Chapter 13
I’d forgotten that I was leaving for the Fall Festival at lunch to prepare for the party and my birthday. I’d forgotten what day it was since I’d spent so many in my room, sulking. Until a note floated out of the nearest torch as I made my way to the dining hall. It hit me in the chest and my name was written on the outside.
I hurried to the indicated room where I needed to meet my mother. When I arrived, Legacy and Taz were already there. My mother stood with three guards along with Madison and Papa.
Mother beamed when she saw me and I rushed into her arms. I didn’t care what everyone would think, I missed her, and after what happened with Finnick it felt good to be wrapped in her warm embrace. She held me at arm’s length after a few long beats and pushed a stray piece of hair out of my face. “How are you, my sweet?”
When I was young, I adored the nicknames but I was going to be seventeen tomorrow and I didn’t care for them as much anymore. It made me feel like a child. “I’m… a little better,” I said. Everyone there knew I’d been crying in my room for days so there was no sense in trying to tell her everything was great.
“Are you ready to come home for a few days?”
I nodded. Most assuredly I was. “Can I invite a few others?”
Legacy was nibbling on her lip. She wanted me to invite Aric, she asked about it a week ago.
“It’s your birthday party,” Mother said and patted my back. “If your friends can be ready in thirty minutes, they’re welcome to come.”
“We’ll be back quickly.” Legacy grinned. Taz rolled his eyes and I grabbed both their hands and dragged them out of the door.
Practically skipping, Legacy squeezed my hand. “Aric is in the dining hall.”
“I want Lora and Freya to come too.”
Taz perked up. “Freya?”
Apparently I’d missed something. “Yes, we hang out in the dorm common area a lot. You know her?”
“Know is a stretch,” he said and I laughed. “We’re in Fifth Year Spells together, but she is gorgeous and I’d like to get to know her.”
I punched him lightly in the arm. “I’ve got your back.” At least he’d taken his sights off Legacy since she and Aric were together.
“It’s so good to see you happy again,” Taz said, putting an arm around my shoulder and pulling me close to him. “I was getting worried. You took—this one pretty hard.”
I guess he didn’t want to say Finnick or death aloud. Probably worried I’d go into another crying fit. But I was over that because I’d set my sights on solving the mystery rather than crying over what couldn’t change.
“Would you mind if Vyce also came?” Taz asked. “He’s become a good friend of mine now.”
To make Taz happy I’d say yes. “I’ll allow it,” I said trying to hide a smirk.
“You’ll allow it?” Legacy drawled, shaking her head. “Alright, Princess. Are you going to start giving us orders now?”
“And if I did?”
I was promptly shoved into the nearest wall by the two of them, and we all laughed. When the three of us strutted into the dining hall Legacy hurried over to Aric, who was standing at one of the food tables. It was a buffet-style lunch. She leaped into his arms like they hadn’t seen each other in years and he kissed her hard on the mouth. “Well I guess that answers my question about them being official or not,” I mumbled to Taz.
“She kept telling me she didn’t know, but they did have a talk yesterday,” Taz said, folding his arms. “I’m surprised she didn’t tell you about it.”
“So am I.” My voice came out softer than I intended. This was the first relationship she’d ever been in and I wasn’t used to her not confiding in me about everything.
“It’s probably—” he glanced over at me. “Never mind.”
I already knew what he was going to say. Probably because I’d been depressed in my room for days and didn’t want to talk to anyone. “I’m going to tell the girls to come and you go get Vyce. We have twenty minutes left.”
Everyone went to pack a bag but I didn’t need one. I had most of my belongings in Delhoon at the castle. On my way out of the hall, the door was opened from the outside and I stood face to face with Zyacus’s girlfriend. Up close she wasn’t as pretty as I thought she would be. “Plain” would be a word I’d use to describe her brown hair, brown eyes, flawed skin and too small lips. She had a robust set of boobs on her though, I couldn’t deny that. Maybe I was being harsh because I didn’t like the way she always sneered at me from afar, but when I didn’t step aside to let her and her friend pass it became awkward.
“Should we move out of the way for you, your highness? Perhaps hold the door for the princess?” The words came out like a poisoned apple. Sweet, crisp, and deadly.
“Yes, you should,” I said and her fake smile dropped. I didn’t like playing the royalty card but in this case I’d make an exception. “I don’t know why you even need to ask. Move.”
“He doesn’t even like you, you know,” she said looking me up and down. “So you should stop staring at him all the time. He’s mine.”
“I’m well aware of the fact that the Hesstian prince and I aren’t fond of each other,” I said, still unmoving. “But I think what upsets you is that those eyes of his always seem to be on me and not you.” As much as I wanted to use those words simply to diminish her, it was a sword truth not a dagger of lies. Which would make it sting all the worse. Zyacus did
