‘Try?’ I ask innocently.
‘To escape,’ he clarifies, and I stiffen in his arms. ‘No, don’t worry. If you can get out, more power to you. No one ever has before.’
‘Perhaps because they depended on men to do it?’ I offer, and look up to see his mouth split into a wide grin.
‘See what I mean?’ He laughs and pulls me closer. ‘You’re already smarter than every girl here.’
‘Including Maela?’ I spy her out of the corner of my eye, chatting animatedly with a gentleman at the bar. I’m glad she’s otherwise engaged.
‘Especially Maela,’ he says, and sighs. ‘She’s not an intellectual. She acts on her whims.’
‘She must have had a rough childhood.’
‘Yes,’ he says solemnly, ‘there was a serious lack of puppies.’
I laugh and settle against his chest, glad I’m smart enough not to be cosied up to a drunk old man, but wondering exactly what I’m getting myself into with a charming young one.
Enora’s voice hissing in my ear pulls me away from the moment. ‘Come with me now.’
As she drags me away, I shoot Erik an apologetic look. Without wasting any time, Enora pulls me into the powder room.
‘What are you thinking?’ she demands.
‘I don’t—’
But she cuts me off with a finger and throws open the door to the toilet. It’s vacant, so she crosses over to the main door and locks it.
‘Now?’ I ask.
‘Yes,’ she snaps.
I fold my arms over my bare chest. ‘I’m not sure what you mean.’ Except, of course, I am.
‘Don’t play dumb. It doesn’t suit you.’
‘I wasn’t aware that I couldn’t dance.’
‘Of course you can dance,’ she responds irritably. ‘You can dance with the old officials. You can even dance with a young one if his wife will let you.’
‘But Erik is off-limits because he’s unmarried?’
‘No, he’s off-limits because he’s Maela’s,’ she says, throwing up her hands. She’s not usually so dramatic. ‘And in case you missed it, she already hates you.’
‘No, I caught that.’ The fun I was having moments ago leaks away. ‘And what do you mean “he’s Maela’s”?’
‘Adelice, I know you aren’t stupid.’
‘Let’s pretend I am.’
‘Fine. She’s in love with Erik. He was some nobody who came to work in the kitchen a few years ago, but then Maela adopted him.’ Her voice shakes with panic, not rage.
‘She’s ten years older than him. At least.’
She shoots me another exasperated look. ‘Back off before she takes even more of an interest in you.’
‘I was just dancing with him,’ I argue, not sure even I believe it. ‘It’s that or let some creepy Guild official paw me all night.’
‘Ad,’ she pleads, ‘I sympathise, I really do, and Erik is very charming, but there are two things you need to consider. The first is how angry Maela will be if she finds out.’
‘And the second?’
‘That Erik’s intentions aren’t necessarily as honourable as he makes it seem.’
I blush. ‘Look, I know we aren’t allowed to get married, and I know there are limits, but I never thought . . .’
‘That,’ she says pointedly, ‘is not what I’m talking about. You’re cosying up to Maela’s assistant. You don’t find it suspicious that he’s taken an interest in you?’
‘Well, I do now.’ How had this not occurred to me? Since our trip together, I’d started to trust him without even realising it.
‘You’re already walking a thin line – the way you ran and the attention you’re drawing to yourself. Arras doesn’t work this way, Adelice. Secrets—’
‘Don’t have a place here.’ It bursts viciously out of my mouth.
But instead of being annoyed, she titters wryly. ‘No, there are plenty of secrets here, believe me, but some of us realise the danger of flaunting them.’
I open my mouth to protest, but she raises her hand to stop me.
‘Let me finish. I don’t want to be another person trying to control you—’
‘Then don’t!’ I yell. ‘You aren’t my mom.’
‘I’m not trying to replace your mother. No one can do that,’ she says in a quiet voice.
‘No,’ I retort. ‘Not even the Guild.’
Enora backs away from me. She opens her mouth to speak but closes it again as if she can’t find the right words. We both know there are no right words when it comes to what the Guild did to my family.
‘I have to get back before they notice I’m gone.’ Enora reaches out a hand as if to comfort me but thinks better of it and heads out to the party.
I take my time going back to the ball, afraid I’ll cry in front of the Stream crews. When I’m sure I’m calm enough, I slip out of the bathroom, still trying to decide how to dump Erik so I can sneak to my room and rip open a pillow, when a pair of strong hands pulls me away from the busy banquet room and into the dark hall.
‘I thought I’d been left to fend off drunk old men,’ Erik says, quietly, to avoid sending an echo down the empty marble hallway.
‘The Guild officials are getting broad-minded,’ I murmur, the ache in my chest suddenly spreading to where his hands hold my bare arms.