Page 58 of The Arrow and the Alder

Seph’s gaze flickered to the bed. Nistarra hadn’t broughtherclothing; she’d delivered an exquisite silvery gown.

How charitable of her.

“I was expecting to speak with the enchantress first,” Seph said tightly.

“Unfortunately, there is no time,” she replied as if this wasn’t unfortunate at all. “Do you need my help getting dressed?”

“I…no.”

“Then I will return shortly.” Nistarra bowed and took her leave.

“Wait, but how should I—”prepare, Seph had meant to ask, but the door closed, and Seph was alone.

She sighed and tilted her head back against the chair, eyeing the slip of fabric Nistarra had draped across her bed.

This wasn’t a gown. This was a declaration.

One Sephwas notready to make.

She was still just trying to come to terms with who her grandfather was.

Seph ground her teeth and looked at the tray instead. Nistarra had left bread, some cheese, and a flagon of—Seph picked it up and sniffed—water, thank the saints. She needed food, but she didn’t feel like eating. Still, she forced herself to take a few bites of cheese, washed it down with water, then padded over to the bed.

The gown glared up at her.

And itwasbeautiful, like a shaft of moonlight, narrow and sleeveless. The neckline plunged lower than Seph liked, though a delicate clasp kept it from being indecent. Seph touched the shimmering fabric. She’d never felt anything so soft, so dainty or so…thin.

“Not even a conversation,” Seph murmured to the one who had not visited her, as promised. Seph didn’t want to wear this. She didn’t want to be what Abecka wanted her to be. Shecouldn’t. She had her own family, her own responsibilities. And besides, what did she know of the kith way of life?

But Nistarra would come back, and Seph could not face Velentis in her nightdress. She wished she didn’t have to face Abecka and her elders at all, but there was nowhere for her to run or hide down here.

Seph was just putting on the slippers Nistarra had left when the priestess returned. She appraised Seph, then—without preamble—pulled a thin circlet from behind her back and lifted it to place upon Seph’s head.

“No…” Seph ducked and stepped away.

“It wasn’t a question.”

“I won’t wear it.”

The priestess eyed her with disapproval. “Enchantress Abecka insists.”

“Then she should have come and told me herself.”

Nistarra’s lips pursed. She stared down Seph, but Seph stared boldly back. At last, the priestess sighed and tucked the circlet into the folds of her gown. Her gaze snagged on the ring resting upon Seph’s sternum, totally exposed due to the gown’s plunging neckline. Seph expected the priestess to make her take it off, and she was surprised when she simply said, “Follow me.”

Seph took a deep breath and strode after the priestess, along the maze of pathways and bridges, and decided she would have liked a coat. Her gown didn’t offer much protection against the drafts and chilled air, and she wasn’t comfortable with so much skin visible—especially as more and more kith gathered to see her. Which was also when Seph spied a little girl with purple eyes bolting in and out of the throng.

The girl followed Seph all the way to a pair of enormous mahogany doors overlaid with an intricate metalwork of twisting silver vines. Guards pushed the doors in as the priestess asked Seph to wait. A moment later, Seph was following the priestess into an enormous atrium with vaulted ceilings, far larger than the one they’d visited last night, and it looked as though all of Velentis had gathered. Silver and emerald green. Light and Weald. A dull murmur filled the cavernous space, and so many bodies made for a lot of heat—which Seph might have been grateful for, but right then, it just felt suffocating.

All these people. All these eyes and expectations, when all Seph wanted was to go back to Harran, to Nora and Mama and Linnea, but Abecka had made it very clear that was impossible.

Speaking of, where was the enchantress?

Seph scanned the room and spotted Abecka at the front of it, standing upon a small platform next to three kith—one male and two females—all dressed in the colors of Light. In front of the platform stood Serinbor, Evora, and some tall, broad-shouldered, and imposing man?—

Wait.

Seph’s next step hitched. She hadn’t recognized Alder at first without his wild hair and shabby clothing. That wasn’t to say that he did not haveanyhair, but his face had been shaved clean, his wild hair trimmed so that it was short and neat at the neck and ears but left longer on top, where it tumbled back in glossy black waves. Bestial beard had given way to strong bones and a rigid jaw, marked by a defiant indentation at its center. His lips were larger than she’d expected, full and pink and set with irony, and Seph thought thatthiswas the prince who had earned his infamous reputation. This was the prince who had charmed so many into overlooking his sins.

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