Chapter 78
Amira’s POW
I am pissed.
How dare Harden ignore me!
I had everything in place. I gave him information on Alaric. Told him the truth about Liana. Or Elena, as everyone here knows her. The false sweet girl with dirt under her fingernails and rebellion under her breath, said by one of the noblernen. The new maid that caught the kings eye.
Their words not mine.
I stood at the edge of the courtyard, chin high, as another one of the councilmen bowed before me, all eager smiles and wandering eyes. Ugh. Disgusting, all of them. But useful
I smiled back sweetly. “Lord Ivers, your insight earlier was… refreshing”
Putting women down, allowing them to not come to court?
I hated it but I just put up face if I wanted favor, Grovel for shit I hate. Harden would never, women were important to his court more
than men.
Lord Ivers chuckled like an old road. “You’re too kind, Lady Amira. Too kind.”
The title slipped so easily from their tongues now,
Lady Amira
I hated the fake name, so I went by my real name. To be knowIL
Hlud clawed my way up to earn that damn prefix, and no dirty–blooded Luna–to–be was going to ruin it for me.
I leaned in just enough for Ivers to smell my perfume and whispered, “I only speak the truth. Unlike some who serve this court under a
mask.
“Who!”
“A certain garl that caught the kings eye.”
His gaze sharpened. “You mean the girl, Elena?”
Hook Lane, Sinker.
I just offered a coy smile. “I say nothing. But Alaric has many weapons. Some more… charming than others.”
Let them stew in it. Let them question her presence, a girl from nowhere suddenly being close to the king. Talking with the king Walking with him.
Clearly she must have an ulterior motive! I could see it it his eyes as he questioned. He was a high lord, one of Harden’s close men. So it wouldn’t be surprising if the others heard of it too.
the
I turned away as another courtier approached. Compliments, flatteries, fake laughter it was all noise. I wanted Harden. And not in th romantic sense I wanted his attention. His respect. His approval. That throne was not built for dreamers like Liana. It was built for
But he hadn’t even looked at me since I arrived. He only asked one question.
“Why were you sent?“
SE
And I had answered honestly well, hall honestly.
“Throught you news,” I’d said. “Liana is the last link to the curse. Two more maidem and the final petal will fall. Alaric will be bound in hus beast form forever. He knows it. He feel it.”
I didn’t mention that Brielle was one of those mandens. That Fid whispered her secrets to the wrong ears. That the spell was already mi
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Chapter 78
motion when she slit her throat.
That I might’ve helped it along.
But Harden hadn’t praised me. No, he had frowned. As if I’d made a mistake.
“This wasn’t your mission, he’d said, voice cold. “You were supposed to watch. Not act.”
Watch! As if I’m some errand girl!.
I wanted to scream.
He had dismissed me as if I was some peasant, only for me to know he had dinner with Liana that same day.
No. I shall not let him or her bother me. I smiled and charmed the court, laced words with poison, and watched the nobles shift, their eyes now lingering on Liana when she passed.
She’s too quiet, they’d say. Too observant. Who is she, really?
It was working. Slowly. Beautifully.
And Harden?
He still barely looked at me.
So tonight. I took a different approach.
,with
The ball was informal just a gathering, really. Wine flowed, laughter rose, and the music danced through the hall. I danced too, wit whoever asked. I laughed, I swayed, and I leaned just enough into the arms of Councilman Harlen young, eager and gullible.
When he kissed me. I let him. Just long enough for someone to see.
And someone did.
When I pulled away, smoothing down my gown with practiced ease, I turned—
And saw her.
Standing near the wine table.
Maid unuform.
A silver tray in hand.
Lips pressed into a polité line.
But her eyes-
Her eyes weren’t empty.
They were full of something dark and unreadable.
And suddenly, I wasn’t so smug.
Because in that moment, I knew one thing without a doubt
Luana saw the
And that look!
Itterned me
d chills a
over my body.
Not because of the uniform she wore or the tray in her hands, but because for the first time since we were children, Liana looked like someone I didn’t know how to control. She looked like a queen, a Luna ready to destroy me with just the raise of an hand.
Her eyes never left mine as she walked across the ballroom, heels clicking against the muble floor, her face utterly unreadable. The
Chapter 78
nobles kept Laughing, drinking dancing around us, oblivious to the tension building like thunder between us.
I parted my lips to speak, to say something witty or cruel or dismissive but she got to me first.
With a tray in our hand, she used the other to grab my wrist firm, strongwhen did she even get t
She leaned in close. Her voice was like ice sliding over fire.
“I heard what you told them back there.”
My stomach twisted.
this strong!
She didn’t give me time to answer. She dropped the tray on the nearest table without breaking stride and pulled me doors. I stumbled once, caught off guard, but her grip didn’t loosen.
“Lama–1 hissed, eyes darting around us. “What the hell are you doing?”
She didn’t answer.
Past the i
toward the grand
guards, down the stone hallway, and finally- -out into the cool night air. A breeze rolled past us, and only then did she let a
staggered a step back, rubbing my wrist.
“What was that?” I snapped.
But I was still shaken. Not by the grip–but by that strange, puking pressure I’d felt the moment she touched me. It was like something obl had awakened in her. Something wrong.
I stared at her.
“What was that energy coming from you?” I asked quietly. “You’ve never–never had that kind of power.”
She didn’t respond right away. Her chest was rising and falling in short, furious breaths, her eyes still locked on me like I was prey and she was trying not to pounce.
I should ask you the questions,” she said, her voice taut with fury. “Like why you told Harlen and Ivers I was a weapon. Alaric’s tool. Why you’re painting me like I’m some monster in disguise. You know what we came for so what are you trying to gain?”
I tilted my head. “Isn’t that what you are?”
Her hand balled into a fist, and for a moment, I thought she’d actually hit me.
She didn’t. But her voice was cold enough to sting.
“You’re working with Harden, aren’t you?”
Flinked.
“Don’t play dumb, Amira. I heard what you said earlier. And I saw the way you looked at him. You were trying to win him over. To prove you’re more useful thanage.”
I gave a tight laugh. “You really think this is about you?”
Liana stepped forward again, her voice low and dangerous “Don’t twist this. We had a mission. We were supposed to infiltrate, observe, report Together. But instead, you’ve been whispering poison in people’s ears and pushing me under while you flirt your way through this court like some desperate noble Cheating on Maxwell”
“Desperate?” I snapped. “Cheating For the record, Maxwell knew what I had to do to become who I am today. You think I enjoy this? You think I like pretending to smile and how and giggle for old fools just to get scraps of information? At least I’m doing something
Her jaw clenched. “You’re playing with fire. And you’re going to burn us both.”
1 Jolded my arms. “Oh, so you’re the loyal one now!
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Chapter 78
“Do what? Call out the fact that you think you’re better than me just because Alaric chose you?”.
Her face darkened
I knew I’d hit a nerve but I didn’t stop.
“He doesn’t even love you” I continued, vo
moment this is over, you’ll be nothing”
voice sharpening. “He just needs you. For the rse. That’s all. You’re a means to an end, and the
“Then why are you so afraid of me?” she whispered.
That made me pause.
Because I was afraid. Of whatever she was turning in
into. Of that strength I saw earlier. Of the look in her eyes when she watched me that fool.
Of the fact that, even in a maid’s uniform, people still watched her. Not me.
She stepped closer. “You’ve always hated me. I don’t know why. I’ve tried to understand it. Is it jealousy? Rage? Guilt?”
I scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
She leaned in until her breath brushed my check. “If you sabotage this mission, Amira. if you put Harden’s goals above ours, I will not save you. I will not protect you. And when this is over, and everything burns, I hope you remember exactly which side you chose. You should be glad that I am willing to even think about saving you when you were nothing but a cold hearted witch.”
Her words landed like daggers. Each one sunk deep and left a mark.
“I haven’t forgotten our mission.” I said, quieter now. “But maybe you have. You’re letting your heart blind you.”
She pulled back slowly. “And maybe you lost yours a long time ago.”
I turned my face so she wouldn’t see the flicker of pain. My chest burned, but I kept my expression still. I wouldn’t let her have that victory of seeing me break.
AD
