Page 38 of Her Dark Reflection

‘Look at me,’ I urged. ‘Focus on my face.’

She blinked rapidly and fixed on me. Her hand was limp in my grasp.

‘Sometimes I have fits.’ The admission was low, wavering. Scared.

Squeezing her cold fingers, I scooted a little closer. ‘Tell me something good. Something happy.’

She shook her head, her lips pressed tightly together. ‘I can’t think of anything.’

‘Surely, there must be something. A childhood memory. Something that you treasure.’ If she would speak, I could focus on her and suffocate the scream struggling to claw its way out of me. I could see her face instead of the flashes of memory threatening to drag me somewhere I didn't want to go. I hoped she hadn’t noticed how much my hands were trembling.

Her face lit up. ‘My mother.’

‘What was she like?’ I asked as a whiff of smoke made my stomach lurch.

A ghost of a smile shivered at the corners of her mouth. ‘She knew the name of every species of bird in the gardens.’

‘That’s it. How did she know them all?’

‘She just loved birds. She couldn’t abide seeing them in cages, though. She completely dismantled the royal aviaries and had all the birds released.’

‘The king let her do that?’ I asked, raising my eyebrows. Linus was infatuated with me and gave in to most of my whims, but not without significant manipulation on my part. It would take far more handling than it was worth to convince him to let me do something like that, especially when he was so fond of his caged beasts.

‘Yes. He couldn’t say no to her. Well, that’s what Danya says.’ Her eyes fell to the cobblestones.

‘Who is Danya?’

‘My governess.’

‘You’re a bit old for a governess, aren’t you?’

The wind slammed back into us, stealing away her reply. It tore at my hair as I clutched my hat to my head, but at least I could no longer hear the screaming. We hunched lower, huddling down against the wall until the gust let up.

‘This is ridiculous,’ I grumbled, swatting at the snarls of hair now falling around my face. ‘Surely, we don’t have to stay here much longer.’

‘I’m supposed to stay until the Grand Paptich leaves,’ she said. She was hopelessly timid, this princess. Hiding away here with her eyes permanently fixed to the floor.

With me,I reminded myself with disgust.Hiding here with me. I’m no better.

‘Right, come on then.’ I climbed to my feet and dusted myself off.

‘Where are you going?’

‘To convince a carriage driver to take us back to the palace.’ Linus would be angry, but right now I didn’t give a whit. If he gave into his late wife so easily, then I’d be damned if I’d let him force me to stay in this forsaken square any longer.

This comment seemed to deflate rather than buoy her. ‘They won’t leave the square until the king does.’

‘Hogwash. There’ll be one who is open to persuasion. And if there isn’t, we’ll walk.’

She rose from the ground and smiled at me. ‘Thank you.’

Her earnestness was almost painful as she blinked at me, so hopeful with those big blue eyes. Again, I thought of the street dogs begging for food or a touch of kindness. How could such a creature have grown up at court and kept such an open expression? No wonder Linus wanted her married off. She could never rule. She’d be eaten alive.

It became obvious that the crowd was growing restless as we slipped around the wagon. The ring of soldiers was squeezing tighter, and courtiers nearby were shifting uncomfortably, their eyes fixed on the commoners instead of the pyres.

People were jeering, I realised. As I watched, a woman taunted a soldier, drawing up close to him and spitting in his face while the man behind her scratched at the dirt like a rooster sizing up an opponent. There was a flurry of movement, and the woman was pinned to the ground. The strutting cockerel launched himself at the soldier pinning her down and received a sharp jab to the face with the hilt of a sword. His head snapped back, and red sprayed the air. The jeering grew louder.

‘We need to leave,’ I yelled at the princess as a stone flew over the heads of the soldiers, before rebounding in mid-air as the magic of the weave caught it. It was followed by another, and then several more in quick succession, and I wondered how long the magic would hold. The energy of the crowd was buzzing and angry. I’d never seen anything like it before.

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