‘This . . . this man!’ The Marchioness’s high-pitched voice cut through the stillness. ‘He is the one who tricked my beloved daughter, who would make your future queen out to be a strumpet. He is deceitful and wicked and he must be stopped!’ She stepped out of the crowd and waved her arms at the King. ‘Your Majesty, do something!’

‘O-oh, yes! Guards! Guards!’ the King wailed, pointing at the Clubs that lined the ballroom. ‘Capture him!’

It took another moment for the guards to shake off their befuddlement and begin to mobilize, their boots clomping against the tile.

Jest never took his attention from Cath. ‘What do you choose?’ he whispered, and though he was so far away, she could hear him plainly. Hope and wanting, so much wanting.

The guards hoisted their weapons and moved towards him, pushing their way through the startled crowd.

‘You,’ she whispered back to him, and though her voice barely reached even her own ears, she saw the brightness enter his eyes. ‘Over everything, I choose you.’

He grinned and moved towards the stairs.

Cath grabbed her skirts and began to rush towards him, ignoring the startled cries of the crowd, her mother’s shrieks, the guards’ thundering footsteps. They would reach him before she did, though Jest was swooping down the steps. The guards changed directions. Aimed their spears.

Cath started to run. She could see the collision coming, and she didn’t know if she could make it to him before the guards did, and the King was calling her name and her father was ordering her to stop and Raven was lifting off Jest’s shoulder and soaring overhead.

Something sparked at her feet. Smoke thickened the air.

The guards drew up short.

Cath tripped, but Jest’s arms were already around her, like feathers against her skin, carrying her away.

CHAPTER 41

‘I’M SORRY. I’M SO SORRY,’ she said, her voice muffled against Jest’s shoulder, her arms like vices around his neck. She didn’t know where he was taking her to. She could feel the evening air on her hot skin. She could hear his heavy breathing – he was running, with her and all her crinoline in his arms. ‘I thought I could do it. I thought I could marry him and give you what you want, but it’s not what I want, Jest, you must know that—’

‘It’s all right, Cath. It’s going to be all right.’

He came to a stop and sank down to his knees, cradling her in his lap.

Untangling her arms, Catherine looked up. At her Joker. Her Rook. Cath pressed her hands against his face and saw it instantly. The openness in his eyes, the tenderness.

‘I choose you,’ she repeated. The words tasted like sugar.

His jaw twitched and with his free hand he grasped her fingers, keeping them pressed against his face. ‘Cath, you have to be sure.’ His voice was thick, practically choking. ‘Raven gave me the idea. I wouldn’t have thought of it otherwise, and I . . . I don’t think you’re going to like what I have to say. It isn’t too late. They already believe I have you under some spell, it would be easy to persuade them—’

‘Wait.’ Cath’s hands slid down his cheeks, reaching for the collar of his tunic instead. ‘You said we could be together. We can save Chess and I’ll have my bakery and—’

He nodded. ‘It’s true. I think it will work.’

‘You think?’

Tilting forward, Jest buried his face into her neck. He was shaking as hard as she was. ‘It won’t be easy. And you can still change your mind. The King will still want you, I know he will, and I’ll leave you be, you and your heart, I promise. I couldn’t do it anyway, Cath. I couldn’t take it from you.’

His words dug into her chest. She stared past him, seeing the white rose tree where she’d seen him that first night. He’d brought her to the gardens.

They would be followed. Probably the guards were already searching for them. She doubted it would take long for them to be found.

Stomach twisting, she shoved Jest away and scrambled out of his hold. She tried to stand but her legs were too weak and she collapsed back down to the grass. ‘You gave me a choice and I made it. How could you even suggest I change it now?’

Jest tried to string his hands through his hair but found his joker hat in the way. Ripping it off, he threw it on the ground. The bells clinked once, dejectedly, before falling silent. ‘Because you have to be sure. Because it will kill me if you come to regret this, to know that you gave up everything the King was offering and it was my fault.’

The cold air stung her throat, but she couldn’t stop gasping for breath. Clenching her jaw, she shoved him as hard as she could. Jest fell on to his side in the grass.

‘You idiot. I don’t want him or what he’s offered me, and I never have. I don’t want to be the stupid Queen!’

‘I know. I know that, Cath. That’s why you might regret this.’

She gaped at him and started to shake her head. ‘It won’t take them long to find us here. Just tell me. What was this idea Raven had?’

Jest glanced up and Cath startled upon spying Raven among the roses.

‘There is a law in Chess,’ Jest said, drawing her attention back to him, ‘that a pawn who can make it through the enemy’s territory, all the way to the border, can become a queen.’

She frowned.

‘Come back with me.’ Jest pushed himself back to his knees and wrapped Cath’s hands in his. ‘We can get you to the border – Hatta, Raven, and I – and you can be a queen, and you can lead us to victory, Cath, I know it.’