“Being a brat is not an unforgiveable trait. I should know. I used to be one.” A faint smile twitched at the corner of the Magician’s mouth. “Besides, it doesn’t sit well with my conscience, knowing a girl has gone missing. I won’t be able to live with myself if I did nothing to help.”

“Your assistance will be most appreciated.” He bowed and swept out of the room, closing the door behind him.

“I’m guessing you’ll want these?” Marlis asked, holding up my favorite pair of trousers.

“It’s uncanny the way you read my mind. I’d be worried if I didn’t trust you so well.”

After dressing, I hurried to the stables, following the directions Marlis had given me. Gideon crouched in Wallah’s stall, working mud from his hoof with a pick. “I’m surprised to see you on your feet so soon,” he said without looking up from his chore. “I wasn’t sure you’d make it through the night.”

I snatched a hank of his hair and tugged. His head whipped around and he chuckled.

“I’m not here for teasing,” I said, and his expression sobered, matching my own dread. “Karolina’s missing.”

His eyes flashed. He released Wallah’s hoof and stood. “Someone was here looking for her earlier, but I told them I hadn’t seen her.”

I summarized Otokar’s visit to my chambers and my promise to search for the missing princess. “Perhaps she’s simply been thoughtless and rode out without telling anyone, and she’ll show up later, but Otokar insisted her absence was concerning, and I tend to agree. He said she never leaves without an escort. Will you help me look for her?”

“You had to ask?”

“Is her horse here?”

His gaze flashed down the stable hallway, presumably searching out the stall reserved for Karolina’s horse. “He was when I first got here, but I was distracted for a bit.” He opened Wallah’s stall door for me and followed me out. “A new hay delivery came in. I went to help unload it.”

He dropped his grooming tools onto a bench outside Wallah’s stall and raced toward the stables’ opposite end. “Get saddled up, Evie. Either way, I expect we’ll be riding out.”

I turned for the stall next to Wallah’s. Adaleiz’s curious nose poked over her door, and she sniffed at me. “Hey, girl. You ready for an adventure?”

As expected, Mika’s stall was empty.

In what must have been record speed, Gideon had raced back to Wallah and fastened his bridle and saddle in place before I’d led Adaleiz to the path heading toward the castle’s main drive. We both mounted and turned for the gates, and the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves against the cobblestone matched the anxious patter of my heartbeat. “She seemed very interested in the circus. I thought I’d look there first.”

Gideon nodded. “I’ll look around town for a lead on her.”

I squeezed Adaleiz’s sides and switched into a trot. “I’ll see you in our rooms at sundown, if we don’t find her before then.”

The main gate swung open at our approach, and as soon as we cleared the castle’s stone walls, we leaned in, held tight, and urged our horses to run. Gideon peeled off at the first intersection while I focused on heading east, out of town, toward the circus.

After darting around slower carts and yelling at oblivious pedestrians, I eventually wove my way through Prigha and crossed the bridge over the city’s eastern border. The road opened, traffic thinned, and I squeezed Adaleiz’s sides again, urging her to fly. The open road stretched before us, and wind roared in my ears. Part of me rejoiced at the freedom, at the open air and independence, and a tiny flame of envy flickered to life inside me.

If only I could run away, too.

***

“I swear to you.” Falak tossed his hands out at his sides. “She’s not here. And if she were, I’d beg you to take her. Runaway princesses are not the kind of trouble this circus needs.”

I glanced around the empty concourse again as if Karolina might have magically appeared in the last few seconds. Despite careful inspection and help from several other members of the troupe, we had not found the princess stowed away among the tents and wagons.

“I believe you.” My shoulders slumped. “But I’d hoped finding her was going to be as easy as saying please and thank you.”

He raised his chin. A knowing smile played on his lips. “You wanted to be the hero, bringing home the wayward girl and earning the empress’s thanks.”

I shrugged. “Perhaps.”

“Or maybe you made up an excuse to visit one last time before we left. I’ve been told I have that effect on some. I’m unforgettable.” He dusted imaginary dirt from his bright-red waistcoat. Gold sequins glittered along the lapels, catching the late-day sun. “Compelling.”

I raised one finger at a time, counting off his other traits. “Pompous, arrogant, smug....”

He chuckled. “So, Evie, you’re rubbing shoulders with royalty. The mysteries surrounding you grow thicker. I’m intrigued.”

Shaking my head, I backed away. “Your sense of theater is overdeveloped. I’m still the same nobody I was yesterday, circus boy.”

“Circus boy?” He pressed a hand to his heart and gave me a pained look. “You wound me.”

I rolled my eyes and turned toward Adaleiz, who was tied to a wagon at the edge of the field. “If you see the princess, send a messenger to the castle, would you?”

“If you wish, lightning girl. But I wouldn’t hold out too much hope. I bet your missing princess is playing games closer to home.”

I threw up my hand, waving, but didn’t look back as I walked away. May we be so lucky. But in my world, luck was a rare commodity, and the missing princess was proof that mine was probably running out.

Chapter 8

“Finding my sister is a priority,” Tereza had said after I reported my failure to locate the princess. “But so is the leadership of my country. I can manage concern for both at the same time. The guards will continue to search for her. Meanwhile, you and I must contend with matters of the state. My guests have already arrived, and our dinner plans will continue as previously scheduled.”

Lacking a reason to disagree, I dropped a brief curtsy and retreated to my apartment. Marlis greeted me and urged me to sit at the vanity table. She gathered my dark hair in her fists and piled it atop my head. “No braids for you tonight, Evie. Maybe a few jeweled pins here and there, but let’s have it off your shoulders, all right?”

“Has Gideon come back, yet?”

“He must still be out searching, but don’t worry about him. He promised to be here. No matter what’s going on in this castle, his duty is first and foremost to you. He won’t forget that.” She raised an eyebrow, gave a pointed look toward my hair, and waited for my response.

“If you say pin it up, I defer to your wisdom.”

“Wisdom?” She clucked her tongue and tugged another strand of my hair. “Let’s hope you’ll still call it that when I’m through.”

Like a silent ghost, a chambermaid appeared and lighted candles around our apartment, not with Magic like Otokar, but with a simple burning taper. By the time Marlis finished fastening the row of tiny buttons down the back of my dress, the sun had set.

I stood before a full-length mirror, admiring my gown. While I preferred trousers and boots, even I couldn’t deny the dress’s beauty. The waist cinched tight, and the neckline dipped low. Black lace and beading accented the bodice and hemline. Marlis draped a string of black beads around my neck and passed me a pair of long gloves. “Now you really do look like a queen,” she said.

“Well, I feel like a child playing dress up.”

“All that matters is what the others think. If this is a costume, then play the role.”

I arched an eyebrow. “When did you get so smart?”

She ducked her head, but not before I saw her smile. “You should get going. I think it’s probably bad manners to arrive after the empress.”

I sighed, smoothed my skirts, and glanced at myself in the mirror one last time. The reflection staring at me quirked a sardonic grin. The costume didn’t fool her. She knew who lay beneath the glitter and makeup. Not a queen, simply a lost girl....

“Wish me luck.”