Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 85203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“I…I’m sorry,” I say again. Then I get mad. “But I didn’t do it on purpose! Maybe if you’d keep it a little warmer in here, I wouldn’t feel half frozen and I wouldn’t have tried to get warm by being close to you!”
He shakes his head.
“I chose these rooms on purpose because they’re cool. I have a fire inside me…my Drake’s fire. Which is growing every minute you spend here in my bed.” His golden eye glimmers in the gloom. “It’s almost dawn now—I think you’d better leave.”
“But—”
“Leave!” His voice is a low, menacing growl. “Now.”
There’s no disobeying him—not when he speaks like that. I can hear an echo in his voice—a reverberation. It must be his Drake, trying to get out. He really must want to eat me up!
Hurriedly, I jump out of bed and grab for my robe. I stuff my feet into my slippers and rush out of the bedroom. Behind me, I can feel that golden eye glaring at my back, beaming into me.
I slam the wooden door behind me and run up the stairs. I don’t care what the Queen says—I am never going back there!
13
ELAINA
I hurry back to my rooms but Tanzy isn’t there yet. I suppose that’s because it’s still early. She usually comes in to help me get dressed and to do my hair a little before breakfast time.
I wait around and soon enough the door opens—but it isn’t Tanzy. It’s another maid, one I’ve never seen before.
She drops me a little half-curtsy.
“If it please you, my Lady, I’m Bridget. I’m here to help you dress and do your hair.”
“That’s, er, very kind of you, but I have a maid,” I say. “Unless she’s sick? Her name is Tanzy—do you know where she is?”
The girl’s eyes widen.
“Oh, didn’t no one tell you, my Lady? I’m afraid she’s in the dungeon until her trial.”
“Her trial?” I say blankly. “What on earth is she on trial, for?”
“Why, for stealing the Queen’s ruby necklace, of course!” Bridget exclaims. “The Crown Prince saw her do it!”
“He did not!” I blurt, before I think. How could Dorian pin his crime on such an innocent, kind-hearted, loyal soul? Tanzy has never been anything but good to me—I can’t believe he decided she would make the perfect culprit for his theft.
“Oh yes, he did!” Bridget nods vigorously. “The Queen noticed it missing this morning and he said he saw her sneaking out of the royal rooms with something cupped in her hand. It must be the ruby pendant.”
I’m beginning to wonder if Dorian chose my personal maid as his target on purpose—to get back at me. After all, he’s the most likely culprit for the burrs under my saddle. Maybe he’s still trying to punish me for seeing him with Henri.
Well, he’s not going to get away with it!
“I have to go,” I say. “I can’t let them do this to Tanzy—she never took anything!”
I turn to leave the room…and realize I’m still in my night clothes.
“You’d best let me help you get dressed before you go out anywhere, my Princess,” Bridget says helpfully. “And if you’re wanting to speak on Tanzy’s behalf—which is mighty good of you—you’ll need to hurry to make it to her trial, which is being held in the Queen’s private parlor.”
“They’re really going to put her on trial?” I shake my head. “I can’t believe this place!”
“It’s the way things are done here at the Citadel,” Bridget says gravely. “And if you have something to say for her, you’d best be sure you have proof. Elseways, she’ll lose a hand for stealing from the Queen.”
“Lose a hand?” I can’t believe the barbarity!
“Better than losing your head,” Bridget says simply. “Here—let’s get you dressed.”
She puts me into a flowing moss green dress with long sleeves which looks good with my skin color and does my hair quickly, putting it up in a simple chignon.
The Court fashion is to twist one’s hair through a thin metal frame to make a towering structure decorated with flowers and baubles. However, the round base of the frame which rests on the top of your head gives me a headache and I feel ridiculous with my hair three feet above my head. So I’ve been wearing it down or in more simple fashions. I’m sure my Mother-in-law doesn’t approve of me flouting Court couture but I’m not willing to have a metal frame digging into my skull for hours at a time, just to make her happy.
I’m quickly ready to go and I rush down the corridor to the Queen’s private parlor, only to find half the Court has already crowded into it.
Standing on tiptoes, I try to see above the mass of Nobles blocking the doorway. The Queen is sitting on a padded bench in the front of the room and standing before her are the Crown Prince and Tanzy. My poor maid has red-rimmed eyes and her pale cheeks are streaked with tears.