Page 36 of Beyond Those Gilded Walls

I yanked away from him, turning to face him. His eyes were dark, nearly black as he looked down at me. “You seem troubled, Odyssa.”

“Get out,” I said, pointing towards the door. My voice did not waver, a feat I was utterly grateful for. It remained steady and cool despite the embarrassment and anger blazing inside me.

He’d somehow slipped between the cracks in the wall I’d built, and I’d not realized it until it was too late. I’d been willing to play his games at first, but this was not a game. Not really. This was life or death, and I would not let Tallon be the reason I failed my brothers.

“And leave me be. I do not have the time nor the energy for these games you are playing.” My hand shook slightly then, and I pulled it back to my chest, palm pressing against my breastbone heavily. “I am not a toy for your amusement, only to be tossed aside once you’ve broken me.”

He’d started towards the door at my instruction, but stopped then, coming back until there was only the smallest sliver of air between us. My eyes widened, but I’d barely had time to react before his hands were wrapped around my biceps and his face was lowering towards mine. Noses brushed and his breath washed over my lips. If either of us had so much as swayed, his lips would have touched mine. His words washed over me, breath fluttering my eyelashes. “Make no mistake, little wolf, you cannot be broken. Especially not by me. Do not forget that.”

Those gray eyes flicked down to my lips and for a heartbeat, I thought he might kiss me. I thought I might want him to. His tongue darted out to wet his lips once more, and then he was gone, halfway to the door before I’d even realized he’d let go of me.

His departure renewed my anger and I reached for the nearest thing within my reach and hurled it after him. The pillow hit the closing door harmlessly, bouncing off the wood as his laughter echoed down the hall.

Frustrated tears pricked at my eyes and I ran my hands through my hair, tugging at the roots. Something was wrong. Something was happening here, and I was losing my mind. Rhyon wasdyingand I had forgotten until Tallon had mentioned it. I clung to the clarity it gave me, picturing both of my brothers as my eyes scoured the floor where the letter had fallen.

Camelya had said I could send a response. How had I forgotten that? Brushing away the tears that escaped, I finally saw the letter on the floor and rushed to pick it up. Flipping it over, I took it to the desk in the corner and began my reply. I could not risk being lost to whatever this castle was doing to me before I replied. Rhyon needed me, and despite that he would argue otherwise, Emyl would too.

Rhyon was going to die. My nightmare had convinced me of that. But there were things I could offer to make it easier on both Rhyon and Emyl, even if I could not be there myself. Chief among them was finding the treatment for when Emyl was inevitably next. Rhyon was not dead yet, but he would be, and then it would be only Emyl and me left. I would not lose my last family to this curse. I refused.

My pen scrawled until the back of the parchment was covered in my tiny, cramped writing. It wasn’t enough; I had so much more to say, but it would have to do. I set it carefully flat on the desk. Tonight, once the staff were awake and beginning to prepare for the party, I would take it to Camelya. And then, I would find that damned treatment and get it to Emyl.

ChapterNineteen

The night’s decor had transformed the ballroom into a golden sunset, filled floor to ceiling with gildedeverything,a mockery of the vivid colors that had painted the evening sky before the red mist had descended. Through the deep orange tinge from the shroud, I watched from the hall for a moment before entering. It was objectively beautiful, a feat of decor to have made it so drastically different from the night prior, but all I wanted to do was rip it down. Everything was dripping in gold, from the chandeliers to the silverware set out along the long table at the end of the room. All of it an obscene show of just how little the prince cared for anyone besides himself.

My breath fluttered the fabric of the veil. The music in the hall picked up, and I had no more time to wait.

There would be no mistakes tonight. Whatever purpose Tallon had behind playing his games with me, he would not be able to protect me if I continued to draw attention to us. I needed to be the perfect servant, unnoticed and unremarkable. It was the only way I would be able to find the treatment, and it was the only way I would be able to get out of the castle to get it to Emyl once I had it.

I could not trust someone to take it for me, nor could I trust if I tried to smuggle it out in the mail that it would make it to the intended destination. No, if I wanted to get it out of the castle, I would have to take it myself.

I pushed the second part of my mission out of my mind for the moment. The castle and the Soulshades would likely not make my escape easy, not if they were under the prince’s control. And I could not afford any apprehension. I would puzzle out my escape once I had what I was here for.

My tray empty, I returned to the kitchens to refill it and continued my path through the castle and back to the ballroom. Focus, that was what I needed. I would excel, becoming the best servant of us all. I would flit about, ensuring the happiness of these callous people while I collected information and tucked it away to be used against the Coward Prince later, to be used to save my family when the opportunity presented itself.

The bells had just begun their midnight toll when Tallon finally appeared, sweeping into the ballroom and turning every head, though they quickly looked away once they saw who had arrived. Yet still, like every night, people watched him out of the corners of their eyes. Mostly in fear, though some looked as if given half a chance, it could easily morph into desire.

Instead of his normal mask, the top of his face was visible tonight and the mask instead covered his jaw. A golden skull gilded to fit the theme. It emphasized the coldness in his eyes better than the silver mask ever could have.

His presence here at these parties was far different than the Tallon I’d experienced in private. Whether that was intentional or not remained to be seen. Likely, it was part of his games, and despite my best efforts, I kept falling right into the thick of them.

It frustrated me that I could not seem to keep away from him despite my continued promises to myself. I tightened my grip on my tray and turned back into the crowd.

Still, I felt his gaze on me for the rest of the night.

Though the balllasted until the first vestiges of the dawn, as it did every night, this one felt as if it were over in the blink of an eye. I could hardly complain, but my skin was still crawling, too tight for my body, and I readily took over cleaning, whisking around the ballroom, gathering empty glasses and dirtied plates and anything else I could to burn off the anxious energy.

Tallon was still watching me from the same balcony I’d watched him from that first night. He wasn’t trying to hide it, leaning his forearms against the banister and peering down at me. The Soulshade cat was perched on the banister at his side, its too-long claws curled around the wood as if it were a bird instead of a cat. As if it were not a spirit and needed to hold on to keep its balance.

I avoided looking up as I cleaned.

Maricara and Elena were with me in the ballroom tonight, the others already back in the kitchen. In a way I was glad for it, as it meant I could work in silence and without the pitying looks from Talyssa or the polite and stiff conversation I knew Zaharya would turn to as a way to ease the strain my nightmare had put on our interactions.

I was alone with all of them, in different ways, and at least Maricara and Elena made no disguises about it.

My tray filled with precariously piled glasses and silverware, I began my path through the ballroom and towards the kitchen. Two sets of eyes, one pair gray and one pair yellow, tracked my every move.

Sour and bitter and heavy, ash and smoke filled my mouth at the same moment as a Soulshade appeared in front of me, fully formed. There was no flickering, no burgeoning taste to forewarn me of its convalescence. The Soulshade merely appeared in my path. I stumbled back, cursing the thick orange haze that clouded my vision. Glasses rattled on my tray as I struggled to keep it aloft.

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