Vivi cheered wildly. Princess Rhyia, one of Cardan’s sisters and a friend of Vivi’s, looked on with the delight of a hunter watching the dance of predator and prey. I clutched my hands together in dread.
After the tournament, I rushed from the stands, sick with worry.
But Prince Cardan had already found you. He’d grabbed you by your hair and was snarling into your face.
You’d been too good out there. Anyone could see that. Just like anyone could see why he hadn’t wanted you to compete in the first place. You were mortal. You weren’t supposed to best the children of the High Court, no less make it look easy.
“There’s nothing you can do,” Locke said, coming up behind me.
“He is going to hurt her,” I said, glancing back at Princess Rhyia, hoping she might intercede. But we were far from the stands and she was in deep conversation with my sister anyway, barely glancing in our direction.
“He’s a prince of Faerie,” Locke reminded me. “And Jude—well, let’s watch and see what she is.”
“Beg,” Prince Cardan ordered you. “Make it pretty. Flowery. Worthy of me.”
For a moment, you looked like you might.
Locke’s eyes were alive with interest.
“Why are you looking at Jude like that?” I asked.
“I can’t help it,” he said, never taking his gaze from you. “I’m drawn to trouble.”
I recalled what he’d said about jealousy being a spice, about giving up mortal ways and qualms.
Locke left me there. He left me and walked over to you. My sister. My impulsive twin who seemed to be willing to make every stupid choice in the world.
The one with the tale that was still unfolding.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry. This is supposed to be an apology. I made a lot of bad choices. I know that.
You were tired of being picked on, tired of bowing your head to them. You were probably tired of being tired. I get that. But it made it extra hard to keep on bowing my head when I was the only one.
And Locke. Locke saw me differently than anyone had seen me before. He’d given me a taste of what it was to love, to want, to desire. And it made me hungry for more. I didn’t want to give it up.
That doesn’t justify what I did, though.
“Come riding with us,” Vivi said, indicating Princess Rhyia. Even though she was royalty, her chief joy was riding out in the forest, hunting with her companions. I believe Vivi and Rhyia were drawn together by a mutual lack of interest in propriety.