So, they knew that too. Is there any secret in this goddamn palace?
Her question hit me harder than I expected. It was not a secret, but it suddenly felt like my dirty little secret even the queen asked me about it.
He only stopped a bully, I muttered.
In this palace, that is not a small thing.
My mind spun working through the implications. If the Prince stepping into a servants' corridor for me was such a breach, then every eye in this place must be on me as some kind of anomaly or threat.
It was not just Istrell who noticed; Lydia had spelled it out, and now the danger was real, not imagined. The next time I moved through these halls, I would need to walk as if I belonged to this place, but blend deeper than before.
No more lingering where I could be seen, no more drawing lines b
