Page 180 of Bride of the Midnight Prince

“We recovered him. He is safe, my lady.”

Good.

I try to bite my tongue, but I cannot help asking: “Is the troll gone?”

“Um, well, it is impossible to know at this time if he is gone for good, but he appears to have left Harbright. For now.”

I hide my small smile. Rahk did it after all. And I would bet my life that he was gentle with that prince in the process. “Well, in that case, please send my thanks to the queen for her generous care, and please tell her that I am perfectly safe.” I pause, hesitating. Then I give up. The queen is going to find out—it might as well be from me. “You can also tell her that . . . that I am returning to Vandermore Manor and intend to dissolve my marriage with—” I cannot get the last word out. I blink quickly and force a smile. “It was not because he mistreated me or anything. He had to return to Faerieland for good. The marriage simply cannot work.”

The knight shifts his weight, as though uncomfortable with this personal of a message to return to the queen.

I give him an earnest, “Thank you. Please ride safely on your return to the palace,” to shake him out of his confusion. He nods quickly, bids me a good day, and hops on his horse.

I return to the house to continue helping Mary pack. After giving explanations to at least three people, of course, about what the knights wanted. I resume filling trunks.

At this rate, I’ll survive until my Nothril raid. I might even survive beyond it, and if I’m living away from Rahk, then I might just be able to continue my work.

Who am I fooling? No matter where I am in the world, Rahk is still hunting me. He all but caught me last time. I glance at the small chest on the bookshelf—the chest where Rahk keeps his supply ofollea. It would be so easy to steal his last bottle. It would make the Nothril raid so much easier.

When Mary steps out for a moment, I get up, move toward the chest. I flip the lid.

Empty.

He took his last bottle before he left.

I sigh as I close it. This is for the best. If Edvear had taken his things back to him and a bottle ofolleawas missing, it would look suspicious.

It’ll be a miracle if I can succeed.

I think of the three people I did not get out of the Star City. I think of the frightened woman I met the last time I was at Nothril, breaking out Lord Nothril’s slave girl. I think of my own mother, who endured horrible things because of me.

I will succeed at this raid. Even if it costs me my life.

Chapter 58

Kat

Viola,Matthew,Charles,andBeatrice are all waiting for me at Vandermore Manor when I arrive. I embrace each one of them. Seeing their familiar faces is a balm to my soul.

Now that Agatha is gone, I make my way up to her room. The room that once belonged to my mother.

The door whines softly when I push it open. I haven’t been here often since Father remarried. White sheets drape the four-poster bed, the matching oak vanity, and wardrobe. The floor creaks beneath my weight. Mama kept the walls a shade of periwinkle, but Agatha changed the color to a dark green. I lift the white sheet over the vanity. There is no collection of cut glass perfume bottles. There are no precious jewels in elaborate settings of silver or gold in the drawers. Only when I check the back of the wardrobe do I find a single crumpled lavender sachet. From Agatha.

The room has been scraped so bare I struggle to find either woman here.

There is one thing, however, that remains from Mama.

The ceiling is covered in wallpaper. It shows a forest with a beautiful pool of water. Young forest creatures dance across the paper. Mama’s paint color always brought out the color of the water, though Agatha’s brings out the green of the forest. The wallpaper’s beauty is clearly showcased by the fact that it is still here. Mama loved it because she said the big eyes of the white-spotted fawn reminded her of me.

I remember being a child, sitting here on the floor despite my parents’ orders to leave the servants alone as they installed the paper.

I drag in a deep lungful of dust, mingled with faint traces of Agatha’s perfume.

If I can just complete this Nothril raid in a week, I’ll be at peace finally. I’ll reunite these people with freedom, and I will call my work finished. Mary was right that I cannot free everyone. If my life was the only one on the line, I’d continue this work until I was inevitably caught and killed. But after the Star City, I can no longer deny how much danger I bring to the people I try to save. What even happened to that woman I gave myolleato? I shudder.

This raid will be my last.

Maybe then, with my work finished and my fortune claimed, I will be able to focus on finding a proper human husband. Even if he is half as good as Rahk, I will be happy. For the first time since my mother’s disappearance, I’ll have a normal life.

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