Chapter 84
Chapter 84
Lila
By the next morning, I wasn’t just recovering, I was reentering.
Word had spread quickly through the palace that I would be returning to the selection. Not everyone said it out loud, but I saw it in the way people looked at me–like I was a ghost they hadn’t expected to see again.
Some with respect. Some with wariness. A few with thinly veiled irritation.
But none of that mattered. Because I wasn’t returning out of duty, or fear, or pressure from my father. I was doing it for myself, even if I wasn’t ready to share who I really was.
And I wasn’t going to fade into the background again.
The ceremony assignment came that morning, hand–delivered with a clipped nod from a steward. A formal function to welcome visiting Alphas and foreign dignitaries. A quiet test of poise, composure, and influence.
Only a few contestants had been selected to assist. I was one of them.
By the time I arrived in the planning hall, long tables had been set up along the windows, their surfaces cluttered with bolt after bolt of silk ribbon, parchment scrolls, and small trays of dried petals waiting to be assigned to the ceremonial sachets.
Behind them, a few of the remaining contestants had already taken their places–some tying delicate bows, others practicing the correct way to offer a glass of wine without looking like a servant.
I took a quiet breath and stepped inside.
Something about the task–tangible, controllable–steadied me. It gave my hands something to do besides tremble.
“Lady Elena,” the steward said as I approached, handing me a clipboard and gesturing to an open seat. “You’ll assist with seating logistics and guest table assignments.”
I nodded, accepting the clipboard. The page was already half filled with names–regional Alphas, foreign dignitaries, and a few legacy families I only vaguely recognized from political texts.
I scanned for one name in particular and, not finding it, let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
Henry wasn’t listed.
“Hello.” The voice was careful–polished and smooth–but held just enough warmth to make it familiar.
Emma stood across the table from me, adjusting the placement cards. Her expression was calm, maybe even kind. But something in her body language had changed. Her shoulders were straighter. Her smile, smaller. Guarded.
“Hey,” I said softly.
She nodded. “You’re looking better.”
“Feeling better, too.” I forced a smile. “Thanks for not-”
She held up a hand, gentle but firm. “You don’t need to thank me. It’s not
We worked in silence after that. Not hostile, but not close either.
my story to share.”
The thing that had once tethered us–laughter over stolen pastries, long glances across the hall when things got tense–had thinned. Stretched. Not broken, but things definitely didn’t feel the same with my only friend.
1/A
Chapter 84
And maybe it wasn’t fair to expect or hope otherwise.
As the morning wore on, I moved between stations–consulted the chef about menu preferences for the visiting northern Alpha, rechecked the for arrangements with the gardeners, answered questions from a skittish noble girl about whether her gown was too provinciat
I found I was actually good at this. Graceful, composed. The mask I wore felt easier now–not because I believed it, but because it no longer belongs to Elena. It belonged to me. All the hours studying certain were paying off.
Still, unease lingered beneath the surface.
Ruby stirred low in my chest, her voice
more g grumble than growl. Too quiet. Too still. Something’s coming.
I rubbed at the back of my neck and turned toward the double doors, half–expecting something to burst through them. But there was nothing, t sunlight and laughter and the slow rhythm of palace life grinding forward.
You’re overthinking it, I whispered.
I’m never wrong, she said. I wished I could argue, but in this she was right.
By the time the guests arrived, the palace had transformed.
The stone floors gleamed like glass. Gold–trimmed banners hung from every balcony. Rosewater had been misted through the entry corridors, blending with the sharp scent of beeswax polish and the low hum of anticipation that filled the air.
We stood in our assigned places like jewels on display–gowned, graceful, every hair pinned to perfection.
I smoothed my skirt with one hand and forced myself to smile as the first of the Alphas entered the hall.
There were so many. Too many to count without appearing distracted. Nobles from the southern isles with sun–dark skin and light cloaks. Highland alphas in furs lined with thread–of–silver.
Some bowed, others barely nodded. I met them all with the same even tone and pleasant expression. Keep breathing. Keep smiling.
Ruby prowled inside me like a caged thing, sensing him before I did.
The laughter gave him away–low, grating, too forced. My blood iced over. I turned my head slowly, and there he was. Henry Ashford. My father.
He stood near a cluster of northern nobility, gesturing broadly, a wine glass already in hand.
I didn’t know how he’d gotten on the list. But someone had pulled strings. Maybe he’d forged a name. He always, somehow, found a way in.
Elena moved behind him, head down, tray in hand. Dressed in the soft gray uniform of a palace servant. Her hair pulled tightly back. She wasn’t meant to
be seen.
But I saw her.
I blinked, once. Twice. No illusion. My heart slammed against my ribs, but I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. Ruby snarled, loud and fèral.
She’s here. She’s here.
I gripped the edge of the refreshment table until my knuckles turned white. My voice stayed trapped in my throat. The hall spun sugntly, then stilled.
Don’t make a scene. Not here. Not now.
“Easy,” someone murmured at my side.
I startled. Asher stood close, too close for propriety, but I didn’t step away. His presence was sharp, but steadying.
“I saw them too,” he said softly. “You’re not hallucinating.”
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15:05 Wed, 4 Juno GO
Chapter 84
“Why are they here?”
JUM
He glanced toward Henry. “Your father probably brought her. Dressed her down enough to blend in like a perfect little spy. He’s not subtle, but he has balls, I’ll give him that.”
I swallowed hard, bile rising. “They’re not supposed to be here.”
“No, they are not,” he said.
We stood in silence a moment longer, watching the edges of the room ripple with forced pleasantries and sharpened smiles. Henry lifted his glass again. Elena kept her head down.
“She’s watching Damon,” I said.
“Of course she is; she’s a tool, just as you were.” Asher shifted closer. His shoulder brushed mine.
“Do you find this wine as dreadful as I do?” he asked louder, for the benefit of anyone who might be watching
He reached for a glass from the table, offering it to me like this was just another flirtation. Like I wasn’t seconds from breaking, I took it with a shaking hand.
“You should tell Damon,” I whispered.
His jaw flexed. “I should.”
“But you won’t.”
He didn’t deny it.
I turned my face toward his, our heads angled just enough that no one could hear but us.
“Why do you hate him?”
“I never said I did.” He took a sip to hide his words from view. “But it would hurt you if this got messy.”
His words confused me more than they soothed. “I’m not weak.”
“I know that.” He looked me over, his voice softening. “But you’re still… in the middle of things you didn’t choose.”
I wanted to argue. But my heart wasn’t in it.
Then, as if sensing the exact moment I was about to retreat, Asher leaned in just a little closer and said, “Tell me something, Lucky. You ever wonder if you’re the only substitute in this palace?”
+blinked. “What does that mean?”
He nodded toward the dais. Toward Damon, mid–conversation with a dignitary, his expression unreadable.
“I mean,” Asher said, “what if it’s not just Elena you were standing in for?”
The words landed like a stone in my gut. He straightened. Smiled, as if he hadn’t just split me open with a single sentence. And then he walked away.
