he always smiled. His vicious green cloak was the color of poison ivy leaves during the Hot Season. It crashed around his ankles as he gave Scarlett a bow so perfect not even a drop spilled from the full goblet in his hand.
Definitely another Fate.
Sweet threads of magic mingled with the excited pops of gold swirling around him.
The Lady Prisoner stopped swinging. She watched this new young Fate with a warring combination of boiling red fascination and yellow loathing as he held out his free hand and took Scarlett’s.
“It’s so lovely to meet you, Your Highness.” The rings on his fingers sparkled as he brought her knuckles to his lips and gave them a gentlemanly kiss. “We’ll be spending a lot of time together. I’m Poison.”
Scarlett immediately retracted her hand, flashing back to the immobile family she’d found during the Sun Festival.
“Seems she’s already heard your name and doesn’t like it much,” the Lady Prisoner said from her cage.
“I’ll change her mind.” Poison grinned, flashing perfectly straight teeth. “I’m going to become her greatest friend.”
“Doubtful,” Scarlett gritted out.
Poison clutched his heart, jewels glittering on his fingers. “I thought you were supposed to be kinder than your father. Whatever I’ve done to offend you, please forgive me. Otherwise it’s going to be a very tedious evening.” He held an arm out for Scarlett. “I’m here to escort you to the coronation.”
“It wasn’t merely her that I was warning.” Anissa’s voice softened by a fraction and her eyes took on that unnerving shade of white. “Torture and death are on their way.”
Scarlett shivered.
Poison held her a little closer. “Don’t fret, little star. I think all she’s saying is that it will be a dramatic party.”
Without further ceremony, Poison swept Scarlett from the room and out into the lavish halls before descending into a series of underground passages that led them from the Menagerie into the royal palace’s Golden Tower.
The Fate kept up a steady stream of chatter as they climbed and climbed to the top of the tower. Scarlett felt hot beneath her heavy dress and shimmering makeup. But Poison only grew more and more animated with each flight of stairs, as if the Lady Prisoner’s warning truly had excited him.
He didn’t stop until they were just outside the room where they were to meet her father. “I meant what I said about being friends. You might not like me, little star, but if you need me, I’ll be here.”
His charming smile slipped into something more toxic as the doors before them opened, letting them into the room where the Fallen Star waited.
Tapestries of violent wars clung to the walls while ripe yellow avarice clung to the Fallen Star. He stood in the center of a cadre of guards, muscled young women and men who must have been Valenda’s finest, but next to Gavriel they looked like children playing dress-up. The air around him was electric with sparks; his eyes were full of flames; the cape he wore flowed from his shoulders like liquid gold.
His eyes flared when she walked in. There was a flicker of pale pink surprise, the color of fragile hearts, and for a moment so fleeting it might have been Scarlett’s nerves playing tricks, she imagined he was seeing her mother.
He took her arm from Poison and walked her to the balcony. From the careful way he handled her, no one would have guessed he’d killed someone in front of her a few hours ago.
Claps and screams of joy erupted as they stepped outside. The glass courtyard below was overflowing with people. Children sat atop their parents’ shoulders, while others crowded inside fountains and climbed up trees, all of them with no idea what they were truly cheering for.
Her eyes latched on to a little boy wearing a paper crown and staring at the Fallen Star as if he just wanted to be noticed by him. Other children and adults peered at Scarlett the same way, admiring her merely because she was in a stunning gown and standing on a balcony beside the man with all the power.
Scarlett wanted to vomit. She wasn’t their princess or their savior; she was their failure. She didn’t even listen to what the Fallen Star was saying until she heard the words Paradise the Lost.
Scarlett’s focus sharpened.
“History knows Paradise as a thief and a criminal, but I knew her as my wife.” Gavriel closed his eyes and