I groaned and plopped my head back on my soft pillow. “I’m not going to dinner.” It felt good to say. To be able to refuse something for once without my throat closing up and choking me. They could make me participate in the Trials, and they could make me marry the prince, but where I chose to take my food had nothing to do with this stupid bargain.
To my surprise, Imogen nodded. “Very well, I will inform the prince.”
That caught my attention. “You’re not going to fight me on it? Aren’t you worried about the king relieving you of your position?”
“The invitation was not extended by the king, but by His Highness, Prince Evander. He requested that the two of you dine alone tonight.”
I frowned, suspicious. “And you’re not afraid of the prince relieving you?”
“The prince is kind, my lady. Besides,” she said, straightening somewhat awkwardly and poking her chin out, “it seems to me you’ve been through enough today, and that if you desire to keep to yourself this evening, then your wishes should be respected.”
I smiled, my heart warming to the girl. “Thank you.”
She returned my smile, a look of relief softening her face, and left. I laid my head back on the pillow and had almost fallen back to sleep again when I heard a knock on my door. Imogen’s voice sounded muffled, nervous. “My lady?”
“Come in,” I groaned.
The door burst open. “I cannot believe you refused my invitation to dinner.”
I jumped up to find Evander striding into my room as if it were his own, the nervous Imogen eyeing him from behind as her fingers jittered together.
“I’m tired,” I said, as blandly as I could manage.
“That’s because you’ve been sleeping while the sun is out. Last I checked, humans aren’t supposed to be nocturnal.”
“Yeah, well, humans aren’t supposed to be lowered into a pit of myrmecoleon either, so I’ll take my chances with the napping, thank you.”
At that, Evander’s faux outrage broke with a betraying smile that gaped between his top and bottom teeth. He ran his hand over his mouth, as if to cover it up, and I couldn’t help myself. I found my mouth curving too.
“Ellie. Will you please have dinner with me?” His eyes sparkled, and the voice that came from his mouth sounded so unfamiliarly earnest, I almost had the inclination to search the room for where it had come from.
“You’re not demanding?”
He shrugged, tucking his hands into his pockets. “No, you seem to dislike that, so I’m trying another tactic. Asking. Desperately, really.”
That broke me. I laughed. The hesitant type, but it was a laugh nonetheless.
My laughter must have been fodder to this strange being, because he pointed to Imogen and said, “Seriously, Ellie. I sent Imogen up here to ask you because I was too nervous to come up here myself. Imagine my disappointment when she told me you’d chosen sleep over my company.”
“I can’t imagine that was how she worded it.” I glanced over at Imogen, whose wan face had gone scarlet. “It’s alright, Imogen. You did the best you could. It’s not your fault he’s incessant.”
This only intensified the blush on her face, and her eyes flitted nervously to the prince.
The prince didn’t seem to notice, though. He was too busy grinning. He clapped his hands together. “Now that that’s settled, I’ll meet you down at my dining quarters in an hour. I’d say we meet sooner, but I imagine you’d rather not trek through the castle in your nightie. Though I can’t say I’d complain.”
“How thoughtful of you,” I said, waving him away. He strode out of the room and passed Imogen, who seemed to let out a long-held breath once he was gone.
Imogen was quiet as she fixed my makeup and hair. She wasn’t as naturally talented as Blaise, but she was fairly proficient at making me look like someone who could potentially be a princess, and I was impressed. But she was still eerily silent—more jittery than normal—and it bothered me.
“Are you okay? You’re quiet tonight,” I said, looking up at her through her reflection in the mirror as she braided a vine of blue wisteria into my curls.
“Yes, my lady,” Imogen shot back in a tone a little too high to be genuine. Rather, it sounded as if she was trying to force the melancholy from her voice.
“Are you sure? You seem upset. Are you ill?”
“Perhaps I am coming down with something,” she said, clearing her throat.
I frowned, the looks of which Imogen seemed to be avoiding as she focused keenly on my hair.
“Was the prince unkind to you when I sent my refusal?” I asked.
Imogen’s eyes flickered up to meet mine, and she bit her lip. “I’d rather not discuss it.”
This set my stomach roiling. “You can tell me anything, you know. I know I’m not technically royalty. But I’ll do what I can to protect you. Even if it is just sharing a secret. If something happened…”
“Nothing happened,” she snapped, her eyes going red as she blinked voraciously.
“Very well,” I said, biting my tongue.
We didn’t speak again until she led me to the prince’s quarters.
CHAPTER 21
ELLIE
I expected Evander’s style in decor to be lavish with a dash of excess.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
