Page 51 of Where Shadows Bloom

Madeleine scooted even closer to me, speaking in a low voice. “I knowallthe details,” she said, her red lips parting in an eager grin. “You see, I am a dancer in the royal theater troupe, and we theater people, we all know one another’s gossip. The palace has tried to keep this quiet, but I know the truth.”

I leaned in, my eyes wide. “So who was this girl? What happened to her? Is she all right?”

Madeleine let out a loud laugh. “Oh, she’smorethan all right.” She bit her lip as if trying to suppress a grin. “It’s all a very sordid story, so you must promise not to say a word, all right?”

I mimed locking my lips with a key. She giggled and grabbed my arm.

“Françoise was a wonderful soprano,” said Madeleine. “Not the best, we all knew. She had some issues with breath control and her vibrato wasn’t very consistent. Anyhow. The important thing is that she was the king’s favorite singer! He came to the opera every single night. Backstage we’d find flowers waiting, just for her, and weknewwho they were from.”

My brow furrowed. “My father... fancied her?”

“He’s the king, you understand,” she said, waving a hand, as if this explained things. But it sent cold seeping through my veins. Did he love so easily? How had he not mentioned Françoise? And... did his abiding love for my mother mean nothing at all?

While I stewed, Madeleine continued. “You could hear him in the halls humming arias. He was so happy; nobody had seen him like that in so long. The nature of their relationship was effectively an open secret among the company,” she said. She jabbed her finger at the table, her eyes widening.“But then, about a month ago, she just disappeared! We all found it very odd, but...”

Our glasses of sparkling wine were brought to us, and Madeleine briefly went quiet while they were set down. I took a tentative sip, my eyes locked upon her.

“We found a letter in her things,” Madeleine whispered excitedly once the servants had walked away. “She’d been offered a starring role at an opera house in a country far north. But she hadn’t told any of us. We don’t think she even told the king.” The blond girl raised her eyebrows. “I suspect they must have paid herhandsomelyif she was willing to set aside this palace and the king himself just for a leading role!”

My shoulders relaxed. “So... she hasn’t disappeared?” I said softly. “She just... left the country?”

“Apparently so. She left without a trace. Her clothes were left behind, her possessions. I did some snooping with a group of singers and dancers when we found the letter inviting her away.”

Another dark mystery put to bed. This young woman had not been snatched away by monsters or hidden away. Surely that meant that my mother was safe and sound, too, at Lantanas.

I patted Madeleine’s hand. “I’m glad you told me this,” I said softly.

Across this outdoor ballroom, I looked upon the king, sitting on his throne.

His gentle voice, his familiar eyes, the doting way he spoke of my mother. It was in Lope’s nature to be suspicious. But perhaps there was no threat. Perhaps happiness could be found in this place. I clung to it, wherever it could be found.

Gods.There she was again. In my thoughts, at every turn.

I said farewell to Madeleine and strode past the dancers in their silks and the courtiers with their sparkling wines to settle into the chair beside the king.

“Is the event not to your liking, Ofelia?” the king asked.

I shook my head and absently plucked some flowers from one of the overflowing vases sitting beside me. “It’s beautiful, everything. I’m just a dreadful dancer.” I grinned playfully at him. “I’ve never seenyoudance, Your Majesty.”

He folded his hands in his lap, serenely watching the way the dancers moved in graceful unison. “I did, long ago,” he said. “I haven’t since my father passed.”

My stomach sank. “Oh—forgive me, sire, I didn’t know.”

The king reached his hand across the arm of his chair. I gave him my hand in turn.

“That is why you are such a gift to me,” he said, his thumb sweeping back and forth against the ruby ring on my finger. “You’re the only family I have left.”

My heart ached, like it was being torn in two. “How do you bear pain like that?”

He gestured to the party before him. “I surround myself with beauty. With happiness. Though I have seen darkness, the gods have blessed me mightily. I want for nothing.”

When he turned back to me, there was a glimmer in his dark eyes. “So then, my darling. What is ityouwant? My only desire is to make you happy. Anything you ask for will be yours.”

There was nothing. Or—it wasn’t athingI wanted. I wanted a moment. I wanted Lope, holding me, poetry spilling from her lips. I wanted her to kiss me and pledge to stay by my side, even at this palace. I wanted her to be so happy she forgot all her woes.

I plucked at the petals of the daisy in my hand, discarding them one by one into my lap.She loves me a little. She loves me a lot. She loves me passionately. She loves me madly. She doesn’t love me at all.Again and again, until the final petal remained, the one declaring,Not at all, and I nearly growled in frustration. The king’s voice interrupted me.

“Ah,” he said knowingly. “There’s a young man responsible for all of this.”

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