The Heir of Red and White

Chapter Twelve: Greyson

     The music room held an eerie silence.

     The stifling scent of dust filtered through the air, and with the way the floorboards creaked beneath my weight, it was obvious the room had been abandoned a long time ago. Once, it had probably been a beautiful sight, filled to the brim with glistening instruments and melodies, but after a few years had passed and the room had been continuously neglected, the ghosts of the music had begun to haunt the space. The dull white walls now ached to be caressed by a note, and the instruments sat erect, covered in dust, begging to be played.

     Princess Aiyana sat in the center of the room, in front of a sleek, grand piano with a permanent wince etched into her face. I stood a few feet away, near the entrance, where the utter pain in her expression had stopped me cold. She barely noticed me as she stared emptily at the keys, her hands hovering over them shakily. I wondered then if her raw vulnerability was the reason she had ordered her guard to remain outside.

     I would have never guessed that the princess who sat before me, pained by the presence of the piano, was the same fierce girl who had threatened me with a knife. It felt wrong to know her secret and felt even worse to know she knew mine.

     Initially, I had considered leaving the country, crossing the southern border into the United Orchid, and building a new life for myself. But then I remembered the look on the princess' face after the duchess was killed, and the way she had averted her eyes when the innocent girl was murdered at the gala, and suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to stay. She had managed to make me feel both trapped and intrigued, and that was all I needed to convince myself to speak with her before I left. I just had to hope my choice didn't get me killed.

     "The keys won't bite, you know," I said as I approached her. At the sound of my voice, her head snapped up. She dropped her hands into her lap and narrowed her chocolate eyes.

     "How long were you standing there," she asked accusingly.

     "Long enough to realize you haven't touched a piano in years," I said before I took a seat beside her. I was immediately engulfed by the sweet scent of honey, underlined faintly by the airy scent of roses. Warmth emanated off her body in waves and settled snuggly against my side and heat quickly rose to my cheeks as I struggled to ignore our sudden proximity.

     "I told you this at the Gala. Did you think I lied?"

     I glanced down at her, and it dawned on me then how beautiful she was. There was a softness to her features that I hadn't noticed before; a kindness to her eyes I hadn't seen. Her skin was warm and rich, and her dark hair curled perfectly around her heart-shaped face. Despite her beauty, I had to fight the urge to pull away. I had never been this close to a royal, and my instincts were screaming at me to run. There were few interactions between Elite women and vermin men that ended well, and there was no reason for me to believe things would happen differently with Princess Aiyana.

     So, to place more distance between us, I turned away and fiddled with the keys of the piano.

      "No, I don't think of you as someone who needs to lie," I replied thoughtfully, and she scoffed.

      "It's obvious you haven't been at court very long," she paused for a moment before she began to play the same melody on the opposite end of the keyboard. "Here, everybody lies." At first, her fingers glided hesitantly over the keys, but as I quickened the pace, she followed. The pained expression hadn't returned to her face, but I could see the turbulence in her gaze. An untrained eye would never have noticed it, but the queen had left a gaping hole in her daughter, and even after a decade had passed, it hadn't healed.