Page 75 of The Assassin's Dancer
“Here, take this.” She fishes out a small bundle of leaves and shoves it into my hand. “So you can crush it into whatever fancy tea you drink back at home.”
“What is it?” I ask, studying the bundle.
“Seriously?” Meera narrows her eyes. “It’s the herb.”
I look at her as if she’s speaking another language.
“Shit, do they teach you nothing in the palace?” She exhales, frustrated. Then her hand grabs my elbow as she continues to pull me down the street. “You see, Ami, when a man and a woman love each other very much?—”
“I know what sex is!” I squeak.
Meera chuckles. “After what I heard last night, I’m inclined to believe you.”
Oh Stars…
“Basically,” Meera continues, “would you like to be waddling around the palace in a few months, pregnant with a little baby Kasimir?”
My eyes widen. “WHAT?”
“Didn’t think so,” she laughs. “So crush up those leaves and take them with tea as soon as you get home.” Half-joking she adds, “Unless you want your firstborn to call me Auntie Meera.”
Meera just chuckles while my stomach twists itself into knots.
I know how babies are made. I’m not a complete fool. Father sat me down and gave me the talk years ago. But he failed to mention that a pregnancy could ever happen outside of marriage. Then again, he also told me it was forbidden to lose your virtue to anyone but your husband.
And Kasimir is certainly not my husband. He’s barely even a friend.
“You know what, Ami. I actually like you.” Meera’s voice cuts through my racing thoughts. “You might be a bit stuck-up, but you’ve got spirit. At least more than I was expecting from a princess. Perhaps in another life we’d have been friends.” She passes me a small smile that does little to calm my nerves.
“I know what you’re trying to say,” I mumble. “I shouldn’t have come.”
“You belong in a palace,” she sighs. “While people like Kaz and I, we belong here. It’s a different world for us.”
We pause just before the forest behind Father’s palace. But the trees have never looked less welcoming.
Meera stops beside me, dropping her voice to a serious tone. “You have to promise me you won’t come back to Night Alley. If not for your own sake, then for Kasimir’s.”
My heart sinks. “I understand what you’re saying, and I know you’re right.” Turning away from the forest, I take one last look at the dirty high street. “It was a mistake to ever come here.”
26
AMARYLLIS
Imake it back to the palace shortly before noon, and as I walk through the main doors, I’m greeted by a wave of bewildered guards and servants.
Their shocked faces don’t surprise me. After all, I have been missing for more than a day. But the words that come out of their mouths are a little unexpected…
Some servants are relieved to see me looking so well after my mysterious illness. Others insist that my new haircut is in fact fine and that I look just as lovely as usual. One guard even wished me his condolences for my deceased pet parrot.
When I finally get away from the crowd, I charge towards my bedchamber. I expected, at some point on my journey, to be accosted by a servant who’d whisk me away to Father. But anyone who passed me only dipped their heads and gave me another bizarre reason why they believed I was missing.
No one was angry, or betrayed, or hurt. And none of this made any sense at all until I pushed open my flower-decorated door and swung it shut behind me. There, I catch sight of my third sister, lounging on my bed with her nose in one of my naughtiest books as she helps herself to a plate of biscuits.
Suddenly, all the bizarre rumours make sense.
“Care to explain why you’re in my room?” I call out to her.
“Ami!” Dahlia gasps, dropping my book as she bolts upright on the bed. “You’re back!”
