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Come here, baby sister. I want to show you something.
Only, unlike Cha
* * *
She stood in the doorway to the nursery, listening to the girls giggling in their playhouse. They had covered the top with blankets from Evret’s bed for added privacy. From here, Levana could see intricate apple blossoms embroidered around the edges of one of the blankets, and it surprised her to think that, no matter how many times she had slipped into Evret’s bed, she had never noticed those designs. The blanket was not something commissioned for the palace, which meant that Evret had brought it from his previous marriage, and had kept this secret part of Solstice hidden these past years.
Realizing that she was fidgeting with her black wedding band, Levana let her hands fall to her sides.
Inside the playhouse, Winter said something about being princesses in the tower, but then it all dissolved into childish nonsense and laughter that Levana couldn’t follow.
It would be over after today, and that knowledge was a relief. She could stop thinking about the princess that would one day grow up and take everything from her. She could stop being haunted by the ghost of her sister and the legacy she’d left behind.
After today, all of Luna would be hers.
It had occurred to her that she could choose not to take Winter away after all, and to let the fire claim them both. Then all of Evret would be hers too. But then she thought of what a hollowed-out shell of a man Evret had been in the months following his wife’s death, and she couldn’t stand to watch that again.
“Oh, pardon me. Are you—”
Levana turned and the girl drew back with a gasp, before falling into a hasty curtsy. “Forgive me, Your Majesty. I didn’t recognize you.”
The girl was no great beauty, with limp hair and a nose too large for her face. But there was a delicateness to her that Levana thought could appeal to some, and a grace in her curtsy that befit someone who had been hired to raise their next queen.
“You must be the new na
“Y-yes, My Queen. It is a great honor to be in your presence.”
“I am not the queen,” said Levana, tasting her own bitterness. “I am merely keeping watch over the throne until my niece is older.”
“Oh, yes, of course. I … I meant no disrespect. Your … Highness.”
The giggling had stopped. When Levana glanced toward the playhouse, she saw that the girls had pulled back the blankets and were watching with curious eyes and open mouths.
“Winter is being seen by Dr. Eliot today,” said Levana. “I’ve come to take her.”
The na
“Winter, come along,” Levana called. The blanket fell again, hiding the princesses. “You have an appointment with Dr. Eliot. Let’s not keep her waiting.”
“Shall I expect the princess’s return this afternoon, Your Highness?” asked the na
Levana’s gut tightened. “No. I will take her back to our private quarters after the appointment.” She watched as Winter climbed down the ladder, graceful in the way that only a four-year-old child could be, even with her chubby legs and a very full skirt. Her hair bounced as she dropped to the floor.
The blanket shifted again. Selene, peering out from the gap.
Levana met her stare, and she could sense the distrust from the child, the instinctual dislike. Jaw tightening, she sucked in a quick breath.
“I have a job for you.”
The na
“Do you have a family? Any children of your own?”
“Oh. No, Your Highness.”
“A husband, or a lover?”
The girl flushed. She was probably no more than fifteen herself, but that meant so little in Artemisia.
“No. I am not married, Your Highness.”
Levana nodded. Selene had no family, and neither did this girl—none that needed her, at least. It was perfect.
It was meant to be.
A hand slipped into Levana’s, making her jump.
“I’m ready to go, Mother,” said Winter.
Pulse thrumming, Levana yanked her hand away. “Go wait in the corridor. I’ll be there in a moment.”
Crestfallen, Winter turned and waved at Selene. A tiny hand snaked out from beneath the blanket and waved back, before Winter floated out of the nursery.
Now. She would do it now.
After today, it would all be over.
Levana pressed her hands against her skirt, wicking off her damp palms. “Go into the playhouse,” she said, almost like she was speaking to herself. “Go be with the princess. It is almost time for her nap.” She spoke slowly, impressing the idea into the na
The na
Producing a tiny book of matches, Levana let the na
Levana hastily shook it out, breathing easier the second the flame was extinguished. She dropped the smoldering match into the na
“Go now. The princess is waiting.”
Empty eyed, the na
Licking her lips, Levana forced herself to turn away. In the corridor, she grabbed Winter’s hand without a word and tugged her toward the doctor’s office. Her heart was pummeling against the inside of her chest.
She had done it. She had done what she needed to do.
Now she had only to wait.
* * *
It was more than an hour before Levana heard the first stirrings within the palace. Though her nerves were throbbing the entire time since she’d left the nursery, it had already begun to feel like a dream. Just another one of her fantasies, resulting in disappointment. While Dr. Eliot checked that Winter was as healthy as any child had ever been, Levana paced around the waiting room. The doctor’s office was in the palace, a satellite office from the one she kept at the med-center on the other side of the city, so that she could be on call at the slightest sign of a cough or fever from the royal family.
Realizing that she was still holding the little book of matches, Levana checked that no one was around and dropped them into a trash bin, then wiped her hands on an upholstered chair as if the evidence might show itself in ashen traces on her fingertips.
“Doctor!”
Levana jumped, spi
A servant appeared, face red and panting for breath.
“Doctor! Come quick!”
“I beg your pardon, but I am with Her Highness and—”