Malice

on me. They’ve taken my earnings.” I launch the words like daggers, watching carefully to see who bleeds. “Everything is gone.”
Mistress Lavender lowers her cup, the soft clink of china like a thunderclap in the charged silence. “Are you certain?”
“Yes, I’m certain. It was all there a few days ago, more than twenty thousand gold, and now it isn’t.”
“Perhaps you miscounted.” Rose remains stoic, unruffled. My first and only suspect.
She’s jealous of my power, which will always be stronger than hers. It’s not hard to guess that she’d be prowling about the house, watching me and reporting back to the king. And she’d been in my Lair the night of her accident. Had she seen where I kept my gold? But how? The questions trip over one another until I can’t tell one from the next.
“Or she spent it.” Marigold nibbles a scone. “Honestly, between you and Laurel, you spend your coin on the strangest things. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you lost track.” She titters, but no one joins her.
“Twenty thousand is quite the sum.” Mistress Lavender’s brows draw together, and I can almost see the numbers running through her mind. “We are, of course, happy to search the house. The servants’ quarters. And why don’t you let me count what you have and compare it to our ledger? Just to make sure you’re not mistaken. That’s such a large amount, Alyce.”
“Did you not hear me? I have nothing. All of it is—” My mistake registers like a shot firing. The twenty thousand included the king’s payments. If she tallies up my earnings for the past years, even if I never spent a copper, she’ll know I claimed more than I’m supposed to have. Panic douses my wrath. I’m such a fool.
“What a good idea. It should be easy to prove it that way. Unless you did spend it.” Rose adjusts her necklace—a string of rare pink pearls only found on the shores of Cardon. “Or unless you’re taking on unreported patrons.”
Even Marigold gasps at the implication. Under the Grace Laws, patrons and earnings must be reported. In theory, this is to ensure that the Graces receive their rightful coin and to prevent anyone from abusing the system, as when Graces were bought by the nobles. But really it’s to make sure that the Crown always gets its share of Grace profits.
Worry purses Mistress Lavender’s coral-painted lips together. “Alyce knows such a practice is illegal.”
So that’s what Rose thinks I’m doing. Taking extra patrons to earn more money because my gift doesn’t Fade. And so she betrayed me to Tarkin to punish me.
“She knows.” Laurel pins me with a knowing look. “This is all a misunderstanding. A mistake. Alyce, why don’t you look again?”
She’s rescuing me. I can see it in the subtle lift of her eyebrows. I should be grateful. But resentment burns through me, turning my blood to liquid wildfire. I am trapped, my one escape route blocked forever. And I can say nothing. Because this is not simply a case of taking on illegal patrons. This is the Briar King keeping me in his clutches. I might as well be Narcisse, my magic available to be tapped at his pleasure.
A memory swishes at the edges of my mind, like a bright flag in darkness.
“You can’t leave…If my father finds out—and he will…”
Dragon’s fucking teeth. There’s one other person who knew I wanted to leave Briar. Who saw where I kept my gold, how much I had, and knew what I was planning to do with it.
Aurora.
Understanding hits, swift and brutal. I have to grip the doorframe to keep from falling over. What a stupid, stupid wretch I am. I remember the creases of sadness on her face the last time we met. Were they traces of guilt because she had already betrayed me? Did she know what her father was about to do, but didn’t stop him—the same way she didn’t stop him from bleeding Narcisse dry?
“Alyce?” Mistress Lavender’s voice cuts through my spinning thoughts.
“I will look again,” I hear myself say. “As Laurel suggests.”
“Ah, what a good plan,” our housemistress says, relief expelling a huge breath from her ample chest, the sticky situation already smoothing itself out. “Always so reasonable, Laurel. Perhaps you’ll be the one to earn the house a royal crest one day? Think of what it could do for our standings.”
She winks and Rose blanches, stirring her tea with vigor. But I can take no satisfaction in her discomfort. I make to leave, but Mistress Lavender isn’t finished with me.
“Alyce. Do take care next time. These accusations are thoughtless and hurtful. Think of your sisters’ feelings.”
I don’t even turn around.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
For the next week, I am either in my Lair, my room, or at the black tower with Kal. I do not wish to endure the smug, sidelong glances from Rose and Marigold. They may not have taken my gold, but they’re more than happy to reap pleasure from my misery.
Aurora doesn’t come. I’m not surprised. With each new day I’m more convinced than ever that she betrayed me. Was anything between us ever real? The library, where she shared her deepest secrets and applauded me as I added tiny horns to mice. Her visits, when she told me her plans for Briar’s future in a rush of excitement. Does she even want to rule alone, like Leythana? Or was it all just a ruse? A way to glean information about the Dark Grace on behalf of her father? And now that her duty is done, she has no reason to return.
It doesn’t matter, I remind myself, though the questions chip at my heart until it’s nothing but a hollowed-out stone. Even so, I can still hear the melody of her laughter. Feel the velvet softness of her skin against mine when our hands met. If I inhale deeply enough, I swear I catch hints of lilac and appleblossom amid the sooty smoke and