Page 40 of The Midnight Blizzard

I found Octavius at the same desk he’d been at when I first arrived, still buried in a mountain of paperwork. “Yes?” he intoned dully.

“I wish to withdraw my name from the competition,” I told him clearly.

He looked up in surprise, his nose twitching and beady eyes staring. “Withdraw? After all the work I went to in order to secure you a private room?”

“Yes.”

“Meaning you donotwish to attend the final ball tonight?”

“That’s correct.”

“Are you aware that if you do so, you will not be allowed to re-enter?”

“I am.”

Octavius fixed me with a beady stare. “You say that, but did you know that the prince will likely make his selection for his future bride tonight?”

“Yes, I know that. I don’t wish to be considered any longer.”

“May I inquire as to why?”

“I think the prince would be better suited to another woman,” I told him politely. “Prince Stephen is wonderful, but there just isn’t a romantic connection between us. I’m sure he will understand.”

His eyes popped. “You haven’t spoken to the prince about it already? You’re just planning to leave him?”

“I…I’ll speak to him,” I said. Truth be told, I hadn’t thought much about it. I’d been so thrilled about the bill and the prospect of a future with Jack that I hadn’t thought much about Stephen at all, but I supposed that I did owe it to him to tell him.

“If you withdraw, you won’t be able to stay here any longer,” Octavius informed me, shuffling a stack of papers and fixing me with a piercing stare. “You’ll need to vacate the premises. I can’t have superfluous guests clogging up the halls.”

“I understand. I’ll return to my home.” I glowed as I said it.My home. I would be back where I’d been raised, and I would be able to run things the way I wanted, rather than the way my stepmother had insisted upon ever since marrying my father. I would be able to reopen the school and usher in a new era in which mages would be full and equal citizens.

“If you are absolutely certain?—”

“I am,” I said confidently, lifting my chin higher. “I’m certain.”

“I don’t want you to come back saying that you want to?—”

“I won’t. I have other plans.” Joy swelled within my chest. The future was bright.

Chapter 14

When I knocked on my stepmother’s door, I was surprised that she flung it open almost immediately, with no limp in her step at all.

“I see your ankle’s better.”

“Oh yes, by the time I walked back, it was much improved. I take it everything went well?”

“It did.”

“Come in, come in!” Valencia waved me inside. Vallia and Vanessa were in the same exact spots as they had been when I’d passed by an hour before, hair still up in rollers as they carefully applied stain to their lips. Vanessa smiled, but Vallia kept her gaze fixed forward and didn’t make eye contact. “So, the king accepted the proposal? What did he say?”

“He said it all looked to be in order and would become law within the week. I didn’t expect it to move that quickly.”

Valencia rolled her eyes. “After all that work Cedric put in, it feels like it has moved very slowly indeed.”

“I suppose. But I had something else to tell you as well.I’m out of the competition. I stopped and saw Octavius on the way, so I’m here to collect the will you promised.”

“But of course,” Valencia said, baring her teeth in a smile that looked more like a wolf about to pounce on its prey. “I already submitted additional copies to the scribes and records department last night. I kept the original for you.”

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