Of Blood and Roses

Chapter 25

"It's happening tomorrow. During the ball. We're getting you out."

I turned to see Sabine approaching me. She'd traded in her handmaiden's dress for a sleek dark cloak and trousers. Though she didn't have her hood drawn, the clothing cast shadows over her skin, melding in with the thick mass of her black hair. The metal of a concealed dagger glittered at her hip.

I averted my gaze. I still did not know how to talk to her or Darren. What Pierre had said hung over me. Was running away the only solution? I frowned at my thoughts. I was still in danger, still in Garnette, and no matter how much Pierre made me forget, I still had to leave. I was lucky they had found an opportunity so soon.

"I see," I said shortly, turning back to the book I had been reading. I had retired for the evening after dinner, spending the first night in my chambers in almost a week.

Sabine ignored the dismissal. I could feel her attention on me, and it made the back of my neck tingle. I swallowed. I didn't want to talk about this. Panic gripped me, urging me to dismiss her, force her away before she could say what I didn't want to hear.

"Most of the guard's attention will be on the ball. You will slip away early after Darren or I signal you, and we will get you out while everyone is distracted. We won't have another opportunity like this before your wedding date. Once we are across the border into Rosailles, we will send word to the Queen."

I closed my book, the pages snapping together with a dull thud, and I placed it on the table.

I couldn't stop avoiding this discussion. I lifted my chin, trying to seem more confident in my decision than I felt. "Perhaps I should not return."

The cult wanted me dead because they feared me, yet somehow, they had turned it around so I feared them. Running like a coward. Like I was guilty. Isn't that always what I was doing? Running away from things?

What if Pierre did do as he said he would and ask his father to have me marry him instead of Jourdon . We could expose Jourdon's terrible plans. Have him punished for his betrayal. Though it was hard to imagine Pierre taking the responsibility of Heir Apparent, I had seen a different side to him lately. Perhaps there was more of him he was hiding.

Sabine's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed. "It is not safe for you here anymore. Tonight, I am to attend another one of those vile meetings, this time the Crown Prince himself is rumored to be in attendance since he is home. Are you telling me you think it wise to prolong this charade?"

I tightened my lips. "It is cowardly to run away."

Sabine's jaw twitched and she crossed her arms. "I think rolling around in the gardens has started to make you lose your sense. I do not know what you see in Prince Pierre, but don't let him fool you. If the Aurelians won't have your head, the King will for you infidelity. And don't think for one moment that your precious Pierre will be there beside you. There is no one within these walls you can trust."

Anger prickled over my skin. The Angels sensed it, their whispers low and distant.

"How dare you judge me? You don't think I know that?" I balled my hands into fists, tearing my gaze away from hers. "A Rose Queen would not just run, she would fight. I cannot help but feel like I am letting them win." Tears prickled at my eyes, but I held them back. "I am nothing but a rose plucked from the gardens, painted and poised in an arrangement, completely powerless and at the mercy of others. That is not the way of my family, not the way of a Rose Queen."

Fabric rustled as Sabine approached, but she stopped a few feet away from me, just out of reach.

"I know," she said, her tone taking on a gentler quality from a moment ago, her irritation leaving her. "But right now, there is little we can do. We are outnumbered and I cannot allow anyone to harm you. It was a mistake coming here. Queen Laverne will see that."