Then I discover that the door has been locked from the outside.
“Oh,” I say. “I see.”
“What?” Ale says, muffled.
I don’t know why Verene thinks she can lock me in a room made of glass. I have no qualms about breaking one of Iris’s pretty little buildings.
I back up.
“Stay under the tarp, Ale,” I say.
“What?” he says, squeakier.
I’m bracing myself for the charge when everything goes dark. I try to breathe and find that I can’t.
There’s a bag over my head. Somebody is grabbing my wrists. They’re tying me up.
“This is my city,” Verene’s voice says in my ear. “I know it better than you ever will. I even know how to climb through a greenhouse window without being—”
There’s a loud crash that sounds very much like the wheelbarrow falling over.
“Theo!” Verene says. “What are you doing? You can’t let him get away—”
“Oh, I can’t?” Theo says. “Thanks for reminding me. I definitely forgot after he stabbed me—”
I hear scampering feet and breaking glass. But I can’t tell what’s happening to Ale, and I can’t help him, because I’m too busy fighting Verene. When I try to break free, she tightens her grip. We hit the floor and struggle viciously. I do a lot of kicking, because the rest of me is rather restrained, but before I know it, she’s sitting on my feet, pinning me down.
She pulls the bag off my head. She’s managed to get me behind one of the trellises, and even in the dark, the triumph on her face is clear.
Ale is nowhere to be found.
“Well?” Verene sits back. “How does it feel to be someone else’s captive? It’s not fun, is it?”
I shrug. “I’ve had better.”
Instantly, her triumph turns to irritation. Her eyes flicker over me, just for a moment, and I realize that during the fight, my new pants ended up down to my ankles. It exposes the fact that my skirts are ridden up awkwardly around my thighs. With my hands tied, of course, there’s nothing I can do about it.
She grabs my skirts and yanks them down, covering me up hastily, like one would cover a disgusting wound. It’s rather offensive. But, I have to admit, it’s also a relief.
“Nice disguise,” she says. “It wouldn’t have worked.”
“Tragically, we’ll never know for sure,” I say.
“It’s your eyes,” she says. “You can’t disguise eyes that soulless.” She pauses. “It’s also your height. Anyway, I know why you’re out here.”
“Do you?” I say.
“You were looking for the Red Roses,” she says. “And eavesdropping on us.”
“Why would we do that?” I say innocently.
“You’re trapped in our city,” she says. “You can’t scheme against us. Nothing you do will work.”
“Oh,” I say. “How unfortunate.”
She eyes me. She’s very unhappy about the eavesdropping. I can tell. She looks like she’s trying to remember every word she said to her brother.
“So… the vide?” I say. “Is that what you call it? Your little shadow pet?”
“Oh, it’s not a pet,” she says.
“What is it?” I say.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she says. “Also, since it obviously isn’t clear—I’m asking the questions. We’re not sitting around having cake in my parlor.”
“Having experienced both, I still prefer this,” I say.
“My people love having cake with me,” she says, indignant. “I make them happy.”
“And you make me nauseated,” I mutter in Occhian.
“What?” she says.
I remain pointedly silent. She looks like she’s seriously considering putting the bag over my head again.
“I saw the painting you did of us,” I say. “I liked it.”
“I was trying to make you look evil,” she says.
“Well, I look fantastic. Can I take it back to hang in my parlor?”
She puts the bag over my head again. She shifts, and I think she’s looking around for her brother. I wait patiently in the dark. I don’t know very much about Verene, but I know that she won’t be able to sit quietly for very long.
A minute later, she pulls the bag back off.
“Why?” she says.
“Why what?” I say.
“Why did you even end up here? In Iris?”
I can tell the question has been bothering her since she found out where I’m really from. I’m a mystery. I like that.
“We got lost in the catacombs,” I say.
“But why?” she says. “What were you trying to do?”
I stay quiet.
“Did you already know there were other cities when you set out?” she says.
I don’t answer. I’m just going to let her decide all of this for herself.
Her dark eyes linger on my face and the chocolate smeared all over it. Then they go to my ruined hair. I wonder suddenly if she thinks I style it this way on purpose. I don’t care what she thinks of me. But also, the thought is mortifying.
“You’re not just someone who got lost,” she says. “You want something.”
I tilt my head as gracefully as I can while lying on the floor. “What do you think I want?”
She gestures to herself. “This.”
I scoff. “I don’t want you.”
I’m not one of her people. I’m not besotted with her just because she’s my ruler who also happens to have very good bone structure.
“I think you want what I have,” she says. “I think you’d like being worshipped by a whole city. I think, maybe, there was a reason you left your old city. Maybe you thought you could come into a new city and… what? Take over? Are you regretting that yet? Have you realized just how much you underestimated me?”
The back of my neck is very warm. I don’t trust myself to say anything, so I just look at her imperiously.
She plants her hands on either side of me and leans forward. I can see straight down the front of her shirt. Not that it matters.
“Let me tell you a secret,” she says. “I can rule Iris the way I do because I’m a good person. I have principles. I do what’s right for my people. They can see that, and that’s why they love me.”
“You’re stealing from my city,” I say.
“I’m helping Iris,”
