As soon as the door closed behind them, Inara sprang into action.
It didn’t take long. Everything she needed had been delivered to her apartments earlier that day, so it was all to hand. She was ready in half an hour, which was half an hour before the King and Queen were to appear at the ball.
Perfect timing.
Inara didn’t wait to be summoned. Didn’t wait to call her attendants back. She simply strode along the cold, marble hallways of the palace, past the judgmental eyes of the de Leon rulers.
She ignored them.
The double doors of the ballroom were closed, the guards stationed outside staring at her in some surprise as she approached. She gestured at them and, after a glance at each other, they pulled the doors open for her.
Inara didn’t hesitate. She strode through into the glittering light of the ballroom, surrounded by the buzz of conversation and music, the loud noise of hundreds of people all gathered in one place.
The usher by the stairs looked at her in consternation, but she only smiled. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘I’m early. Announce me anyway.’
The usher glanced behind her, as if he hoped to see the King, or anyone who might countenance this complete break with tradition, but there was only Inara. And she was the Queen.
He took a breath, then nodded and turned to the crowded ballroom.
‘Her Royal Majesty, Queen Inara of Aveiras,’ he announced loudly.
Everyone stopped talking and turned in her direction.
Inara braced herself, then started down the stairs.
‘Your Majesty, the Queen is already there.’
Cassius, in the middle of inspecting the crown he wore for official occasions, looked up. ‘What? What you do you mean, she’s already there?’
The aide looked apologetic. ‘I mean, Her Majesty arrived at the ball twenty minutes ago.’
Shock and anger twisted in Cassius’s stomach.
He and Inara were supposed to enter the ballroom together, the way they had the week before, properly announced and properly greeted. She should know that; he’d sent her the schedule days ago. Had she forgotten? She’d had difficulty with the schedules and protocols and etiquette...he knew that. But his people had assured him that the Queen had been attending their sessions and knew exactly what was expected of her.
He hadn’t monitored her personally. He’d simply let her know that these things would be required and had expected her to comply.
It was the only way. He couldn’t allow what she’d told him that day in his study to matter. He couldn’t allow it to affect him. She’d said she loved the man he’d once been and the truth of it had been there in her eyes.
But she’d been blind. That was her problem. How could she love a man that selfish, that self-centred? That flawed? A man so consumed with his own petty annoyances and ridiculous grievances that he hadn’t seen the damage he was causing.
That’s not the way she sees you and she told you that.
No. She’d told him that he’d made her feel good about herself, made her laugh. Protected her.
Punishing yourself...isn’t going to give you the legacy you’re trying to build. It’ll only end up tearing you apart.
He could still hear those words in his head, and they made even less sense now than they had at the time. He wasn’t punishing himself. He was simply doing what needed to be done.
Regardless, he couldn’t afford to think about this now. Inara was somehow going off script and he needed to get her back onto it. This was an important ball and she had to get things right if she wanted to be accepted by the people of Aveiras.
‘I’ll be there directly,’ he said in curt tones, dismissing the aide.
He didn’t bother with the crown, leaving his rooms and striding straight to the ballroom. The guards spotted him and instantly threw the doors wide.
He went on through then paused at the top of the stairs that led down into the ballroom proper, searching for Inara.
He saw her immediately and all the breath left his body. She wasn’t wearing the gown he’d commissioned or the crown of the queens of Aveiras. The gown she wore was simple and unadorned, a bias-cut slip dress in sapphire-blue satin with a very small, flowing train that fluttered behind her as she walked. Her hair was in loose silver curls down her back and, instead of the crown, there was a simple circlet of twisted silver strands studded with sapphires. On her feet she wore blue satin slippers, no heels, and on her nose were perched her glasses.