All she could hope was that the days would pass more quickly and the ball would be the next day.

If she was dying, she wanted to die in Yeren’s arms.

She was even willing to apologize for something she hadn’t done just to earn his forgiveness.

Claire’s arms around Aurora tightened severely until her sister whimpered in pain. Even then, she refused to let go.

Letting go meant losing her anchor in a raging, unforgiving sea of chaos.

Why was this happening to her?

She had promised that she would never leave Aurora. If she died, what would happen to her sister.

Everyone that hated her would swoop in to harm the little girl.

Was there really no cure?

If she told the King, would he believe her? There had to be something that could be done.

More than anything, she wanted him to hold her.

Marriage was no longer her concern.

So Redmare had tricked her. She should have known that such men never extended olive branches without hiding thorns on the other side.

But she thought he had no reason to want her dead.

And she had drunk all of it and discarded of the evidence.

What would her father think of all that was happening to her? What would he have advised her to do?

"Is something wrong? Did someone die?" Arlan asked this time.

"Come here, Arlan. Just hold me, it will make me feel better."

Slowly, he slid from his seat and came around to wrap his arms around her from behind.

When she calmed down somewhat, she slid into the seat beside Aurora while Arlan returned to his seat.

She could see through her tears that he looked pale and concerned for her.

Maybe he didn’t despise her.

"What is it, Claire? Tell me what is bothering you. Is Zach dead? Is your friend ill? Is the King ill?"

She wiped her eyes. "No, everyone is fine. I was just feeling very sad for no reason at all."

Both of them narrowed their eyes at her.

What she actually wanted to do was to scream that she was going to die, but she didn’t.

She couldn’t.

She smiled through her tears and picked up her fork.

Claire sliced through her cheese and picked it up with her fork. Then she plopped it into her mouth.

It was bland and tasteless as she chewed, but she knew that her taste buds were just as tired as she was.

None of this would have happened if they had remained at Loodswood.

But there was no turning back now.

When she glanced up from her plate, Aurora and Arlan were staring at her with the same look. Their eyes were narrowed and their lips were pulled out into a pout.

They looked similar.

"Both of you should eat your food. Stop staring at me like I have horns on my head."

Neither of them smiled at her attempt at humour. They stared for a while before they began their meal at the same time.

After the meal, she left the table and went to Jarren’s study.

The last time she was there, she had been reading a stack of boring letters.

She went inside and threw all the windows open until sunlight flooded the room.

Then she sat down behind the table.

The thought that Jarren had sat in that chair made her shiver slightly. But she still sat there notwithstanding.

The table was very neatly arranged. She ran her hands over the stacks of paper there.

They were reports of the previous harvests from his lands.

Correction, from her lands.

The numbers were glaring. But she had never heard of uncle Jarren supplying food to the market within or without the Kingdom.

Where did everything he produced on his lands go?

To the South? To the poor? If he were a philanthropist, she would have definitely known.

She sorted through the heaps of parchment.

Maybe she was overthinking things.

She began to open the drawers one by one.

All she saw were brooches, women’s hairpins, women’s garters...

She quickly snapped the drawer shut and opened the next one. In the next one, she found a knife, a stack of unused parchment, unused quills, and full inkwells.

The last one was full of coin. She dug her hand through the pile and let the cold metal slip through her fingers.

Money.

They had money.

What did she use it for?

She could get the dress that Aldrich advised her to get.

But was it too early to be getting a dress?

Yet she knew there was no doubt in her mind that she would attend that ball.

She had to see him, speak with him.

But how would he react if she told him everything?

What if he would no longer want anything to do with her?

She drew in a deep breath and left to find a bag with which to carry the coin.

When she met Rory in the hallway, she paused to watch her. She was playing checkers with Arlan on the floor of the receiving room.

"Rory?"

Her sister looked up.

"Get ready. We should go into town and shop for some new dresses."

"Dresses for what? Do we even have the money?"

Claire beamed at her, burying her sorrow in a pit she would dig up later.

"We have more coin than I count."

Aurora rose from the floor and rushed up the stairs to her new room to change her dress.

She turned to Arlan. "You can come too."

He smiled faintly and began to rise from the floor slowly.

She found the bag and packed up the money.

After a while, they were on their way down to the town.

She kept her face outside the window the entire time.

As they passed a few cottages and huts, she saw a familiar woman with black hair and small dark brown eyes. She was tall... and very familiar.

"Stop the carriage!"