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My first task without any sort of supervision, and I’m plotting how to bluff my way into a royal palace. That certainly bodes well for my future as an enchantress who stands for all things good and righteous.
(Whether the royal family was trying to flaunt their wealth, or they really had such poor taste in architecture and decorating, she didn’t know.
I need to get to that mirror to see if I can verify his location. There were other mirrors, of course, but they were all owned by other magic users—no one who would be willing to help her: the Veneno Conclave’s barely tolerated monster.
Still, if she blundered her spell and snipped the wrong part, she’d kill him. Of course, if I lose control of the defensive spell, I’d likely kill everyone in the garden, so perhaps inserting the modification is not so risky after all.
“You don’t look very happy. It might sound impossible”—or just plain stupid— “but allow me to assure you that love will not evade you.”
“You read his mail?” Angelique’s first instinct was to snatch Roland from the protective cradle of Gabrielle’s arms and shake some sense into him, but that would absolutely tarnish her enchantress image, so she planted a hand over her heart instead and privately promised herself retribution later.
“As a general rule I don’t like anybody,” Puss snidely replied.
Frankly, either the prince is so emotional he cannot see straight, or he is an idiot. Both are disturbing possibilities considering he is the commanding general of Loire’s armies, Angelique thought
Since he doesn’t appear overly emotional, I guess idiot it is. Lucky me that I get to walk him through the obvious conclusions one can draw as a result of his broken curse. Angelique stifled the desire to roll her eyes. Funny, during his lectures of duty, Evariste never said anything about tutoring slow-thinking princes.
“Worry not, mistress.” Puss’s voice was soft and gentle with affection. “Together we can guard your country…and wait for the Bumpkin Head to return.”
“Naturally,” Puss said. “I retain the right to criticize your husband no matter what circumstance, or there will be a terrible imbalance to his ego.”
“Oh goodness, no. I hope you were joking, or shame on you for wishing such a horror on me. Gabi hasn’t seen that Bumpkin Head of hers in months, and I very much wish to escape all of their reunion. It’s sure to be a sickeningly sweet encounter.” Puss shuddered in revulsion.
Angelique idly wondered if it was a bad sign for her soul that she was starting to grow less horrified by curses and now measured them by the pain they dealt.
This is ridiculous. I am as jaded toward romance as a person could be, and even I can see this would never work! Someone needs to smack that old badger king upside the head and knock some sense into him!
What, what, what? I’m an apprentice—not a ruddy monarch! What, do they expect me to do, pop next year’s budget out of the skirts of my dress? How am I supposed to know what to do with a country?
“She’s here because she broke our core belief and involved herself with country politics.” Lazare squinted in the light. “I thought we called her here because she scares us with her sheer amount of power, and we have to keep her in line.”
It wasn’t a nice feeling, knowing she was beheld in terror like a wild animal. In fact, it was soul-crushing. But at least she now knew straight out it was her power they feared. She could understand that. Their insistence on pretending otherwise, however, was a blade between the shoulders and a wound that wouldn’t heal because it gave her false hope that if she said the right thing, looked the right way, did all they asked, she would eventually be accepted.
“The folly is not with me, but the laws,” she hotly said. “I have broken the rules and laws you so venerate because we are living in a time they were not meant for. The continent is not at peace! Royals are getting attacked; black mages are trying to get holds in each country; catastrophes abound. I will do whatever it takes to save lives and spare innocent people, even if it means crossing lines we previously stayed out of. Because if we don’t, whatever chaos boiling right now is only going to get worse!”
“The continent is in danger, and I don’t have time for your lectures and suspicions. Deliver it in writing if you must, but I will not pause my work to give you a chance to soothe your fears that I am a monster under your control,” Angelique continued. Felicienne shook with anger. “We will send mages after you!” Angelique smiled—not her polite one, but the amused smirk she usually hid. “Of course. When you can find Evariste so you can formally charge me, I will happily return. But until then, you’ll have to forcibly remove me from whatever palace and royal family I am working with at the
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