Page 59 of The Scarlet Star

The organizer shut them in, and Ryn called after him, “Don’t close that door! We don’t need you to close the door! I won’t be getting dressed—”

Marcan smooshed his hand over Ryn’s mouth. “Are you trying to get me in trouble?” he scolded. “I don’t want to be here any more than you do.”

“Oh, trust me, I think my situation is worse!” Ryn said back.

Marcan smirked. “Yeah, I suppose it is.”

“What…” Ryn chewed on her lip. “What do I do when I get there?” she asked, and Marcan looked at her like she was crazy.

“How should I know? Why are you askingme?”

Heva bellowed a laugh by the door.

“This isn’t funny!” Ryn said. She put the backs of her hands against her hot cheeks. She didn’t have enough information to go on, only what she’d gathered outside of Calliope’s door. What did a late evening visit entail? She’d thought about it enough to come to her own conclusions, and—oh, for Divinities’ sake—she wasn’t ready.

“Maybe he’ll just want to play mancala.” Heva shrugged. “Don’t jump to conclusions, Ryn.”

It took all of ten minutes for Marcan and Heva to wrangle Ryn into silk nightclothes. It should have taken longer—most events required hours of work, but Ryn didn’t feel like playing dress up and she refused every bright piece of jewelry Marcan suggested.

She inhaled deeply during the walk through the palace. Her exhales were loud, and she should have been embarrassed, but she wasn’t. In fact, she blew out a heavy breath down the back of Heva’s Folke coat when they reached the King’s door. Heva squirmed in surprise and sprang to the side. She was voicing silent threats at Ryn with hand gestures, and Ryn was voicing the same silent threats back when the King’s door swung open.

Xerxes stood there. He looked between the two arguing women, ignoring the organizer and the guards stationed outside his door. Then, he reached into the hallway, grabbed Ryn, and he pulled her inside with him. He shut the door behind her.

“Wait!” Ryn almost screamed it. She slapped a hand over her face. “I can’t do this.” Her voice was pitifully strained. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I know you’re the King, and I’m getting myself into trouble by objecting, but…”

Raspy, quiet sounds reached Ryn’s ears. She lifted her hand slowly and peeled her eyes open.

There Xerxes stood,laughing, leaning against his bedroom door like he was trying not to fall over. “Shhh!” he warned with a finger over grinning lips. “The guards outside can hear you! Do you want the whole palace talking about how you refused me?!”

Ryn blinked as she realized he wasn’t wearing nightclothes like she was. A fitted Folke guard uniform covered him, complete with a navy cape. She suddenly wanted nothing more than to run away and hurl her nightdress at Heva and Marcan.

Xerxes found his footing and came to stand with her. “I would apologize,” he said, shaking the humour from his face, “but I had no other way to get you here without stirring up unwanted attention. And also—” he pointed at her “—that was quite funny.”

Ryn’s fingers tingled with the urge to poke him or smack him. “I’d really like to go hide somewhere you can never find me,” she admitted through thin lips.

“Was that an official request? Because my answer is no.” Xerxes reached for a spare folded Folke uniform on his living space table. He handed it to her. “Put this on.”

Ryn took the garment and held it up, wondering why, by the Divinities, he would want her to wear such a thing. He folded his arms while he waited, and so, Ryn looked around his chambers. There wasn’t really anywhere to change. There was, however, a collection of ten glorious paintings high on the wall she hadn’t noticed when she’d been here last time with her harp. Every one of the paintings was torn or damaged from water, or some other deformation. It looked like he may have even flung water at them on purpose.

Xerxes pulled on the hood of his cape, shadowing his face. “I’ll wait outside,” he said. “Be quick. And try not to ogle at my painting collection. It’s rude.” With that, he opened the door and slipped out in the blink of an eye.

Ryn looked down at the uniform. “Divinities,” she cursed. She did one full spin around, making sure the room truly was empty. Then she dropped her nightdress and slipped into the Folke uniform, wondering all the while what she was doing this for.

The cape was falling off her shoulders when she came out of the King’s chambers. “How lucky I am,” she whispered at Xerxes as he turned to see her in the oversized uniform, “to have been specially chosen to spend alone time with the King.”

Xerxes adjusted her cape. Then he pulled the hood up and fitted it around her face. Even though two guards stood outside Xerxes’s door, they kept their attention ahead and didn’t react to the two Folke frauds in their midst.

“Your sarcasm is charming,” Xerxes told her, “but I won’t be turned down twice in one night.” He flashed her a cynical smile. “So come with me.” He took Ryn’s hand and led her down the hallway, but he dropped it when footsteps sounded around the bend.

Two Folke guards emerged, discussing something in hushed voices. They paid Xerxes and Ryn no attention, apart from a small nod in their direction. After they passed, Xerxes tugged Ryn’s sleeve toward an adjacent hall. Moonlight spilled in through tall slat windows in even intervals, washing over them every other step. Xerxes led her to a door barely noticeable within the décor of the walls. She might have not known it was there if he didn’t reach for a lever.

He hesitated, his fingers hovering in the air, barely brushing the metal.

Ryn waited, but instead of opening the door, Xerxes turned back to her.

“People don’t go down here,” he explained. “No one enters through this door except for me. If you’re ever caught here…” He didn’t finish that sentence, but Ryn filled in the blanks with the look in his eyes. The message was clear: Never,evercome here after today.

Xerxes grabbed the lever and pushed the door open. He stepped onto a dark winding staircase, and a cold breeze lifted through the stairwell that sent chills up Ryn’s arms as she followed, descending into darkness.

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