Finale (Caraval #3)(41)
“There’s nothing wrong with Nicolas. He’s just—”
“Not Julian.”
Scarlett’s answering grin told Tella everything she needed to know. Julian might not have been perfect, but he was perfect for her sister.
“Now it’s your turn.” Scarlett eyed the shiny black box beside Tella.
“It’s a gift from Legend. He wants me to meet him at the Midnight Maze tonight.” Tella pulled out the note Legend had sent her and handed it to Scarlett. “I think this might be his way to apologize to me for tricking me in a dream without really apologizing.”
“Hmm.” Scarlett’s brow furrowed and her dress turned a suspicious shade of mauve as she read. “I actually think he might be planning on giving you more than an apology tonight.” She looked up at Tella with solemn hazel eyes. “Did you know the Midnight Maze isn’t just the start of the weeklong countdown to a new ruler’s coronation? It’s an ancient Valendan tradition with very romantic roots. The first Midnight Maze was built by a prince for the princess he wanted to marry. The stories say that the prince told his princess there would be a prize in the center of the maze. Then he snuck there and waited for her, preparing to propose when she found him.”
“So you think Legend plans to propose?” Tella said it like a joke. Legend hadn’t even given her an apology for leaving her that night in front of the Temple of the Stars. There was no way he could be planning on giving her a proposal.
But Scarlett looked utterly serious. “I don’t think it’s entirely far-fetched. Although, in the story the proposal never happened. After the princess entered the maze, she was never seen again. It’s said whenever there’s a Midnight Maze, the ghost of the prince appears and searches for his lost princess.”
“That sounds like more of a tragedy than a romance,” Tella said.
“But it also sounds like Legend. I think he likes stories on the dark-and-tragic side.” Scarlett pinned Tella with a stare that looked a little like a warning, before her eyes went back to the long black box beside Tella, as if its contents might confirm her suspicions.
“It’s probably just a dress, since he knows we lost most everything when our apartment was destroyed.” Tella lifted the lid. But to say what she found inside was just a dress would have been like saying Caraval was only a game, when it was so much more.
A sweet, bewitching fragrance filled the room. It made her think of every dream that she’d spent with Legend as she reached inside the box and pulled out a gown that could have made any girl fall in love.
The garment he’d sent had straps made of flower petals, a bodice made of ribbons lined in gems as small as glitter, and a full skirt formed of hundreds of silk butterflies, all in different shades of blue that together formed a magical hue she’d never seen. Some had sheer blue wings that were almost as pale as tears, others were soft sky blue, a few had hints of violet, while some had periwinkle veins. The butterflies weren’t alive, but they were so delicate and ethereal, at a glance they looked real. Exactly like the gown of her dreams, the dress she’d worn four nights ago when they’d been inside a dream version of the Church of Legend. She’d thought he hadn’t even noticed what she’d worn. But clearly, he had.
It was tempting to shove the dress in the box and not show up at the party at all. The Fates were still out there; she needed to go to the Vanished Market. She needed to find the Fallen Star’s weakness. It was selfish to attend a party right now.
But the real truth was, she was less afraid of battling monsters than she was of giving Legend her heart once again.
Before Legend, Tella had wanted nothing to do with love. She’d believed she was destined to only experience unrequited love. Then she’d fallen in love with him, and it had been like drinking magic—indescribable, all-consuming, and fantastically addictive. Tella didn’t even want to get married, but if there was one person who could tempt her, it was Legend.
“Are you going to go?” Scarlett asked.
“Of course I’m going to go,” Tella said. She just didn’t know what she would do if Legend actually proposed. No one knew how to make her dream or wonder or feel as much as Legend. But no one knew how to break her like Legend did, either. She still wasn’t entirely over the last heartbreak, and if he did it again, she feared she’d never get over it.
23
Scarlett
Every step Scarlett took from the palace felt like a move in the wrong direction.
To avoid the chaos of Legend’s Midnight Maze, which had taken over all of the outer palace grounds, Scarlett had asked Nicolas for another meeting spot. He’d responded by sending a hand-drawn map with clues. She imagined he was trying at romance, and if the map had been from Julian, it would have worked. But instead of feeling romanced, Scarlett felt as if she were making a mistake.
She should have told Tella that she was going to see Nicolas. She’d told Tella she was calling off the game. But she hadn’t confessed she was telling Nicolas this in person. Deep down, Scarlett knew it was a questionable choice to leave the safety of the palace grounds.
After yesterday’s incidents with the Poisoner, she’d not heard of any other Fates causing havoc for fun. But as Scarlett walked Valenda’s steep streets, she saw multiple Fates in the form of warnings and Wanted posters tacked up by Legend’s guards.