Page 3 of Of Masks and Fury

“Send word to the King Cyril,” I said, my voice steady despite my racing heart. “Tell him that Princess Amarissa has returned.”

CHAPTER TWO

ISI

“Princess Amarissa.” The younger guard rushed forward, his hand moving to his sword hilt before dropping away. “We weren’t expecting… That is, no one informed us you’d be arriving today.”

“I sent no word ahead.” I kept my voice steady, though my heart slammed against my ribs. Pherin shifted beneath my hair, pressing against my neck.

The older guard bowed, his eyes tracking my movements with an odd look that made my skin prickle. “Welcome home, Your Highness.”

Home? The word tasted wrong, like I’d bitten into fruit and found it rotten.

The iron gates swung open with a groan. I’d heard that sound a thousand times, but today it felt like a cell door opening, one that would soon bang shut behind us. Pherin went perfectly still as if she too sensed we’d fallen into the mouth of something hungry.

I strode onto familiar ground that might as well be foreign soil, though everything looked the same as I’d left it. The white stone walls gleamed in the afternoon sun. Flowering vines cascaded fromthe upper terraces in carefully cultivated waterfalls of color. Guards ran drills in the practice yard on my left.

Beautiful. Orderly. Suffocating.

My fingers trembled, and a vine on the nearest terrace wall curled tighter, thorns emerging where blossoms had been moments before. It took considerable will to tamp down my magic.

As I walked, I catalogued my surroundings, taking in subtle changes. Four guards stationed at the garden gate to my left, not the usual one. Someone in the front towers when, in the past, there had been none. Everyone wore more weapons than usual.

The castle felt like it was holding its breath, giving it a predatory feel, like I was walking across ice that cracked with each step.

Trew’s training was being put to good use.

“Always know your surroundings, Minx,” he’d say. “And never make assumptions.”

Three exits from the courtyard, not including the gate I’d entered through. Two side passages, one leading to the kitchens, another to the stables. And a servants’ entrance hidden behind a trellis of climbing roses.

The knowledge settled into my mind, a weapon being loaded.

A patrol rounded the corner ahead, four guards moving in tight formation, their eyes scanning the area.

Though it was more instinct than a true need to hide, I ducked behind a stone pillar, pressing my back against the cold marble. Pherin’s claws dug into my neck as my pulse thundered so loud I was certain they’d hear it echoing off the stone.

The footsteps came closer. I held my breath. One guard paused, his head tilting.

“You hear something?” he asked.

“No,” another said.

They kept moving.

“—increased the rotations since her body…” the first guard said as they passed. “Orders came down from the king himself. No one enters or leaves without his knowledge.”

Why such tight security?

After they’d moved on, I forced myself to count to ten before stepping out from behind the pillar, my legs unsteady.

Servants stopped to stare as I crossed the main courtyard on quick feet.

I must look like a disaster. Dirt-covered, exhausted, wearing pants and a too-large tunic instead of a court dress. My hair hung in a simple braid down my back, not the elaborate style expected of a princess.

But that wasn’t the only reason why they stared. I moved differently now. I’d learned to walk with purpose, to carry my height like a weapon rather than an embarrassment.

When I stepped inside, the castle’s interior wrapped around me in a familiar nightmare. Soaring ceilings. Polished floors that echoed every footstep. Tapestries depicting my family’s history, plus conquests and executions presented as triumphs.