Midnight in Everwood(58)

‘I’m sure you could think of a way to surpass his loyalty to the king.’ Dellara twirled her fingers above the tray, plucking a slice of spiced apple cake from it with slow deliberation. ‘Use your imagination. He’s attracted to you.’

Marietta felt a hot tinge creeping up her neckline. ‘You are mistaken.’

‘Not at all.’ Pirlipata bit into a frostberry. ‘Anyone can see that he favours you.’

Marietta fumbled for a response. She thought once more of her last visit. Of his eyes burning into hers, burnished in the lanternlight. Of how they’d darkened as her breath had hitched. Marietta, I want you to know I … What had he been on the verge of saying? Her blood warmed and she shook off the thought.

‘You’ll ask him,’ Dellara said. ‘Do flirt a little when you do though, hmm?’ She gave Marietta a salacious look that sent any possible responses flying from her head. She grinned. ‘I’m sure you’ll enjoy that, too. Don’t think we haven’t seen the way you look at the good captain.’

Marietta drank some water. She ignored the sly smile Dellara sent in Pirlipata’s direction. ‘Would it not be wiser to consult one of the other soldiers I became acquainted with before entering the palace, Claren perhaps?’

‘They’re lower-ranked soldiers. I’m sure they’re capable of charming a wanderer when they set their mind to it.’ Dellara bit into her cake, taking care not to dislodge the fuchsia-pink gems affixed to her lips. ‘But they’ll be more tentative about calling notice to themselves. Besides which, Fin’s too shy for such a task and Claren’s too invested in his own frivolities.’

‘Yet you do not believe that the captain of the King’s Army would be concerned with getting caught?’ Marietta pointed out.

‘Not as a leader, no. He’s accustomed to thinking for himself and he’d be better placed to formulate a plan and act upon it without having to concern himself with sneaking around behind his commanding officers’ backs.’

Dellara’s explanation poured out in a manner that Marietta found she couldn’t refute. Perhaps she ought to consult the captain. After all, she was merely seeking a few purloined items of clothing, nothing more.

‘Very well, I shall put the question to him,’ Marietta said, ignoring the looks Pirlipata and Dellara were now trading. She wondered if he would invite her to his study again. Now she was healed and no longer starving, there was no excuse for them to dwell in each other’s company. A fleeting sadness swept over her. She firmed her resolve against it; she still had his notebook in her possession. ‘Then we shall move along the staircase in disguise. What might be the best manner to flee this suite?’

‘We ought to work backwards,’ Pirlipata said, digging out another handful of frostberries. Deep magenta with a frosted skin, they were plump and bursting with a sweet sticky juice. ‘None of this is worth contemplating if we still do not have an inkling on how to leave the palace.’

‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Dellara’s voice drawled, painting her words in honeyed tones. Marietta and Pirlipata looked at her, waiting. ‘We don’t leave through the main door.’

‘I was not aware there was an alternate exit to the palace,’ Marietta said.

Pirlipata crinkled her forehead. ‘If there is one, I am not aware of it either.’

‘Neither of you are thinking outside the globe. We don’t leave this palace. We leave this world,’ Dellara said with a flourish.

Pirlipata’s muddled expression cleared. ‘Oh.’

Marietta’s confusion didn’t abate. She frowned. ‘What am I missing?’

‘All those doors running alongside the staircase?’ Pirlipata turned to Marietta in an excited glaze. ‘Where do you think they lead?’

‘Tell me,’ Marietta said, catching the spark of her enthusiasm.

Dellara leant forward, her gem-encrusted lips sparkling, lending her an eerie glow. ‘They lead to different worlds.’





Chapter Thirty


Other worlds. A frisson fired through Marietta, raw with nerves and hope and the inconceivable knowledge that she was an insignificant speck in the universe that had swollen far greater than she could picture. Her one foray into another world had culminated in her capture but Dellara was dagger-sharp and if she believed this was a more likely escape route through the ensorcelled palace then Marietta was inclined to agree. ‘How might we find our way back to this world? Or return me to mine?’

‘There are doors located across the worlds,’ Dellara said.

Pirlipata gave Marietta a reassuring smile. ‘Do not fear, we shall not stop searching until we are able to return you to your home.’

‘Or find you a better one,’ Dellara added.

Pirlipata gave her a look, deep with meaning and the unique irritation that tended to run between siblings or the oldest of friends. ‘That is far from helpful.’

Dellara flicked a shred of pastry off her dress. ‘I was under the impression she wasn’t enamoured with her own world. She only mentions it in passing and never seems happy to speak of it. And then there are the nights she’s seized with nightmares.’

Marietta toyed with the crispy-coated slice of cheese she’d picked up. ‘I was not aware I spoke in my sleep.’