Chapter 10

“ N o,” I breathed, staring back at Valencia. Jack whirled about, his lips parted and eyes wide.

My mouth worked, trying to form any words that would defend us and convince my stepmother that she was seeing things…anything that would protect Jack and me. But my tongue had turned to lead and lost the ability to move.

“Excuse me!” Jack called to her, straightening and walking briskly down the hall.

Too late.

Valencia turned, trotting down the stairs at a brisk pace and acting as though she hadn’t heard him.

Jack and I ran after her in a panic. I had no idea what I would say, but I had to do something . Jack could lose everything. I couldn’t let it happen. By the time we reached the top of the stairs, my stepmother was already at the bottom, wending her way down the hall and throwing a few backward glances our way. Was she about to report us?

Heart hammering, I chased after her with Jack.

“Beg pardon!” Jack called again, trying to look dignified while walking as quickly as he could. A guard stationed at the bottom of the stairs raised a solitary eyebrow as Jack and I went dashing past. “A word, if you please, madam!”

Once she was halfway down the hall, far enough away from the guard that we wouldn’t be overheard, Jack finally caught up to her. I followed a few steps behind, still trying to think of something to say.

“What?” Valencia made no illusions of etiquette or grace as she pivoted sharply. The self-satisfied smirk she wore froze my insides. She was going to tell.

“About what you thought you might have seen—” Jack began, but Valencia cut him off.

“What’s it worth to you for me not to tell?” she asked, her smirk broadening.

Jack and I exchanged looks.

“I think you may have misunderstood what you saw—” I started to say, but my stepmother snorted in derision.

“I know exactly what I saw and heard, as well as what would happen if I reported it. So I ask again, what’s it worth to you for me not to tell?”

“Uh…” What was it worth to me? What was I willing to sacrifice? Was she about to ask that I relinquish my claim on the estate?

Jack remained silent, staring at my stepmother with a locked jaw.

“Nothing?” Valencia tapped one of her perfectly polished and painted nails against her chin. “How unfortunate.”

“You realize that you are trying to blackmail one of the kingdom’s royal advisors, don’t you?” Jack said in a low voice. He kept his tone level and non-accusatory, but the threat was there.

“It’s not blackmail, ” she answered silkily, glancing over her shoulder to ensure we were still out of earshot of the guards. “It is simply encouragement to forget what I saw.”

“What is it you hope to gain?” Jack asked calmly. I wished I had his ability to remain level-headed in situations like these. I wanted to push one of the suits of armor over onto her the next time she walked by one.

Valencia looked remarkably unabashed for someone who was blatantly blackmailing two individuals. “To be honest, I haven’t decided yet. But I’m sure we can all come to a reasonable agreement.”

“When?” Jack shifted slightly, placing himself between me and my stepmother, and I wondered if he did so to protect me from my stepmother, or to stop me from launching myself at her. Both options seemed equally likely.

“I’d like to meet with you this evening,” she told Jack, then turned to me. “As for you, tomorrow, right after breakfast.”

“But that’s when the next event begins,” I protested.

“I guess an hour with the prince matters more to you than keeping this gentleman out of prison then.” Valencia shrugged. “How telling. If you change your mind, I’ll still be available. Have a good afternoon, you two.” Her lip curled. “There are still plenty of other closets to hide in. You may want to choose more wisely in the future. Not everyone is as understanding as I am.”

While Jack met with Valencia that evening, Octavius showed me to the room I had been assigned, grumbling all the while about how everyone made so many demands on him all the time.

“I appreciate it,” I called after him, and he irritably raised a hand as he stalked back down the hall.

“Noelle?”

I turned. Vallia was there, holding the bag I’d left in the carriage when we first set out together, what felt like a month ago.

“Hello,” I said cautiously.

“I brought you your dress,” she said, holding the bag out to me and scuffing her slipper-clad toe against the hallway rug. “I really am sorry about before.”

“I appreciate you saying so.” I accepted the bag, glad that I had one more day’s worth of clothing.

“Can I ask you something?” Vallia didn’t look at me and addressed the doorknob instead.

“Go ahead.”

“Do you even like the prince?”

“Why does that matter to you?”

She finally lifted her gaze to meet mine. “Because I really do.”

A twinge of regret mingled with my anger at the rest of my stepfamily. Had Valencia told her about Jack and me breaking into their suite earlier in the day?

Vallia nibbled her lip before speaking again. “Why do you want to marry him?”

“I’ll do anything to get my school back, you know that.”

“I know. But don’t you think it’s unfair that you’re taking the chance away from someone who does have feelings for the prince?”

I tilted my head. “Why are you so willing to speak your mind around me but not around your sister or mother? Did you agree with them when they left me on the road? ”

“No. I told you that during the ball.”

I sighed. I wished it was easier to navigate what was right and wrong. It would be so much simpler if all three members of my stepfamily always behaved horrendously, but while I didn’t want to ostracize the only one who showed me kindness, I also didn’t want her to think that what she had let happen was acceptable.

“Thank you for my dress, Vallia. That was kind of you to return it.”

“You’re welcome.” She hesitated, then added, “Mama said you may drop out of attending the future balls. Is that true?”

Had she weaseled that information out of Jack? I didn’t think he would let that sort of information slip. “I’m planning on attending the balls. Why do you ask?”

“I just really like the prince, and I don’t want to compete against you if I don’t have to.”

“I’m staying in the competition until I get my inheritance back. I wish you the best, but I’m not planning on dropping out.”

She nodded miserably. “I thought as much.” She turned to go back to her room.

I closed the door and pulled the dress out of the bag. I would need to get some of the wrinkles out, but at least I had one more gown for one more day. What would Valencia demand of me the next day? What was she asking Jack for and when would I see him again?

As if in answer to my questions, there was a knock on my window. Looking around, I saw Jack’s face inches from the glass. I hastily unlocked the window and shivered as both he and the frigid winter air entered. Poking my head out, I saw an ice ladder that stretched from the ground floor all the way up to my window .

“Did anyone see you?” I asked breathlessly, snapping the window closed again and rubbing my arms.

“Who would be outside in this weather at midnight?”

“No one in their right mind, that’s for sure. But tell me—did you meet with Valencia? What did she ask for?” I whispered. Even though we were completely alone and my door was locked, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched. I pulled him away from the window and peered around, as if I expected my stepmother or Octavius to climb down out of the fireplace chimney with guards in tow, ordering them to tote Jack off to the dungeons.

“Nothing I’m unwilling to give,” Jack answered evasively. “It really wasn’t much.”

“What was it?”

“She just wants her daughters allowed to stay to the end of the competition. Considering how many girls there are still, as well as how highly recommended they’ve been this whole time, it won’t look suspicious.”

I shook my head wearily. “Of course. She wants Vallia or Vanessa to marry the prince.”

Jack shrugged. “That’s what they are all here for.”

“Except me.”

Jack smiled. “Except you.”

“Does that mean you agreed?”

“I told her that as long as she keeps her mouth shut and leaves you alone, her daughters can stay. I already spoke with Stephen about it.”

“What?” I squeaked. “You told him?”

“I had to. I was worried he might send them home otherwise.”

“But now he’ll know that we…that you and I…”

“He doesn’t know that part.” Jack dug the toe of his boot into the carpet. “Just that your stepmother threatened to report me for something I’d rather she hadn’t seen. She’s very slippery. Normally I wouldn’t hesitate to report someone like her, but if she tells the right people about what she saw…”

“I know,” I sighed. “She has a knack for looking innocent while making others look guilty.”

“What’s her history? How did she and your father meet and when did they get married?”

“I don’t know much about her childhood or anything,” I admitted. “I believe she met my father when he was speaking about mage rights. She was some type of nurse or physician before she married her first husband and had Vallia and Vanessa. Her first husband passed away, and she moved here to Nieva three years ago and married my father. She was always very good about pretending to be interested in whatever he was passionate about, and he said that she made him feel young again. I was glad for that. He had been ill for quite some time after Mama died, then once he and Valencia started seeing each other, he seemed to find renewed energy. I thought they would be good for each other at first.”

“What changed? She doesn’t give me the impression of being good for anyone now.”

“She was always good at charming the people she wants to. I wish I could say that she loved Papa, but it felt more like she was using him to fund her vanity. She did make Papa genuinely happy while he was alive though. Even if she and I didn’t get along, I could look past that if Papa was happy. But once he died, she became extremely resentful of me. Then we couldn’t find the will and she shut down the school.”

“Now she knows about us.” Jack blew out a stream of air .

“There’s no us for her to know about. We haven’t done anything. There is no rule saying that mages can’t take ice skating lessons from non-mages, or spend time with them, or…”

“Noelle,” Jack said softly. “If anyone looks at us when we’re together, they’ll know. I can’t hide it anymore.”

I couldn’t stop looking at him. Several times, Jack made as if to touch me, but he held himself back. “I asked the scribes about the empty slot where your father’s will should have been. They said they did have one some time back, but it was recalled a year ago, so before his death. Did your stepmother ever come here without your father?”

“As far as I know, this is the first time she’s ever been here. She always avoided going with Papa on his work trips.”

“Do you think we can trust her to keep her word about not telling?”

“No, but I don’t think we have much choice. I just need to see what she asks me for tomorrow.”

Jack swung his legs over the windowsill to step onto the ladder’s first rung and step down. Ignoring the frigid air seeping in, I clung to the sill. Our eyes connected, and I was on the verge of leaning forward when a clatter came from the hall behind my closed door. Why couldn’t Jack and I ever be alone?

“Good night,” he told me, descending the ladder and disappearing into the swirling whiteness of the snow. It felt like a part of me went with him and I vowed that I would protect him, no matter what.

The next day, I steeled myself and strode purposefully past the ballroom until I found my stepmother. She had perched herself at the edge of a long sofa in an empty sitting room and was smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles on her skirts, looking as perfectly put together as always.

If she asked for anything that was absurd, I could simply say no. She didn’t have physical proof that would incriminate Jack…not that I knew of, anyway. But if it wasn’t an outrageous request, I was willing to give almost anything to keep Jack safe.

Valencia spotted me the moment I entered the room. “Noelle, darling, come sit,” she offered, patting the velvet cushion beside her with a cold smile on her heavily painted lips.

Darling? “No, thank you.”

She tsked softly as she ran her gloved hand along the cushion so the fibers stood on end then were smoothed down again on her reverse pass. “So mistrusting when I’m merely trying to help you.”

“Are you now?” I asked, matching her icy tone. “And here I was thinking that you blackmailed me just yesterday.”

“No, no. I’m helping . I care about your well-being.” Her bottom lip pouted out like she was in her teens instead of in her fifties. Even with her unusually smooth skin, she didn’t appear that young. “It’s obvious that you have feelings for the prince’s advisor.” She let out a high, bell-like laugh. “Why else would you two be constantly finding excuses to sneak out together and hide in closets together?”

I locked my jaw and didn’t answer. Just spit it out! I wanted to shout. “I’m missing seeing the prince for this. What do you want from me?”

“That advisor seems to return your affections as well,” she continued. “I have a proposition that I think would benefit you both a great deal. I’d like to offer a trade.” After a moment rummaging around in her mink fur handbag, she extracted a sheaf of parchment. “If you withdraw from the competition?—”

“I won’t do anything you tell me to.”

“Let me finish,” she cooed. “ If you withdraw from the competition, I will provide you with your father’s will and all the documents regarding the inheritance. I’ll even go with you to the magistrate to give testimony of their validity.”

I could have heard the snow falling with how silent the room became.

“That’s it? I simply withdraw?” It sounded too good to be true. If I was given my inheritance and withdrew from the competition, I would be able to reopen the school. I would have the funding to pay the license renewal fee with a day to spare.

“That’s it. As far as I know, you don’t have any romantic feelings toward Prince Stephen, but my girls are both smitten. I think this proposition would benefit everyone, so as a show of good faith, I have a gift for you.” She fluttered the thick parchment at me and smiled graciously, but the warmth didn’t reach her eyes. “It would be such a shame if you inherited the estate without the man you want to go along with it. Just imagine if you two could be together forever.”

Slowly, I took it, not taking my eyes off Valencia until I’d backed up several steps. I skimmed through the document, and my heart gave a leap. This document was the bill Father had been working on, the one to grant full rights to mages—from legalizing marriage to non-mages to allowing them to own land and businesses. It would make it so Jack could do anything a non-mage could. By the looks of it, there were nine of the ten necessary lord signatures, even Lord Relyn’s who had been the bill’s biggest opponent. Only my father’s was missing. There was even the wax seal from the scribe’s guild to show that it had been reviewed and approved.

“Your father’s greatest work,” Valencia sighed. “He’d been working on it for years before he passed away. He secured one of the final signatures only a week before his death, and I secured Lord Relyn’s the night of the feast. Your father didn’t sign because he intended to do so when he presented it to the king.”

I reverently touched the empty space that lacked Father’s sharp signature.

“I want it to be his legacy,” Valencia continued. “So that even after his death, his ability to help people like your friend Jack lives on. I shared Cedric’s passion, even if we showed it differently. It’s what drew me to him in the first place, and I see that same fire in you.”

Against my will, I was touched at her thoughtfulness. Had I become so blinded by hate and malice that I refused to see the good in the woman my father had married? He truly had seemed happy around her. Perhaps I had missed my own mother so much that I had blatantly rejected her attempts at friendship. Even if we’d had our spats in the past, she was extending an olive branch now. Was that enough to make up from her previous actions?

“Even so, you shut down my school and left me abandoned in the middle of a frozen forest,” I reminded her, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. “So forgive my skepticism. You’re giving me a gift to help mages, just because?”

“You were safe when you had your dog with you, and the school’s shutdown was only temporary while we sorted out the legalities like we are doing right now. You don’t need to trust me; trust your feelings for Jack. We have had some different perspectives on things in the past, so to show you that my heart is in the right place, yes, this is a gift free of any obligation if you want it. But in order for it to be legalized, we both need to sign and agree on this since there is no consensus on who is to inherit the estate yet.”

She extracted a quill and bottle of ink from the depths of her bag.

I didn’t take it. “Why are you doing this?”

She widened her eyes. “Your father always said that the way mages were mistreated was wrong. This is my way of honoring his memory. Besides, I know he would want me to help you, and you’re like a daughter to me. I want to help you. You deserve this.”

I still held myself back, eyes narrowed. My stepmother had never done anything to help anyone other than herself and her daughters.

Valencia, clearly understanding my reservations, smiled broadly. “Your father opened my eyes to so much. Magic by itself is inherently neither good nor evil. It’s what mages choose to do with their abilities that is far more telling—just as a knife can be the best of tools or the worst of weapons. I think we ought to give mages the same rights that the rest of us enjoy, don’t you agree?

Everything about this sounded right but felt wrong. “So if we both sign this and it’s approved by the royal family, a relationship between Ja—between mages and non-mages would be legalized? And you are giving it to me, no strings attached?”

“None at all.”

“Meaning if I sign, you intend to turn this in to the king, whether or not I withdraw? ”

“Correct.”

“Then you sign first,” I challenged. It would be so like Valencia to dangle something as tempting as this in front of me then snatch it back at the last moment. For all my hope that she was extending an olive branch to heal our relationship, I would be a fool to allow her any control over me or my hopes and dreams for the future. Judging by some of our interactions in the past, I wouldn’t put it past her to have me sign and then throw it into the fire once I withdrew from the competition.

“Certainly.” With a flourish, Valencia signed her name.

My apprehension grew. It just wasn’t right. None of this was right. It was all too easy. Nothing with my stepmother was ever given freely. I watched as Valencia puckered her lips and blew on her signature to dry the ink. There it was, looking perfectly legal and official. Too good to be true was just that—too good to be true.

“Would I be able to have someone look at it before I sign?”

“Ah.” Her hand came to rest lightly on top of the parchment—“Only if he looks at it while I’m present. It took a great deal of work for your father and me to secure these signatures. I don’t want it out of my sight.”

It must be a forgery. Why else would she want to be present when it was examined? But for what purpose? If Jack and I would only gain from relationships like ours being legalized and I didn’t have to give Valencia anything for it, it would simply make her look foolish in front of the court to present a forged document. Did she intend to have me present it in order to discredit me or incriminate me for having feelings for Jack?

Although…there was the very slim, remote chance that she was telling the truth. Father had been working on this proposal for a long time. It still didn’t explain why Valencia was willing to help me secure a future with the man I was interested in, other than that it advanced her own daughters’ possibilities. But if it was real…I had to know.

“I’m not saying I agree to your terms,” I said in a rush, “but I would like for my…my friend to take a look at it.” Jack dealt with enough legal forms that he would be able to tell if it was a forgery or not.

“We can go now if you like. If you intend to withdraw, there is no need for you to attend the rest of the competition. Just imagine what you would gain—you wouldn’t have to teach in that miserable little hovel anymore. You would be able to build a mansion.”

My misgivings increased. What was her hurry? Was she so convinced that I would win the competition for Stephen’s hand that she wanted me to withdraw immediately? But she had also claimed that she would be willing to hand it in no matter if I withdrew or not. There was no need to stay and compete if I would be given my inheritance and the real possibility of a future with Jack.

I nodded stiffly. “If this is a real proposal, I’m willing to entertain the possibility, but only after it is accepted as valid and binding.”

“Of course.” She packed everything into her large handbag. “That’s very wise of you to make sure it is credible. You’re a very intelligent girl.” As she swept toward the door, she attempted to loop her elbow into mine as if we were best friends on a stroll together, but I avoided her touch. Even if she was offering something I wanted, that didn’t make us friends.