I stroked the black ribbons dangling from the mask. Amethyst’s hands moved to my old one and eased it from my head, revealing my face.
Sallot Leon’s face.
“Now we know you.” Amethyst studied my face and tucked my old mask in her pocket.
Each of them reached behind their heads and undid their own masks. The metal fell away, and Amethyst’s smiling face met me first. She was pale, golden tan beneath the purple, face unused to the sun, a few splotches marring her skin where the color had been sapped from it. Easy amber eyes crinkled when she laughed.
“And you know us.” Ruby grinned, and it was like his voice—crooked and sharp. His chestnut hair came to an even peak above deep-set gray eyes darkened by faded runes, and freckles dotted his long crooked nose.
“So.” Emerald lowered her mask last, metal giving way to gems. Three deep scars cut through the right side of her face and down her cheek, wrinkling when she smiled. A delicate green glass orb with an emerald at its center sat in place of her right eye, and runes, small and dark as night, lined her upturned lids. “Don’t make us regret it.”
“I won’t.” I shook my head, fingers painfully tight around Opal’s mask—my mask—and pressed my lips together. My eyes burned.
Ruby winked. “I cried too.”
That threw me over the edge. Amethyst wiped the tears from my cheeks as Emerald straightened my hair and settled my mask into place. Ruby turned to the great doors before us.
“You have the coin?” he asked and waited for me to nod. “When the doors open, walk straight to Our Queen and kneel. She’ll direct you from there.”
Silver stars sparkling in a cloud of onyx storm clouds dripping raindrop sapphires shivered as the doors creaked open.
“It will be fine.” Amethyst squeezed my arm. “You’ll sit next to me at dinner, with Emerald on your other side. Always be in the order of the rings.”
The doors opened. I rolled my shoulders back and lifted my chin, letting out a breath. I was Sallot Leon, Twenty-Three, Opal. I was chosen for my skill, and I’d no need to fear the high court. They’d every reason to fear me.
I strolled through the doors, eyes only for Our Queen. She was a vision of death draped in black velvet. Snowdrops fresh from the gardens were woven into a crown atop her shaved head, and a dusting of silver sparkled on her eyelids and in the hollow of her throat. She’d a corset of black velvet laced with steel, the stamp of the imperial army across her chest. Her long, delicate hands curled over the arms of her throne. A metal gauntlet tipped with bear claws covered her right hand. She held out her left to me. I kneeled.
“My new Opal.” She beckoned me forward, rings flashing. Her fourth finger crooked, the opal ring flashing. “And you’ve brought me a present.”
I pressed a kiss to the opal and placed the bloody credit coin in her hand. “Of course, Our Queen.”
“Of course.” She smiled and covered her laughter with her gauntleted hand. “You are eager to please, and I am eager to accept. You are mine and mine alone, and you will clear away all who stand in the way of Igna.”
“Yes, Our Queen.”
“Good. Stand.”
I did, and she pulled my face to hers, her lips pressed to my forehead. She smelled of lemons and lavender.
“I didn’t think you knew,” I whispered. “I thought you were justice.”
“There is no true justice, and I have let you down, my darling.” She raised a hand to my face and cupped my jaw, fingers cool beneath the edges of my mask. “But I will make it up to you—the traitors are out of time, and their deaths are overdue. Make them pay, quickly and subtly, as you did Seve and Pau.”
She dropped her hands and swept by me, leaving a wake of perfume and confusion.
“My court.” Our Queen raised her arms wide. “My new Honorable Opal is upon us. Behave yourselves.”
And with that, I was Opal—noble and deadly.
A servant led me to a long table, and I sat next to Amethyst. Her hand found mine under the table.
“Relax.” She squeezed my hand and let go. “We’ll have our own party later.”
Ruby was talkative, making up with his body what he lacked in facial expressions, and Isidora dal Abreu nodded to me from her seat across him. They were engaged in a loud, exaggerated argument over poetry I’d never heard or read, with several other nobles I’d never met. Elise listened intently, too far away to speak to me, and I half-listened. The art others heard in poetry had never spoken to me.
Nicolas del Contes cheered his wife on quietly in the argument. His wide brown eyes followed her gesturing hands, and he lounged back in his chair, long legs splayed out under the table. He grinned when he caught me staring.
I’d have to deal with him tonight.
A long high note drowned out Ruby’s latest poem, and Isidora dragged Nicolas to the dance floor in her haste to escape Ruby. He only laughed.
Amethyst spun an older lord with silver-streaked hair around the edge of the dancers, and Ruby vanished into the crowd with a blushing Alonian lord who stumbled over his own feet. Emerald glanced at me across Amethyst’s abandoned chair.
“Not a dancer?” Emerald asked. “I’m sure your young love will sweep you off your feet soon.”
“You watched everything, didn’t you?” I ducked. Elise was off somewhere, and I’d lost track of her. “Dancing not your style?”
Emerald shook her head. “I’m not really the romantic partner type, but much like you, I’d rather not explain my existence every time I step out in public. You’ll learn about us all soon enough—we share common quarters.”
She pointed over my shoulder. I turned.
Elise, dressed in starry silver cotton draped like rose petals, bowed. “You look very handsome, Your Honor.”
“Thank you.” My ill-fitting mask halved my vision, but nothing could hide Elise’s grace. “You look lovely, Lady de Farone.”
She blushed and held out her hand, foot tapping to the tune of an archlute. I swallowed.
“I’m afraid I have to disappoint you.” I gestured to my feet. “I have no idea how to dance.”
“I’ll lead, you follow.” She pulled me from my chair and placed one of my hands on her waist as we walked. The other she held tight in her own. “I had to bribe Ruby to find out you were Opal. You owe me a dance.”
“Well, I have to repay a debt.” I scrunched my nose till the mask rose, and I could see the high spots of color on her cheeks and how her eyes searched for mine through the mask. “What’s wrong?”
“I miss your eyes.” She led me through a series of turns, fingers lacing through mine.
“I could rob you.” I laughed and splayed my hand over her side, taking in the warmth of her skin. I’d not been this close to her since that night, and we’d only those simple memories, but I missed the press of her against me and the flutter of her lips against my neck. We’d so many memories to make. “A bit of familiarity might make you feel better?”
She smiled. “Probably not the best idea. We’ll have to settle for dancing.”
“Yes. Settle.”
We turned, Elise still leading, and her fingers crept up my collar. I stumbled over her feet.