Stolen Songbird(85)

Once they had left me alone in my room, I crept out and retrieved the grimoire from the garderobe. The cover of the book felt vile and sinister in the darkness, and it was a relief to crawl back into bed and turn my light on. I made a tent of my blankets – in case anyone was watching – then I opened the book and flipped to the back. I slowly made my way through the pages, my mouth moving as I memorized the foreign words. It was easy enough for me – I was used to memorizing opera lyrics in other languages.

It was beginning to feel like fate that the librarian had found it for me; that after five hundred years, I’d been the one to open it. Maybe Tristan was right, and we shouldn’t break the curse. But that didn’t mean the knowledge that I could extract from Anushka’s writing was useless. There had to be a way I could use it against the King. But first I needed to convince Tristan to help me, and to do that, I needed to lure him in. I glanced across the room at the shadowy form of an altered dress hanging on the closet door.

Maybe, I thought, just maybe, that might work.





CHAPTER 21





CéCILE





“Well, you did a fine job of provoking him.”



The sound of Tristan’s voice pulled me out of deep sleep. Even after I’d hidden the grimoire away, I’d stayed up late trying to think of ways to get Tristan alone. And here he was. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, blinking at the brilliance of his light, which hovered over the bed. I briefly wondered how long he’d been standing there watching me sleep. “Don’t blame me. He was angry before I even got there. Where have you been all night?”

“If anyone asks, tell them I was here sleeping,” he replied, turning away from me.

“I know the routine,” I said. “It’s just I don’t think there’s any point to it. He knows you’re avoiding me. I think he thinks you’re letting your dislike of humans interfere with finding a way to break the curse.”

“That’s better than the alternative.” He studiously avoided looking at me and rifled through papers on the desk, but there was no missing the embarrassment growing in the back of my mind.

“True,” I agreed, although I didn’t understand why the alternative – his father knowing he didn’t want to break the curse – had elicited his embarrassment. I frowned, mentally reviewing his words in my mind. He was acting strangely. I pulled the covers up around my chin and watched him unbuckle the sword at his waist, set it carefully on the desk, and then cross over to the closet. He took off his coat, hanging it carefully on a hanger, and brushed the fabric smooth. He untied his cravat with a quick jerk, but he folded it neatly and placed it on a shelf. There were dark circles under his eyes – all his sleepless nights were catching up with him.

“Do you ever sleep?”

“I try to, but I keep finding this girl in my bed.” He meant it as a joke, I knew, but I still felt guilty.

“You can sleep in the bed if you want.” As soon as the words were out my face turned bright red. “I mean, I can sleep on the chaise and you can sleep in the bed. It makes more sense – I’m smaller. You’re really too tall to be sleeping on that thing. Besides, I get plenty of rest.” I clamped my teeth shut to stop my babbling.

One corner of his mouth turned up. “It’s all right, Cécile. You can have the bed – there are other places for me to sleep.”

Which wasn’t at all the answer I’d been looking for.

Silence stretched long beyond the point of awkwardness. He was incredibly nervous, which was making me nervous. I plucked at the blanket, folding it into tighter and tighter pleats. Think of something to say, I ordered myself, but everything I came up with sounded stupid or boring.

“I understand my father suggested you seduce me,” he said abruptly, the words tumbling over each other. “Apparently he considers me susceptible to such things.”

“Or overestimates my skills,” I said, with a nervous laugh, glancing at the gown hanging across the room. “Perhaps your aunt can arrange for me to have lessons so that I can improve my chances of success.”

“You don’t need lessons,” he replied. The light hanging above him flared brightly and he glanced up at it before mumbling, “I mean you don’t… I don’t know what I mean. I haven’t slept all night. Forget I said anything. I’m only here for a change of clothes and then I’ll be gone.” Our combined mortification made my toes curl.