BRAHM
When I finally make it back to my quarters, I sink into an armchair and bury my face in my hands.
Tonight shouldn’t have happened. I had no intention of meeting with Alice again, but then I found her hanging from the lattice. What else could I do but help her? And she looked so relieved to see me—she held on to me so tightly after I pulled her onto the balcony.
Also, I believe she suspects my identity, though that is no surprise considering how much time I’ve been spending with her.
So far, I’ve hidden myself with my magic, obscuring my features with tricks of light, making my ears appear human. But if I keep visiting her, it will only be a matter of time before even that will fail. Familiarity can see through illusion.
Maybe I could tell her.
Immediately, I dismiss the thought. It would put Alice in danger. If my mother were to get her hands on her, heaven forbid, ignorance would be the girl’s only defense.
Our queen can sense a human lie as keenly as a hunting hound can track a scent. If she believed Alice was an accomplice to my crimes…
Shuddering, I slam a door on that trail of thought. No, I can’t see her again. Tonight was the last.
I must put an end to it before this goes any further.
* * *
A week passes,and then another. True to my vow, I haven’t visited Alice again—not in the shadows and not as myself.
I sit, tapping the end of a quill to a blank piece of parchment, consumed in my thoughts as Regina rattles off household details I couldn’t care less about.
“She’s going to make herself ill,” Regina says, finally catching my attention.
I look over, frowning. “Who is?”
“Have you listened to a word I’ve said?” she demands.
“More than one.” I smirk at my cousin. “At least five, maybe even as many as ten.”
“And I thought you cared about the girl.”
I sit straighter. “Alice? What’s wrong with her?”
Regina raises her eyebrows, taking note of my reaction. “She picks at her food. She does her work, but she looks pale and listless. I don’t think she’s been sleeping. She must be homesick.”
“Homesick?”
My cousin gives me a dry look. “It’s a condition that afflicts those who are actually happy in their homes before they leave them.”
“I wonder what that must be like.”
I joke because Regina expects it, but my mind is on Alice. Surely her listlessness isn’t due to my absence. She didn’t know the masked man that well.
“She asked me a strange question, though,” Regina says as she glances over her shoulder to ensure the door is closed. “She wanted to know if the Highwayman had been caught. She said she heard the maids talking about him, and it made her nervous.”
I frown. No matter what the maids said, Alice knows I am no threat. “Why would she ask you that?”
“I think she was searching for information. Perhaps she’s worried you were apprehended?” Regina whispers. “Have you seen her recently?”
I slowly shake my head. “Not for weeks.”
“She’s attached to you,” Regina scolds. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything,” I hedge, remembering the kiss. Alice initiated that, though. “I saved her in the woods. I visited her a few times after that. I brought her the concoction I bought in Corrinmead.”