be back.” He swung the door open and vanished, corpse in hand, into the night.
The leftover sunglow above the horizon was tinged with the blue of twilight, casting a muddy haze upon the shallow hills. The porch boards beneath Lilac’s feet creaked with warning as she stepped out into the biting air. A single white horse stood obediently next to the gate, contemplating Sable’s vegetable plot with yearning. Shrugging the cloak further onto her shoulders, Lilac took a deep breath and turned to face Sable who had been watching her intently from the doorway.
“Sable,” she started awkwardly. “I am not sure whether to thank you, or to apologize to you first.”
Taken aback, the woman seemed to blink her own thoughts away. “For what, Your Highness?”
“For everything.” She wasn’t particularly accustomed to apologizing for anything, but she needed to do so for this woman. For Freya’s mother. “For bothering you last night, for the mess on your floor… I-I’ll be sure to send funds for any reparations, right away. I’ll cover that, all of it and more.”
“Princess,” Sable interjected, squinting. “None of that bothers me. But, may I ask… What are you doing visiting Ophelia?”
Lilac’s expressive brows rose in surprise before she could catch herself. She’d forgotten Garin’s exasperated mention of the witch when they’d dealt with Renald. Despite her age, the woman didn’t miss a beat.
“She’s a bit eccentric, you know. Most magic folk keep to themselves, but Jeanare has spotted her coin tossing at the Olde Crow. Right in the middle of town!” Sable chuckled softly. “Can you imagine that? Gambling at the pub. With the men. I’ve got half the mind to join her one day.”
Fingering the embroidery at her sleeves, Lilac gulped, unsure of how to answer. She giggled nervously.
The woman studied Lilac. “Not a beauty tincture; you don’t need it… Besides, you could have had any simpleton deliver that to you at the castle for any enormous fee,” Sable continued, tapping her lower lip with her finger. “I also doubt it’s for a love potion of some sort. You don’t seem to have any issues in that area. Although, I don’t know that vampires usually take much interest in mortals, at least in this way. Not especially when your family caused their suffering.”
“It’s really nothing,” she insisted, face reddening at the woman’s shameless probing. She cleared her throat to buy herself time to think of something she couldn’t have delivered. “I’m actually interested in having my fortune done.”
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous.” Garin’s boisterous voice boomed from behind them. He’d emerged from the dark so silently that she hadn’t heard him approaching. “The princess wishes to get rid of her ability to communicate with Darklings so that the townsfolk will fawn over her again. Much like they do the Le Tallecs.” Whistling casually to himself, he passed them and sauntered in the direction of the horse.
She stared open-mouthed as he walked away. Now dressed head to toe in Renald’s spotless white and red guard uniform, he retrieved the reins from the fence and began whispering quietly to the animal, who paid him no mind.
“Thanks for the clarification,” she muttered. How could he humiliate her that way—just because her personal choice went against his own agenda?
How dare he.
Something brushed her arm, and Lilac almost flinched away. “What,” she groaned at Sable. “You too?”
Instead, the woman pressed the small wicker basket into her hand. “My dear,” Sable said firmly, releasing the basket. “There is an old saying. That any good ruler will build an empire with the same stones that were thrown at them.”
Sable stepped back, though her stern look gripped the princess. “If you ask me, that wretched Le Tallec boy cannot become king,” she insisted with sudden urgency. “Not if my grandsons and all alike are to have a fighting chance. They may be Darklings… However, they were my family all the same. I would do things differently, if given the chance.” The grief in her eyes was overwhelmingly evident.
Lilac felt the slew of apologies bubbling up again as guilt burned her hollow chest. “Sable, I don’t know what to say.”
“I wish many things for you, princess.” Sable gave a sideway glance at Garin, who leaned idly against the garden gate as if he weren’t listening. “The crown, certainly. But I do hope you decide to turn your pain into power.”
“I’ll help you find them,” Lilac said quietly as Sable shuffled toward the house. “I’ll organize a search.” With each Darkling promise she’d made, the weight of