Page 177 of Promise of Darkness
It’s not their fault. My mother can be a demanding mistress, and I’m sure I’ll bear the brunt of her anger for this decision, but it’s not as though she won’t find some fault in me today anyway. She always does.
Why not give her an easy target?
Andraste paces the hallway outside my room, one hand clasped negligently on the hilt of her sword. The second I open the door, she stiffens. It’s almost imperceptible, but if you know her as I do, you can see it.
“Wearing a rut in the hallway?” I muse. “Someone had a bad night.”
Judging by the shadows beneath her eyes, she fell afoul of the same batch of wine that I did.
“How do you feel?” she asks warily.
“Terrible.” I fall into place beside her. “Is there something I should be aware of? The servants looked like they wanted to leap from my bedroom window when I dressed myself, and now you’re hovering in the hallway. Is Mother in one of her moods?”
“No,” she says shortly. “She’s… quite satisfied.”
“Heads must be about to roll,” I say, rolling my eyes, and perhaps it’s my imagination, but my sister looks ill. “What? Are they?”
“Yes,” she says curtly.
“Who?”
“You’ll find out at the Queensmoot. Come on. The carriage is waiting.”
The Queensmoot?
But it’s not an equinox. That’s the only time the Alliance comes together, unless….
Major political decisions are afoot.
I catch her wrist as she turns to leave, feeling bold. “What’s going on?”
“You’ll find out.”
“Andi, please.” I hate the way my voice softens. Of all the things my mother has named my weaknesses, this one is the worst. It’s been so long since we’ve even spoken like this, and there’s a piece of me that’s desperate to use this chance to fix what cannot be fixed. “I miss you. I miss my sister. I miss these moments.”
Andraste tears her hand loose. “That wasn’t what you were saying the other night.”
“I don’t know what I was saying at the ball.” My temples are aching again. “Too much wine…. You have only yourself to blame. The last thing I recall is you handing me a glass of it.”
“You were the one who reminded me that we can never be sisters again.”
“I was drunk,” I insist.
For one long hesitant moment, she looks like she wants to throw her arms around me.
“I don’t know why we’ve been at such odds,” I press. “I miss you. I miss having an ally I can trust in this wretched court. I don’t want the crown. I never have. If you were to wear it, I would never stand in your way. I would support you, no matter what decisions you made. We could be sisters again—”
“Don’t.” She pushes past me, then pauses, clearly fighting her emotions. “Maybe you don’t remember what caused our fight, but I do. And I will never forget it.”
“Andi—”
“No,” she says fiercely, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “I won’t hear it. You’re wanted at the Queensmoot. The entire Alliance is gathering, and Mother wants you there. She wants us both there.”
Politics are afoot, if the entire Seelie Alliance has arrived.
But I can’t help trying one more time.
“I’m sorry. For whatever I’ve done that caused us such grief.”
