Page 111 of The Assassin's Dancer
My sisters gasp behind him.
“If you agree, I’ll take you away from here. I’ll make it look like someone broke in and killed you both. Your father will never know you’re still alive, assuming your sisters don’t go snitching.” He shoots them a glare, but they’re too busy watching me to notice.
“I…” My chest warms at the thought. But then I catch sight of Blossom’s tear-stained face. I can’t leave her. My gaze flicks to Eden, then Dahlia as she scowls. I can’t leave any of them. They need me. They?—
“Go with him,” Blossom says.
“What?” I stutter.
“Go with him, or I’ll make you.” She glares at me.
“But I can’t leave you all. Father isn’t what he seems. He’s not a good man. He doesn’t love us. He?—”
“I know.” Dahlia shrugs. “I think all of us have always known – apart from you, apparently.” She narrows her eyes. “But you were always his favourite. At least, until you grew up.”
Sadness blurs my vision. He loved me once. I’m sure he did. But I suppose it’s much easier to love a little girl who doesn’t have opinions and looks at you as though you’re the sun.
It hurts that I thought I never really stopped looking at him like that. Until today.
“There’s nothing we can do about Father now,” Dahlia explains, marching towards me. “You have to get out of here, Ami. I love you, but after what Father did, it’s not safe for you here any more.”
“It’s not safe for you either!” I take her small hand. “What if something happens and I’m not here to protect you?”
“There are still eleven of us left.” Blossom steps forward, the pink skirt of her gown dipping into Orion’s blood. “You think too highly of yourself if you think weneedyou to protect all of us.” Her tone is firm, stronger than I’ve ever heard her speak. “Go with the Scorpion,” she orders. “The best thing you can do for us now is save yourself.”
Kasimir steps forward to take my hand. “There’s not much time, Amaryllis. You have to decide.”
I meet his gaze, then Blossom’s, Dahlia’s, and Eden’s, before glancing at the door one final time and thinking of my eight other sisters, probably hiding in Camellia’s room and worrying about me.
My eyes water. “I’ll go,” I whisper, turning to Kasimir. “Please… take me home.”
38
KASIMIR
Moonlight trickles in through the gaps in the hedgerow, along with the occasional excited shriek. Beside me, Ruby grips my hand. She’s shaking. But I can’t tell if it’s from nerves or excitement. Judging by the tremor in her voice, probably both.
“It’s been a month since I’ve seen them all,” she babbles. “What if they don’t like me any more?”
“They’re your sisters. Of course they’ll still like you.” I brush my fingers over the back of her hand.
“But I never got to say goodbye to the younger girls. Camellia and Fern too!” She fidgets with the ties on her lace bodice. “And then the entire palace thought I was dead… They even held a funeral for me! It must’ve been so awful for them.”
I loosen my grip on her hand and wrap my arm around her shoulders, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. She cares way too much about those girls. Then again, the sheer number of floral-scented envelopes that’ve been shoved through my front door this past month shows they care just as much.
“Everything will be fine,” I tell her.
Before Ruby can argue, a rustling comes from the hedgerow. My muscles tense as her grip on my hand tightens – but then a grinning face pops out from the leaves.
“All clear,” Meera says. “I’ve distracted the guards. You’ve got about twenty minutes before we need to get you both out of there.” She glances at Ruby. “Just try to keep the girls quiet, if you can.”
I want to laugh at her impossible request, but Ruby’s pulling me through the curtain of leaves before I can even say thank you.
The dance circle appears before us. Moonlight spills onto the stone floor, making the tiles glow like the stars in the midnight sky. Beside me, Ruby lets out a relieved sigh, but I can barely hear her over the squeals of her sisters. All of them charge towards her in their puffy, multicoloured dance gowns.
“Ami!” Camellia reaches her first. “Thank the Stars you’re alright!” She throws her arms around Ruby while the rest of the girls crowd around her.
“How are you feeling?” Heather asks. “Did that awful prince hurt you anywhere?”
