surprised when he doesn’t flinch away. The dress is in a choke hold in my leather-clad fist. “I can dress myself. There’s no need for you to be here.”
“I only just took an iron to that, Lady Renata,” the boy tells me, gently removing the dress from my hands.
“I’m not a lady,” I say again.
“That may be so, but I must still treat you as one.”
“Because Justice Méndez asked you to.”
The boy gives a little shake of his head. One of his curls falls out of place and lands over his forehead like a tendril of smoke, or a very tiny snake. “You must know more than anyone that Justice Méndez doesn’t ask for anything. Now, please, let us dress before we feast. You must look your best for the king.”
He takes long, sure strides away from me and through a door leading to the dressing room where he’s already set out perfumes, combs, and brooches. Did I really sleep through the rattle of keys and the heavy tread of his boots? Margo might’ve been right. I have no business being a spy.
“What are you doing?” I say, impatiently following him.
“You see, Lady Renata,” he starts. “There is most certainly a need for me to be here. Your injured hands leave you practically indisposed. The justice has entrusted me, Leonardo Almarada, with your care. You wouldn’t want him to be upset with me, would you?”
“Actually, I’m wondering what you did wrong that you’d be sent to attend someone like me.”
His mouth twitches and his jaw muscles tighten. His sharp green eyes hone in on me. “I’ll have you know I am quite good at my job. I have an incredible amount of patience. When I was a stage actor, I trained a dozen larks to sing to accompany my musical number. Pity there’s not much work these days.”
“I don’t sing,” I say, and do my best to frown. To put him off and scare him away like the girls last night.
“I’m sure that is best for us all,” he says. “Now, let’s get to it.”
He holds the dress by the shoulders, a ridiculous smile playing on his lips because he knows I can’t do this on my own. There are at least two dozen unnecessary buttons on the back, and my wretched hand is still swollen and red. A voice that sounds remarkably like Dez’s whispers in my head. Think of the advantage. If Méndez chose him to attend me, then that means he trusts him. The justice might not know he’s given me a gift. Even if he does sing this early in the morning.
“Fine, Leonardo.”
He gives me a small bow. A warm, devastating smile. “You can call me Leo.”
I keep my eye on the sun traveling across the sky while Leo works to ready me for an audience with King Fernando. There are pots of powders and glistening liquids that make my cheeks rouged and lips blushed. He finishes it all by spraying a pungent perfume that reminds me of bitter oranges. The nobles pay a high price for these scents, imitations of a world they experience at a distance, but one I know all too well. It makes me miss the fields behind the cloisters. The smell of earth in the hot springs. Dirt under my fingernails. The forest before and after the rain. Grass on sweet, sweaty skin.
“There we are,” he says, most pleased with himself.
Who are you? I want to ask the reflection looking back at me. She’s cleaner, more polished than I’ve been in years. The silk skirt ripples on the ground like the ruby lake in the middle of Citadela Tresoros. The red corset makes me look longer and digs into my ribs. The black velvet cloak feels like wings at my back.
“Do you like it?” Leo asks from behind me, smoothing out a wrinkle.
I meet his eyes in the mirror. Leo’s thick lashes seem impossibly long and dark, and there’s a slight flutter there. Why would he care if I like it or not?
When I don’t say anything, Leo continues, “I’ve highlighted your best features to please the king and the justice.”
He is very good at filling the air with his words. I bet he can make anyone feel at ease. He and Dez would have been fast friends. I panic at the thought of Dez, fearing it’ll make me spiral again.
And for that reason, I ask, “And what, pray tell, are my best features?”
“It’s hard to choose,” Leo says, without a