Page 9 of Legacy of Glass
“This is perfect!” Marigold jumped up and down on the spot. “It’s all decided!”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Olivia said. “Nothing has been decided. I’m not even sure what we’re talking about.”
“That you’re going to come to the ball, of course,” Marigold said.
“But, I can’t—” Olivia started before Marigold jumped in.
“You’ll come with me, wearing one of my old pairs of glass slippers. I’ll loan you a dress too! It’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about tonight anyway.” She fixed Olivia with a piercing stare. “You have to go to the ball. Please promise me you will! You can’t abandon me!”
Olivia shook her head, feeling a little dazed. There had to be reasons why Marigold’s plan wouldn’t work, but she couldn’t think of them. Not from her side, anyway. If she went to the ball with Marigold, she could avoid Nell, Hattie, and her aunt completely. And Olivia certainly wouldn’t have to worry about overshadowing Marigold. At Marigold’s side, few people would even notice Olivia was there. She would be free to enjoy the evening to her heart’s content.
“Surely your mother wants you to go with her, though,” she said, considering the matter from Marigold’s end. “I can’t imagine she wants me tagging along.”
But Marigold was already shaking her head before Olivia had even finished speaking.
“No, she’s making me go on my own this year.” Her words were far too despairing for such a mild discomfort as attending a familiar ball alone.
“How awful,” Olivia said dryly. “A short carriage ride alone before you arrive at a party full of friends and acquaintances.”
“No.” Marigold took Olivia’s hand and held it in both of hers, meeting her eyes with the most earnest expression Olivia had ever seen from her. “I won’t have any friends there unless you come. You’re my only true friend.”
Olivia’s eyebrows rose. She found that hard to believe, but she was also flattered enough not to protest.
“Promise me you’ll come,” Marigold repeated, and Olivia grinned.
“You don’t have to keep begging me. Did you really think it would be hard to convince me to dress up in a pretty gown and go to the biggest celebration of the year? Every girl back in Henton dreams about attending the Midsummer Ball at least once in her life.” Her brows creased as a thought hit her. “But is there something else going on to distress you? I hope you know you can tell me anything.”
Marigold shook her head, her face lit up with a beaming smile as she looped her arm through Olivia’s. “Now that you’re coming to the ball everything is perfect. We just have to plan what you’re going to wear!”
Chapter4
Julius
Julius jumped down from the back of his horse, still breathing heavier than usual as he handed the reins over to a stable boy. A second horse cantered up beside him, coming to a stop a few feet away.
An elegantly dressed young man with windswept hair slid to the ground and handed his own reins to a second stable boy. He watched the boy and horse retreat before turning to the prince with a raised brow.
“What’s gotten into you today, Your Highness?” he asked.
Julius threw him an irritated look. Cade knew it annoyed him when his oldest friend used his title while they were alone. Which was why Cade did it, of course.
Cade laughed and clapped Julius on the back. “See! You’re not usually so easy to rile.”
Julius grunted in response, and Cade’s brows drew together, his voice lowering. “Is it about the ball? Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts?”
Julius laughed wryly, finally goaded into speech. “I don’t have the luxury of second thoughts, do I?”
Cade’s eyes widened, and he cast a swift glance around them to ensure they were still alone. Shaking his head, he murmured. “Not out here.”
He strode toward one of the back doors of the palace, not looking to see if Julius was following. Julius hesitated for a moment before sighing and catching up with his friend. Even if he’d kept his mouth shut as he had intended, Cade would have only kept needling him. Julius had given too much away with the frantic pace of their ride. But he’d been desperate to drive out thoughts of the coming ball—and a certain face that kept haunting his mind and preventing his usual mental peace.
As soon as Cade shut the door of Julius’s private sitting room firmly behind them, Julius threw himself into one of the chairs by the row of windows. Cade just stood in the middle of the room, looking at his friend with an expectant expression.
Julius ran a hand over his face. “What do you want from me? Second thoughts? It’s not as if I ever had a choice to begin with. Sovaran princes always have arranged marriages. This is my duty, and I always do my duty.”
Cade winced sympathetically. Arranged marriages weren’t a normal fixture of the Sovaran nobility. Only Julius got to receive that particular gift.
“Your mother consulted with several of us, you know,” Cade said after a silent moment. “And she confided her final choice in me.”
