Milton froze for a moment. "What, you're going to claim you have some connection to the Crown Prince? The one who barely shows his face in public?"
I let out a bitter laugh. "I've heard he's fond of colored sky lanterns. If we could earn even a smile from him, get him to attend your wedding, wouldn't that be a feather in your cap?"
He looked half-convinced at best. "A lowborn wretch like you would know the Crown Prince's preferences?"
"Believe it or don't. If it turns out to be false, it costs you nothing."
After Milton left, I curled into the corner of the bed. My body burned with fever, and a vicious pain twisted through my lower abdomen, but no one came.
Looking back now, meeting Lola Black was the single greatest regret of my life.
Somewhere in the haze of unconsciousness, I caught a glimpse of the seven-colored lanterns drifting past the window.
Only then did I let myself breathe, and smile.
Long ago, my father and I had made a pact: no matter when or where, if colored lanterns rose into the sky, it meant I was in danger. Someone would come to take me away.
At some point, Lola arrived. She sat at the edge of my bed for a long while.
When she saw me open my eyes, she touched my forehead. "The fever's broken. Come on, sit up and have some porridge."
I dragged myself upright, every joint screaming. "Milton was here. He forced an entire bowl of Severance Root down my throat. Did you know that?"
Lola's expression stiffened. She lowered her gaze. "I knew."
"You knew?"
I fought with everything I had to keep the tears from falling.
She reached for my hand. I pulled away.
"Alaric, he was only protecting himself. If you and I were to have a child someday, where would that leave him and his family? Where would that leave the child? It's only human nature."
I laughed, hollow and sharp. Human nature. What a convenient excuse.
Lola set down the bowl and spoke again. "Milton's been doubled over with stomach pains ever since he got home. It's possible some dark energy from you affected him..."
She trailed off, watching me, choosing her next words carefully.
"There's a venerable monk at Everhold Abbey. I need you to go to him, have him perform a cleansing rite for you, and then climb every one of the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps of the Celestial Stairway on your hands and knees to obtain a blessing charm for Milton. Do that, and we can put this whole matter behind us. All right?"
I stared at her, my eyes burning red.
"Lola Black, you and I are finished. If you want a blessing charm, go get it yourself."
I forced my battered body off the bed, trying to leave this wretched place.
But Lola blocked my path.
She ordered her servants to drag me away. They ignored my struggling, threw me onto a horse, and rode hard to the foot of Everhold Abbey.
"Take him up the mountain."
Two guards seized me, one on each side. I hauled my broken body forward, one step, one bow, one step, one bow.
Two days without food or water, freshly poisoned and wounded. I passed out and came to and passed out again along the way.
I have no memory of how I obtained the blessing charm. All I know is that the moment I saw Lola waiting at the bottom, my legs gave out and I collapsed.
She caught me and gathered me into her arms.
"Alaric, you've suffered so much. I promise, even after I marry Milton, you'll be the only one in my heart."
I closed my eyes slowly. Three days ago, I might have believed those words. Now they made my stomach turn.
"You have your blessing charm. Let me go."
But she ignored my plea and had me carried back to the cottage.
"Alaric, don't be stubborn. Tomorrow is my wedding. Milton has agreed to let you keep living in the cottage afterward. You'll stay out of each other's way. All right?"
Before she left, she added one last instruction: "The Crown Prince may attend the ceremony tomorrow. Stay in the cottage and don't cause trouble."
Shortly after she was gone, my father's covert agents found me.
I looked in the direction she had disappeared, then at this cottage that had never truly been mine, and a quiet smile crossed my lips.
Tomorrow, I hope you have no regrets.
On the morning of the wedding, the Stephens residence was draped in crimson silk, every corner bursting with celebration. Lola stood shoulder to shoulder with Milton in her bridal gown, radiant in red.
The ceremony was about to begin when a voice rang out from beyond the gates: "His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, has arrived!"
