“We can try,” I say, echoing what I’d told her in the carriage. We have to try. We have to do something. “Come with us. She can come with us, right?” I look at Luke.

“I don’t know how, but I’m sure we can think of something.” I can see he isn’t at all convinced of that.

“I don’t want to go with you,” Erin says angrily. “Go get yourself killed if that’s what you want, but I’m staying here and doing what my parents and the king expect me to do.”

“Erin, please, I—”

Out of the crowd appears a young man, about the same age as Luke, who wedges himself between us.

“You look absolutely ravishing,” he says to me, taking my hand and kissing it roughly. He winks at Erin. “And you’re quite pretty, too. I think this may be my lucky night.”

10

The man moves his lips down onto the inside of my forearm. I snatch my arm away and move to Luke’s side.

“Excuse you,” I say sharply. “But I’m spoken for.” Saying no isn’t good enough, but he might respect another man’s claim on me.

The young man looks at me and then at Luke. I peer around him and catch sight of the back of Erin’s head as she disappears into the crowd.

“Luke Langley,” the man says.

“Édouard.” Luke says the man’s name as if it leaves a foul taste in his mouth.

“I hear you’ve had a run-in with my brother,” Édouard says. From behind him steps a bruised and gap-toothed Morris.

“Shit,” Luke says.

Morris frowns.

“I bet he thinks his name is Shit,” I say to Luke. “It’s the first thing you say whenever you see him.”

Luke bites back a smile.

“What did you say?” Morris asks. He seems dumbstruck that I can form actual words.

“Oh, don’t worry,” I say. “The name suits you. Just embrace it.”

Morris is furious, but Édouard seems amused. “Settle down, Morris.” He looks to Luke. “I must admit I’m surprised you’re here. After all, none of the prospects are boys.”

“And I’m not surprised to see you here,” Luke says. “And seeking more than one girl? That seems about right.” Luke squares his shoulders and leans toward Édouard.

“Seems like you’ve come into your own, Luke. Where is that scared, pathetic little outcast I used to know?” Édouard lurches at Luke, forcing him back a step. “Ah. There he is.”

Édouard laughs and then reaches out, slipping his hand under my chin. I move to bat him away, but Luke beats me to it. He catches Édouard by the wrist, wrenching his arm down. I grab a small cup from the table to my left, dip it into the punch bowl, and toss the drink at Édouard.

The red liquid cascades down the side of his ivory jacket. Édouard’s face twists into a mask of rage as he looks at his ruined clothing. Luke puts his arm under mine, and we rush off, leaving Édouard in a sputtering, hissing fit.

I frantically search for Erin as we cut through the heart of the crowd and end up on the opposite side near the powder room entrance. I catch a glimpse of her just as the band strikes up a waltz, and the young women pair off with different men. Everyone moves in a dizzying circle in time with the music, and I lose sight of her again.

My heartbeat pounds in my ears. I lean down and put my hands on my knees. “How did one family end up with two complete fools in the same generation?”

“They get it from their father,” says Luke. “He gave up their mother as forfeit when we were in school so he could take a new wife. He was cruel to her, and still Morris and Édouard want nothing more than to be exactly like him. Their family has gained favor with the palace. They support everything the king does, without question.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Morris and Édouard’s family have ties to outside traders in cities beyond the Forbidden Lands in the west. They support the king, sharing their profits, and in return the king lets them do whatever they want. Sometimes they invite envoys to bring their goods to trade and then rob them on the way into Mersailles.”

“How do you know all this?” I ask. “It seems like something you’d want to keep secret.”

“It’s Morris. He loves to talk about his special privileges and thinks that he’ll never have to face any consequences. He’s probably right.”

Luke puts out his hand, and I take it. He pulls me into the swirling mass of couples, and we spin to the tune of the waltz. I glance toward the king’s throne. It’s still empty.

“We need to get as far away from here as possible,” I say.

“Exactly.” Luke lifts his arm as I duck under it, stepping back to take his hand again.

“And how do we get past the watchtowers? Even if we’re married, the king would never allow us to just walk away.”

“I think we could sneak out. We could find a way. I’m sure of it.”

I remember how the guards had called for the executioner when a runner had tried to cross the border. “I’ve never heard of anyone leaving without the king’s consent.”

“Neither have I, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. We’ve also rarely heard about people like us and yet here we are. Just because they deny us doesn’t mean we cease to exist.”

It’s entirely possible that someone has attempted an escape and the palace had hushed it up. But could someone actually escape? Has anyone ever actually done it? That would be a secret worth keeping. I think of the circle of blackened grass at the fountain. Maybe there is something to what Luke is saying.

“The border is guarded all the way around Lille,” I say.

Luke lowers his mouth to my ear. “Less so on the western edge.”

“No,” I say. “The western edge of the city butts up to the White Wood, and we can’t go through there. It’s too dangerous. No one is stupid enough to actually try and escape that way.”

“We shouldn’t go through there,” Luke says. “But we can. We have to decide if we’re willing to take that risk.”

The alternative is staying here, falling in line, being at the mercy of the king and his rules. It’s not a way to live. I’m willing to risk leaving by any path necessary.

“I need a minute,” I say. My head is spinning. We’re going to do this. We’re going to make our escape.

Luke gestures to the powder room door, and I nod.

“When you come back, I’ll let the registrar know that I’m going to make a claim on you.” He shakes his head. “I’m so sorry that I have to say it that way, and I’m sorry that you can’t be with Erin.”

I smile at him, and he kisses me gently on the cheek before I duck off.

The powder room is bigger than some of the houses in town. In the center sits a circular sofa covered in fabric decorated with pink roses. It smells of lavender and fresh flowers, and girls are lounging about, talking among themselves.

“No one has even looked at me,” one girl says. “Is it my dress? My hair? I did everything my father told me to do.”