Page 111 of Of Glass and Ashes

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Aika

Ihead to the ballroom, picking my way precariously down the grand staircase on my ruined feet.

As with the first two nights, I’m alone, but tonight is the first time it doesn’t feel that way.

Einar is already in the ballroom, keeping an eye on things ahead of time, and Zaina is coming right behind me.

Then there’s Remy, who is allegedly meeting me there.

I’ve given up trying to figure out what his game is, if he has an actual plan and why he wouldn’t just tell me.

I’m certainly not thinking about who he’s going to marry tonight and whether he’ll enjoy being wrapped in her arms in the days or hours before Mother swoops in to exact her vengeance.

I am so activelynotwondering about those things that I allow myself to become distracted for a fraction of a heartbeat.

And it is still too long.

I should have guessed she might be in the great hall, might be making her exit just as the ball was beginning. Iwouldhave, were it not for the distraction of Remy and Zaina and a thousand other things.

But I didn’t, so I am caught entirely off guard when Mother turns a corner not fifteen feet from where I’m standing at the bottom of the staircase.

She is flawless, not a single hair or stray thread out of place, no sign that she might be in any distress. Her features are as cold and unyielding as ever, but her golden eyes sparkle with suppressed rage.

Even the lords and ladies who know her as nothing more than Lady Delmara give her a wide berth as she glides through the spacious entryway.

I force myself to keep moving, since remaining frozen on the spot will only draw attention. Worse yet, I have to walk toward Mother in order to go in the direction of the arriving courtiers.

She can’t see me, I assure myself. Zaina has done her job well, and the mask is not one Mother has any cause to look twice at.

This is what I do. I blend in.

Picking up my skirts, I move to fuse myself with a group of ladies, but they quickly outpace me. Still, Mother doesn’t so much as glance in my direction as I slip past her. I risk looking back over my shoulder a few times, but she seems to be moving along.

I am close, so close to breathing a sigh of relief when she pauses. Her head turns, focusing on the spot I was standing in a moment ago.

That’s when I see it.

Blood.

Tiny, crimson droplets like a trail of macabre breadcrumbs on the pristine marble floor, every one of them leading directly to me.

She turns in slow motion, like she is fighting against her own disbelief, and I will myself to walk faster. Faster, and quieter. I am only steps from the ballroom where it will be easier to lose her, and I don’t dare look back again.

Fear clenches every muscle in my body, but somehow, I keep moving.

The bell tolls, low rings reverberating throughout the castle, nearly loud enough to drown out the sound of my rapidly beating heart.

It’s time, and I am nearly there. A throng of courtiers loiters just inside the doors of the ballroom, perfect for me to lose myself in.

My breaths are coming shallow when they deign to come at all, but by the third toll of the massive bronze bell, I am stepping into the ballroom. Remy stands waiting in the center of the room, unmasked and not bothering to hide his expression for a change.

So I see the way he anxiously searches the doorway, and I see the moment his eyes land on me.

I take a step toward him, but a hand closes around my elbow, slowly yanking me backward.

Clang.

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