20

He walked to a corner and pulled the sheet off one of his secrets. It was a radio, a little larger than mine. My breath flew out of my chest.

It had been right here, all this time.

“You built this?” I asked.

Fritz nodded. “For the same reason I built everything in here.”

For his home. For his sisters.

“The parts are from all over—there are places in Masr and Bharat and Zhōng Guó where they make thousands of pieces at a time. Radios are not uncommon there.” A faint grin stretched across his anonymous, handsome face. “Do you want to try to reach out to her?”

I held Fritz’s eyes a long moment before turning on the radio and seeking out my godmother’s frequency.

It was empty, silent as a night on the sea.

“Godmother?” I asked softly of the quiet.

“Selah?”

It wasn’t my godmother’s voice. Still, I knew it. I frowned, racking my memory. “Sister—Elisabeth?”

“Yes, it’s me.” Sister Elisabeth had been my math teacher, and a strict one. “When your godmother has to be away, she has a few of us keeping watch here.” She paused, her tone growing curious. “I was led to believe you and your betrothed were on your way home, Seneschal-elect?”

The words ached. For a long moment, I couldn’t reply.

I thumbed my engagement ring, shutting my eyes tight, as if refusing to look at the world could make our story any less true—Anya’s flight from Asgard. Alfödr’s negation of Torden’s proposal. Our escape. The duty I had shouldered.

But I couldn’t bear to tell her the truth about Torden. About the boy I had loved and lost in barely a fortnight. And even if I could, it wasn’t safe to tell her the truth over the air. As Gretel had told Hansel, anyone could be listening.

“We were delayed,” I finally said. “I don’t have a fiancé anymore.”

“I will inform your godmother,” Sister Elisabeth answered quietly.

I asked a few other rapid questions after that—my father’s condition had improved, ever so slightly, and the baby hadn’t come yet. Alessandra was bound to her bed, waiting for her little one to arrive. By my calculations, she had about another month. I wondered if her confinement had anything to do with my father’s condition improving, but said nothing.

“We await your return eagerly,” said Sister Elisabeth.

I could admit to nothing in front of Fritz. “Take care,” I finally said, and switched the radio off. Fritz hid it again under its sheet with a glance toward the hallway.

He’d taken a risk for me. I wouldn’t forget it.

I left Fritz not long after. Lang was waiting for me in the corridor, looking like a ruin himself. Shadows circled his eyes, deeper still than the ones he’d worn in Asgard, and his hair was tousled, stiff and salty with the sweat of the night before.

He put his hands on his hips, jaw tight. “I have been looking for you everywhere.”

“Did you ask Perrault?” My tone was acerbic. “Our protocol officer? Because I’m exactly where I was supposed to be.”

“I assumed you were with the freinnen.”

“You assumed.” I spread my hands, struggling to contain my frustration. “In case you’d forgotten, my courtship is the reason we’re allowed to be here.”

“As if I could forget.” Lang scoffed. “With the way you flirt with him? Laughing at things that aren’t even funny and leaning across the table to stare into his eyes?” He turned away but I dogged him, my anger rising, making me forget to leave space between us, making me forget we were in a public corridor and anyone might find us.

“I’m flirting?” I hissed, striding after his back. “You’re nose-to-nose with Margarethe at dinner, and I’m the one who’s flirting?”

Lang whirled on me. “They all come around eventually. Those were your words!” he bit out. “Because you’re beautiful and you’re charming and you know they’re all going to fall for it. My congratulations to you.” He bowed sarcastically, one lean- fingered hand pressed to his chest. “But two can play that game.”

You aren’t the only one who can make friends.

A flush surged over my skin. “What happened after I left the ball last night, Lang? With Margarethe? Did she see Cobie and me?”

“Nothing happened.” Lang smirked. “I made inquiries.”

“What, as to how many buttons were on Margarethe’s dress?” I shot back.

I wanted to swallow the words as soon as I’d spoken them.

Lang’s grin spread slowly. He crossed his arms and stepped nearer to me. I backed away until I hit the corridor wall.

“You’re jealous.” Lang’s eyes were dark on mine. “You really are jealous.”

I was losing, and Lang was winning.

“You’re jealous.” My voice was faint.

“You know I am.” He wet his lips, swallowing. “But you’ve known that all along.”

The words felt like a shout in the silent corridor. I couldn’t speak.

“You let Torden take care of you. You let Bear fight for you,” Lang said. With every word, he drew nearer, until he was leaning over me, looking down at me through thick lashes. “Let me take care of this for us, Selah. Don’t go tonight.”

His eyes were dark in the shadowed corridor, and his tanned skin smelled like salt, and my mind suddenly began to race in circles around how strange and different it felt to kiss a new person and what it would be like to try with Lang.

He was so close, and I was tempted to give in to him, to remain in the castle. Margarethe was dogged, and cruel, and I didn’t doubt she’d do worse than drug Cobie and me if she thought we knew her secret.

But I couldn’t forget what Fritz had confided in me. I shook my head.

“I need to see this through, Lang,” I said. “This is larger than us.”

Lang ground out a sigh, shifting away. “I was afraid you’d say that. I wish you could just trust me, Selah.” He met my eyes. “Please don’t make me turn the request into an order.”

Warmth heated into anger and volatility in my chest. “An order?” I drew up slightly, closing the space he had created between us.

“I’m the captain of this mission,” Lang said, reluctant. “I will order you to stay inside if it will keep you safe and help us reach our goal more quickly.”

“And you know what will keep me safe?” I asked sharply. “When you didn’t even know your friend Margarethe was drugging me?” Frustrated, I bit my lip. Lang’s gaze shifted to my mouth. But I shook my head. “I think you’re forgetting something, Lang.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he reached out to touch a lock of my hair, wrapping its length around his fingers. “What’s that?” His voice was uneven.

I remembered Yasumaro’s eyes on mine, serious and sincere. What are my orders, Seneschal-elect?

I shifted forward, eyeing him fiercely. “I outrank you. We’re here at my word, and I don’t answer to you.”

Lang released my hair and put his palm to my cheek, his eyes confused, reflecting all my frustration. “Selah, if something happens to you out there, I can’t protect you.” He was close enough that I could feel his breath on my cheek.

That’s our place. That’s where we belong. Between you and everyone else.

“The thing is, Lang?” I said. “Protecting me? I never asked you to.” I turned and made for the freinnen’s room to prepare for the night.

Lang had told me once he wanted all my anger, all my heat.

But I had other plans for the fire burning beneath my skin.