She had sat in front of a mirror pinning flowers into her hair for more than an hour, but she hadn’t looked at herself, not really. Sometimes when she gazed in the mirror she swore she saw Death’s shadow instead of her own. But as she peered at her reflection now, she did not see Death. Her skin glowed, not just with color from climbing up the stairs, but with life capable of days and weeks and seasons of adventures not yet had. Beside her, Jacks suddenly looked even paler in comparison. His glow meant he would never die of natural causes or mortal wounds, but her radiance meant she would truly live.
“Other people might underestimate you, Donatella, but I don’t.”
Tella tried not to feel anything at his words. All her life she’d been underestimated, by her father who thought she was useless, her sister who loved her but feared she couldn’t stay out of trouble, her nana who thought of her as only a nuisance; Tella even underestimated herself at times. It was almost cruel that the one who seemed to believe in her the most was the same being who was also slowly killing her.
“If I fail, will you kill me early, the same way you murdered your last fiancée?”
Jacks’s expression shuttered. “I didn’t kill her.”
“Then who did?”
“Someone who didn’t want me to take the throne.”
Jacks dropped his apple, letting it roll down the stairs as he took Tella’s arm. He held her a little closer than before, almost protectively, but he stayed silent as they continued climbing, as if her mention of his former fiancée had genuinely upset him. Perhaps if Tella believed him she would have felt guilty. But he was the Prince of Hearts, and everyone knew the prince was not capable of love. The stories said he had one true love, but Tella doubted he’d found her. And given how casually he’d mentioned wishing he could kill the empress, Tella doubted Jacks was affected by the loss of one human life.
“Why does the throne matter to you so much?” Tella asked after a few more steps. “As a Fate I’d think you wouldn’t want to be burdened by mortal power.”
“Maybe I like the idea of wearing a crown.” Jacks tilted his head, letting more golden hair fall into his eyes. “Have you seen the emperor’s crown?”
“I can’t say I have.” But Tella had witnessed how carelessly Jacks dressed, and even if that weren’t the case, she couldn’t imagine the Prince of Hearts would fight so hard to be the heir simply so he could wear a crown.
She was about to ask what was so special about this crown when they finally stopped their ascent.
Tella hadn’t counted the number of flights they’d taken, but she imagined they were near the top of the tower. Two black lacquered doors waited for them, with guards dressed in full armor standing on either side. They must have recognized Jacks. Without a word the guards opened the doors.
Candles fell from every inch of a white ceiling, like waxy, glowing raindrops, filling the domed room with flickering spires of marigold light. Tella only had a moment to take it all in, to glance at the steam rising from the elaborate feast beneath the candles and the intricately carved stage on the other side of the room, before a feminine voice burst through the silence.
“You’re finally here!” Empress Elantine rose from a seat at the end of the banquet table.
Tella had expected a pale specter of a woman, thin and bony and colder than her nana Anna, but Elantine was full rosy cheeks, dark olive skin, and a round body that looked as if it would be very soft to hug.
“You, my dear, are lovely.” Elantine smiled and it was luminous, as if she’d been saving up grins to meet Tella. The expression lit up Her Majesty’s entire face, making the golden diadem atop her head and the jewels lining her royal-blue cloak shine even brighter.
Tella dropped into a curtsy. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty. Jacks has told me a great deal about you.”
“Has he told you how he plans to kill me?”
Tella choked on a gasp.
“Don’t look so frightened. I’m only joking! Jacks is my favorite heir so far.” Elantine winked and folded Tella tightly into her arms.
Because of her nana Anna, who’d been slender as a tree branch, Tella had always thought of older people as fragile, breakable things, but Elantine hugged fiercely, warm and careless enough to wrinkle her immaculate garments.
After releasing Tella, Elantine embraced Jacks as well. She even ruffled his head as if he were a little boy. “You’d be so handsome if you put just the tiniest effort into your appearance.”
To Tella’s astonishment Jacks actually blushed; his skin was more blue than red, but it was definitely there. She didn’t know it was possible to fake a blush—there was no way he could have genuinely been embarrassed by her fussing—yet his pale cheeks turned a little blue. After a heartbeat he added a lopsided grin, no doubt to make the empress believe that even though he was shy, he appreciated her attentions. It was disturbing how good he was at this charade.
The empress beamed, but it quickly faded. “You look too thin, Jacks. I hope you’ll eat more than an apple tonight.” Elantine turned back to Tella. “You’ll have to make sure he eats enough. People are always trying to poison my dear Jacks, so he never munches on a thing at my little banquets. But hopefully he’ll enjoy himself tonight. I’ve ordered a feast fit for—well, me.”
Elantine laughed as she directed Jacks and Tella toward the table towering with food. Every dish imaginable, from honeycomb towers with edible flowers to a candied pig with an apple in its mouth, was present. There were miniature fruit trees growing chocolate-dipped plums and brown-sugar-glazed peaches. Wedges of cheese peeking out of miniature treasure chests made of pastry. Upside-down turtle shells filled with soup. Finger sandwiches shaped like actual fingers. Colorful plates of salted pink and red radishes. Water with lavender bubbles, and peach-colored wine with berries at the bottom of the glass.
“You’ll notice there are no servants. I wanted this to be an intimate affair to get to know you.” Elantine sat at the head of the table. There were only two additional chairs both facing the theatrical stage at the other end of the room. The wooden arch above it was carved with images of unadorned oval masks, frowning and grinning and scowling and laughing and making a variety of other odd faces as they looked down at the closed fairy tale–green curtain below.
“Now, tell me about yourself,” said the empress. “Jacks says you’re in Valenda searching for your missing mother?”
Tella opened her mouth to reply as she sat but rather than allow it, Elantine continued reciting an impressively long list of the other things Jacks had said about Tella. The empress even knew Tella’s birthday was coming up and promised to throw her a little party.
“Jacks also tells me you have a fixation with the Fates. I used to have a special Deck of Destiny myself, a long time ago. It never seemed to predict good things.” She laughed again.