“Thank you, Scarlet. I’ll feel a lot better having your token with me. Wish me luck!” He trotted off to join a pool of other young men dressed in metal suits, and I moved Scarlet toward the Northcotts.

“Family friend?” I wagered.

“Yes. We’ve known the Kahtris our whole lives,” she confirmed. “It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen Julien, though.”

“He seems nice.”

“Yes.” She tilted her head, watching him. “I’m glad he has my handkerchief. Some of the riders get on edge if everyone else has one and they don’t.”

I pushed mine deeper into my sleeve and sighed. “We’ll have to applaud the hardest for him when he rides.”

She nodded but said nothing else. I wasn’t about to get my hopes up, and I certainly wasn’t going to mention this to Mother, but Scarlet had hardly been speaking, hardly been smiling. Anything that gave me a glimmer of the girl who walked into my apartments a few months ago so ready to dance was welcome to me. So I was now Julien Kahtri’s biggest supporter.

We walked around the field, waving to Mother, who looked pleased to find us in the crowd.

“Look at all those riders,” I said to Scarlet, pointing to the jousters set up under the trees, talking and laughing as they waited for the festivities to begin. “This could go on for most of the day.”

“Don’t worry,” Scarlet began. “I planned on pretending to faint after an hour or so to get out of here anyway. You can come tend me.”

“You were going to abandon me? I’m wounded!” I teased.

“I said you could come, too!” she wailed in mock complaint, her eyes glimmering with mischief.

We took our seats next to Mother, Aunt Jovana, and Uncle Reid. I looked over my shoulder and made eye contact briefly with Valentina. She was close enough to call out to, but I couldn’t say a word. I had to find a way to approach her.

“Excuse me?” I didn’t turn at first because I knew no one here, but then Scarlet tapped me on the shoulder and pointed me to the trio of girls looking right at me.

“Oh. Um, yes?”

“You’re Hollis, right?” the girl in front asked.

“Lady Hollis,” Scarlet corrected her.

“Yes, of course,” the girl said, her tone almost too sweet. “We were curious . . . we heard that before you married Silas, you were engaged to King Jameson. Is that true?”

I looked between the three of them, trying to understand their curiosity. Majority or minority? Friends or enemies?

“Not exactly. I was never given a ring, but it was close.” I shrugged. “It was hard to tell where being his favorite dance partner ended and being his betrothed began . . .” Even this little bit of information felt like I was saying too much. I realized even after all this time, I was still trying to figure out just who I was to Jameson.