“Because I didn’t expect you to consume all of it before breakfast!”She snatched the bag from him and put it on the table. “Well, that just shows poor judgment on your part, doesn’t it?”Leonard opened his mouth to reply, but the bag of candy tipped over and spilled across the table. Matilda turned just in time to see the slender golden snout protruding from the basket, inching toward the candy. “What is that?” she asked flatly.Leonard grinned. “A Yulemas present for you.”The assassin flipped back the lid of the basket. The nose instantly shot inward, and Matilda found the strange golden-haired pup quivering in a corner with a red bow around her neck.“Oh, puppy,” she crooned, and petted her. The dog trembled, and she glared atLeonard over her shoulder. “What did you do, you buffoon?” she hissed.Leonard threw his hands in the air. “It’s a gift! I almost lost my arm—and more important parts—trying to put that bow on, and then she howled all the way up here!”Matilda looked piteous

Yards of silk, clouds of powder, brushes, combs, pearls, and diamonds glistened before Matilda’s eyes. As Philippa arranged the last strand of Matilda’s hair neatly around her face, secured a mask over her eyes and nose, and placed a small crystal tiara on her head, Matilda couldn’t help but feel, despite herself, like a princess.Philippa knelt to polish the lump of crystal on Matilda’s silver slippers. “If I didn’t know better, I’d call myself a Faerie Queen. It’s like m—” Philippa caught herself before she spoke the word the King of Skull Gang had so effectively outlawed, then quickly said, “I barely recognize you!”“Good,” Matilda said. This would be her first ball where she wasn’t there to kill someone. True, she was mostly going to make sure Nehemia didn’t hurt herself or the court. But . . . a ball was a ball. Maybe if she was lucky, she could dance a little.“Are you certain this is a good idea?” Philippa asked quietly, standing. “Captain Westfall won’t be pleased.”Matilda ga

The clock chimed ten, and Matilda, seated at the small desk in her bedroom, looked up from her book. She should be sleeping, or at least trying to. dog, dozing in her lap, yawned widely. Matilda scratched her behind the ears and ran a hand along the page of the book. Morse code stared up at her, their intricate curves and angles speaking a language she couldn’t yet begin to decipher. How long had it taken Leonard to learn them? And, she wondered darkly, how could their power possibly still work when magic itself was gone?She hadn’t seen Leonard since the ball last night, hadn’t dared to approach her, or tell Chaol what she’d learned. Leonard had been deceitful about her language skills, and how much she knew about the Morse code, but she could have any number of reasons for that. Matilda had been wrong to go to the ball last night, wrong to believe Leonard was capable of such bad things. Leonard was one of the good ones. She wouldn’t target Matilda, not when they’d been friends. They

The following morning, Matilda walked beside Jeremy, her eyes on the marble floor of the hallway. The sun radiated off of the snow in the garden, making the light in the hall nearly blinding. She’d told Paig almost everything. There were certain things she’d never tell anyone, and she hadn’t mentioned Maximus or the figure, either. Paig hadn’t asked her again what had bitten her hand, but had stayed with her, curled up in bed as they talked long into the night. Matilda, unsure how she’d ever sleep again now that she knew what Maximus could do, had been grateful for the company. She pulled her cloak tighter around her. The morning was unnaturally frigid.“You’re quiet today.” Jeremy kept his gaze ahead of them. “Did you and Leonard have a fight?”Leonard. He’d stopped by last night, but Paig had shooed him off before he could enter the bedroom. “No. I haven’t seen him since yesterday morning.” After the events of last night, yesterday morning seemed like a week ago.“Did you enjoy danc

Matilda turned to Pane. But instead of handing her the plain-as-porridge sword she usually wielded in practice, he drew his own blade. The eagle-shaped pommel glinted in the midday sun. “Here,” he said.She blinked at the blade, and slowly raised her face to look at him. She found the rolling earthen hills of the north in his eyes. It was a sense of loyalty to his country that went beyond the man seated at the table. Far inside of her, she found a golden chain that bound them together.“Take it,” he said.Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. She lifted a hand to grab the blade, but someone touched her elbow.“If I may,” Nehemia said in Eyllwe, “I’d like to offer this to you instead.” The princess held out her beautifully carved iron-tipped staff. Matilda glanced between Pane’s sword and her friend’s weapon. The sword, obviously, was the wiser choice—and for Pane to offer his own weapon made her feel strangely lightheaded—but the staff . . .Nehemia leaned in to whisper in Matilda’s ea