Page 71 of A Reflection of Silver and Crimson

ChapterTwenty-Seven

Over the next five days,I avoid Jasce as much as possible, and we never speak about my confession. He makes it easy by coming to bed late and rising early. He treats me differently. He’s colder and distant, and I’m never allowed to go anywhere alone. Alban is always nearby.

Zerah spends a lot of time with me. Usually, we stay in the library reading until the light fades from the windows. Sometimes, I am forced to eat dinner in the Great Hall, where there are more people than I care to count.

Jasce ignores me there too.

I know everyone must feel the tension between us. Lady Dinah certainly does. She gives me disapproving looks. Lyra’s mother snubs me, as if I’m not there. Instead, she talks to anyone who will listen.

Aleksander is the only person who doesn’t seem to mind the tension. He teases me and talks about the different cities he has visited. I always listen, imagining the cities he’s speaking about and their people. I even give them unique accents and elaborate clothing choices.

Jasce usually glares when I give Aleksander too much attention.

But every night, when I lie in bed, it’s Grandfather I think about. Grandfather I cannot forget. Grandfather I cannot mourn.

Maybe I should.

Maybe I should do a lot of things, but I don’t.

ChapterTwenty-Eight

The wind strollsthrough the courtyard as I join Zerah and Aleksander to celebrate Zerah’s eighteenth birthday. Alban stands nearby scowling, and my heart breaks as I think of his wife.

Zerah’s eyes sparkle with excitement as she leads me to a colorful blanket spread out with an array of delicious food. “I ordered us a feast.”

Aleksander sits and plucks a grape from a platter full of fruit, plopping it in his mouth as we join him on the blanket. Eagerly, I reach for a loaf of wheat bread and slice off a hearty chunk.

As I take a bite, I savor the soft texture. It’s absolutely perfect.

Zerah smiles as she picks up a honeyed pastry and aims it at her brother.

“Don’t you dare, Zerah,” he says with a frown.

She launches it at him, smacking him in the chest with it. He brushes the crumbs from his surcoat and gives his sister a long look. She laughs and picks up another pastry.

I smother a smile and take another bite of bread as she raises her hand, throwing another pastry at her brother. It hits his arm, leaving crumbs and honey on his clothes.

He scrubs at his surcoat with one hand and grabs a handful of grapes with his other. Her eyes widen as he throws them at her, hitting her in the face.

“Aleksander.” She launches to her feet and runs, but not before he pummels her with more fruit.

I laugh as she tries to dodge him, but when Aleksander reaches for my loaf of bread, I snatch it up and back away.

“Oh, are you protecting that?” he teases.

I nod and clutch the bread closer.

He picks up pastries and throws them at me. I yelp as one hits me in the chest. When he strikes me again, I toss my bread at him, hitting him in the forehead.

His laugher echoes through the courtyard as he keeps picking up food and throwing it at us. The gods are my witness. I try to avoid him, but he hits me more times than he misses.

Zerah taunts him as she runs. So, he picks up the entire platter of fruit and launches the contents at his sister. He misses terribly. The fruit smashes into the cobbled pathway.

“You missed,” she teases.

“Lyra,” he says as he grabs the last pastry and gives it to me. “Get her.”

A smile stretches across my mouth as I throw it at Zerah. It smacks her in the back as she tries to run away. Her laughter carries to me as she runs into the nearby bushes, still laughing, still taunting us.

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