What do you know? said the queen. How much time do we have? I want to know as much as you can tell me.

Chapter Twenty-nine

That Sunday afternoon, no knock sounded on Lovisa’s bedroom door.

Funny how your parents murdering your friend can ruin a family tradition, Lovisa thought to herself. Then she burst into laughter, then curled up on her bed feeling sick.

Vikti, Erita, and Viri will begin to wonder what’s become of me.

After a failed attempt to escape into sleep, she got up and found her coat. Lovisa had decided, with a premonition that set her nerves humming, that she was going home for Sunday dinner.

—

The walk to Flag Hill was more slippery than usual, the sun low and blinding. Lovisa’s mind was unconnected to her feet. She lost her footing at the top of an icy staircase and might have cracked her skull if a passing woman hadn’t shot a hand out and grabbed her arm.

“Thank you,” said Lovisa breathlessly.

“No worries,” said the woman in a friendly voice. Then she looked into Lovisa’s face and her expression changed into one of resentful politeness. Lovisa recognized her from the dormitory kitchen. She was the young one Lovisa had eavesdropped on the day Queen Bitterblue had fallen into the sea.

I’m just a spoiled, bossy student to her, thought Lovisa, surprised at how much it stung. Everything stung her lately. Her hide was peeling away, revealing something soft and baffling, and weak.

At home, Viri was standing in the entrance foyer at the bottom of the stairs, his feet bare. At the sight of him, she felt a mute kind of panic. Why was she here? What was she going to do? And how could she keep whatever she did from hurting her brothers?

“Lovisa!” Viri cried, shivering from the blast of cold air as she pushed in. “Lovisa! Are you staying overnight? Because Vikti built a telescope!”

“How exciting,” she said. “I might stay overnight, I’m not sure. Where are Mother and Papa?”

“Mother’s in her study and Papa’s in bed.”

“Why is he in bed?”

“I don’t know. He was gone overnight in the airship, then came home, then went to bed. They don’t talk to each other anymore and they get angry if we ask questions. Are you staying for dinner?”

“Yes. I’m going to do some homework in Papa’s library. Then I’ll come play.”

“When?”

“Soon. What are you doing, anyway? Are you waiting for someone?”

“I have to stand in this square,” he said, pointing down at the pale marble tile beneath his bare feet.

“Why?”

“Because I was bouncing a ball against a ceiling I didn’t realize was Mother’s floor.”

“So you have to stand on that square?” Lovisa said, not understanding.