row. Odette had sewn them herself. The orange and brown flowers embroidered on her white dress matched the ones on Theo’s black vest, and he took her hand to twirl her in the streets as they walked. It seemed like they had made up, though I wasn’t quite sure that was the case. I supposed they were getting along merely out of politeness, rather than actually solving what was between them.
Emma wore the same white dress with red embroidered flowers that I’d bought her last year, her hair woven into a headband of white roses. She looked so beautiful— I kept her as close as was proper for friends, though not near anywhere as close as I desired.
“The festival doesn’t seem as big this year,” Emma commented as she looked around. “Some of the stuff is missing.”
It was. The puppet shows and a few other competitions were gone. In their place were small cardboard shanty towns, and people holding makeshift signs asking for help. We’d passed so many homeless people on our way into the festival, and it only seemed to get worse the farther in we went to the city. It was a big sign of how quickly my cousin’s policies had changed things in Malovia.
An old woman, probably in her nineties, sat near the corner in ragged clothes. She had a thin shawl around her shoulders that would do little to shield her from the cold. She drew off the shawl to wrap it around a little girl at her side, who couldn’t be more than six. The girl held a cardboard sign that said, Please help us.
My anger burned as I observed the old sorceress and her grandchild. This woman should be living in comfort at the end of her life, not struggling to survive. She was probably one of the old pensioners that lived off the elderly social programs Malovia had, until my cousin had cruelly taken them away. As far as I could tell, she was the young girl’s only guardian. What would happen to the child once the old woman was gone?
It didn’t seem like Malovia cared. People ignored the old woman and the child as they stretched out their hands for any offering they could beg for. A few passerby muttered curses, or gave looks of disgust, like seeing their misery ruined their day.
Emma let go of my arm. She reached into her pocket to place a few gold coins of Malovian currency into the outstretched fingers of the old woman, but a police officer from the Arcanea Alliance stepped in front of her and slapped Emma’s hand away.
“No handouts,” he barked. “Panhandling is illegal.”
“How could you be so cruel?” Emma asked. “They need our help!”
“These derelicts have been warned to stay out of the city,” the officer spat, and he pulled a baton out of his belt. “Now they must pay the price.”
The officer raised his baton to strike the old woman, who cringed away. Emma shouted, “No!” and stepped in front of her, throwing out her hand. A blast of magic erupted from her fingertips and spun outward.
The officer ran head-on into one of Emma’s shields. He was thrown backward, and his body slammed against a brick wall. He moaned in pain, snarling as he got to his feet. “You little bitch, I’m gonna—”
I stepped in front of Emma. “Excuse me, but you have dared to touch the hand of my mate.”
The officer looked me up and down, unimpressed. “And why should I care?”
“I am still the prince regent, and you will show her the proper respect.” I could feel the wolf inside of me raise its hackles as I faced the officer. Alexei, Theo, and Stefan stepped beside me.
Together, we provided an intimidating front. He must’ve figured it wasn’t worth trying to take on all of us at once, so the policeman sneered. “For now.”
He turned on the old woman and the little girl. “Get out of here! If I see you around again, you’ll really get it next time!”
The old woman and the child shuffled off. The girl cried as the old woman tugged at her hand to move along. Emma’s expression burned. She went to say something, but I knew whatever was coming out of her mouth wouldn’t be good, so I cut her off before we could get into more trouble.
“I’d like to see your badge. I will be speaking to your superior,” I threatened.
The officer’s lip curled. “Do what you wish. You have no power anymore.”