Chapter 843

I wrinkle my nose at her and lean forward, nodding. "It really is great, Pip. Especially...especially if you love them. I know that Elias is your best friend and he's good to you. But...I want more for you than that." She takes a deep breath and looks away, shaking her head slightly. "Oh, I don't know if that's in the cards for me."

"Maybe it will be," I say softly. "When we get you to Moon Valley. And don't worry," I say with a smile. "I won't let any of those big Alphas go anywhere near you until you want them to.'

She lets out a long breath as she smiles. "Yeah. But. Maybe one day...I'll want them to."

I smile back, my heart singing with joy and hope for her.

Before I can say more, though, a soft knock comes at the door.

"That will be the tea," Pippa says with a sigh, rising to her feet. "Do you mind if the maid comes in? It will be a woman, of course."

"No, I don't mind," I say, wrapping my arms around my knees as Pippa moves to the door. "I could use a cup."

I stare idly at the water for a little bit as the maid wheels a little trolly in and Pippa thanks her politely for her service.

But I go very still the moment the maid begins to speak.

"This one is for the Princess," the maid says, calm and quiet. And even though I've never heard this person's voice be calm and quiet except in the deadliest of situations, I'd recognize it anywhere. My head whips up. "We heard in the kitchens that she is entering her Confinement, so we included a few pain tablets on the saucer."

Even as I stare, frustration grows in me at the fact that apparently everyone in the castle knows that I've started my period.

But there's no time for that thought as I lock eyes with the maid for a single moment before turning away, remembering my lessons. Remembering everything that she, indeed, taught me.

Because Faiza would be deeply ashamed if she worked so hard to get into my room at the Atalaxian palace only to be unmasked now.

I don't look at Faiza as she leaves, though I desperately want to take another look at the false nose she's wearing, as well as the grey hair that's aged her at least twenty years. Is it a wig? Or has she dyed it? She goes and I just sit idly in the bath, hoping desperately that Pippa can't sense the new pounding of my heart.

"Do you want these tablets?" Pippa asks, pouring out two cups of tea and looking.askance at my saucer "It's probably too early for your cramps to be hitting as hard as they will can just toss them aside and

we'll get fresh ones later. Oroh wait, darling, your jaw -"

"Yes, I'll take them now," I say, doing my best not to sound too eager. Pippa just nods to me, understanding, and brings the two cups of tea over, sitting next to me and handing me my cup.noveldrama

It takes an incredible amount of willpower for me to quietly sip my tea, not even looking down at the two little pills until Pippa gets up to fetch me a new robe, my bath finished.

But when I do glance down, a little thrill runs through my heart.

Because just as I suspected, they're not pain killers at all.

No, I recognize these anywhere - Neumann taught us to recognize cyanide by sight, smell, and taste.

Very carefully I palm the pill-shaped poison in my dried hand as I stand and allow Pippa to help me into

my robe. And then I slip them quietly into my pocket as we move into the other room to pick out clothes for me tonight.

And all the time, even as I chat with Pippa, my mind whirls with how to wield this new power.

Because with this little gift, suddenly everything has changed.

Jesse lounges back on his new cot in the yurt, his head nestled against a soft pillow. He runs his hands idly over his stomach, which is

distended with too much cake. Hoet

smiles as he turns his head and observes as Midnight happily sets new order to her "kitchen," finding places for all of the new pots and cooking tools that Juniper and the rest of the kind people in the Fancy House sent home with them.

God, but it was good to see June, even if all it did was make him worry more. He hadn't even known she was gone. And if he hadn't known

that - what on earth could be happening with the rest of his family? Were they even...okay?

"You want more cookies?" Midnight asks cheerfully, putting away the last of her new dishtowels and beaming over at him.

"No, I don't think I'll ever eat another cookie ever again," Jesse sighs, smiling at her.

She frowns at him. "That's ridiculous, Jesse. Cookies are delicious. Why would you even say that?"

He just heaves a happy sigh. "I don't know, kid. I was joking."