Page 86 of Ocean of Ink
Dread, cold and thick, filled her body. She pressed a hand to her stomach and tried to keep her breathing slow.
“My lady?” Blossom’s worry spiked. “Are you all right?”
“I-I am merely a bit nervous, is all. It has been some time since I have been to a ball.”
Blossom’s sympathy wrapped around Wren like a blanket. She began to breathe a little easier.
“That is understandable, but you will have a friend beside you. Lord Finnick is quite charming. Perhaps he can distract you from your nerves. He should be calling upon you soon. Shall we walk to the foyer to wait for him?”
Wren nodded, though she felt far from ready to see any of her peers. She could not stay in this room with only her fears for company. Bravery was required for her to complete her task tonight. Suspicion would be raised if she did not attend. She needed to make her appearance, then slip away to the underground passages and uncover what was inside while everyone danced above her. For Heron. She would do it for him.
“I will meet you in the foyer,” Wren told her maid. “I need a moment of privacy.”
Blossom curtsied. “I will see if Miss Kierana has left yet. Perhaps you may be able to depart with her as additional company.”
Wren smiled at Blossom’s thoughtfulness. “Thank you, that is much appreciated.”
The lady’s maid bustled out of the room, leaving Wren alone with the crackling hearth and her spinning thoughts. She pushed down the darkness and strode to the box with her brother’s journal. Having retrieved it, she flipped to the page with the map and, though it pained her some, ripped it out. She then folded it and tucked it into her left garter. After she had secured it, she walked to her desk and took up the letter she had written for Castien. She tucked it into her right garter with a faint smile.Though she did not yet know how, she wanted to pass the letter to him tonight.
Items secured, Wren drew in a fortifying breath before heading out of her chamber door. A cloud of clamorous emotions befell her the further she walked to the center of the house. Thankfully, most of the feelings were positive, unlike the bone-rattling panic she had encountered on the evening of Kelda’s murder. Wren stepped into the throng of women tittering about their outfits and hair. She smiled at a few of her housemates as she passed, surveying the crowd for Kierana.
Her friend was by the door, smirking at two finely dressed gentlemen. Finn lounged against the wall beside the door in a midnight blue suit. He spun a top hat in front of him, evidence of his having worn the hat showing in the indentation of his messy blond curls. To his right was Eindar, a tall, imposing man whom Wren had seen in the past sitting at Castien’s table in the dining hall. The Stonemouth man looked uncomfortable in his brown suit, as if he wasn’t used to wearing the garment. Kierana stood at his side in a blood red gown dripping with black pearls. She looked elegant but dangerous with a belt of daggers around the waist of her dress.
Finn caught sight of Wren first, his eyebrows raising in appreciation. Kierana turned over her shoulder and gasped as she approached.
“You look like a flower plucked from a garden,” Kierana said with awe in her voice. Wren felt her friend’s excitement, and it abated some of her earlier anxiety.
“And you look like a warrior queen,” Wren replied, earning a larger-than-normal smile from Kierana.
“Thank you, a woman needs to feel her most confident when she’s entering a cryptura den.”
Wren laughed at the harsh analogy.
“Do you think it will be so terrible?”
“Given you two are the most beautiful women on the entire island, I would say we are in for several jealousy-induced stunts this evening,” Finn said with a playful grin.
Eindar shot him a glare, and Wren sensed frustration from him. Kierana had not mentioned a relationship, so Wren thought the two were going to the ball as friends, the same as Wren and Finn. Perhaps she was mistaken.
“You are a ridiculous flirt.” Kierana rolled her eyes, but her smile held. “But your statement is correct. Hopefully, my daggers deter the worst of the approaches.”
Wren looked down at her dainty dress. She had nothing to incite fear in anyone. Not that wearing a dagger would do that, given that her lack of weaponry knowledge had no doubt spread across the academy grounds.
“Do not fear, darling Wren, I will protect you from our monstrous peers,” Finn said with a wink.
Wren shook her head at his over-the-top nature.
“I do not need your protection, only your company,” Wren replied.
“I would not dare anger those who care about you, so you will have both this evening.” He held out his arm. “Shall we?”
Those who cared about her?Wren’s brow furrowed. She hesitated, but took a deep breath, then slid her hand in the crook of his elbow. Finn placed his top hat on his head, then opened the door and guided her out into the cool evening air. Kierana and Eindar followed behind them in a similar fashion. Lighting their path to the assembly hall were a series of hanging lanterns strung between wood poles. In the distance, other students in shimmering gowns and tailored suits walked through the maze of light.
Finn smiled down at her, his curls poking out of his hat in a way that made him look more boy than man.
“I will be the envy of every man in the ballroom tonight. Do not think me in jest when I say you look exquisite,” he said in a warm tone.
Wren tensed slightly at the compliment.This is Finn, she reminded herself.He is safe.But still, her body didn’t listen. A pricking sensation developed behind her sternum.
