Page 27 of A Kingdom of Destruction

“The afternoon has already come, lunch gone with it.” Nora flitted through the room on light feet and tossed open the rest of the curtains blocking out the light of day. “I would have let you sleep longer, but orders are orders.”

Sleep left Aven the moment she realized she wasn’t alone in the room, and yet her responses were sluggish. Despite her best wishes, her body must have needed the extra hours, but too many had made her slow.

“The Crown Prince ordered you to wake me up?” she wanted to know.

Nora busied herself now in the bathroom, and soon the gurgle and splash of running water in the bathtub sounded. “Oh, yes. There’s to be a grand ball tonight, and you’ll be attending. He wants to make sure you have plenty of time to prepare.”

From a prisoner to something else—a doll to be dressed up and paraded around for others to gawk at.

Aven balked, frozen in place. “I’m not going to any ball. Ihatethem.”

Nora returned from the bathroom, and for a moment a haunted look passed over her face. “Begging your pardon again. In this matter, I’m afraid you have as little choice as I do. You’re to go to the ball under the Crown Prince’s command.”

This was her life now. She’d escaped one cage for another, and it didn’t matter if this one had pretty dresses and good food.

Aven narrowed her eyes on Nora. “I wasn’t aware that the fae kept servants.”

“It’s a respectable job, Your—Princess,” Nora said to quickly cover her mistake. “The palace needs many people to help it maintain order. I am blessed to be one of them. My mother andsister also work in the palace as integral household staff. The three of us have pledged our services to the royal family.”

She hustled around the room, making the bed, pulling the covers taut on either side, and tucking them in neat lines.

It was a sore spot, apparently. Aven noted the slight tick at Nora’s jaw and tucked the information away for later.

“I understand,” she replied, not sure why she felt compelled to soften her tone. And she did understand. It was a dirty business trying to keep a kingdom running, but Nora did not have the look of a woman who delighted in her place. No, despite the cheerfulness, there was something cowed in her manner when she spoke about the situation.

“Will there be time to do other things before this ball tonight?” The thought of being dressed up like a turkey for a holiday feast turned her insides cold. And what about being forced to see all those fae nobility? Or the princes dancing and eating and laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world.

A ball?Now?

What a terrible time.

Although it wasn’t—not for Mourningvale. For them, they’d gotten their victory; now they wanted to show off their might. She ground her teeth together.

“I’ve set a plate of food for you at the table. Let’s get you clean, and then you’re free to eat while I do your hair and makeup.” Nora glowed slightly at the mention of the beauty ritual. “Up now, Miss.”

“I prefer Miss to Princess,” Aven grumbled under her breath.

She meant what she’d said. She was no longer royalty, Grimrose defeated, bound to be lost to the annals of time and crushed under fae rule.

A declining realm? Aven had her doubts.

With everything she’d seen, the fae were doing well.

She bit down on her lower lip to keep it from trembling as she slowly approached the table. The sun had warmed the floor. No more chilly stone. No more ridiculously long days of gloom and storm clouds, or darkness and dank in the dungeon. No, it felt light and bright and abnormally wrong here in the land of her enemies.

Nora waited patiently with an easy grin pinned on her lips. “I’m here to help you, if you need.”

“I can bathe alone, thank you.”

“As you wish.” Nora inclined her head.

Aven slipped past her quickly, making sure to never turn her back on the other woman. It didn’t matter how lovely Nora appeared or how kind. The fae were not to be trusted under any circumstance. They were masters of manipulation, and a pretty face was nothing but another weapon in a vast arsenal.

Aven slammed the door to the bathroom and rested against the lip of the tub, waiting and barely breathing to see if Nora would mind her and keep her distance. When nothing happened, she slipped out of the silk dressing gown she’d slept in, dipping her bare toe in the bath.

The water filled it nearly to the brim in the perfect temperature. She sank beneath with her eyes closed and her lips pressed tight. A ball tonight. It felt like a giant slap in the face, as though the violence done against her and her people hadn’t been enough. Now the royal fae were—what? Celebrating their victory?

She shot angry bubbles from her nose.

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