She pursed her lips as though she’d sucked on a lemon, but she took his tiles and dealt out another pair. The rest of the table organized our tiles and made our bets. Our conversation shifted to gameplay, and none of us talked further of the imprudence of princesses wishing to be something other than what they were.

Despite everyone’s best efforts, Gideon won enough chips at the end of the hand to bankrupt Otokar and me. Pushing away from the table, he scratched the stubble along his jaw and glanced my way. He caught me yawning and rubbing my eyes. “I’m calling it quits,” he said.

Karolina harrumphed. “While you’re ahead?”

“Isn’t that the best time?”

“I nearly caught you in that last round.” She pressed her lips into a pretty pout. “You simply don’t want to risk the embarrassment of losing.”

“Perhaps it’s you I’m saving from embarrassment. Another round and I might have taken everything you had.”

“That doesn’t sound like an entirely horrible prospect.” Karolina leaned forward, balancing her chin in her palm, elbow resting on the table top. She contemplated him through half-lidded eyes, and something sour and acidic rose inside me.

Gideon glanced at me again. I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms over my chest, waiting. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Are you ready to go, Evie? Or do you wish to stay a little longer?”

If it meant watching him squirm, I might have chosen to stay. But my eyelids had grown so heavy I could barely hold them open, and my bladder demanded attention. I pushed back my chair and rose on unsteady feet. Karolina’s cocktails swam through my head and stomach like slithering eels, and the room spun. I clutched my chair as I dipped into a shaky curtsey. “If you’ll excuse us, Tereza. I think the late hour has gotten the best of me.”

“Sure it wasn’t the brandy?” Karolina muttered.

I ignored her. Petty girl.

The bleary-eyed empress, who still sat at the pianoforte, smiled at me. Her impeccable posture had slipped, and she slumped over the keyboard. “But you did have fun, yes?”

I nodded. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed like that. Or had cake like that. I could eat torte every day for a year and never get tired of it.”

She gave a tired smile and waggled her fingers at me. “Ask, and I will make it happen.”

I stepped closer to Gideon, who had also risen from his seat. “You’d spoil me, and I’d be good for nothing.”

“Queens are made to be spoiled.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more.” Gideon said, dropping into a graceful, stately bow. The drinks and late hour obviously had no adverse effect on him. He straightened and set a hand at the small of my back. His touch sent an electric current buzzing through me I hadn’t felt since the last time the lightning responded to me. “Your hospitality has been most gracious. Thank you for including us.”

The empress waved off his thanks. “I hope evenings like tonight might become a regular, em, custom. The castle had been quiet for far too long.”

Gideon dipped another bow toward the gaming table. “Good night, Otokar, Karolina.”

The Magician flicked a finger at his brow in a salutatory gesture, but Karolina only scowled and clutched a tile between her fingers as though she meant to snap it in half.

“Good night, everyone,” I said, as we swept into the hallway.

When the footman closed Tereza’s door behind us, I leaned close to Gideon and whispered. “Karolina’s very fond of you, and she’s not at all pleased with me for diverting your attention.”

A dimple appeared in his cheek. “Jealous?”

Perhaps it was the drinks, or the weeks of being cooped up with him on the road and in close quarters that defeated my typical reticence. I took his hand and traced the long line in his palm. He stuttered to a stop in the middle of the hallway, his attention locked on our hands and the path my finger drew across his skin. “What if I said I was?”

His head jerked up, and he gave me a sharp look. “Don’t be coy, Evie. It’s not like you.”

“I’m not a flirt.” I screwed my lips into a sour pucker. “You know me better than that.”

“You’re frank and plainspoken.” His expression softened, and he buffed his knuckles across my cheek. “It’s rare and possibly your best feature.”

“My plain speech is my best feature? You’ve said the words every girl dreams of hearing.”

“Would you rather I speak of your beauty?” He stepped forward, his focus intent. I stepped back, maintaining the distance between us. “Of your figure?”

“I hate it when you tease me.”

Again, he stepped closer, and again I retreated. Ours was a slow, laborious dance lacking rhythm and grace. “You started it.”

I blinked at him and paused. “I did, didn’t I?”

“You never answered my question, Evie.”

As I stared into his granite-colored eyes, I gave him utter honesty. “I was.” Although I suspected he already knew the answer, he flinched as though it surprised him. “And I don’t like feeling that way. Jealousy’s a petty, useless emotion.”

In a blink, he closed the distance between us and leaned into me before I could step away. He kept his hands at his sides, leaving me free to run if I wished. Half of me did wish to flee, the other half wanted him to lock me in his arms. “You’re afraid of losing me?” he asked.

“I—” I swallowed. “I think, more than anything, I realized how much I take your loyalty for granted.”

“Yes, you do.” His voice was low and gruff. “But if you’re not taking me for granted, I’m not doing my job right.” He raised one hand and slowly, ever so slowly, his fingers cupped my jaw. His eyes seemed to swirl like a stormy ocean. “I want you to trust me so implicitly that you never have to think about it.”

For a moment, time froze and the world teetered on its axis. But then my stomach rumbled, an uneasy, noxious flutter. Cold sweat rose on the backs of my knees. I blinked and stumbled away, pressing my hand against my mouth as though it might hold back the contents of my stomach.

Concern flashed across his face. “Evie, what’s wrong?”

I spun and dashed down the hallway, sprinting toward our rooms in the opposite end of the castle. My stomach rolled over again, and bile surged up my throat. I’m not going to make it... not going to make it....

After bursting through the door into our apartment, I stumbled into the lavatory as horrible retching twisted my stomach. I fell to my knees before the toilet, my stomach clenched, and I heaved.

“Evie?” Gideon asked, his tone frantic.

I kicked the lavatory door closed in his worried face and bent over to vomit again. He banged on the door. “Are you all right?”

“Does it sound like it?”

“Let me help.”

“Gods no! Go away. I’ll be fine.” Maybe.

“Evie.”

“I drank too much. Let me suffer in peace.”

“Let me get Marlis, at least.”

“Fine.”