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gapes. Sil looks shocked for a split second, but then I see the faintest hint of pride in her eyes.
    â€œI told him,” she says, over Lucien’s voice, which is still coming through the arcana. “You’re too damned stubborn.”
    â€œWhat’s happening?” he demands. “Why did she scream? Sil, answer me !”
    â€œI’m going to the Jewel, Lucien,” I say. “I’ll get myself to the Duchess’s palace. I’ll watch over my sister until the Auction.”
    Lucien starts laughing. In fact, he laughs for so long that Sil and I exchange a worried glance. “I’m sorry,” he says. “But this is too much, even for you. How long do you expect to stay free once the Duchess discovers you in her own palace ? How do you plan to protect your sister when you are a captive yourself? Or maybe the Duchess will simply kill you for fun, now that she no longer requires your body to produce a child.”
    â€œLucien,” Sil says, clasping her hands together and resting her chin on them, “in any other circumstance I’d agree with you but . . . I don’t think there’s any way the Duchess will recognize her.”
    â€œAnd why is that?”
    â€œBecause she looks freakishly like a different person.”
    I didn’t realize Sienna had come in from the kitchen. She reaches out and gently takes a lock of my hair. “Color and Shape?” she asks me. I nod. “Did it hurt?”
    I grimace.
    Sienna grins. “Ash is going to flip his—”
    â€œWhat do you mean, like a different person?” Lucien interrupts.
    â€œI used the Auguries,” I say. “On myself.” Tears spring to my eyes and they sizzle with residual heat from the Augury. “Please, Lucien,” I say. “Help me. Help me help my sister.”
    I remember my Reckoning Day, the last time I saw my family as a whole. How angry Hazel was with me, how she thought I’d forgotten her. She didn’t understand that I wasn’t allowed to write to her, that Southgate had rules.
    I understand the rules of the Jewel. And I won’t let my sister think she’s been forgotten again.

Five
    T HE SILENCE THAT FOLLOWS IS BROKEN ONLY BY THE loud thumping of my heart.
    â€œLet me talk to Garnet about this,” Lucien says in a clipped tone. “Wait and don’t do anything rash.”
    The arcana falls silent onto the floor. I pick it up and hold it with trembling fingers. “I can’t leave her there,” I say, sinking onto the couch. Raven sits beside me. “She’s all alone. I can’t . . .”
    â€œI know,” Sil says, a softness in her voice.
    We sit there for what feels like hours. The arcana never buzzes. Finally, I rouse myself.
    â€œI’d better go see Ash,” I say. “He must be wondering where I am.”
    I don’t think he’s going to take the news particularly well. Just as I stand, the arcana rises in the air.
    â€œSo,” Garnet says. “I hear you’re planning a covert operation.”
    â€œHazel’s in danger,” I say. “I have to be there. I have to do what I can.”
    â€œWell, you’re in luck,” Garnet says. “Because I happen to know of a royal House that is hiring help.”
    â€œYou do?” I say.
    â€œYes,” he replies. “Mine.”
    Raven and I exchange a quizzical glance.
    Garnet continues. “My wife needs a lady-in-waiting of her own.” Raven stiffens almost imperceptibly at the word wife . “Coral has been trying to hire one for months and Mother rejects every one she finds. Up until this point I’ve stayed out of it because there is no point in fighting with my mother over something so trivial, and honestly, I could not care less about Coral having a lady-in-waiting. But now it seems we need one. So I will merely inform everyone tomorrow that I’ve hired you. It’s a very typical me move, a nice