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“The Duchess and I were arranged to be together when we were still in our nurseries,” she says. “That’s why my family was visiting Crossbill Haven the summer the plague wraith hit. We were supposed to be wed the next year.”
My finger stops moving along the trunk. “I didn’t know that.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“Why didn’t you go through with the wedding after you recovered?”
“The Lunar Tide Coven saved my life, so I devoted myself to them.” She sits in the windowsill, framed by lush pink velvet curtains. “And I may seem like I’ve fully recovered, but I still experience symptoms that nobody can see. Just last year, a fever nearly killed me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I’m feeling much better now,” she assures me as I touch the latches on her trousseau. “You can look inside if you’d like.”
She seems eager for me to open it, so I do. Layers of lace undergarments and lovely pastel dresses fill one half of the chest, the fabric perfumed with lavender sachets. The other half is stuffed with more personal items–a plush bear with button eyes, a seashell-shaped mirror, and a lock of black hair tied up in a blue ribbon.
I recognize the distinct charcoal shade and slight coarseness of Darcy’s waves. My heart does an odd little flip. I reach for a gold bracelet encrusted with pink diamonds, hoping she won’t notice the creaking in my chest.
“This is pretty.” I make the diamonds sparkle in the candlelight, and she slides down from the sill to kneel beside me.
“So is your necklace, but you always keep it hidden.” She lifts the pendant from the untied neckline of my nightgown and stirs the aether.“Where did you get it?”
“My father gave it to me.”
She runs a finger along the fine chain. “And what sort of metal is this? I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
“Some sort of oceanic steel.” My pulse kicks up as she gets closer to my neck, and I start rambling. “I’ve worn it since I was very young. It used to hold my family’s crest before I got my pendant.”
“Interesting.” She pulls the chain down, working half of the loop to my collarbone. “It doesn’t have a clasp.”
“It was an expensive gift, so he wanted it to be permanent.”
“Is it really a gift if you can’t choose when to wear it?” She drops her hand to my knee and squeezes it while I’m still reeling from her comment. “It is very pretty, though.”
“Thank you.” I place her bracelet back in the trunk, and she digs through her dresses, pulling out a cardstock disc wedged between them.
She holds it up, showing me a painting of a blue freshwater fish with a brilliant flowing orange fin. Then she flips it over to the painting of a bowl filled with water. “Would you like to see a trick?”
I wipe my damp palms on my sleeves. “Sure.”
She pinches the blue ribbons threaded through the sides of the cardstock and pulls them taut, spinning the disc rapidly. It looks as though the fish is swimming in the water bowl. “Do you like it?”
I feel strange, like I can’t look away from the blurry image. “I think so.”
“Good.” The fish keeps swimming. “You’re not really a fisherwoman from Seshly, are you?”
“No.”
“Are you here to hurt Darcy or her family?”
“No.”
Her voice softens. “Are you in trouble?”
“Yes.” Tears sting behind my eyes, but I’m too fixated on the fish to blink them away.
“It’s ok. I won’t ask you anything that might cause you more trouble,” she says. “I want to help you.”
“Why?”
