Page 86 of Prince of Masks
The dynamics are fragile and complex.
Serena is to marry my brother. And I am his deadblood sister. And so, at home, once they are wed, she would be expected to be amiable with me, friends even. It’s only once we stepped out into the company of masks and hierarchies and prejudices and business and alliances that she would turn her cheek to me, not quite turn her back.
That isn’t the direction she is taking our friendship.
Serena is more invested in me than that.
I wonder if that is what she and Oliver were arguing about—if he made her befriend me for the sake of their shared, future image.
The thought twists my insides, then chills them as cold as the winter air fogging around the estate.
I dig my heels into the stone, then kick us back.
The bench sways.
Takes me a while of silence to summon the courage to ask a question I shouldn’t, an improper pry.
I shoot her a side-glance. “What’s been going on with you and my brother lately?”
A graceful shrug is her first answer. “Sometimes I question our love.”
My brows hike.
If any of us were in love, I thought it was them.
I know my brother loves her.
But I take another approach. “Love is a bonus for people like us. The best we can hope for is a husband who respects us, someone we can at least be friends with.”
Someone like Eric.
“Friendship,” she echoes with a small smile, “is a poor substitute for what marriage should be.”
I frown.
How can I agree?
It’s the very reason I’ve pursued Eric so strongly.
Friendship is better than a hateful marriage built on pain and lies and distrust.
Love.
It’s a lie.
A dream I can’t afford to chase.
I can afford friendship—and I can have it if I throw everything I’ve got at it. Seems like now, I might have to fight harder than I expected.
Eric might be swayed off my path and onto Asta’s.
I can’t have that.
“We live at the expense of others,” Serena says. “And I sometimes wonder at what cost—even to ourselves.”
The distance in her voice means it takes a moment for me to really hear her words, for them to really sink in.
I sigh, soft. “If I am allowed to dream… then I will dream of a husband who both loves and respects me, and… has enough money.”
