Page 109 of A Bond in Blood

“Yes, your highness, very much so.”

I twisted back to the mirror. “Perfect.”

Adie cleared her throat, pulling my eyes away from my reflection. “Do not mark me too severely. I do want to allure myboy, not scare him.”

“I’m sorry, Adie,” I whispered.

“Oh, it’s been an honor, your highness,” she replied.

She held her chin high while I lifted my arm, reeling back my elbow. My fist collided with her jaw, throwing her backward. She stumbled, not making a sound but her eyes were full of mischief and delight when she straightened.

Her hand went into the pocket of her gown and keys rattled in her grasp.

“These keys will reveal the doors you cannot see in that hallway. The third key opens the hallway to the throne room. It is a few minutes' trek to get there,” she instructed.

“Will the keys reveal all of the doors?”

She shook her head, rubbing her bruising jaw. “Just hold the third key and the magic will do its job.”

I nodded, heading toward the hidden door.

“Your highness?” Adie called after me.

“Yes?”

Adie offered me a wide grin. “Have fun.”

I did not process her disappearing through the main door to the bedroom. But suddenly she was gone, and I was alone in the room, my trembling hands holding the keys.

Light appeared behind the hidden door and I gulped down my nerves.

I could do this. I could confidently walk into that ballroom and participate in whatever festival it was that Ulrich was hosting.

My terms did not require me to obey and sit idly while the rest of the palace enjoyed themselves.

I gripped the third key and opened the hidden door, eyes scanning the hallway. Nothing happened and I stared at the keys, rattling them with frustration. The movement appearedto be what was required when a creaking sound caught my attention and I watched a wooden threshold appear a few steps away.

I glanced back at the bedroom nervously. There was the chance Ulrich would kill me for disobeying. Possibly even the chance he’d publicly humiliate me again.

But igniting his rage was worth more than the fear.

I unlocked the door that had appeared, pushing it open as quietly as I could before leaving the keychain behind. As there was nowhere on my body I could carry them.

The walls thumped with the blaring music of the party a floor below and I held my skirts in my hand. The cold in the hallway wrapped around my body and perked the piques of my breasts without my permission.

When I reached a set of descending stairs, I twisted my body back to the hallway. It would have been easy to return to the room, wash my face, and crawl into bed as though I had made no plan. Gods, there was even the chance that Ulrich would become wrapped up in his own carnal desires and I would get the bed alone.

The music coiled up the stairs, inviting me to take part and I turned toward it. The beat was welcoming, sensual, clawing at my skin. Creating a buzz throughout my body as though I had little control to follow.

I walked to it, my hands running along the dark hidden passage. The thump of the beat grew stronger the closer I came. I could hear it—screams, moans, and laughter.

So much louder than any other evening I’d heard in this palace.

And the current in the air? Gods, it was intoxicating.

My hand brushed against a circled pull, and I stared down. I made it. I had bravely made my descent and Ulrich’sRitewas just beyond this threshold.

Before I could second-guess myself, I pushed the door open. The music came at me with force, hitting me in the chest with its strength.

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