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“I KNOW IT DIDN’T TAKE long for you and Theo to start arguing,” Mary said, as she walked with Rose down the castle hallways. They were on their way to meet with Isra and Sophia to help with last-minute wedding details. “But I am surprised, however, to see that you’ve allowed it to come between you so much. Even when you argued before, you never let it bother you for this long.”
Rose rolled her eyes. “I don’t want a lecture, Mary,” she said. “Besides, it’s not like we’ve had any real issues. Even dealing with Ethan was easy.”
“Easy by comparison,” Mary reminded her. “He really only settled down more after Theo talked with him.”
“He was fine when I talked to him last week. But that reminds me, they’re getting some last-minute training in now,” Rose said. “Ugh. They are so lucky. I don’t want to help with any of Isra’s wedding preparations. Nearly all the most important guests have arrived. The castle is full, the town is overrun, and people are starting to get bored and act up.”
“You know as well as I do that even though you are going to head out for Darkwood tomorrow, you’re not going to get any rest,” Mary said. “You might as well help out.”
“I suppose.” Rose thought of all the work she had already done for Isra and Philip over the past weeks, in between planning and prepping for her attack on Darkwood Forest.
“Besides, it’s nice so many people were able to come for the wedding,” Mary said. “They really have enjoyed seeing you preset Isra to them yesterday. I know from what Ronan and Roderick have reported that there’s a lot of excitement for the wedding.”
“I guess they’re making up for my lack of amusement for theirs,” Rose said. “It’s not like I’ll be there for the ceremony anyway. I’ll be three days away, hiding in some swamp bushes, fighting with Magdalina.”
“You don’t have to feel that bad about missing Isra’s wedding. She will likely have another one in Einish in a few weeks,” Mary said.
“A few weeks after my eighteenth birthday,” Rose reminded her glumly. “There’s still a good chance I won’t make it.”
“Rose, we’ve gone over the plans several times,” Mary reminded her gently. “You spent a good deal of time arguing with Theo last night over details.”
“Maybe I should ask Bachas to see if he can see what Isra’s wedding will look like.”
“There’s no need to bother him, Rose. I’m sure it will be grand. And so will the one in Einish. You remember how the Dowager Queen was when we were there.”
“Yes, she’s almost as bad as my own mother when it comes to parties.” Rose grimaced, thinking of her mother’s suffocating effervescence. In the weeks since she had been released from prison, the news had gone out that Hebert had tried to poison the king and overthrow the crown, creating a new uprising of support for the monarchy. The Queen Mother embraced it and made sure she kept everyone’s attention on Isra’s upcoming wedding.
In truth, Rose was relieved that the kingdom seemed happier. Their political troubles were assuaged for the moment, as many were distracted with the grand wedding. It seemed that hardly anyone remembered her birthday was only two weeks away.
As they walked through the halls of the castle, Rose watched as different workers went about, running through with flowers and food and decorations. She had to suppress a groan. While Rose was happy for her friends and her sister, she hated that getting ready for the wedding took up her time to go over the attack plan for Darkwood. It didn’t matter if she had already gone over it a thousand times; it was better to plan for it than it was to worry about it.
Or worry about anything else, she thought.
“I think the queen is relieved to have a project like this,” Mary said. “After you told her before you would never get married as long as you were cursed, I think she gave up on weddings completely.”
“You’re probably right, but I would think she is more excited because she is finally free from the dungeon,” Rose said. “I don’t care how comfortable Hebert made it for her, it was still pretty bleak.”
“That’s likely true, too,” Mary agreed. “Even Juana and Fiona have been tired out from the queen’s demands lately. She seems to be making up for lost time.”
“You can help them more if you want. It won’t bother me if you’re busy.”
“I like being able to keep watch over you, Rose.”
They came to a balcony overlooking the training barracks, and Rose spotted Theo and Ethan as they fenced against each other. She giggled when she noticed Philip was also with them, acting as a moderator. “Looks like I’m not the only one who is tired of the wedding plans.”
“Isra is enjoying the time with your mother,” Mary said. “They finally have something to bond over, and even Isra’s governess, Ms. Winston, doesn’t seem to bother her, while your mother is around to heap praises on how wonderfully mature she’s become.”
“Well, Isra is in love, too,” Rose said, watching Theo parry with one of Ethan’s attacks. “She probably doesn’t notice those things as much as she used to, especially since I’ve hardly seen Philip leave her side.”
“Fiona says they are really sweet together.”
“Probably too sweet. I know quite a few people have made comments about it.”
“I know.” Mary wrinkled her nose. “You’re one of them.”
Rose laughed. “True enough.”
“At least others are talking about them,” Mary pointed out. “So they’re not talking about you.”
“That is a relief,” Rose agreed.
“Yes, especially since there’s so much to talk about, in addition to your attack on Darkwood this week,” Mary said with a smile. “Your birthday is coming up soon.”
“That reminds me, Mary,” Rose said. “I have to write some things down. I need to be able to leave my sister the throne if I don’t make it.”
“You will make it,” Mary insisted.
“That pixie hasn’t shown you his seeing crystal at all, has he?” Rose asked bitterly.
“No,” Mary scoffed. “He’s still pretty rude to me. I don’t like talking to him if I can avoid it. But I do know Theo told him to put the seeing crystal away. He doesn’t want it used around here.”
“There are plenty of reasons to fear the future,” Rose said. “I don’t need to know what it is until it’s here though. I still like to believe there’s a chance.”
“Is that true?” Mary asked.
“Yes, of course it is.” Rose frowned. “You just said I would survive my curse. Why would you ask me that?”
“Because,” Mary said, “Ethan is still right about you, you know. You have admitted to things, to the secrets of your heart, but you don’t act on it.”
Rose crossed her arms. “Philip and I have coordinated the attack on Darkwood, and Derick’s men are marching this way as we speak. We will be riding out in a day, Mary. I’m doing plenty.”
“I mean, why don’t you just tell Theo you love him?” Mary asked. “If you do believe you can break Magdalina’s curse, why not tell him? He is a knight now. He’s worthy of your love, if you wanted to get married.”
Rose shook her head. “No,” she said. “I couldn’t do that to him ... if I didn’t make it.”
“Don’t you think it would be better to give him something than nothing at all? Why are you so against it, Rose? You know how you feel about him.”
Rose sighed. She stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s already lost so much, Mary,” Rose whispered. “He lost his family to Everon, after all. He’s spent years with me, training so he could have his revenge. I know he was young when it happened, and I know that something inside of him is just broken, forever. I know because I have that same feeling, that loss of a different future.”
Rose glanced over at Mary. “I don’t want to be the reason that his heart breaks even further.”
“Oh, Rose,” Mary murmured. “Stop this. You need to go and talk to him.”
“Why?” Rose asked with a huff. “We have already talked about this, just like we’ve already talked about my curse. This is something we both knew about each other from almost the beginning. It’s how I know God has abandoned me, why I hate him for it, and why I doubt he’s even there. Either way, I know my curse would be too much for him, just like dealing with his own loss is too much for him.”
She watched as Theo congratulated Ethan on scoring a point against him. She saw him shrug his shoulders and wondered if his dragon scars were hurting him.
Mary sighed. “Don’t you know? He ran into Everon while he was with his aunt.”
Rose whirled around to face her, shocked. “What?”
“He didn’t tell you, did he?”
“No,” Rose said, shaking her head. “No, he didn’t.” Suddenly, she felt insulted. He had been with her for countless hours in the past weeks as they planned the assault on Darkwood. They had talked with Roderick, Philip, and Sophia and many others about information, weapons and soldiers, supplies and strategies. Never once had he mentioned that he had faced Everon.
“How do you know?” Rose asked Mary. “What happened?”
“You should hear him tell the story,” Mary said. “I overheard him telling Ethan.”
“So it’s true. I can’t believe it,” Rose said. “He finally did it.”
“Rose—”
“And I can’t believe he didn’t tell me!” Rose clenched her fists together.
“He knows you want to focus on the upcoming battle.”
“I don’t care,” Rose nearly shouted, surprised at just how angry she was. “This was important.”
“Things have changed between you,” Mary said.
“Not that.” Rose shook her head. “No, we were still supposed to be friends, even after ... everything else.”
She gazed down at Theo once more, watching as he shook Ethan’s hand. Their battle was over. Philip stepped forward; it looked like Ethan was going to fence with him as well.
“That’s it,” Rose decided. “I’m going to go talk to him.”
“Are you sure this isn’t just a ploy to get out of working on the wedding stuff?” Mary teased.
Rose barely heard her as she headed down to the training grounds.
As she approached, Philip and Ethan halted their battle.
“Hello, Rose,” Philip said with his cheerful smile. “Are you on your way to meet with Isra and Her Majesty?”
Rose lost her determined stride at the question. “No,” she said. “Well, I was going to, but I have other things that require my attention.”
“That’s a shame. Isra was looking forward to spending the time with you, since you will be marching to Darkwood soon. She knows you won’t be there for the ceremony so she wanted to get the time in earlier.”
“I’ll have to make it up to her,” Rose grumbled.
“Do you need our help, Rose?” Ethan asked.
“No,” Rose replied. “Keep working. I need to borrow Theo for a few moments.”
At his name, Theo glanced over at her. Rose saw the displeasure cross his face and did her best to ignore it.
“Well, he’s just been through a fight,” Philip said, “so try not to make him suffer too much.”
“No promises,” Rose said.