A part of her hoped they’d tear the place down. Nothing good had ever come from these walls.
Just outside a wooden door, Thomas turned to them. “Celia’s old room. You all can rest in here.” He pushed open the door. Moonlight streamed in through the large windows that overlooked her bed. Celia sucked in a breath at the eerie familiarity of the place. So much had changed in the few weeks since she’d last been here, trapped as a prisoner.
Alan looked around. “Beautiful place. Don’t suppose you get WiFi here?”
She shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”
Thomas rubbed his face. “I can’t believe we made it. It doesn’t seem real. Just weeks ago, I was lying here riddled with the plague. Oswald was completely broken on the stairs. Everything that’s happened since March…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “I was lost before. I want to think I’m not lost anymore.”
She shrugged. “You’ve got us.”
“I’ve got you,” he agreed with a smile. “And we’ve got work to do.”
Mariana crossed her arms. “What, like figuring out who the hell is going to run the city after the werewolves finish breaking shit?”
“Pretty much.”
“We just need to sort out a few centuries of oppression and class warfare,” said Alan, frowning. “No big deal.”
“There’s the Ragmen,” said Oswald, unconsciously tracing his fingers over his scars. “They’re already leaders among the Tatters. And most of Maremount is Tatters.”
Celia frowned. “They don’t have any experience in the city. They live out in the woods. You can’t lock up all the nobility.”
Oswald glared. “At least the Ragmen—”
“Guys,” Thomas cut in. “We don’t have to sort this out now. I’m going to come find you in the morning.”
Celia’s eyebrows shot up. “Where are you going now?”
He paused to look at his fingernails, suddenly avoiding their eyes. “I was going to meet Cadonia. See how she’s doing.”
Celia frowned. “The crazy one with the squirrel?”
He looked affronted. “Chipmunk, actually. She’s very nice. And I’m not sure that any of us are in any position to judge other people for being crazy.”
She sighed. “Whatever makes you happy, Thomas.”
“I’m glad you approve.”
She ignored the sarcasm in his tone, smiling as he took off out the door.
Mariana bit her lip. “Are there more rooms nearby?”
“For what?” asked Celia.
“Um, we kind of thought you two might want to be alone,” said Alan.
Have we been that obvious? Blushing, she pointed to a door. “Through there. First door on the right. And I’m guessing you two also want to be alone.”
“Whatever.” Mariana waved a hand awkwardly as they left.
The door closed, leaving Celia with Oswald in the room where they’d first met weeks ago. He crossed to the windows, pressing his hand against a pane.
She sidled up to him, feeling a thrill when his skin brushed hers. “What are you looking for?”
“I can’t see it from here,” he said.
“Can’t see what?”
“The House of the Swan Ladies.”
Gross. “The brothel? Why are you looking for that?”
“My mother lived there.”
A lump rose in her throat, and she slipped her arm around Oswald’s back. “What happened to her?”
“She died. Plague and something that made sores on her skin. Tobias doesn’t remember her. It’s what would have happened to Eden, if she’d lived.”
“What makes you so sure Eden would have ended up there? Don’t you think she would’ve married Tobias if Rawhed had never come here?”
“I don’t think Tobias would’ve stayed with her. He loved her, but not enough. Not like he loves Fiona.” He pulled her closer, his skin warm beneath his thin shirt. “Girls like her had no other options. That’s why we need to change the whole kingdom.”
There was plenty to talk about, but she wanted to know more about Oswald—this strange and beautiful man who’d showed up broken on her doorstep not that long ago. “What about your dad?”
“Dead. Drank himself to death.” He cocked his head. “I’m not sorry about that one.”
She understood now why he’d kept the scar on his chest. “The Ragmen are your family.”
He shot her a faint smile. “We may let you join us. I wouldn’t mind having a princess in our ranks.”
Oddly, she felt honored. “But who would we fight against? The King is defeated.”
“Maybe we don’t need to fight. Maybe we could just… learn magic to the Tatters. Like Tobias’s father does.”
“We should build schools.”
“I’m hoping that can also wait until tomorrow.”
But her mind swirled with possibilities. “We need to make a new Maremount, with a new government, and public schools.”
“Like pennyworts have.”
“Right. How hard can it be?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Do you have experience with that sort of thing?”
“I was head of the prom committee.”