had labored so meticulously over my appearance, I didn’t want to ruin anything.
A clamor had arisen minutes earlier, with shouts and the pounding of steps in the corridor outside my chamber. Guards had appeared at my door, demanding that I accompany them. Though the maidservants complained that they needed more time, the guards had insisted, urgency marking their commands.
Now as we walked, the sconces lit the way through the long passageway, revealing stone walls and the same dark log ceiling beams that had been a part of the architecture of every room. Though I wasn’t familiar with Queen Margery’s royal residences, I’d long since guessed she’d brought me to one of her hunting lodges, likely the one at Boarshead Hunting Ground closest to Mercia’s border.
Earlier, I’d marveled when I stood in front of the looking glass and examined my reflection. Though I’d glimpsed myself in the small mirror amongst my possessions at the cottage, I’d never seen myself in full, and certainly never so grandly attired.
After wearing simple peasant garb my whole life, the cascading layers of the rich blue skirt were heavy, almost cumbersome, the bodice tight and constricting, and the jewels heavy in my ears and hair. I would grow accustomed to such fancy attire eventually, but the contrast to my previous life made me wish for Kresten all the more.
A door opened abruptly to one side, and a girl darted into the middle of the corridor, forcing us to stop. “Aurora?”
A giant-of-a-guard from within her chamber rushed after her. “Your Highness, you know you’re not allowed out.”
“Please, just one moment.” She smiled gently up at the man, who hesitated before he bowed his head.
I examined the girl, noting the resemblance to Queen Margery in her dark hair and green eyes. Rather than a slender build, she was stockier with a wider girth and broader face. Her features were comely but not dainty.
“Aurora, I am Ruby, your cousin.”
“Ah, yes.” Queen Margery had two daughters—Pearl, who was around my age, and Princess Ruby, her youngest child. I guessed her to be twelve or perhaps thirteen years. Before I could formulate the proper introduction in return, she tugged me from the corridor into her chamber, slammed the door closed behind her, and swiftly bolted it.
The guards we’d left behind began shouting and pounding.
Ruby grabbed my hands and dragged me across the room. “We must escape now. Through the window.”
The shutters on the window ahead were wide open. Though too high for me to see outside, I could hear the shouts of more soldiers in the distance. I resisted Ruby’s hold, drawing to a stop even as she continued to tug at me. “I do not believe your mother means me harm.”
Ruby’s eyes were frantic. “Mark my words, she intends to slay you.”
I smoothed a hand over the silky skirt. “’Tis possible she intends to bargain for me, gaining the keys to the ancient treasure she has always wanted.” ’Twas the conclusion I’d arrived at for why the queen had ordered such care be taken with my appearance. When the liaisons from Mercia’s court arrived, she wanted them to see me as a regal queen, one worthy of trading for the keys.
The banging against the door intensified.
“No, Aurora.” Ruby wrestled with me again, but I resisted, and she only moved me mere inches. “My mother wants your heart for her alchemy.”
A shiver raced up my spine. “My heart?”
“She could not get Pearl’s, though she desperately tried. And now you are her last hope.”
The news of Queen Margery’s attempts at alchemy didn’t surprise me. My whole life I’d known she was experimenting with the white stone she’d inherited. However, I hadn’t expected she’d become so twisted in her experimentations that she’d consider murdering her own daughter. Poor Pearl.
The ramming from the guards rattled the walls and shifted the hinges. Did the guards intend to break down the door to retrieve me?
“But why go to all this trouble if she plans to slay me?” I motioned toward myself, indicating the lovely ringlets that cascaded with jewels.
“She must have the heart of the fairest royal maiden in all the land for the alchemy to work. She is ensuring that you are indeed the fairest.”
I didn’t want to believe Ruby, but the earnestness in her tone and the pleading in her eyes left no doubt of her truthfulness. I needed no further urging. I didn’t know all the details, nor did I need to know. My cousin was offering me an escape, and I must