The White Sheep's Disguise ✓

Chapter 40

"Marie!"

My eyes flutter open. The opposite wall of my small room in the palace comes into view, along with a cluttered stack of parchment and a cracked ink well. I dropped it last week. The thick blanket provided to me by Gustus wraps tightly around my legs and hides underneath the bend of my chin, clutched in two fists.

Did someone call my name?

The crack underneath my door is completely dark; the sun hasn't risen yet. The day hasn't begun. Perhaps it's my mind playing tricks on me—

"Marie!"

There's no mistaking it this time. A slurred voice echoes down the hall of the empty servant passageways and I grab the knife out from underneath my pillow and clutch it behind my back, tossing the blanket aside. It hits the wall, sending my stack of clothes into disarray. There isn't enough room in here for me to breathe, let alone keep decent care of the belongings Gustus forces into my arms. I have enough, but he doesn't listen when I claim that to be the case.

Someone stumbles and curses underneath their breath. The wall near my door shakes against their pressed shoulder. I huddle into the dark, clutching that knife close, and wait for their drunken figure to pass. Go for the throat and eyes first. Then the groin. Run like hell.

Cloak's voice plays over and over again in my head, instructing me clearly what I need to do. Murder cannot be undone, so if you don't wish to kill, resort to that as the last option. If he has you pinned and you cannot escape, do whatever it takes to get yourself free.

Their shuffling feet pass as a shadow by my door before continuing on. I have to know who it is. I wait until they're at the end of the hall and crack the door open, discovering a shadowed, slumping figure opening the door of an empty room. They peek their head in, continuing an empty string of mumbling, and slam the door shut. The walls rattle.

From the windows on the opposite wall, the moon illuminates his face. I step out from the doorway. "Cloak?" I call, hoping my mind isn't deciding to contort my memory of him now.

I brush out the wrinkles of the nightgown that falls to my ankles like a shapeless sheet. Cloak turns, ever so slowly, and spots me there—utterly alone in front of a propped open door. He is nothing to fear; I discard the knife onto my desk and rush back out.

"Cloak, what's wrong?" I ask as he approaches me.

His breath follows his body, smelling strongly of fresh alcohol. I frown to the best of my ability, but my nerves wash with what could be wrong. Has he reached the end of the line? Does he realize I'm not doing a decent enough job?

As if I'm not there at all, Cloak slides past me and through the open doorway. He shoves the door aside, nearly knocking it against the wall and shattering it to pieces. I follow in after him, kicking clothes and trinkets out of the way to shut that wide-open door. There isn't nearly enough room for the two of us. Cloak plops down onto my cot, forcing the fabric to moan and stretch to accommodate the change in weight.

Cold stone seeps into my back from the wall I press against. It's the only place I can go without our knees knocking into each other. My elbow hits the adjacent wall, tingling to my fingers. I have nowhere to go. My mind can't process what he might be doing here, or what thoughts fly through his own head. All I know is that there isn't enough room in this small room for the two of us, especially with his hulking mass.

He stares at the wall, as if in a daze. "I don't know why I'm here," he slurs.

I press my palm to his forehead to feel for a fever. Nothing. "Are you all right?"

"I'm...I don't know." He swallows, his throat bobbing. "I need..."

His voice trails off and he hangs his head, nearly in his lap. I slide my fingers underneath his chin and bear the weight of his head, scanning for injuries with blue-lit fingers over his forehead and cheeks. Nothing other than the alcohol swarming through his system. Perhaps he drank too much, extended a limit he hasn't allowed himself to reach in months and is now trying to repair the damage too soon.