She slipped back through the garden and out onto the alleyway that led toward the Square. Most of the humans were heading west toward the Dregs, but Isa cut east toward the Row. Not everything in the Row was the enormous, aristocratic mansions, the age-old plots of land passed down generation to generation. Deeper in this part of town were rows of townhouses, each a different bright color to match the layout of the streets. Moneyed Fae, who hadn’t had families living here since the dawn of time, could still afford the townhomes and were welcome by the Fae Home Association that governed who could and couldn’t purchase in the district.

Isa thought it was a fine thing to have rules for all of that, but the association itself was horrid. They had rules from lawn height to exterior paint and everything else in between. It would have been fine if they’d addressed it all the same for everyone, but it was a bunch of petty people on power trips.

She slid into the shadows as the gentry strode by, arm in arm. She ducked down the back alley that led to Father’s home here and rapped thrice on the back door. She uttered the magical password that let her bypass his warding. If she hadn’t been keyed to the door, the password wouldn’t have worked, and she’d have likely been knocked out.

Luckily, she was. She pushed the door open to the home, slung her cloak on a hook, and then traipsed through the artfully decorated room to her father’s study. Most of the servants had already gone home, save for his butler, who always made himself scarce when she appeared.

She took a deep breath at the entrance, reminding herself who she was. That she had no reason to fear him. She had proven herself time and time again. She would continue to do so. So long as he didn’t discover the money she’d hidden away. The hope she had to escape this life that he’d richly provided for her. Nothing for free, of course.

“Isa, do stop hovering and come in,” Father barked from the study door.

She winced at the tone of his voice. Then, she cleared her face of any expression and pushed her way inside. She was beyond wondering how he had known that she was standing there.

Isa moved swiftly across the room to where he was seated in the lush office behind a mahogany desk that overlooked massive bay windows out to the Row beyond. She bent onto one knee, offering fidelity. “Father.”