Page 166 of A Dance of Lies

He set provisions in place for Miridran. Wrote a decree making Gustav the King Regent to rule in his stead. Gustav, who is also of royal blood, his mother a cousin to the late Queen Saskia, his father a relation of King Junien’s. In a few days, he will return to Ansa.

And now Anton is all but lost.

He was meant for so much more, yet he sacrificed it all. Forme.And I had been so wary of him, so afraid he was like his brother. Another man who would use and discard me in the end.

It wasn’t until he’d told us the whole story that we understood that he was the fulfillment of the prophecy,the queen had told me. He hadn’t known, either. Not until the very end.

And I had watched it happen.

I am thereasonit happened.

He looks at me with a growing . . .interest?Amusement?

“Anton,” I try again.

“My,” he says softly, his eyes roaming over me, “what little treat did they send me now? But even a treat as delectable as you won’t satiate me enough to keep me here. Tell Sadira that I do not appreciate this betrayal of hers, especially after all I did for her.”

“You . . .” I frown. “You don’t know who I am.”

“Should I? I do apologize if we’ve spent a night together; you understand. I do that often. It’s rather difficult to keep it straight.”

My heart drops.

He doesn’t know me at all. And yet he remembers Sadira. His other memories are intact, muddled or not . . .

No—no. If I could just snap him out of it, get through to him—

“Of course,” he says, eyeing my lips, “you are welcome to spark my memory . . .”

I don’t even blink. Angry, resolute, I pull his mouth determinedly to mine.

It sends a jolt through us both. And when I ease back, I swear—swear—I see a hint of recognition. Hope stirs within me. I cling to it, fisting his shirt.

His breath fans my cheeks, my nose.

Then he’s guiding me back, back until my shoulder blades press into the wall—

His lips find my throat.

It saps the strength from my legs. But he catches me, holds me, and when he kisses me, his teeth are there, pulling at my bottom lip—

I come undone. And together we sink, twin ships with a single anchor, and I forget the queen is just outside the door. Her warning. All I know is I need him. Ineedhim.

My heart was just beginning to blossom at his touch. Unfold, like the first ray of sun on a Brisendali aster after a long winter. These were our first chapters, the very beginning of our story, if I dared hope for more—

He pulls back suddenly, running his tongue over his swollen lips.

“Whoareyou?” he breathes.

Emboldened, I step toward him, taking his hands in mine, but something stirs in his eyes. They flash, darken.No.I clutch him tighter. “Come back to me,” I beg him. But it’s as if he doesn’t even hear me.

Eyes of shadows, glazed like mist,

Whose touch will kill, and lips will kiss.

“It seems the goodness Moranya took from him wasyou,Vasti-anna,” I hear the queen say from behind me.

The goodness of it, Moranya had said. The warmth and comfort.