Page 31 of Ira

“I don’t have anything on. I can stay with her all day,” I assured Ophelia, awkwardly returning the hug she gave me before heading down the corridor to Iris’s room.

It was still intimidating to go places by myself, but I was pretty sure that I was getting the hang of it. As always, I’d been panicked over nothing—most of the time, I got a quick “hi” or a wave, and everyone continued on with their day. I dreaded to think how many opportunities I’d missed in life because I was too busy worrying about the hypotheticals to go out there and justdoit. I’d probably miss a few more too, though.

As much as I wanted to banish those demons, they insisted on hanging around in my head.

“Come in,” Iris called when I knocked on the door, sounding far calmer than I would have under the same circumstances.

“Hi,” I said awkwardly, letting myself in and closing the door behind me. “I’m Meera. We met yesterday.”

“I remember. Please come sit. I’m still figuring out where everything is,” she added with a laugh. She'd taken a seat by the double doors that led out into a private courtyard—a room Prince Damen had chosen for Tilly’s benefit. I pulled over one of the dining seats so I could sit by her without shouting across the room.

It was a very nice room. Much nicer than the rooms at Elverston House. We’d all been given the opportunity to move into the palace, but I wasn’t ready to give up the space and privacy of the crumbling old manor just yet.

“How was your first night?” I asked, doing a double take when I realized that Iris didn’t look quite the same as she did yesterday. When she’d arrived, I’d thought she had light brownhair, but I was guessing that was temporary dye, since patches of pale blonde were catching in the light.

“Strange,” Iris admitted. “I didn’t sleep much. Honestly, I might have been dozing when you knocked on the door.”

“Oh, I’m sorry—”

“Please, don’t be! I’m very glad you came, and I can nap later. I spent almost every night of my life in the house I grew up in. It just feels odd to be somewhere else.”

“Do you have everything you need? Is Tilly okay?” I asked. The dog in question opened one eye lazily before resuming her snooze on the floor. I wasn’t entirely sure how guide dogs worked, but it seemed that she was off duty right now.

“Oh, yes.” She shot me a guilty smile. “I feel bad not cleaning up after Tilly, but Prince Damen assured me it would all be taken care of. And they brought a tray of food right to my room for me this morning—how kind.”

“There are definite perks to living in a palace,” I said with a quiet laugh. “If you ever want to come and eat dinner in the dining hall with the rest of us, I could come and get you?”

“Oh, would you? I would love that. Gosh, everyone has been so very kind and welcoming.”

My protective instincts were in overdrive where Iris was concerned, and I’d only just met her. She was just so…sweet.

“Do you like living here, Meera? My parents told me the most terrible things about Shades and I don’t think they’re true at all.”

“Everyone has been amazing,” I assured her, swallowing past the lump in my throat that arose every time I thought of Verner. If I could do half as good a job of making Iris feel welcome here as he’d done for me, I’d be doing pretty well. “The human realm was a pretty tough place for me. Life here has been a lot easier. The Shades have been really accommodating, and all the other ex-Hunters are wonderful.”

Iris nodded thoughtfully. “It can’t all have been smooth sailing, though. Adapting to a new culture must have its challenges. I don’t want to do something wrong and offend everyone.”

She was so thoughtful. Definitely more thoughtful than I’d been when I’d arrived.

“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” I said slowly, wondering if I just hadn’t found that part intimidating because I’d already done the big cultural adaption before when I’d moved from India to the US. “Especially not here at the palace. The Shades who live here come from all over the realm. It’s a melting pot, I guess.”

Iris hummed. “Okay. But will you help me at dinner to make sure I don’t make any faux pas? My nana was very strict on manners. I want to live up to her expectations of me.”

“Sure, yeah. I can help with that.” I looked around her room. “Do you need help to unpack?”

“I didn’t really bring anything,” Iris admitted. “Just food for Tilly.”

“Well, we need to get you set up then,” I said, standing up and surveying the space, grateful that I had a concrete task I could help with. Keeping busy kept my mind off my own failures, and if I could channel that need to keep busy into something helpful, so much the better. “Let’s start with clothes—you look to be about the same size as Verity, and she’s somehow accumulated so many clothes that she left a bunch behind when she moved out. We can start there until Astrid has a chance to get you some of your own.” I grimaced. “I don’t know how comfortable they’ll be. I don’t think Verity has dressed for comfort in her life.”

Iris laughed, clasping her hands together. “Oh, what an adventure this is already! I’m so glad I came here.”

Chapter 11

Iexhaled heavily as I sat down opposite Tallulah in my new bedroom in the palace. The past few days—weeks, even—had moved at a relentless pace. After the loneliness of just Tallulah and I in Elverston House, suddenly the realm seemed to be filled with fresh faces from the human realm.

I’d wanted to keep busy, but I definitely wouldn’t mind if things slowed down a little now so I could wrap my head around all the changes.

“So,” I began. “What should I do about the garden?”

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