between the far doors and Cosmo.
"I wouldn't," he said, but when we all remained staring at him, he frowned. "She may…she may have to abdicate the throne. Or she may be able to convince the crown to give up the notion of the Hunger."
Aric scoffed at that suggestion. "The Hunger has reigned in this kingdom for hundreds of years, excusing the royals from any responsibility to their people."
"And now you have a princess who does not possess it," Thao spat back. "If it exists at all."
Aric and Cosmo frowned at one another, and I glared at them both. "What? What does that look mean?" I asked.
"We were both…present for Camellia's second choosing. She…" Cosmo trailed off, and Aric continued.
"She's a beast possessed, is what she is. Either by the Hunger or her own whims, who knows. But if the queen wants to keep the Hunger, she has the perfect daughter in the younger of the two. Pope is right. They'll toss that little flower right out onto the doorstep to greet her starving people," Aric finished, his eyes drifting back to the closed door, a line furrowing on his brow.
4
Bryony
You failed.
You failed at the Hunger, which might as well be made up.
Kimmery is failing its people.
Can I be as I am and do any better for the kingdom?
Around and around the thoughts turned. I was curled in the window seat of my personal study, staring down at the rose gardens in full bloom, the fountains bubbling under moonlight, until the moon was sliding behind my grandmother's turret and the sun was turning the water pink with dawn. And I had made no real decision, only worn my lip bruised with worrying. At the very edge of the horizon, the Coraletti Sea was a shimmering line. I'd never wondered why the castle seemed to face south, but now I understood, all our faults lay in the other direction. Who carried the cost of my favorite view? Were my people really suffering as they said, or was that only what my grandmother would call a commoner's right to unrest?
My eyes strayed to my bedroom door, and I wondered what the men I'd left there had done. Was it too late to ask them to fake some kind of debauchery? Could I just carry on pretending like I had for most of my life? Could I ask those men to give up their lives for that kind of charade?
Knock knock knock.
I startled on the bench at the alert and my tired eyes widened.
"Princess, it is—it is Thao," the soft voice whispered through the door. "May we speak?"
My legs were stiff as I unfolded them, stretching up from my nest of pillows and cool window panes, heading for the door. I ran my fingers across the pale velvet of my settee, a reassuring touch to ground myself before reaching the door and turning the key in the lock. I opened it, and my eyes trailed past Thao and into the room. Aric Martin was asleep on the chaise, hunched under his own coat with his back to me. In my bed, Owen and Cosmo lay sleeping, sprawled out in the sheets, mismatched curls over their faces.
Wendell Pope was awake and hovering by Thao's side, the pair of them looking as restless as I was.
"I haven't really made a decision," I admitted.
Wendell, who was a little taller than the prince, set his hand on Thao's shoulder. "Actually, we felt we owed you an explanation."
My heart hammered briefly. Another revelation was the last thing I wanted to deal with, especially so early in the morning. But I stepped back, and Thao and Wendell were quick to squeeze their way in through the parted door, Thao taking it from me and closing it behind himself, my eyebrows jumping at his forwardness.
"If you're about to try and seduce me—" I started. Wendell had been a little pushy the night before, at least compared to Owen or Cosmo. Especially compared to Aric, who'd barely bothered to hide his absolute loathing of me when he wasn't cradling me in his arms.
"Not at all, princess," Wendell said, stepping and bowing again. "In fact, I wanted to explain why I was so…insistent on being one of your Chosen."
I sighed and nodded, moving to my couch and gesturing for them to take the chairs. "Very well. It might be moot at this point. I'm not sure that a princess without the Hunger even needs Chosen."
Wendell and Thao both fidgeted their way into a