Page 116 of Kingmakers, Year Two

“He convinced the Princes to dissolve the marriage contract.”

I stare at her, open-mouthed, not able to process what I’m hearing.

“How . . . are you sure?”

I want to celebrate with my sister, but I’m afraid this can’t possibly be true. I don’t want her hopes dashed as quickly as they rose.

Zoe lowers her voice, though we’re alone in my room. Rakel already left for class.

“He snuck out last night with Ares. They went to Dubrovnik and Miles made a new deal with the Princes and our father.”

Zoe sounds feverish. I haven’t seen her this happy in . . . maybe forever.

“Does Rocco know?” I whisper.

“Not yet. But he will.”

Zoe is triumphant. She can’t wait for Rocco to hear that his schemes have been ripped out from under him.

I, on the other hand, feel a new level of dread.

Rocco isn’t going to take this well. Not at all.

I don’t want to say that to Zoe, however. I don’t want to eat away at her joy in this moment.

So I just throw my arms around her and hug her hard.

“I’m so, so happy for you Zo,” I say. “You deserve this.”

She hugs me back even harder, her slim frame shaking with excitement. “The deal is for you too, Cat. Our father won’t make a contract for you. He’s not allowed to. You won’t have to marry anyone you don’t like.”

I let out a long sigh. That was a future horror I had never even considered, because it scared me too much.

“Miles did that? For me?” I say.

“Yes,” Zoe pulls back to look at me, smoothing a few wild curls back from my face. They immediately spring forward again, disobedient as ever. “He knows how much I love you.”

I’ve never imagined a free future for myself. It’s overwhelming. I don’t know where to begin making plans. I feel like I’m standing in front of a buffet with a thousand dishes.

What would I do, if I could truly do anything in the world?

Would I go to Pintamonas?

That’s what I planned, before I came here.

But I don’t know if I want that anymore. My progress at Kingmakers has been hard-won. I started at the bottom of my class, the weakest, the least competent. Slowly over the school year, I’ve grown. I’ve learned things. Discovered reserves of strength and ingenuity I never knew I possessed. Bit by bit my grades have improved, so I’m no longer failing. I might even find myself at the middle of the pack.

Who knows where I could be in another year? Or two or three?

I once pictured myself on graduation day, as strong and confident as a Senior like Saul Turner.

That no longer seems like an impossible fantasy.

“I’ll have to thank Miles,” I say to Zoe. “Though I don’t know how you can ever thank someone for something like that.”

“I know,” Zoe says. “I just can’t believe it.”

But she can. She absolutely believes it.

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