“To bed,” the king says, his voice a bit more forceful and authoritative. The Sentinels stay with him, following when he goes the opposite way from his wife. I guess they don’t sleep in the same room, but that’s not much of a shock.

“My room is where, exactly?” Evangeline asks, glaring at Maven. The blushing queen-to-be is gone, replaced by the sharp she-devil I recognize.

He gulps at the sight of her. “Uh, this way, miss—ma’am—my lady.” He holds out an arm to her, but she breezes right by him. “Good night, Cal, Mareena,” Maven sighs, making a point of looking at me.

I can only nod at the retreating prince. My betrothed. The thought makes me want to be sick. Even though he seemed polite, nice even, he’s Silver. And he’s Elara’s son, which might be even worse. His smiles and kind words cannot hide that from me. Cal’s just as bad, raised to rule, to perpetuate this world of division even further.

He watches Evangeline disappear, his eyes lingering on her retreating form in a way that makes me strangely annoyed.

“You picked a real winner,” I mutter once she’s out of earshot.

Cal’s smile dies with a downward twitch and he starts walking toward my room, ascending the sloping spiral. My little legs fight to keep up with his long strides, but he doesn’t seem to notice, lost in thought.

Finally he turns, his eyes like hot coals. “I didn’t pick anything. Everyone knows that.”

“At least you knew this was coming. I woke up this morning and didn’t even have a boyfriend.” Cal winces at my words but I don’t care. I can’t handle his self-pity. “And, you know, there’s the ‘you’re going to be king’ thing. That must be a boost.”

He chuckles to himself, but he’s not laughing. His eyes darken and he takes a step forward, surveying me from head to toe. Instead of looking judgmental, he seems sad. Deeply sad in the red-gold pools of his eyes, like a little boy lost, looking for someone to save him.

“You’re a lot like Maven,” he says after a long moment that makes my heart race.

“You mean engaged to a stranger? We do have that in common.”

“You’re both very smart.” I can’t help but snort. Cal obviously doesn’t know I can’t get through a fourteen-year-old’s math test. “You know people, you understand them, you see through them.”

“I did a great job of that last night. I definitely knew you were the crown prince the whole time.” I still can’t believe it was only last night. What a difference a day makes.

“You knew I didn’t belong.”

His sadness is contagious, sending an ache over me. “So we’ve switched places.”

Suddenly the palace doesn’t seem so beautiful or so magnificent. The hard metal and stone is too severe, too bright, too unnatural, trapping me in. And underneath it all, the electric buzz of cameras drones on. It’s not even a sound, but a feeling in my skin, in my bones, in my blood. My mind reaches out to the electricity, as if on instinct. Stop, I tell myself. Stop. The hair stands up on my arm as something sizzles beneath my skin, a crackling energy I can’t control. Of course it returns now, when it’s the last thing I want.

But the feeling passes as quickly as it came and the electricity shifts to a low hum again, letting the world return to normal.

“Are you okay?”

Cal stares down at me, confused.

“Sorry,” I mumble, shaking my head. “Just thinking.”

He nods, looking almost apologetic. “About your family?”

The words hit me like a slap. They hadn’t even crossed my mind in the last few hours and it sickens me. A few hours of silk and royalty have already changed me.

“I’ve sent a conscript release for your brothers and your friend, and an officer to your house, to tell your parents where you are,” Cal continues, thinking this might calm me. “We can’t tell them everything, though.”

I can only imagine how that went. Oh, hello. Your daughter is a Silver now and she’s going to marry a prince. You’ll never see her again but we’ll send you some money to help out. Even trade, don’t you think?

“They know you work for us and have to live here, but they still think you’re a servant. For now, at least. When your life becomes more public, we’ll figure out how to deal with them.”

“Can I write to them at least?” Shade’s letters were always a bright spot in our dark days. Maybe mine will be the same.

But Cal shakes his head. “I’m sorry, that’s just not possible.”