Page 121 of The Twisted Throne

Silence stretched, then the maid said, “There’s another option. Wait but a moment.” Hazel disappeared into the other room, then returned with a box. “Lady Bronwyn brought the dress with her, and I’ve kept it hidden because with what I’d learned about your relationship with your queen, I thought you might have thrown it away. Which would have been a tragedy.”

For the first time in a long time, Ahnna didn’t tense at the mention of Lara. Didn’t feel emotion rising in her veins. As though in finally confessing the truth to James, she’d expunged that poison from her soul. “What dress?”

“Better to show you.”

Hazel opened the box, then handed Ahnna a piece of paper.

Ahnna,

Not all armor is made of steel.

Lara

She reread the note twice, looking for a code or hidden message, but there was nothing beyond the obvious. Setting aside the note, she nodded to Hazel, who reached into the trunk and lifted out a gown unlike anything Ahnna had ever seen.Setting it on the bed, Hazel retrieved a smaller box and handed it toher.

Inside glittered gold and emeralds and black diamonds. A crown Ahnna recognized as her mother’s—a gift from Valcotta decades past—along with matching earrings. But nestled among them was the necklace her father had given her mother. The necklace that Aren had given Lara. And that Lara, for a second time, was trying to give to her. There was another note in the box, and it said,Once, when I was lost, this helped me find my way. May it do the same for you.

Hazel had been right to hide this from her, because if Ahnna had seen it when she’d first arrived, she would have shipped it back on the next riverboat. But so much had changed. “It’s perfect.”

Alexandra reappeared. “Georgie will distract his men. Put on a hooded cloak. All of this is for nothing if Edward realizes what we are up to.”

He had to tell Ahnnathe truth.

Needed to tell her about the agreement with Cardiff before she married William so that she could make a decision of whether to wed into the family that had stabbed her in the back or return to Ithicana. His father might be willing to trick her into nuptials, but he’d not force her to say them. At least, James didn’t think he’d stoop to that level.

Rounding the corridor, he reached the door to Ahnna’s room, which had two of Georgie’s soldiers before it. “I need to speak to her.”

“His Grace’s orders are that the princess remain in her room, sir,” one of them answered.

James’s jaw tightened with anger at the reminder that Ahnna had been effectively locked in a cage. “I’m only here to speak to her.”

Elbowing one of the men aside, he knocked. “Ahnna?”

No one answered, so he knocked harder. “Ahnna?”

Still no answer. Both guards were frowning, and after extracting a key, one of them unlocked the door and opened it.

The room was empty, and on the far side, the door to the bedroom that had once belonged to Taryn was open wide.

Ahnna was gone.

“She was here,” one of the guards said. “Hazel brought her a tray of food…” He trailed off as he saw the untouched meal on the table.

Which meant Ahnna had either convinced the maid to let her out the other door, or forced Hazel to help her. But where had she gone?

And what did she intend to do?

“I’ll handle this,” he muttered. “You two check the battlements to see if she went up for air. She does not care to be confined.”

James twisted on his heel, heading in the direction of the ballroom, the music from the orchestra and the laughter of guests already filling the air.

The Sky Palace ballroom was full to the brim with nobility, everyone within riding distance having dropped everything to be here for the mysterious announcement. Men and women dressed in their finest swirled around the room. Others stood with glasses of sparkling wine in their hands, plucking delicacies from the trays held by liveried servants. The conservatory’s orchestra was playing enthusiastically, dance cards rapidly filling, but James ignored all the coy smiles sent in his direction as he searched for any sign of Ahnna. She wasn’t here either.

“I see you dressed for the occasion,” George said, appearing at James’s elbow. “My God, man, you stink like horse.”

“I’ve been busy,” he said. “Where is William? Off somewhere getting drunk?”

Georgie shrugged, then took a glass of wine from a passingservant and drained it. “I saw him this morning, and he looked pleased as punch but very sober. Do you know what this is all about?”

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