“Maybe a little,” I admitted. Smiling more genuinely, I added, “He is very handsome though, isn’t he?”
The red-headed bellhop straightened even more, and now looked genuinely offended. “I don’t go chasing the royals, Miss,” she said haughtily. “Not likesomefolk. Showing respect isn’t anything like stepping out of place.”
With that, sheharumphedat me, and walked back down the corridor.
I tried to decide if I’d deserved that. My wine-affected brain decided I probably did.
Without waiting, I closed the door again.
After a slight hesitation, I placed the second scroll on the table behind the first.
Now I was sorely tempted to open both of them.
I decided I would.
I’d just picked up the first one, with the gold lion on black wax, when the door opened abruptly behind me.
I turned to see Ankha bustle in, several shopping bags hanging from her arm as she began removing light grey gloves, one finger at a time. She set down the bags next, but her dark blue eyes had already found the scrolls.
She focused on the one in my hands, then the thicker one on the table.
“You didn’t open them?” she asked, sharp.
“I was about to,” I said, a little defensively.
Ankha walked directly to the table and to me. She set her gloves to one side, then snatched the first scroll out of my hand.
She broke the winged-lion seal without looking at it, unrolled it, and began to read.
I watched, arms hanging at my sides, as Ankha’s eyes rapidly scanned the contents. When she abruptly paled, I shifted my weight, folded my arms, and bit my lip.
“What?” I asked. “Did I fail it, then?”
A sharp pain hit my gut. My disappointment shocked me, and not only because it came out of nowhere, despite my pleasant afternoon with Alaric. Thinking about the implications of that disappointment, I immediately felt ashamed. What the hell was wrong with me?
I shouldwantto go back. My brother was back there.
I absolutely should be hoping I’d failed.
No,a soft voice whispered.You belong here. You’re supposed to be here.
I bit my lip, shoving the voice away, even as it angered me.
Ankha, for her part, didn’t answer.
She threw down the first scroll and snatched up the second. She stared at the emblem on the seal of that one, then, paling a touch more, broke the thick piece of wax with a sharpcrack.She unrolled it and began to read even faster, her eyes moving rapidly over the long, curled piece of parchment.
I watched her, worrying my lower lip with my teeth.
Maybe I shouldn’t have drunk so much wine.
When Ankha finally got to the end, and seemed to be reading the entire scroll a second time, I lost patience.
“What?” I demanded. “What does it say? Did I fail it, or?”
“You’ve qualified for your age.” Ankha’s voice came out flat, stripped of emotion. “I don’t know what you did in there, but these scores indicate…” She trailed, her face falling into a harder frown as she glared at the second scroll, re-reading the symbols. “…So much for keeping your identity here a secret,” she muttered angrily.
My stomach flipped.
