Page 77 of Kingdom of Dance

“Well, my answer is the same as ever,” Obsidian grumbled.

His mother made no answer, serenely eating her soup at last. She seemed genuinely untroubled by the intrusion into her privacy, so Obsidian decided to let it go for the moment. But next time opportunity offered, he’d be having a word with Master Enchanter Hughes about keeping his interfering nose out of Obsidian’s life.

Chapter Eighteen

Zinnia stared blankly into the ocean, feeling nothing in particular. She didn’t have the energy for emotion these days.

Every night. Idric had called the princesses into the underground cavern every night since Obsidian went away.

Why she was counting time according to the soldier’s presence or absence, she didn’t care to examine. She felt a flicker of irritation, a welcome spot of color in the gray fog that was her mind. It had been incredibly thoughtless of him to leave without a word after the intensity of what they’d experienced that night. Would it really have cost so much to say goodbye to her, let her know he was going on a journey?

She knew he hadn’t just gone home, because when his absence had been noted, Basil had announced lightly that he’d sent him on an errand. But it had been a week, and there was still no sign of Obsidian. Zinnia began to wonder whether he was coming back at all. Perhaps his uncovering of her illicit excursions into the city had satisfied the task Basil had given him.

That’s not the secret!she wanted to shout at the absent enchanter.That’s not what you need to be figuring out!

But what was the use? Obsidian wasn’t there to hear her, and even if he had been, she wasn’t free to speak. Her mind drifted back into listlessness.

“Zinnia? Are you all right?”

She turned to see Violet approaching across the sand, looking worried. The younger princess kicked off her boots with difficulty—none of them had a pair of serviceable slippers left to them—and waded unhesitatingly through the shallows to join Zinnia on her rock.

“I’m fine,” Zinnia told her sister, the lie tasting bitter as it left her mouth.

“No, you’re not.” Violet searched her eyes in concern. “I’ve never seen you so depressed. I know you’ve never really liked Idric and his balls. Is that what has you down? I’ll admit, even for me, it’s getting a bit much. The younger ones are so exhausted—I don’t think we can go on this way, with a celebration every night.”

“Celebration,” Zinnia repeated hollowly. She winced as she shifted on the rock. Her whole body felt battered from Idric’s repeated assaults, and her mind was no less exhausted.

“Or is it because the lieutenant is away?” Violet asked, her voice a little sly.

“What?” Zinnia’s head whipped around. “What do you mean? Why should I care about that?”

Violet gave her an unimpressed look. “Don’t play dumb with me, Zin. Don’t try to pretend there isn’t something there.”

“What?” Zinnia demanded. “What’s supposedly there?”

Violet shrugged, unconcerned by her sister’s wrath. “I don’t know. But something. He watches you all the time, and even though you try to hide it, I can tell that you’re always aware of where he is.”

Zinnia felt her face heat, for a moment unable to find anything to say.

“It’s not that,” she said stiffly. “It’s Idric.”

“Is he really so bad?” Violet asked curiously. “I know it must be difficult for you, being the only one who feels the compulsion. I probably wouldn’t like feeling like I didn’t have a choice, either. But it’s not like it’s something bad that you’re being forced to do. I mean, who wouldn’t want to go to a fabulous ball?”

Zinnia searched her sister’s eyes. “What if it wasn’t something good, though? What if it was bad, and we just didn’t know it?”

Violet looked utterly confused. “How would we not know it? You suspect him of some ulterior motive?”

Zinnia let out a hollow laugh. “No,” she said bitterly. “I don’tsuspecthim of anything.”

She beat back the sudden temptation she’d felt to try to convince Violet of the truth. What would that gain? It wouldn’t make Zinnia happy. It would just make her sister miserable along with her.

“Do you think there will be another one tonight?” Violet asked thoughtfully.

“Yes.” Zinnia was sure of it. “I think it will be every night now, until…”

“Until what?”

Zinnia shook her head. She’d already chosen her course. It would just be cruel to tell Violet now about the impending disaster coming upon them all, when they were powerless to stop it. But it was clear from Idric’s demeanor that he was building to something specific now. He’d started mingling with her sisters more, asking them searching questions about the family and the kingdom. They all answered blithely, no suspicion in their magically deluded minds that he was gathering information for an attack.

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