Chapter 35: It Was You
MALIA’S POV:
Malia beelined it to her bedroom, praying Mr. Dugan and Mr. Taylor were no longer using it as their secret meeting place. They were not. She hastily stuffed her clothes into her bag—leaving behind only the scarf of the Guissepe Swan Charles had bought for her—and departed.
As she rushed toward the palace’s exit, she shut her mind, forcing herself not to think—about Charles, her future, Aeonia, or anything. She was out the large door and across the bridge. She half-expected someone to stop her, but they didn’t. No one cared about her, Malia realized. Charles least of all. She had served her purpose. And now he’d let her go. What a fool she’d been.
The further from the palace she walked, the better she felt—the freer. The sun shone brightly down on her. The path to the capital city lay empty ahead of her; there was an excitement to that notion—a thrill.