Chapter 83

Valerie

The dinner did not last long. Alyssa did not have more than a few bites of food as she spoke politely to the merchants and Caeser himself. She sounded natural—elated, even, to be in their presence. She was good at holding back her fears and feigning a proper, social princess. But I was not so good at charades. The entirety of dinner, I stood behind her chair, waiting for my breathing to slow. Gripping the wood of the chair so my hands did not tremble.

The moment we returned to Alyssa’s room, she shut the door at her back and looked at me. “Valerie, what was that? What happened?”

I felt my throat closing up. My chest tightened around my ribs. “W-what? What do you mean?”

“What do you mean what do I mean?” Alyssa balked. “You were so pale and I could feel you shaking behind me. What’s going on with you?”

I hesitated. I wanted to tell Alyssa, but—was that the right thing to do? We were hardly friends, and my secrets were not precious things to her. If Caeser really was the m