“Why don’t you just claim her as your illanté and be done with it? I had Wallen look into her family as you asked. Except for her brother, she truly has no one to return to. Would it be so wrong to keep her? Make her your ward; let the tether protect her.” When I begin to protest, Regina cuts me off. “And you’re fond of her—don’t bother trying to find a way to deny it. She reminds you of our Alice.”
I can’t deny it, and that is worrisome. I feel the lie tugging at me no matter how I try to twist the words.
“Maybe you should get to know her as Lord Ambrose?” Regina suggests. “See if she likes your true self as much as the one you created?”
What if she doesn’t?
“It’s just an idea.” Regina rises. “But believe me, the girl is lonely. If you’re what’s brought on this sadness, know there is a chance she will go looking for you in the night if you don’t do something.”
“You think she would?” I ask, uneasy.
Regina shrugs as she stands to leave my quarters.
I sit in silence for several minutes, thinking too hard.
Maybe I’ll visit Alice in the conservatory, gauge her mood myself. Surely there is no harm in that.
“Good afternoon, Your Highness,” Edalessa says as I pass her in the hall, smiling at me coquettishly.
I merely nod toward the maid and keep walking. It irritates me when the staff members use my royal title, but I refuse to tangle myself in a conversation with the maid. She’s too persistent for my liking, too calculating and driven—too much like my mother.
“Is there anything you require?” she asks, undeterred by my dismissal. “Are you going to your study? Shall I fetch tea and refreshments?”
“No, thank you,” I say curtly.
“Company then?” she asks, sidling up close.
I stop short. “Edalessa.”
“Yes?” she asks eagerly.
“You seem bored. Should I inform Regina you require more daily tasks?”
Her eyes flash. “No, my lord.”
“Very well.” I motion her down the hall, in the opposite direction I’m walking.
“Should you change your mind…” she says flirtatiously.
“I know where to find you,” I deadpan.
She’s the illegitimate niece of Lord Vamber, the gruff keeper of the northern territories, and I accepted her into my household as a personal favor to him. Even though I am no longer at court, I prefer to keep my alliances strong.
I’m not sure she’s worth the trouble, however. Edalessa has been like a harpy ever since she arrived, eager to dig her talons into me at the first sign of weakness. She would like nothing more than to elevate her position and become lady of the house.
Thankful to have shaken her, I walk into the conservatory. As always, I’m mildly surprised to find it’s so humid. I look for Alice, certain she must be here somewhere.
Drake is the only one besides Alice who frequents the room, and the vast space is nearly silent except for the fountain that bubbles in the center. It’s where I found Alice before, but she’s not here now.
I walk the stone paths that meander through the planted beds and shelves of potted plants, trying to ignore the sheer number of roses, worrying about my brother’s obsession.
Drake was the closest to young Alice, only a few years older than she. They were playmates, nearly inseparable. She was an illanté who became beloved to the royal family, treasured. Cherished.
No one knows where she came from. According to the traders, she wandered into West Faerie near the eastern border of our family’s lands, near the mountainous human territory of Fallon. Only a toddler, old enough to say simple, short sentences that were half-nonsense, she was captured and given to Mother as a gift. With her large honey eyes and teak-colored hair, she was the loveliest human child anyone had ever seen.
She said her name was Alice. She repeated it constantly, clutching hold of even Mother’s stone heart.
She lived with us for five years, not quite a sister—but never a pet.