Chapter 63

It is nearing midnight, Alcina breathless after countless rounds along the dance floor, when Brendan begins to guide her to the doors.

It is late, but the ball is still in full swing, the music crescendoing louder as the people, too, grow more vibrant and rowdy with the sinking evening.

Alcina, cheeks flushed with exertion, glances in confusion between Brendan and the slowly diminishing dance floor, but going willingly nonetheless.

“What is it?” she asks but receives no answer in favor of a little, secretive smile.

Halfway down the marble hallway, Brendan discards his mask, and Alcina, befuddled, slowly does the same.

In silence - though not unbroken by Alcina’s occasional grumbles, something along the lines of acting so mysterious for no reason other than to seem bizarre - the two of them walk along a series of halls until Alcina finds herself being led through a previously unexplored part of the palace.

It feels calmer here, as though there aren’t enough people walking through it on