“Did you enjoy your evening?”

My tongue felt thick in my mouth. “Yes.”

“Did he?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He tossed the stained silk on the table. “I purchased some chocolates made by the confectioner in Trianon that you are so fond of. They are in your room.”

“Chocolates.”

He smiled. “Rest well, darling.” Then he turned and disappeared back down into the hell below.

I didn’t sleep a wink. It would not have been an exaggeration to say that I didn’t close my eyes longer than it took to blink, so afraid was I that my father was merely waiting for my guard to drop in order to strike and glean what information he could from my mind. But the doors to my chambers didn’t open until morning, Lessa flinging them wide, every lamp in my bedroom burning bright with her magic and leaving my eyes stinging. She had a pale pink gown draped over one arm and a cruel-looking corset in her free hand. Without a word, she tossed the garments on the bed, then went into the bathing room, a rush of steam and the sound of running water following her back out again.

“Well,” she demanded. “Are you going to get out of bed or do I have to drag you out by your heels?”

“I wasn’t aware I had any pressing engagements,” I replied acidly, pulling off my nightdress and tossing it on the floor.

“He wants you ready and out the door within the hour.”

There was only one he in this house, but I asked, “Why? Where am I going?”

Lessa shrugged, though whether it was because she was unable or unwilling to divulge any answers, I couldn’t tell.

The water was uncomfortably hot, but I refused to flinch as I stepped in, submitting to having my body scrubbed and my hair washed, Lessa using magic rather than her own hands for the task like she was supposed to. Steam rose from my hair as she dried it, looping curls forming one after another even as she deftly applied cosmetics to my face, her own remaining sour the entire time. She’d always been cool toward me, but since my affliction was revealed, she’d been outright nasty, with seemingly no fear of ramifications.

And I didn’t understand why. Of all the members of my family, I was the kindest and most sympathetic to our servants – even to her. Before, I would’ve been too nervous to call out her behavior, but now… “Why do you hate me so much?”

Her eyes focused on mine, bold and not the least bit subservient. “Because you are pathetic.”

I lifted one eyebrow. “At best, that is a trait worthy of pity; at worst, disgust; but hate seems extreme.”

She snorted, turning me and starting on the laces of the corset before saying, “In Trollus, power is supposed to be king, yet you are proof that blood is the true ruler. You are weak, in magic and in body, and yet I’m expected to kneel before you because one of my ancestors four generations past was human. Despite the fact that I could crush you like a worm, you are served and granted nearly every liberty, while I am property.”