Page 4 of Of Masks and Fury

My boots clicked on the stone, the sound bouncing off walls that felt too close despite the vast space.

Footsteps rang out behind me, and I turned to find a servant approaching, one of the senior stewards. He bowed low, his face carefully blank. “Your father requests your immediate presence in the throne room, Your Highness.”

“Of course.” I kept my voice level, though my mind raced. I’d expected this when I announced I was here at the gate. “Let me just change quickly and?—”

“He was quite insistent that you come directly. Without delay.”

The cage door wasn’t only closing in around me. It had already locked.

Pherin fluffed her feathers, bristling at his tone.Bite leg.

You can’t. If we’re going to rescue Addie, we have to convince them we’re compliant and passive.

She grumbled but settled.

I followed the steward through corridors I knew by heart, each turn taking me deeper into the castle’s interior.

The throne room doors loomed ahead, twice my height and intricately carved. Guards flanked either side, their expressionsunreadable beneath their helmets. They opened the doors, and I stepped into the room.

“Her Highness, Princess Amarissa of Caldrith Court,” the steward called out, his voice carrying through the vast space beyond.

The throne room stretched ahead of me, all polished marble and soaring columns. Light streamed through high windows, hitting the center of the room where I’d have to stand like a specimen under glass.

I strode forward until I stood in the light, my chin lifted.

My father sat on his throne elevated on a dais that forced everyone to look up at him. A deliberate design choice. Everything in this room existed to remind visitors of his power, his dominance, and his absolute control.

Guards stood at every door and window. Sixteen total, armed and positioned to prevent an attack or escape.

“Amarissa.” My father’s voice echoed through the chamber, warm and welcoming in a way that made my skin crawl. “My darling daughter.”

He rose from his throne, descending the steps with the grace of a predator, his formal robes of deep green trimmed with gold swirling around him. The crown on his head winked in the light.

I sank into a curtsy, bowing my head as he’d expect. The motion felt like I was dragging on old clothes that no longer fit.

“Father,” I said. “I’m glad to be home.”

He crossed the distance between us, and I had to fight every instinct that screamed at me to step back, to create space, to pull a blade and defend myself.

His hand cupped my cheek, tilting my face up to meet his gaze. The touch felt cold despite the warmth of his skin. Possessive rather than loving. I wanted to recoil, to jerk away from his fingers that gripped too tight.

Trew’s hands on my face had been careful and loving. His fingers had traced my features like I was someone worthy of love. When he’d tilted my chin up, it was to meet my eyes as an equal.

This felt like I was being examined. Owned. Shoved back into line.

“You look different.” My father’s eyes searched mine. “I can’t quite put my finger on why. The simple cluster life must’ve agreed with you.”

“It was enlightening, Father. The sisters were very kind.”

“Were they?” He released my face but caught my shoulders in a grip hard enough to bruise. “I was concerned when I learned you’d fled your guards en route to Noctvale Court. Such a dangerous choice, Amarissa. You could’ve been hurt. Taken by rebels. Or worse.”

“I’m sorry I worried you.” I kept my voice soft and contrite, everything a dutiful daughter should be. “I needed some time away to think.”

He released my shoulders to circle around me slowly, his footsteps reverberating in the room. “I’m surprised the cluster released you so quickly. The sisterhoods are usually quite possessive of their novices. They don’t typically let them leave after only a few weeks.”

My pulse throbbed in my throat. What if he didn’t believe me?

Lies tangled across my tongue. I swallowed them down, choosing words that bent but did not break. “I explained that I had duties here. Responsibilities to my court and my family.” I turned as he paced, keeping him in my line of sight. “They understood.”