Aย week a๎er the rebellion, King Harristan shows me to a new room in the palace.
โNothing too grand,โ he says as a guard swings open the door. โAs you requested.โ
My eyes almost bug out of my head. Itโs grander than anywhere Iโve ever lived in my life, including the small suite where Iโve been staying since the rebels bombed the palace.ย ๎ขis is just down the hall from where Corrick sleeps, and the hallway alone is so lavish that I always feel like I need to whisper when Iโm up here.ย ๎ขe room is so immense that I canโt take all of it in at once. Glistening marble and gleaming wood and lush wall hangings and a bed the size of an ocean. Itโs three times the size of the Emerald Room, where Iย rst stayed the night I snuck in here. Itโs too plush. Too big. Too much.
Deย nitely too grand, and he very well knows that.
Or . . . maybe he doesnโt. Maybe thatโs part of the problem. Not just with him. With all of the elites.
โItโs lovely,โ I say haltingly. โI just meantโI meantโโ
โCorrick and I have been discussing the consuls and the rebellion and how we shall proceed from here. We suspect Allisander and Lissa are not the only people who were working against the Crown, so I will not be inviting the other consuls. We have not stopped a revolution yet, Tessa. We have merely . . . delayed it a bit.โ
I stare at him. โYes, Your Majesty.โ
Heโs not done. โAs the consuls cannot be trusted, when you are not working with the royal physicians, I will trust you to be my personal adviser in dealing with Lochlan and the other rebels.โ I blanch, and he adds, โYou did request a job as well, did you not?โ
And yes, I suppose I did.
๎ขen he leaves me there in the hallway, my mouth hanging open, and he goes on his way.
โ๎ขank you?โ I whisper, but heโs already gone.
Much like the new room, this feels too big. But I wanted to be a part of the change, and I wanted to be leading the way.
Iโve been having breakfast with Corrick and Quint every morning.ย ๎ขe Palace Master is full of gossip about the consuls and their loyalty, about Allisander and his hardly veiled insults about Harristan and Corrick, about who can be trusted and who canโt. While thereโs hope in the air, there is fear, too, and itโs obvious the guard presence in the palace has been doubled.
My days are busy with meetings, but my favorite part of the day is when the sun has fallen from the sky, and I walk with Corrick under the stars, the moonlight tracing his features in shadow.
Tonight, the weather has cooled, the sky overhead deepening to a blue so dark itโs nearly black. Weโre nearing theย ery arch, and sparks sizzle as they fall onto the pond below it.
I shiver, and Corrick wordlessly slips out of his jacket to drape it over my shoulders.
โ๎ขank you,โ I say.
โIt suits you better anyway,โ he says, and I smile. He doesnโt.
I know heโs met with Harristan, and he says that theyโre committed to making things better in Kandala. But that doesnโt mean theyโve made things better between themselves. I remember walking with Harristan in the Wilds, when he said that the king deserves no oneโs pity.
I wonder if Corrick feels that way, too.
I lace myย ngers with his. โYou seem worried.โ
โHarristan said that he doesnโt want to hide behind the Kingโs Justice.โ
I wait for him to say more, but he doesnโt, and I frown. โI think thatโs wise.โ
โI donโt think he ever hid, Tessa. We never hid who we were.โ He hesitates. โ๎ขereโs so much at stake. Allisander and the others were going to try to overthrow him. Iโm worried that if thereโs no more Kingโs Justice, theyโll try again.โ
I stop short and stare at him.
He must see my expression. โWhat?โ he says, and he almost sounds petulant. โ๎ขatโs what happened to our parents.โ
โDo you know what you just said?โ โIf thereโs no more Kingโs Justiceโโ
โNo! You saidย we never hid who we were.โ I want to shake him. โCorrick!
You hidย everythingย that you are. I think Harristan did too.โ
He startles, then sighs. He seems like heโs going to start walking again, but I hold fast. He looks down at me, his eyes heavy and intent.
โ๎ขe people loved Wes and Sullivan,โ I whisper. โGive them a chance to love Harristan and Corrick.โ
He traces a thumb over my mouth. โ๎ขey loved Tessa Cade, too, remember.โ
โYou can do this,โ I say quietly.
He shakes his head a bit, then brushes his lips over mine. โWeย can do this.โ
๎ขen his handsย nd my waist, and I drown in his eyes and inhale his breath.ย ๎ขe darkness closes in around us until thereโs nothing but the warmth of his hands and the sound of his voice, low and teasing in my ear.
๎ขere is so much to be done, so many things to hope for.
But just for a moment, I close my eyes, lean into his touch, and remember what it was like when it was just the two of us against the night.
