I sprinted from the shadows of the garden entrance, my Useless Sidekick mask firmly in place, though the exhaustion in my limbs was real.
"My lady!" I gasped, rushing up to where Amaryllis stood near the shattered ballroom doors.
She was standing with Marquis Lucien, staring at the chaotic center of the room where Prince Leonidas was still fussing over a weeping Felicity. Amaryllis's ice-blue dress was ruined, stained dark red, but her posture was as rigid and unyielding as a glacier.
She turned her gaze to me. "You're alive, Briar."
"I... I got lost in the fog! I woke up in the hedges!" I lied, panting. "I'm so sorry I wasn't at your side!"
Amaryllis didn't scold me. She didn't even frown. She just looked back at the Prince, her expression shifting from cold indifference to something sharper. Determination.
She turned to Lucien.
"I accept," she stated, her voice low but absolute.
