I hadn’t planned on what I said, but it came out better than I could have hoped, and took the heat off the missing ring.
She nodded her head.
‘I’ll speak to Marko,’ she soothed. ‘Philippe is in the dungeons now, and Marko has tightened the security around the castle perimeter.’
‘Thanks.’ I sniffed and wiped my nose with the back of my hand, causing Sylvia to wrinkle her perfect nose.
‘Perhaps I will call for Marko soon, and we can sort this security matter out, and hopefully you will be free to roam the halls by the time dinner is over. How about that?’ she asked. ‘You could spend more time in the library. Robbie tells me you have a passion for books.’ She narrowed her gaze at me. ‘You and Robbie are so alike, in many ways.’
Her observation made my palms sweat.
‘Maybe we should sit down to eat. I feel tired all of a sudden,’ said Sylvia.
‘Me too,’ I said, adding a yawn for effect.
She sat at the head of the long, oval table. I chose the chair nearest to her, where the crockery and cutlery were already set.
‘You poor dear,’ she crooned, eyeing me closely. ‘You need cheering up.’
She poured a fizzy drink into two narrow crystal flutes.
‘Champagne, to welcome you into the Tollin family,’ she said with a wink. ‘We girls need to stick together, Miranda, don’t you think?’
I smiled, wondering if I’d judged Sylvia too harshly, but as soon as I considered this, she proved otherwise.
‘To the future heir of Marin,’ she said, with a hungry gleam in her green eyes. When I looked deeper into them, I realised that, to Sylvia, I was just the vessel in which a new baby would be brought into Marin. A cold shiver travelled the length of my spine, the repulsive knowledge that anybody could be used for such a purpose.
The crystal flute felt cool in my fingers. I raised it to my lips and took a sip. The sharp bubbles fizzed over my tongue.
Sylvia emptied her flute in one go and refilled it right away. After she took a single sip of it, she leaned back in her seat and folded her thin but sculpted arms across her eye-popping cleavage.
‘So, you and Robbie have been getting close, I notice.’
I shook my head and took another sip of champers so I didn’t have to talk.
‘But you are. I’ve seen him around you. I know that look.’ Shrugging my shoulders, I set my now empty glass down and forced myself to meet Sylvia’s steady gaze so she couldn’t detect the lie. ‘He’s the guy who stole me from my life. If anything, I hate him.’ Okay, so it wasn’t a complete lie. I was still angry at him for taking me, and probably always would be. But I didn’t hate him anymore.
‘He certainly doesn’t hate you,’ she said with a smirk. ‘I’ve known Robbie for years. He’s a tragic soul, really. Sweet but tragic. He has this notion that we all have a soul mate somewhere out there,’ she sighed, ‘and he’s still waiting for his.’ She shook her head. ‘When I see him staring at you with those big brown eyes of his, I wonder if he thinks you’re his.’
Oh, God…
I took a bite out of a warm bread roll Sylvia offered me, and took as long as possible to chew—on the bread and on Sylvia’s words. So it was true. I hadn’t imagined the looks Robbie had given me recently. Is that why he wanted to help me—because he was attracted to me? Or was he doing what he thought was right?
Sylvia served up a rich, tomato-based seafood broth into our bowls and picked up a silver spoon. After digging out a prawn, she held it to her lips and grinned wickedly. ‘I wonder what Marko will do when he notices Robbie’s affections for you.’ She popped the whole prawn into her mouth and chewed it vigorously. ‘It would be interesting to know how he’d respond. Would he toss Robbie to the sharks…’ she reached out and tapped my nose with the back of her spoon. ‘Or you?’
I jerked away, wanting to scream at her, rake my nails down her face, pull her hair, tip my soup on her lap…but I knew all of those things would have me tossed into the Colosseum, so I chewed on the inside of my cheek instead until I tasted blood.
My hands shook as I brought a spoonful of red broth to my lips. The woman was pure evil, like her brother, Damir. Marko was different—at least it seemed he was.
‘So, have you and Marko always been so different?’ I asked before I could retrieve my hate-laced words. Sylvia frowned at first, then shook her head, smiling.
‘Marko and I are more alike than you think. We’re both driven. And when we want something we’ll stop at nothing to get it. In a way, I’m more like Marko than I am like my twin, Damir.’
‘Damir’s your twin?’ I asked, the hairs on the back of my neck prickling at the mention of his name, as if he might jump out of a dark shadowy corner any second.
She nodded her head and flicked her long black hair over her bare shoulders. ‘I loved Damir once,’ she said in low voice, and my eyes immediately shot to her Gemini tattoo, two fishes swimming and then a broken heart.
‘What happened?’
‘He not only killed our father; he nearly killed Marko, who is like a son to me…’ She averted her eyes. ‘And he nearly killed someone else; someone that I care for very much.’
‘Robbie?’ I whispered, before I could stop myself.
‘Robbie,’ she said, her eyes narrowing. ‘How did you know?’
A long silence followed. Because he showed me the scar himself. ‘I just guessed.’
I knew then that she cared for Robbie in more than a brotherly way. Wow. She had to be at least ten years his senior. I searched Sylvia’s perfect face and realised that I didn’t even know her age.
‘Why are you looking at my face like that?’ Sylvia asked, but then she threw her head back and laughed. It was such a Marko mannerism that I wondered for a moment what Damir looked like.
‘I’m twenty-nine years old, Miranda,’ she said, her voice gravelly. ‘I was ten when Marko was born, and after our mother died I became a little mother myself. Marko is the son I’ll never get to have.’ Her crystal-clear eyes turned glassy and I looked away. Since the day I met her, I could never have imagined Sylvia crying, but here she was.
We ate our soup in silence after Sylvia pressed a napkin to her eyes and declared she was too tired to talk. When we finished eating the broth, followed by a crunchy snow-pea salad, I declined dessert and stood to leave.
Sylvia kissed me goodbye on both cheeks, and thanked me for coming in a cracked voice. She avoided my eyes, as though she hated the fact that she had revealed her soft, human underside. I could almost have felt sorry for her, if she didn’t constantly threaten me with sharks. Perhaps not being able to have children had turned her bitter. Perhaps she would have been a different woman had things been different in Marin, and she had been able to have her own baby.
But when she walked me to the door I had to stifle a gasp: on her bookshelf was the very same book I’d seen on the metal bench top in Frano Tollin’s operating theatre— the mermaid book.
Why would she keep such a hideous thing in her room? According to Robbie, Damir was the one who’d inherited Frano Tollin’s penchant for mermaids. Had she gone in there after finding out I’d snooped and brought the book back to peruse out of morbid curiosity?
I shuddered. Maybe she was exactly like her twin brother. Her eyes did always gleam in an unnatural, bloodthirsty way whenever she mentioned the sharks.
Out in the hallway we met Robbie. Sylvia planted one of her lingering kisses on his cheek.
‘Keep my new sister safe,’ she purred, stroking the bulge of his bicep in a seductive way that made me want to gag. Robbie nodded and stared straight ahead. ‘I mean it,’ she said, pinching one of his cheeks between her fingers.
He jerked his head away from her hand and eyed her coldly. She laughed.
We walked the corridor in silence, but I was conscious of every breath he took and of my own breathing. By the time we reached my bedroom door, everything I wanted to say—about the ring and about escaping—was about to spill
from my lips, but Robbie pulled me in and half closed the door behind him.
‘Not now,’ he whispered, ‘Later, when everybody’s gone to bed.’
I sighed.
‘I think Sylvia knows,’ he said, his eyes dark and troubled, and I panicked at the ominous tone in his voice.
Part of me wanted to agree and share everything Sylvia had said, but there was a risk he would change his mind about returning me home, and how on earth could I tell him that Sylvia thought he had a crush on me? My face flared up just thinking about it.
So I simply nodded, and Robbie locked the door behind me.
I collapsed onto the bed and curled up into a ball, pressing the sheets against my stomach and chest. A cloud of impending doom hung over me. I could feel it. I could hear it in Robbie’s voice.
If Robbie suspected Sylvia was on to us, he was going to stay away from me so that he didn’t betray his best friend. My chances of escape were fading fast. I was going to lose myself in Marin, and I was going to do something stupid like fall in love with Marko.
I pressed my palms against my face, noticing my bare ring finger.
Sitting up with a jolt, I scrambled off the bed, light-crystal lamp in hand, and rushed over to the corner of the room. I suspended the light over the vent as close as I could, squishing my head up against it so that I could see further, even though I knew it was probably long gone.
But I was wrong.
There, in the dim light, was the glimmer of something golden that could only be the ring. I couldn’t believe my good fortune. As my eyes adjusted, I saw that it was hooked against a piece of stone jutting out of the otherwise smooth edge of the tunnel.
I could still retrieve it. There was hope. I could get it out before Marko visited me next, and he’d be none the wiser. Sylvia would be none the wiser.
And the sharks would go hungry.
Carefully, I slid my hand through the gaps in the steel. My arm fitted through easily enough, but as I went in deeper, right up to my shoulder, I groaned with disappointment. I was missing an extra couple of inches needed to reach the diamond ring with. If only I were long and lean like Lauren.
I sighed, glaring down at it. It winked back up at me, almost cheekily. Setting down the crystal lamp, I raced to the door and rapped on it softly.
Robbie unlocked it and opened it a sliver.
‘Yes?’
‘I need your help,’ I whispered, widening my eyes for emphasis.
‘What is it?’
‘I’ve just dropped something in the vent. I can’t reach it.’ He glanced over his shoulders.
‘In a minute, Miranda. I want to be sure the last of the castle’s guests have left for the evening.’
‘Okay.’
I sat by the vent, staring into the black hole until my eyes grew heavy.
Sometime later, I woke up stiff and in the same position. The door groaned open. Through blurry eyes, the clock told me it was just after eleven.
When Robbie saw me huddled in the corner, he rushed over to me.
‘Miranda, don’t tell me you’ve been sitting on the cold floor like this for hours. It’s not good for your joints.’
I ignored his doctor-like ramble, grateful he hadn’t mentioned the word ‘piles’, and held the light crystal over the hole. ‘I’ve lost it, Robbie, and Sylvia’s going to make Marko feed me to the sharks.’
‘Lost what?’ He peered down the hole. ‘Looks like a jewel,’ he said, his voice echoing in the deep tunnel.
‘It’s Marko’s grandmother’s ring—my engagement ring.’ He lifted his head back up, his eyebrows raised. ‘You threw it down there?’ I caught a tremor of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
‘It’s not funny!’ I pushed against his arm. ‘It was a stupid accident,’ I said, tugging at my hair. ‘And I’m kind of scared of what will happen when Marko and Sylvia find out.’ I sighed with anguish. ‘I’ve tried reaching for it, but my arms are too short. Can you try, please?’
‘Right.’ Robbie’s face became serious.
Robbie nodded, slipped off his jacket and knelt beside the vent. He slid his arm through the widest gap, but it became stuck after the elbow, at the base of his bicep.
‘I’ll just have to tell Marko tomorrow that it slipped off my finger and fell down there. It’s true, anyway.’
Robbie’s dark eyes shone in the dim light. ‘Why are you so frightened of Marko? He would never hurt you. He cares about you almost as much as I do.’
Casting my eyes down I blushed, and was about to stand up, but Robbie reached out and took my hand, pulling me back down.
‘We can’t talk about escape anymore, Miranda,’ he said, squeezing my hand. ‘Especially now that you’re engaged.’ He shook his head. ‘Marko burst into my room this afternoon, saying he thought his marriage to you could work. I’ve never seen him this happy. He worries that you’re lying, though. Marko despises liars.’ Robbie let out a shaky sigh. ‘But right now, Sylvia is our greatest concern. I think she’s suspicious of us. And once she’s on the trail of something, she won’t let it go.’
‘So it’s final. Unless Marko has a change of heart, I’ll never see my family again,’ I whispered, my eyes burning with unshed tears.
Footsteps echoed out in the corridor. We both leapt to our feet just as the door scraped open and Sylvia stepped into the room, followed closely by the guard William.
‘What is the meaning of this?’
I stepped in front of the vent, hoping the move didn’t draw attention to it.
‘I was exercising…I jog around my room sometimes when I’m bored…and I fell and hurt my ankle.’
Robbie bent and pressed his fingers in and around the bone. ‘You might see a little bruising in the morning, but it’s not broken.’
Sylvia shot daggers at me with her eyes. ‘William, Robbie looks tired. You will take his place as Miranda’s guard until Robbie has had enough rest.’
Robbie widened his eyes at me as he stood. ‘Marko has asked for no male guards except me. I can’t leave my post.’
Sylvia sighed. ‘Then you’ll both stand guard.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
IN THE MORNING my eyes felt sandy and sore from all the crying, but I decided right away that I wasn’t just going to sit around snivelling all day.
After dressing, I made an attempt at retrieving the ring from the vent by using a coat hanger, but I nearly lost it again and collapsed on the floor from the stress of it all. While I lay sprawled on the floor, the lock turned. I flung the hanger to the ground and leapt to my feet just as Marko swept in.
Marko frowned and approached me with a curious smile on his face.
‘What have you been doing, Miranda? You’re face is red and you’re’—he came closer and touched my face— ‘sweating.’ I jumped at his touch. I wondered if he was here for the daily kissing he’d promised. My mouth tingled and my stomach fluttered at the thought.
‘I’ve just been…exercising.’
Marko drank me in from head to toe. ‘Sylvia mentioned you hurt your ankle doing this…exercising. Shouldn’t you be resting it?’
‘It’s fine now. Look.’ I demonstrated by rotating my foot.
‘Good. I’m glad it’s better and I’m glad you’re dressed warmly, because today I’m taking you into the city.’ His eyes rested on my bare left hand. ‘Where’s the ring?’
‘It’s…safely tucked beneath my pillow. It’s quite loose and I didn’t want to lose it.’
Marko’s eyes narrowed slightly. ‘I’ll have it looked at it tomorrow, but I suppose it’s best to leave it here while we’re out. I’ll make certain the room is locked.’
‘What are we doing in the city?’ I asked, secretly excited at the prospect of roaming the streets of Marin.
‘Now that you’re my fiancée and future queen, you must get to know our beautiful city and mingle with our people. We’ll have the best guards protecting you, of course, including,’ Marko stepped into the corridor and shoved Robbie in the
arm, playfully, ‘this fellow here,’ before returning to my side. ‘And now that everyone knows that Philippe is going to die painfully for his crime, we think the people of Marin will be a bit more law abiding.’
I nodded, my stomach turning, hoping I wasn’t going to have to watch Phillippe die. ‘Great.’
Marko snorted as though he didn’t believe me.
‘Come, Miranda.’ He offered his arm, and I took it. A long stream of guards flanked us from either side, and I wondered if it was at all possible to enjoy my first experience of the city if I was to be so coveted.
‘Once we are amongst the people, the guards will give you some space. They will move through the crowds with their eyes on you from a distance. And of course I, your devoted fiancé,’ he said this with a wicked grin, ‘will be by your side every second.’
‘Excellent.’ I smiled, thinking all the while about what Robbie had said about Marko despising liars.
When my feet left the last of the exhaustingly long castle steps and arrived at the gateway to the city, past the courtyard, I felt a rush of adrenaline surge through me.
I was outside.
I turned my head back to look at the huge white palace, my looming prison, but quickly returned my eyes to the city. Today was about as close to freedom as I could get right now, and I intended to immerse my senses.
A myriad sounds filled my ears: the splashing of water, the musical tinkle of people chattering, laughter, and the sizzling of good food cooking. I breathed in through my nose, and the delicious scent of grilled fish filled wafted in. But I could wait to eat. There was too much for my eyes to feast on first, like the warm glow of the light crystals lining both the lengths of the curved streets and the water channels.
We strolled by a beautiful fountain. At its peak stood a statue of a tall female warrior wearing a jewel-encrusted golden helmet. She clutched a light crystal in one hand and raised a long golden spear in another. The water sprayed, like a shower of diamonds, from the tip of her helmet.
‘This is Kraja,’ Marko said, pride lighting his eyes. ‘The ancient leader I was telling you about.’
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