This was it. I was engaged. There would be no more waiting for Rafe, no more wishing he would come back. It was over, he was gone, and I had to move on.
After dinner the tables were moved away for the dancing to commence, and the musicians started up a lively melody as couples made their way onto the dance floor. I went up to Penelope, who was seated on a chair in the corner of the great hall, talking softly to two High Fae ladies. They bowed and moved away when they saw me.
“How are you feeling?” I perched myself on the armrest of the high-back chair on which she sat.
“Tired,” Penelope replied, glancing at me briefly, then studying the dancing couples. “I shouldn’t have come down for the feast, but Izadora insisted. Now I know why.”
“I can take you back to your room if you want.”
She shook her head. “You cannot leave your own betrothal feast until everyone has left.” Penelope was always so proper. “It would be considered rude.”
I sighed. “I saw your look when my grandmother announced the betrothal. I thought you knew she was going to announce it today.”
Penelope shook her head again. “No. I didn’t know. I was surprised, that’s all. I thought you were still in love with Rafe. I didn’t expect you to say yes now that Izadora cannot force you to do anything you don’t want.”
I hung my head. “What use would that be? Rafe and Katerina are married. He’s never coming back for me.”
“What?” Penelope demanded, her blue eyes narrowing into ice chips. “Who told you that?”
“My grandmother.” I told her everything Izadora and the dowager had said.
She shook her head as I talked.
“This time Izadora has gone too far.” Penelope’s tone was sharp. “She may be my sister, but she can be a real witch when she doesn’t get her way.”
“Penelope!” I gasped. “Why are you so angry? What did she do?” But already a slow dread had started creeping into my heart.
Penelope shook her head. “It’s not what she did but what she didn’t do that is the problem.”
My eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand.”
“I was the one who received the information about Rafe,” explained Penelope. “I’ve been keeping an eye on him since I got back. When I passed through Brandor I positioned at least a dozen spies all over the kingdom. I told Izadora about it when she came to see me because I thought I could help her understand why you don’t want to marry Tristan and why you shouldn’t be forced to.”
I nodded. “Go on.”
Penelope wrung her hands. “What I didn’t know was that she would only tell you a part of the information and let you jump to conclusions.”
“What conclusions? Penelope, what are you saying? Izadora told me he was in Brandor and the Brandorians had a royal wedding at the Red Citadel, the palace of the Emir of Sanria, Katerina’s father. What other conclusion could there be?”
“Rafe was in Brandor,” said Penelope patiently, “that part is true, and there was a wedding.” She paused and looked me in the eye. “But not his.”
“What!” I stood up. Heads turned and I lowered my voice. “How can this be?”
“What Izadora failed to tell you was that the wedding in Brandor was Santino’s. Not Katerina and Rafe’s.”
My mouth fell open. I felt like I was being suffocated. I couldn’t breathe.
“Then why did Rafe go there if it wasn’t for Katerina?” I was so confused.
“Santino married your aunt, Serena Silverthorne.”
“What?” I shook my head. No! No, it couldn’t be possible!
She nodded. “Yes. Apparently when Santino was at Silverthorne Castle in Eldoren, negotiating with Rafe on behalf of his father, the pirate prince met and fell in love with your Aunt Serena. Rafe escorted Serena and Erien to Brandor to make sure they arrived safely.”
“And Katerina?” I whispered, barely taking a breath.
“Rafe has rejected the emir’s offer to wed Katerina.”
“But what about his kingdom?” I asked. “He needs Santino’s army to take back his throne from the Blackwaters.”
“He knows that,” said Penelope, “but he has rejected the offer all the same. My informant also sent word that Prince Rafael has announced he will not marry until he regains his throne.”
I couldn’t breathe. How could my grandmother do this to me? She knew how much I loved Rafe, and she’d fed on my insecurities and let me believe he had accepted the emir’s offer and gotten married. She knew that if I’d found out Rafe was not marrying Katerina, I would have waited for him. I would have never agreed to get engaged to Tristan, whatever my grandmother might say.
What had I done?
Izadora had tricked me, and I had fallen into her trap. She knew she couldn’t force me to do what she wanted anymore, so she made me believe she had my best interests at heart. Maybe she did believe this was best for me, but that didn’t make it right. She had not changed, she was still the cunning manipulator she always had been, and I fell for her act.
Tristan came up behind me. “May I have a dance with my betrothed?” he breathed into my ear, his breath warm on my bare shoulders.
I turned to face him and nodded, trying to force a smile when my heart was breaking in two. Poor Tristan deserved better than this; he deserved someone who would love him and no other. But that person wasn’t me, for I would always be in love with Rafe.
Tristan’s sapphire eyes sparkled as he smiled at me and took my hand. I plastered a smile on my face and followed him to the dance floor.
The musicians played a haunting melody as Tristan swept me up in his arms and twirled me around the dance floor. Onlookers smiled at us, probably thinking we were the happiest couple in the world. They would never know I was slowly building a wall around my heart and one day no
