Page 31 of Thief of Dreams
Another lamp abruptly plunges into darkness.
Sibilant laughter whispers through the hallway, and it doesn't sound as if it comes from any sort of fae throat.
"What's wrong?" whispers the voice. "Are you frightened, Ismena?"
Ismena staggers back a step, but she's whirling round, as if she's too afraid to flee. "Guards? Guards!"
"No one's coming to save you." There's a shadowy figure at the end of the hall, and it's suddenly rushing toward the princess. "You will die alone, and nobody will give a damn because nobody cares about you."
Ismena screams and finally turns to flee.
The cloaked figure is almost upon her, lifting a knife to plunge it into her back.
I Sift into the world again, slamming into the assassin. Rolling apart, we come onto hands and knees staring at each other as Ismena bolts to safety.
And then I blink.
I'd been unsure of which princess the assassin would be, but the woman staring back at me—
"Calliope?" What in the Cauldron's name?
There's a sharp, merciless edge to her face, as if her glamour's slipped. Eyes glowing molten in the night, she bares her teeth. "Where did you come from?"
"What are you doing?" I demand, tension coiling through my body. But I already know the answer. "You killed Altrea and Narcissa."
"They deserved it."
"They were harmless," I snap. "All teeth and claws, but no bite."
She straightens with a dangerous grace, and so do I. I can't help thinking of poor Narcissa's hands, forever reaching through that wall. What a horrible way to die.
"If it had been you who met my nightmares, do you think either ofthemwould have shed a tear, worm?" she demands.
"It's just a name," I reply. "Why care what someone hateful calls you? Once this was over, I'd never have given them another thought. They were stupid and wretched andunimportant."
And perhaps they knew it, deep in their hearts.
Perhaps it's the sense of such self-doubt that causes petty princesses to try and tear each other down.
"Why?" I whisper.
None of this makes any sense, for Calliope's never shown any great interest in stealing the prince for herself.
And she was the one who told meIwas the competition.
Why kill them if they're no threat to her? Why... is she even here if she has no interest in the prince's hand in marriage?
"I am born of greatness. And I shall not suffer the likes of them looking down their noses at me." Calliope seems to grow taller. "They are nothing to me. They ought to have groveled. Instead, they earned their fate when they sneered."
Greatness? What is wrong with her? "Why are your eyes glowing?" I whisper.
"Because it's waking," she whispers, shadows stretching out behind her like wings.
"What's waking?"
"You don't want to find out. Get out of here. I don't want to have to hurt you. You have done me some kindness these past few days. I remember."
"But the other princesses are fair game?"
