Burning Glass (Burning Glass #1)(84)
“I’m sure this letter has nothing to do with romance, Pia.”
“Prove it to me.” She grabbed my wrist. “Please? Nothing exciting has happened all day.”
“Wasn’t last week’s ball enough excitement to tide you over?” I asked. She’d told me how Yuri had given her quite the passionate kiss after their stolen dance together. I couldn’t help but wonder if it finally outmatched the one Valko had given her months ago.
“Yes, well, now Yuri is gone for a fortnight on some recruitment errand for the emperor.”
I turned the letter over and wondered if Valko had already sent men throughout the empire to announce the lowered draft age. The council had approved the directive. Anton and Nicolai were outnumbered.
Pia touched my knee. “You don’t have to read it aloud. Just tell me if I’m right and it is romantic. I have no shame in living through you until Yuri gets back.” She grinned.
I shook my head at her. “That soldier needs to marry you quickly. You’re going to torture me every day until he does.”
She giggled. Despite myself, I laughed along with her. “Just read it!” she said.
“Fine.” I groaned a sigh. “But you’re going to be wrong.”
I rose and moved a few steps away so she wouldn’t peer over my shoulder. I broke the seal, unfolded the paper, and pressed a free hand to my stomach to settle my nerves.
Meet me an hour after midnight at the kitchen door facing the stables.
Wear a simple dress.
That was it. No salutation with my name or signature of his. There was little to go by, but knowing Anton, this was a critical errand if it involved endangering me. Surely I would be punished if I were discovered fleeing the palace, even though this outing must be brief since he didn’t ask me to bring anything more than what I had on. Only I couldn’t wear this. Lenka would come soon and change me into my nightgown. Anton knew that. He knew my clothes weren’t stored in my bedroom. That’s why he had sent Pia with the letter, I realized, so I would find a way to keep my dress and evade Lenka. But I couldn’t think of an excuse that would fall below her suspicion. Besides, the fabric of my dress was a rich brocade. Not exactly discreet.
Pia, however, was someone I could trust with at least part of this plan. Anton had trusted her to the extent he gave her this letter. Yuri had, as well, in that he used her room as a meeting place for Anton’s league of revolutionaries. The prince had said Pia was uninvolved beyond that. She wasn’t a part of his inner circle, and I could see why. She was too scattered with light emotion and free with gossip to trust implicitly. Still, she was my true friend, and the only ally I could secure tonight.
“Well?” Her large eyes were round and beautiful.
I folded the letter. “No one can know what I’m about to tell you.”
She nodded and inched forward in her seat. “I understand.”
I bit my lip, preparing for her to draw the wrong conclusions. “It seems I’m going somewhere for the night, though I imagine I’ll be back before dawn.”
Pia’s mouth dropped open.
“And I need your help,” I went on in a rush. “I need a plain dress.”
She sprang up from the couch and threw her arms around me. “Oh, Sonya! I’m so happy for you! Didn’t I tell you it would be romantic?”
It occurred to me that was the only cover I could give her—one she was already willing to believe. And so, feeling like a fool, I let her excitement ripple up my throat into a noise I hoped came off as happy. To my ears it sounded like a squealing pig. “You did!” I replied.
Lenka entered the room with her always-horrible timing. I hid the letter at my side and broke apart from Pia, who darted for the door and wished me good night, forgetting her tray in her hurry. When Lenka’s back was turned, Pia winked at me, then exited. Her giggles rang through the hallway.
Lenka pinched her brows and sucked in her bony cheeks. “What’s come over her?”
I backed closer to my furnace. “Oh, she’s always like that.” With a little flick of my hand, I tossed the letter behind the grate.
My maid’s gaze followed the movement, but she couldn’t have seen what I’d done.
I turned around and offered her the laces of my dress. “I’m so glad you’ve come. I’m exhausted.” Overdoing it, I chided myself.
Lenka didn’t say a word, not then, nor during the rest of our nighttime routine. Her aura was no longer irritable—it was closed. She must have learned how to conceal her feelings after all her years of serving Izolda, just as Anton had an ability to when he focused hard enough. I wasted a moment trying to pry Lenka’s aura open, but it was no use. As her wiry fingers jostled me out of my gown and brushed and braided my hair, I wondered what in Feya’s name I was thinking in so readily agreeing to sneak out with Anton. I didn’t even know what he meant to do, and now I’d gotten Pia involved and likely raised the suspicion of my head maid.
I may not have committed to helping the prince with his revolution, but he still held me in a measure of his power. Or perhaps I held him in a measure of mine. Perhaps this secret night together was a way for him to prove his full confidence in me. I only hoped it was worth the risk for everyone involved.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
APPARENTLY, THE ONLY KEY TO MY WARDROBE WAS IN LENKA’S possession. Pia could see no way to fetch it from her, so she brought me one of her spare uniforms.