Bending low to adjust the slipper I was wearing, I whispered, “What do we do?”
Amaryllis wrung her hands and looked up at the palace. “The show must go on. We get inside and continue to gather information. We map the halls, escape routes, take notes of guard rotations, find the access points for attacks, gather any news from the servants about Lord Rasmen’s disappearance, and track the movements of the southern elves.”
“They are going to be locked down pretty tight to outsiders,” Bravado said, rubbing his face in thought. “More dignitaries are arriving every day. Humperstink said he only marked one wing. Guards almost caught him. Luckily, he was able to use his earth magic to give them the slip, but he set off a ward.”
“The wailing would not stop,” Humperstink said as he pulled up his pant leg and I saw a burn across his skin.
“This is too dangerous for you. I should be the one marking the wards and searching for the son of Allemar. I can do it. Just let me perform tonight,” I said.
“No,” Humperstink and Bravado both answered at once.
“I’m fine, really. I’m healed.” I pulled open the edges of my ripped fabric, and Amaryllis’s face paled at seeing the almost perfect skin.
“How?” she asked in disbelief.
“Long story, but believe me, I think I’m the one that needs to do this job. I think my mother knew.”
Bravado and Amaryllis exchanged a long look before agreeing. “We’ve always trusted your mother, and now we trust that you know what to do.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The metal ring sparkled as it was being hoisted high above the chandelier in the center of the ballroom. It was dizzying watching it slowly spin. I’d never performed at that height, but it didn’t matter. If I was ten feet off the ground or thirty, it was all marble below me. I watched as Humperstink pounded the ring’s fasteners into the stonework.
“Are you sure this will hold?” I asked, my voice echoing in the empty ballroom.
“It will hold. One thing I pride myself on is knowing rock.” As a dwarf, Humperstink had an affinity for earth magic, and he was the one who had found the strongest part of the ceiling and had scaled the ladder supported by Sorek.
Humperstink released the silk, and it fell in a cloud of red toward the marble floor.
“Give it a swing,” he called down.
I wrapped the silk around my upper arms and lifted myself into the air, hanging a few feet from the ground. “Seems okay. Sorek?” I turned for his opinion.
Sorek waited for Humperstink to descend the ladder. Then he grabbed the silks and did the same thing, pulling harder than I had to make sure that it would hold someone of his immense weight.
“It’s sturdy,” he admitted.
“See?” Humperstink said proudly.
“Don’t gloat. It’s not becoming for a man of your age,” Rumple said from within the backpack that was leaning against the floor.
“My age? You’re the youngin’. You need to respect your elders.”
“Elders?” Rumple argued. “I’m over two hundred years old.”
“You can’t count how long you were imprisoned in rock, you idiot,” Humperstink challenged.
“Can too.”
“Not.”
I chuckled and allowed the two to bicker back and forth. It seemed like it was what dwarves were meant to do. It reminded me of a small dog I had seen once in a village. The smaller dog always seemed to bark and challenge any dog larger than himself. Rumple—well, he liked to challenge everyone.
A ruffle of color in the hall caught my attention. I moved from the ballroom to the double doors and peeked out between the crack in the open door.
It was two of the princesses, Lisbelle and Grace. “You need to be more careful, Lisbelle. It’s not safe to wander about . . . alone,” Grace said softly.
“It’s our home. How are we not safe within our home?” Lisbelle taunted.
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”
Lisbelle spun and grabbed Grace’s arm, digging her fingernails into the flesh. “I don't have to listen to you,” Lisbelle snapped.
“Stop, you’re hurting me.” Grace tried to pull away, but Lisbelle wouldn’t have it.
“Lisbelle, if you won’t listen, then it will be you who pays the price.” Grace’s voice dropped so low that I wasn’t sure if I had heard her right.
As if on cue, Allrick came up behind the princesses, his aura intimidating.
Lisbelle’s face drained of color. She backed up a few steps and her head dropped toward the floor. There was a whispered response, but it was beyond what I could hear. Allrick nodded and moved away, and the princesses retreated down the opposite hall. I stepped into the hall and watched them turn the corner.
I followed, but was stopped by a guard.
“Only royals beyond this point.” He held out his arm, blocking my path. I watched helplessly as the two princesses continued down the hall.
“Yes, sir,” I said, and headed back to the ballroom. It was the only room we were allowed access to for the time being.
Who were they referring to? Allrick? Someone else?
“Can you follow them?” I whispered under my breath.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flicker and then nothing as Nimm took off, slipping between the guard’s legs.
By nightfall, the palace ballroom was packed with nobles from all across the kingdom. The white marble floors were polished so smooth they gleamed in the candlelight. Creeping roses covered the columns almost to the ceiling, filling the room with a pleasant aroma. Stained glass windows depicting even more flowers turned the ballroom into an indoor garden. Enchanted chandeliers hung around the room and flickered with glowing light.
Even though I hadn’t been in the palace long, I caught a glimpse here and there of a house-elf appearing to bring out food or replenish drinks before disappearing into the walls as if they walked through them.
I had long ago learned from Eden that many of the palaces had secret compartments and hidden passages that led from the lower kitchen to the dining rooms, where they would bring up food on a pulley system. If a fae disappeared, it was usually into a hidden door, cupboard, or behind a painting. Already, I had taken note of where these hidden passageways were.
There were two in the ballroom. One behind a tapestry of a man with dark hair, possibly a young King Leonel, sitting on his throne. With the speed at which drink trays were being brought up and replenished by human servants, I assumed another was hidden behind a painting of a fountain.
A soldier wearing the yellow and black colors of Sion came down the hall, and I retreated into the room, closing the door a few more inches until he passed. Then I flung it open and stared across the hall into the ballroom as the king’s steward, Wentworth, an elderly man in yellow robes with diamonds on the collar, spectacles, and a mustache, announced the arrival of the princesses in order from oldest to youngest. Analisa, the eldest, followed by Karisa, Louisa, Marisa, Risa, Therisa, Grace, Annabelle, Clarabelle, Lisbelle, Mirabelle, and Willabelle.
The moment Willabelle’s violet dress slipped off the last carpeted step as she descended from the upper balcony, eager men swarmed the twelve daughters of Sion like greedy vultures circling their prey. When one suitor stepped away from the pearl and silk adorned princesses, another took his place. From across the carpeted hall, I hovered in the doorway, watching the men with suspicion. Each one could be here under false pretenses. One of them could be a secret sorcerer, weeding his way into a princess’s heart and into the throne room with the sole intent to kill and destroy in the name of Allemar.