Chapter 81: Accusations at Dawn
Chapter 80: Accusations at Dawn
Lyria’s POV
The night air clung to me as I slipped back through the palace, my cloak drawn tightly about my shoulders, the pouch held close beneath the folds of the fabric.
Only when I reached my chambers did I finally breathe freely.
I closed the door softly behind me.
Then I moved at once.
The pouch came first.
I knelt by the worn board, prying it up with careful fingers, revealing the box beneath. I placed the pouch inside it carefully and then replaced the board.
My body ached faintly beneath my clothes, a dull reminder of the scars, though it was not nearly as sharp as it had been before.
I removed my cloak first, setting it aside, then began to undress.
The fabric fell away in quiet layers, and I reached for the cloth I kept in a small basin nearby, dipping it into the water and wringing it out before pressing it gently against my skin.
The coolness was immediate.
I moved slowly, carefully, wiping away the dirt and sweat from the night’s work, the scent of ale and smoke lingering faintly even as I tried to remove it.
When I finished, I reached for the small pot Helen had given me.
I hesitated only briefly before opening it.
The scent rose immediately, occupying the small space. I turned slightly, applying it as best as I could reach, the sensation spreading across my back.
It stung, though not nearly as much as before.
When I was done, I dressed again, moving more slowly now, the quiet of the room settling around me.
My gaze drifted, unbidden, to the corner where the floorboard lay.
The money from tonight would be enough for more of my mother’s medicine.
More than enough, perhaps.
And the rest—the portion I would set aside—would go toward the other thing. The thing that lived at the back of every decision I made and informed every coin I saved and every hour I worked and every night I came home through the servants’ passage and replaced the floorboard and pretended nothing was different.
Getting away from this place with the people most important to me.
My chest tightened slightly.
I would miss the tavern when I left, though. The noise. The laughter. The easy warmth of people who had no reason to care and yet did.
Helen.
Olly.
Jacob.
Brianna.
All of them.
I had never thought—I had never thought I would be... liked.
Not like that.
Not in a way that felt real and unguarded and undeserved.
I had assumed it was nothing more than passing amusement. A convenience. A familiar face behind a bar.
I had not realised I had become something more to them.
A small, disbelieving smile touched my lips.
It lingered as I lay down.
And it was still there when sleep finally took me.
---
Morning came too quickly.
I woke before the sun had fully risen, the faint grey light slipping through the narrow window and settling across the room.
For a moment, I lay still.
Then I pushed myself up. There was no time to linger.
I dressed quickly, ensuring everything was in place, every fold neat, every movement quiet and precise.
By the time I stepped into the corridor, I was no longer the girl from the tavern.
I was Lyria again.
Or rather—
What Lyria was expected to be.
Then I went to the kitchens.
The boiler at this hour was attended by one of the kitchen boys who was still half asleep and acknowledged my presence with a tired nod. I’m pretty sure if he could see me clearly and if he wasn’t so tired, he would have ignored me like every other person normally ignored me. I collected the water I needed and made my way back through the corridor and up toward Jacinta’s chambers.
The palace was in that particular state it occupied in the early morning—not yet fully awake, the staff moving quietly through their early tasks, the night still faintly present in the quality of the light coming through the high windows.
As I walked, I thought, briefly, about whether I would find Corvin in Jacinta’s chambers when I arrived.
I would not be surprised, but I would not be pleased, either.
The recent encounters with him had not improved my opinion of the man. If anything, they made me realize that I had been fooled by him all this while.
I would rather not see him. But if I did, I would manage it.
I arrived at Jacinta’s chambers.
The guards on either side of the door straightened marginally, and then one of them opened it as I approached.
I stepped inside.
Jacinta’s chambers in the morning had a particular quality—heavy curtains still drawn against the early light, the air warm and slightly stale from a night of sleeping, the general disarray of someone who had not yet imposed order on their surroundings.
Jacinta herself had just woken.
She was sitting up in the bed, her hair loose and slightly tangled, rubbing her eyes with the heel of one hand.
I set the water down and waited for her instructions. But minutes passed, and she did not say anything.
That was surprising.
I had expected something. A comment, a command, something that established the morning’s register.
But she was quiet.
Well, maybe she would take pity on me today and not say anything. Perhaps she was too tired or too impressed by the suitors to have anything to say this morning.
Maybe the goddess was on my side.
But I rejoiced too early.
Jacinta turned her gaze to me.
She looked at me with disgust.
"I heard," she said, "that you have been attempting to seduce the suitor candidates."
What?
Everything in me stopped for the span of one complete breath as I tried to make sense of what I had just heard.
"Your Highness," I said, keeping my voice at the measured, even register I reserved for this room, "I am afraid I do not know what you mean."
"Is that so?" she asked, slight intrigue in her voice.
I had not yet replied before she spoke up again.
"You take me for a fool," she said. "That is what this is. You stand there with that look on your face, and you tell me you do not know what I mean."
I kept my head bowed.
"I genuinely do not, Your Highness," I said. "I would not presume—"
"Corvin told me," she said.
Ah... I think I understood what she was talking about now.
"He told me," she continued, "that you were making eyes at Baron Redwick. Two nights ago."
