Marko cleared his throat. ‘Apparently she has a headache,’ he stared down at me, his face concerned at my worried frown, ‘but nothing that sleep won’t fix.’ He smiled to lighten the mood. ‘Don’t worry.’
Of course I was worried, but I said nothing. Lauren with a headache meant she’d been drinking during her confinement, or that perhaps she was still experiencing the side effects of the travel drugs. I’d sneak out during the party and check on her in a little while.
A cool breeze drifted down the corridor and tickled the hem of my dress. The music from the ballroom grew louder as we neared and my stomach twisted a little. I wondered just how much Marko had told Sylvia about my involvement in what had led to her being found out.
‘No announcements tonight; it’s a masquerade ball, after all,’ Marko said to the guards as we arrived at the grand ballroom doors.
‘As you wish,’ they answered, allowing us to pass without ceremony.
‘I wonder how long it will take people to guess.’
‘Not long,’ I said, leaning in close so as to be heard over the music. Marko was wearing a hint of aftershave, but not so much that it overtook his natural scent. I wanted to press my face into his neck and inhale, but resisted my impulses and instead laughed and added, ‘You have a certain walk.’
‘What kind of walk?’ he asked, his voice flirtatious and light as we passed through groups of people whose outlandish outfits would have put peacocks to shame.
I spat out a mouthful of pink feathers as a woman dressed as a flamingo backed into me. ‘Oops. Sorry, little golden cat!’ she said, before raising her glass and dancing away with a man who was dressed head to toe in a skin-suit of glittering scales—a snake.
Marko elbowed my arm gently.
‘You were going to tell me about my walk,’ he said with a cocky grin.
I rolled my eyes. ‘Well, if you must know, it’s sort of commanding, without being too full of itself; oh, and—’ I paused to take a flute of champagne from a passing waiter’s silver tray.
‘And?’ Marko said, seizing his own flute and taking a long gulp of the fizzy drink, his eyes never leaving mine.
‘Sexy.’ I spun around, a huge smile stretching across my face, and watched the revellers tearing up the dance floor.
‘Sexy?’ Marko came up behind me and rested his hands on my hips. ‘What else have you…observed? I want to know every thought inside your head.’
I spun around and shoved him gently on his very hard stomach, laughing. ‘That is so creepy!’
He laughed back and drew me up against him. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve never wanted to know what another person is thinking?’ His hands slid up to my waist and back down over my hips. ‘Do you want to know what I’m thinking right now?’
His pupils, fringed beneath thick lashes, were so dark and dilated in the dimmed room that I could see my own reflection in them.
I nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘That I can’t wait until this party ends, so that I can walk you to your room—’ he bent his head and brushed his lips against my ear, his hot breath making me tingle all over, ‘and kiss you again.’
Oh God. I swayed in my heels and clutched at Marko’s arm. ‘Are you trying to make me break an ankle or something?’
He grinned down at me and pecked me on the forehead. I shook my head and grinned back at him, feeling so happy I could have burst into a shower of glitter, and turned around to admire the room. Marko’s arms remained circled around my waist from behind.
Light-crystal stars dripped from the ceiling, where a great, glowing moon of light crystal rained a warm, golden light down upon us. Again it brought to mind the beautiful drawings of Kraja’s moon in that doorless room. Could Marin’s fertility issues be resolved so simply? Just by returning the moon to the Kraja statue?
‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’ said Marko, gazing up at the ceiling as if it were the true sky.
‘It’s almost as beautiful as the real one,’ I said.
‘I knew it! Lion and Lioness!’ shouted a tall, gorgeous woman in a fiery-red bird costume—a phoenix, perhaps. My stomach knotted at the sound of her voice.
Marko kissed both her cheeks and stepped aside to allow me to do the same.
‘Happy birthday,’ I managed—but the kisses I just could not.
Her lush red lips parted in a smile.
‘Thanks for coming, Miranda. I really appreciate it; especially given the recent circumst—’
‘Which we won’t let ruin our night,’ said Marko, cutting her off. Marko raised his glass in a toast and smiled at Sylvia. ‘To my sister, who manages to defy the ageing process by looking as young as she did ten years ago.’ He tapped his flute against Sylvia’s and mine before taking a sip.
I watched Sylvia do the same, her face a permanent smile. But behind her mask I could have sworn I saw the shine of tears.
‘The years are still passing, though,’ she said, in a low voice just loud enough for me to hear.
I almost felt for her. She was alluding to the fact that her childbearing years were ticking away. But then I remembered Anne, and what Sylvia had allowed to happen—all in the name of reaching her goal of having a child—and my stomach twisted with unease.
‘Are you okay?’ Marko whispered in my ear.
‘Yes. I’m fine,’ I said and smiled up at Marko, whose lips curved beneath his mask.
A man wearing a frog costume tapped Sylvia on her bare shoulder and she turned on her heel to receive more kisses. Marko and I took this as our moment to mingle, though I was wishing we could have just sat at one of the tables in a darkened corner and people-watched instead.
It seemed to take half an hour to just take ten steps, there were so many people wanting to stop and chat. I had to laugh at Marko’s expression each time they called him by his name. He was disappointed his mask hadn’t worked to keep him incognito.
When he finally detached himself from the royal treasurer’s blushing, giggly wife, Marko leaned in close to my neck.
‘Now we dance,’ he said. He took my glass out of my hand and set it down on the nearest table, along with his, before leading me to the dance floor, where a special ceremonious dance was underway. We had to form two concentric circles with the other dancers—women on the inside, men on the outside. After each verse, you switched partners so that gradually you drifted away from your own only to be reunited again at the last verse. It was fun, but by the time I had gotten halfway around the circle, my feet were throbbing in my eight-inch heels. As my new partner moved towards me, he caught me in his arms, just before my ankle buckled beneath my weight.
Something about the strong arms that were wrapped around me felt familiar. I stared up into the eyes of the man, who wore a white, feather-fringed mask.
‘Robbie?’
‘Finally it’s you, Miranda! I was worried I’d have to keep dancing for hours.’ He squeezed my hand. ‘Don’t make us obvious. Just keep dancing.’ The feathered mask he wore was tied around his light-brown head with a strip of white silk, which matched his white suit and the feathery wings that fanned out from his back. He looked like an angel.
‘I didn’t know you were coming. Marko didn’t say.’
I tried to keep moving in time with the music as I glanced across at Marko who was now partnered with Sylvia, making a stunning couple.
‘I wasn’t invited, so he doesn’t know. But I needed to see you.’ He twirled me around then drew me in close again. ‘When you didn’t visit for a couple of days I was worried. Jonathan told me there’d been trouble with some guards and that Damir had been let out several times under Sylvia’s orders.’
For the next minute I filled him in about Sylvia’s plan to cure infertility and the deal she’d made with Damir, practically handing him a licence to indulge in his sick, mermaid-making fantasies.
‘That’s terrible.’
The music was beginning to change. Our time was nearly up.
‘I’ve come here to tell you something important, M
iranda.’
The music became lighter. We were about to switch hands.
‘Tell me quick.’ I pumped his hand. He tightened his grip on mine in response, and, when we moved in to face each other as we turned in a spiral, he leant in close.
‘Lauren came to see me this afternoon.’
‘What? Why?’
‘She was saying strange things. Somebody has been talking to her.’
My next partner, a platypus, stood beside me, tapping his webbed foot, and the leopard woman waiting for Robbie glared at me furiously before squeezing herself between us.
Great.
I begrudgingly allowed the man to spin me around and away from Robbie. Now I had to continue on in this silly dance for who knew how long before I could speak to Robbie again.
Fifteen or so minutes later, I spun back into Marko’s hands with relief—the dance would be over soon. I could find Robbie as soon as it finished.
‘Glad to have you back,’ Marko said in a low voice as I smiled up at him.
As soon as the music stopped, and we applauded our fellow dancers, I decided I couldn’t wait on Robbie, who was nowhere to be seen anyway. I had to go see Lauren right away, and ask her what she’d told him.
‘I’m going back to my room to change my shoes. My feet are killing me.’
Marko raised his brows. ‘I’ll send for another pair.’
‘No.’ I waved my hand in the air. ‘I know the ones I want.’
Marko nodded. ‘I’ll come with you.’
‘No. Please, you enjoy your sister’s party. I’ll come right back.’
Marko’s brow twitched with disapproval but he nodded. ‘See you soon.’
After three knocks, I entered Lauren’s room to find her pacing across it. Her hair was ratty and she looked as though she hadn’t slept in days.
‘Randy!’ She ran to me, like a dehydrated person to water, and wrapped her arms around me.
‘What’s wrong?’
Lauren caught her breath, as though she’d been pacing all day, and dragged me to her bed to sit me down. She made herself comfortable, sitting cross-legged with a pillow resting across her knees, and faced me.
‘I’ve got something to tell you that you’re not going to like.’
‘Is this the same thing you told Robbie?’
‘Yep. Have you seen him?’
‘Yeah. He’s at the birthday.’
Lauren nodded and then sucked in a deep breath through her nostrils.
Whatever she was about to say, it was obviously serious.
‘Marko is not who you think he is. He’s only using you to get you preggers for an heir. He’s been sleeping with somebody else for most of the year, while you’ve been gone.’
‘What?’ I shook my head. ‘Says who?’ I got up from the bed, my face all hot and thumpy.
‘Says Anne. She’s also the one he’s been sleeping with. Sorry, Randy.’
Anne?
I sat back down, but got back up again.
‘You’re wrong. Anne’s been seeing Damir in secret. He was going to cut her up into a mermaid in exchange for helping Sylvia out with Marin’s fertility issues.’ I shook my head, mentally grasping for reasons why Lauren would say such a horrible thing about Marko. ‘Whatever Anne tells people now is going to be against Marko because she loves Damir. He’s probably set her up to say this; you know, to turn people against Marko.’
Lauren said nothing and only stared at me, her eyes bulging with pity.
‘Stop looking at me like that. I know Marko. He is not using me. In fact, I asked him to spend the night with me, earlier today, and he refused.’ I paused and caught my breath. ‘I’m here as a free citizen—Marko has said that to me over and over again. I could leave the castle if I wanted to and go and…live in Robbie’s spare room at his cottage and Marko would be fine with it.’ Well, he probably wouldn’t be fine with that, but he wasn’t using me—of that I felt one-hundred-per-cent certain.
Lauren shrugged and a small grin curved her mouth.
‘Sorry. Room’s taken.’
‘What? What are you talking about?’
Lauren’s grin widened. ‘I know, right? Robbie’s asked me to move in and I accepted. I move in as soon as I like.’ She squealed and fell back against the bed.
‘You hardly know the guy and you’re moving in with him?’
‘Says she who shares an adjoining room with a man who ordered her kidnapping!’ she said, and fell back against the bed, laughing, like some kind of crazy person.
‘I’m going to ignore everything you’ve said tonight and go back to the party. If anything you’ve said were true, you wouldn’t be leaving me in this castle, alone with Marko, who is supposedly using me, just to go and seduce Robbie.’
‘Who says I’m seducing him?’ She got up off the bed. ‘I’ll have you know that I’ve been seeing somebody and it’s not Robbie. Okay? I’m staying at Robbie’s so that I can meet my new friend in peace without everybody else sticking their noses in my business.’
I tried to act nonchalant, but curiosity chewed out my insides.
‘Who are you seeing?’
‘A sexy, sexy man. He’s a guard.’
‘Just…be careful, Lauren.’ I shook my head. ‘You’ve moved on from Jackson pretty quickly.’
‘Oh, gee, thanks.’ Her smile vanished and was replaced by the troubled look she’d had when I first entered her room. ‘But, seriously, Miranda, Marko is no good. I know for a fact that he’s been lying to you. And if he’s been lying to you, and Sylvia, then, who knows, he’s probably been lying to all of Marin about a lot of things.’
‘What things?’ It was an odd thing for Lauren to say. How on earth would she know anything about the goings-on in Marin?
She shrugged her shoulders. ‘All I’m saying is this: don’t trust Marko. And when you find out the truth—that he is what I say he is—then come live with me and Robbie. I think Robbie’s a much better match for you. And he’s hotter, too.’
I shook my head at her. Perhaps she really was crazy.
‘Hotness is not how I measure a man.’
Lauren grinned, her eyebrows dancing. ‘Oh, so you measure your men, do you?’
I threw my hands up and sighed. One thing Lauren was good at was easing tension.
She closed the distance between us and gave me a hug, and I squeezed her back, but when she drew away her eyes were filled with tears. Lauren had always experienced mood swings, especially before her time of the month, but this was extreme. One minute she was cracking dirty jokes, the next she was crying.
‘Trust me on this, Randy. I’m really worried about you.’
I stared into her wide, terrified eyes and shivered. Could what she was saying be true? Could Marko be lying to me? I shuddered at the thought.
‘I’ll ask Marko tonight, then.’ Before I left, I gave Lauren a smile of reassurance. ‘Don’t worry; it’ll all be okay.’
‘Come back and tell me what he says.’
‘I will. And then you won’t have to move out of the castle.’
She shook her head, her face deadly serious, her blue eyes scarily crystal-clear and free of tears.
‘No, Miranda. It’ll be the both of us leaving the castle.’
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
MY INSIDES CLENCHED as I re-entered the ballroom, the music blasting my ears. What was I going to say to Marko? How on earth could I question him about Lauren’s rumours just when we were starting to have a proper relationship?
‘Miranda,’ called a soft voice over my shoulder. I spun around to find Robbie, grinning beneath his mask.
I gasped.
He leaned in. ‘Don’t act so surprised to see me. I know these guards very well. Some of them I grew up with. The one at the door told me you’d returned and gave me directions.’
‘But what if a rogue guard is here; one of Damir’s men?’
‘You needn’t worry. Those two guards at the door right there can be trusted. They’d step in if there was troub
le. Their sister’s been missing for a month now and they think Damir’s involved somehow. Anyway, no-one is going to recognise me with my mask on.’ He swept me up in a dance.
‘I’ve been to see Lauren.’
‘Did she tell you things? Things about Marko?’ From across the room, I spied Marko. Though he was speaking with a couple of jellyfish, his eyes were scanning the dance floor the entire time. When he found me, his shoulders visibly relaxed beneath his golden costume. However, when he rested his gaze on Robbie his body stiffened again.
‘Yes. She said some things.’
Robbie, surprisingly, moved me about the floor with the ease of someone with full sight. But, I supposed, we only needed to graze another couple for him to right himself. Our fellow dancers were like a safety buffer.
‘Don’t believe a word she says,’ Robbie said.
‘I don’t.’
Robbie squeezed my hand as if he knew how much it had hurt to hear Lauren say those things.
‘Marko would never do such a thing.’
‘Excuse me.’ A man with a flamingo mask—possibly the partner of the lady flamingo who’d given me a mouthful of feathers when we’d first arrived—complete with a humungous nose-like beak, tried to cut into our dance, but Robbie dragged me away and continued to lead me across the floor. I explained what the suitor was wearing, and Robbie laughed.
‘Losing some of my sight has its benefits. I thought he was a pig.’
It was a beautiful thing to see Robbie smile.
‘I’m glad you’re here. You’re like my guardian angel.’ I fingered the feathers on his back. ‘You look gorgeous, tonight, by the way. I think Lauren has a bit of a thing for you.’
He half smiled, but not for long. ‘It makes me so mad that I can’t truly look out for you, or Marko—especially now. I feel so useless.’ At that moment he tripped against my foot and stumbled forward. I seized his arm and prevented him from falling but, when he righted himself, his mask was askew and his hair rumpled.
‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine! Thank you.’ He let me go and shrugged free from my grasp before straightening his mask. ‘I think it’s time I left. People are starting to stare.’ His eyes were dark and shiny beneath the mask as he gazed down at me. ‘Please, take care of yourself.’ He turned and started to walk away, his movements stiff and short, as he tried to gauge his position in the room.
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