Page 115 of House of the Raven
“I don’t hate the fae or the Romani.” I think of warning her to keep her mouth shut about my fae blood, but Jago is right. No one will believe her even if she scatters the truth to the four winds.
“Since your father died everything is worse. We’re hungry, and the veilfallen and their chaos isn’t helping things,” Esmeralda says.
Is it? I have no idea. I’ve been too busy trying to figure out who killed him, trying to unravel what’s going on with my sister. But what does Esmeralda know or care about that? I’m wasting my time. She would never understand the poor, rich princess.
I turn away from her and start to leave. “I’m wasting my time.” She can stay in this dungeon until I remember she exists.
“I regretted it right away,” she says.
My foot freezes mid-step.
“I haven’t even been able to spend the money that guard gave me.” She lets out a mirthless laugh, then collapses on the stained cot by her side and peers at me sideways. “Be careful princess, El Gran Místico asked me to deliver a message.”
Something in her voice is like a command to the hairs on my arms to stand on end. With a shiver, I meet her eyes. “What message?”
“Danger lurks. Ready yourself.” She glances away and stares at the wall, seemingly resigned to whatever fate I’ve decided for her.
The shiver bleeds into my bones, and I feel ready to break.
“Danger lurks, Val,”Bastien’s voice echoes in my mind alongside Esmeralda’s. “I can feel it in the air. Ready yourself.”
An unsettling feeling of foreboding washes over me like cold water. Hastily, I leave the dungeon, Jago following closely. Bastien waits beyond the outer hall and stands at attention when we approach. The direction of his gaze changes several times, but it never comes my way.
Once we are out of earshot from the dungeon guards I turn to Jago. “Let her go.”
“What? It wasn’t easy to catch her,” he protests.
“Just let her go.” I leave him there, Esmeralda’s words still echoing in my mind.
Danger lurks. Ready yourself.
Ready myself. How?! What canIdo?
The answer begins to creep into my thoughts, and I avert my gaze from it. It feels like everything and everyone is pushing me toward The Eldrystone. But if I trust my instincts, if I heed my intuition as Father taught me, I will keep my distance from that amulet. Doing otherwise feels like tempting fate.
35
VALERIA
“Amira, Valeria, and Jago are the children I never had.”
Serena de la Aguila - Royal Governess - 12 AV
Danger lurks. Ready yourself.
I sit in my bathtub, arms wrapped tightly around my legs, chin resting on my knees. The water has gone cold, but I barely notice.
When a shiver runs up my spine, I climb out and dry myself. Draped in a towel, I make my way to the closet, where an immense dress dominates most of the space. A wooden mannequin holds it in place, preserving its pristine condition and preventing it from creasing.
The seamstress declared it her masterpiece, second only to my wedding dress, which she has already started. I whirl away from it, mad that the whole affair is for Don Justo’s benefit.
I will have to stand by him, talk to him, dance with him, pretend that he means something when all I feel is contempt.
The towel falls to the floor as I pick a silk nightgown and pull it over my head. The fabric caresses my skin causing goosebumps to break out. I rub my arms, feeling strangely sensitive even to my own touch. I let out a shaky breath and walk to my bed. My hand freezes as I pullback the sheets. I stand there, unmoving, for several minutes, trying to understand the feverish sensation that seems to roll over my body like sun-warmed water rolls over the beach.
The memory of Bastien’s lips on my collarbone and his large hand on my breast appears before my eyes.
“If you find someone who makes you feel star bursts, you go for it, little sister.”
