Page 76 of Kingdom of Flames & Flowers
“You’re saying all the nobles have … gray skin?”
She trembled violently. “Can’t have babies. Cursed. That’s why they need us. That’s why all their girls are primas. Help me get away. We need to get away!”
She stood, frantic, as she threw my arms down and stumbled toward the door. I pulled her back, alarmed at her panic.
“Hey, hey! Wait! Just hold on! I—”
Her fist came up and landed hard on my temple, knocking me back. She opened the door and ran, slamming it shut behind her. I had to wait for the room to stop spinning to follow. Once I could, I darted out into the hall, looking to see which way she went, or at least to ask a fireguard.
She wasn’t anywhere, and neither were the fireguards.
Unease churned in my gut. Azalea had tried to tell me something, hadn’t she? I regretted brushing her off. There was nothing for it; I’d have to go back into the ball to find her.
I ignored my shoeless state and heaved at the heavy doors myself, since the guards were gone. It opened just enough for me to slip through, but the left door fell back on my shoulder before I could get the entire way in. A grunt escaped me as white-hot pain shot through my shoulder, but I made it back inside.
I scanned the crowds, looking for red, curly hair. Combing through the shadowed corners and alcoves failed to reveal her.
“Mari! Are you alright? Your face is—”
“Have you seen Azalea?” I asked Leilani intently. “She had something important to tell me.”
Leilani blinked, taken aback. “Oh. Well, I don’t know if I’d take anything she said that seriously, Mari.”
Her tone was more like Freesia than I’d ever heard. I did a double-take. “Why is that?” I demanded.
Leilani rolled her eyes. “A fireguard came in and removed her. She was drunk and causing a scene, fighting him and yelling. It embarrassed the queen. It might cost her a betrothal.” Her voice was hushed, her eyes wide and serious. To her, there clearly was no worse fate.
“Wait. She’s gone? Where did they take her?”
Leilani shrugged as if it wasn’t her problem. Irritation surged through me. “Leilani! She was helping me figure out a bunch of secrets from an old piece of parchment I found in the archives! The queen admitted to killing a bunch of people from the mud quarter with a dragon! I need to know where she went!”
Leilani’s nose crinkled. “The archives? Aren’t there more important things in life than some old words and bits of parchment?” She gestured widely with her arms. “Everything I’ve ever dreamed about is here, Mari! Why are you so sad and worried? Look at this life!” She frowned. “Have you seen my betrothed?”
I backed away, knowing I’d lost her. And she hadn’t even had that hard of a life to begin with as a daughter of a baker. I turned on my heel and left her standing there, confused.
Freesia’s white hair flashed before me, and I reached out to grab her hand without thinking. She turned in alarm, but the haughty look on her face settled into something more neutral when she saw it was me.
“Princess. What is it?”
My hand gripped her wrist as I weighed my options. Freesia didn’t like me, but we were more alike than I wanted to admit. She had a cynicism about the world I knew well, and she had a tendency to lean toward a conspiracy that I was counting on.
“May I speak with you? In private?”
Her pale eyebrows rose as Berthold popped out behind her like a prairie dog sticking its head out of the ground.
“Darling, the princess wishes to speak with me in private. I will return.”
Berthold’s face flushed in pleasure at that, and he gave me a brief nod. I studied his face and hands, not seeing any gray skin or … rotting anything. What had Hyacinth been going on about?
I hustled Freesia across the dance floor, taking the most direct path to a shadowed corner. People moved out of my way, but I ran into the one person I didn’t want to see now all the same.
“Mari? Are you alright? Something’s wrong.” Zion stopped us, one hand on my shoulder, and Freesia slowed. His face showed me nothing but honest concern, and to be fair, he hadn’t been the one who lied to me about what was on the parchment. That had been Zariah. But I couldn’t confide in him. Not until I knew for sure he had nothing to do with the killings or that he wouldn’t obey his mother if she told him to scorch the mud quarter.
I couldn’t trust him.
It made my chest ache, but I turned away from him without answering. Hurt broke over his features before he visibly hardened them, turning away quickly so no one else would see.
I saw.
