip tightened. “Sable, if you need to leave, I understand.”

“No you don’t. My grandmother hated me.”

“That’s not possible.”

He finally let me go when I took a step back. “She hated me. She told me once that it was I who killed my mother; that Fate turned on her because he chose me instead. And now that I am of age and my power has matured, hers has faded, along with her life.”

Fate rumbled in my bones. An unhappy, roiling displeasure sank in deeper than ever before, but I begged him to calm down and just leave me be for a little while.

“Did she hate your mother?” Tauren finally asked, his golden eyes swirling with concern and what I hoped wasn’t pity.

“She did.”

I glanced at the door. Someone would walk into this powder room eventually, and I was sure it would cause quite a scandal for the Prince to be found inside with a witch.

“It doesn’t matter,” I told him woodenly.

“It upsets you, so of course it matters.”

I nodded toward the door. “You should go before someone sees you with me.”

“They’ll be seeing the two of us together much more often now, Sable,” he warned.

“Not in powder rooms.”

“I don’t care what any of them think,” he swore.

I could tell he believed the words he spewed, but he didn’t understand their importance. “What about your father and mother? What about the citizens? They will care, Tauren.” I didn’t give him a chance to argue further, walking quickly to the door.

He didn’t follow, standing rooted in the same place. “There’s more. You aren’t telling me everything.”

I glanced at him over my shoulder. No, I’m not. But you’ll find out soon enough. On the tip of my tongue sat the truth about Rose and the sweetly magical scent she was using against him, but maybe her using the potion was for the best. One of the girls had to ensnare him. Rose was one of the four left that Tauren wanted, and I hadn’t smelled the love potion until tonight. He must have seen something in her before now.

“Can I still meet you tonight?” he asked, standing up straighter as if his body was a shield for his heart.

It would be best to tell him no, to deny the Prince his request, but everything inside me screamed yes. I needed to work the spell, which was the only way I could absolutely ensure his protection. So that was the answer I whispered before leaving him in the powder room and returning to my seat.

The dessert plates had thankfully been cleared by the time I returned. Brecan’s countenance had darkened. “Both you and our fair prince have been absent for a long while.”

“I couldn’t breathe,” I told him. He studied my face. Surely, he could see that my lip gloss wasn’t messy, that every strand of my hair was in place, that my face wasn’t flushed from passion.

Brecan looked away. Mira nudged me softly with her elbow. “The play will take place outside. There’s a small amphitheater to the north.”

“What sort of play is it?”

“A tragedy,” she said wistfully.

At one time, I had wondered why anyone romanticized such terrible circumstances as love, loss, and death… Then I saw the play that evening, and all the pieces slid into place.

Outside, the air was humid, thanks to the earlier rain storm. Mira remarked on each woman’s hair, noting how those who’d curled theirs were wishing they hadn’t. The curls hung heavier and lower, eventually falling away altogether

The amphitheater was small, but large enough for our party. Four wide rows had been hewn into the bedrock in front of a smoothly polished, matching stage. A plush, teal curtain had been hung across the stage to hide the actors and scenery lurking behind. Golden columns streaked up either side of the curtain rod, slowly being consumed by creeping ivy from the ground up.

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