I consider detouring to Cloak's chambers first, as the strange look he gave me in the throne room demands an explanation, but the second my power receives a lick of hope, a whisper of freedom, it leaps out of control in my chest like an excited dog. My stomach ties itself into knots, an invisible nervousness that doesn't belong to me at all, but to the Luminary blossoming within. I cannot control what goes on inside my body, but I don't necessarily wish to stop the excitement that doesn't originate from my own control.

The door to Gustus's chambers is closed and I open it without a knock, already shifting. The tips of my scalp flesh to white and I turn, immediately shoving that to a stop. Gustus's eyes grow wide from where he sits at the head of his dining table, but everyone else in company is too deep in conversation to notice. I suck up the white hairs and smooth out my shirt, acting as if I'm picking a piece of lint off the fabric.

And just in time. Cloak's head jerks up from where he sits at Gustus's shoulder, Theo on the other side. At his shoulder, her hands folded neatly in her lap to hide their destructive nature is Setsuko. I narrow my eyes at all of them, wondering the important issue that brought them all here today, and why Gustus wasn't wise enough to warn me that we wouldn't be alone. Clearly, I have grown to trust him too much. The privacy of his chambers is a luxury, not an escape I should come to expect.

Half-empty bowls of soup cover the tables in front of them, and a full one rests at Cloak's right elbow. Waiting for me. My hammering heart gives off the impression that this is more than a simple supper shared among friends to gossip about the palace's shortcomings and the boring meeting. No, they're gathered here for something else that required as little information as possible. No wonder Gustus's note had been so vague.

Normally, the prince stops himself short of reciting a poem to invite me to his chambers, and the clean-cut demand to come visit should've thrown me off. Too trusting, indeed.

"What is going on?" I demand before anyone else can get a word out. The only Terravale child missing from the table is Aela, proving this matter is truly about me. She wouldn't care enough to sit at this table with her siblings, not if the matter closely relates to someone she wishes to rip the head off of.

"Welcome, Marie." Gustus paints on a friendly smile. One that doesn't convey his normal, carefree attitude. "Sit, the servants brought you a bowl of soup. Your favorite—beef and cheddar."

I cross my arms over my chest. "No, I want to stand for this. Whatever it is." Without my knowledge, my voice is rising before I've decided whether this meeting is a good or a bad thing. The wary looks of their faces tells me nothing decent can come from it, so my mind immediately shifts to expecting the worst.

Could it be Castiel? Chaska? Did they receive news that Rylan went on a rampage and killed my entire family? A different sinking feeling drops my stomach and bile rises into my cheeks. My imagination, always one step ahead of me, makes me weak in the knees. No, my family is still alive and Rylan is still drinking himself into a wasted beast.

Cloak exchanges a look with his brother, urging him to go on. I'm taken back. I didn't expect Cloak to run this meeting, I fully expected his brother to be the one to practically force me into my seat, but Gustus smiles sheepishly and plunders on. He wrings out his hands but has the courage to lock his stare with mine as he speaks. "We want you to be claimed at the ceremony." My mouth drops open, ready to retort, but he continues, speeding up his words to block mine. "If you are claimed, Rylan—or anyone else—can not touch you if the rules deem it. This is what we wish to set in place after what he did." At least he doesn't wait around to reveal this.

"You're insane. All of you. I'll never do such a thing. Every year, the claims have no other choice to participate in the ceremony, then they're gawked at, some are slaughtered, raped, or screamed at days later for even taking part. Those against the throne do not tolerate Claiming's Eve." I jab a finger at Gustus. "What goes on at the docks is none of your business, and I've told you on multiple occasions to stop meddling."

Setsuko picks at the end of her golden-etched bowl. "I told you she wouldn't go for it," she grumbles.

"Marie, just calm down." I hardly recognize the softening of Cloak's voice, the exposing of his palms as if he's trying to soothe an unruly mare. "This wouldn't be anything more than a simple claiming. No further hold would hold on to you other than to protect from further harm." He places his hand against his chest, over the cross strings. "I can do it myself."

"No, no, no," I bark, backing towards the door to escape from this. That's the last thing I want, for someone else to have another hold over me. Isn't the wedding band on my finger enough of a claim? Can't I avoid another?

Gustus stands from his chair and places his palms firmly onto the table, flanking the bowl of soup. His husband hasn't bothered to look up from where he stares at the table. Theo's hands continue to fiddle with a strip of leather, tying it into knots and then undoing it once more. Following his streak, I expect him to be as pissed as his husband and his brother-in-law sitting across the table, but his anger hides for now. Underneath the table and radiating out through busy fingers.

Gustus stares me down. "Marie, this could be your only option," he clips. "If you don't do this, our mother may kill Rylan for what he did, your order or not."

"You don't have to worsen this," Setsuko warns. "At least let her down easy."

The faces sitting around the table are not the only ones involved. The queen, somehow, has wiggled her way into this without being here. I throw up my hands in exasperation, a fire thickening underneath my skin. "Am I not allowed to make my own decisions anymore?" I shout. Setsuko slinks back at the sudden rise in my voice, but I'm long past caring. "Everyone, down to the first people I ever met, decided everything for me. I am tired of it!" Turning my attention to Cloak, he's the next one to quiver under my wrath. Unlike his sister, he doesn't back down from it. "I want out of my deal with your mother, I want to go home, and I want to figure out my marriage for myself. None of you should have any say in the matter."

A heavy silence blankets the room. Gustus remains frozen where he is, but it's Theo that takes the reins. "This isn't a matter of controlling your decisions," he says. "Claiming you would be protecting you against your husband. If you refuse to see that, you are more of a lost cause than I originally thought."

I scoff. "Why would any of you care? You may come from ordinary lives, but royalty has twisted your beliefs. This...what I'm going through, it's nothing. This happens every day and we're expected to suck up to the conditions." I throw my arm back towards the door. "Do you know how many women I've seen with bruises on their faces or hidden underneath layers of cosmetics? And this is just Gudgeon Village. I've watched as careless guards dragged their murdered, mutilated bodies to mass graves and dropped them in like sacks of grain. They didn't get to make their own decisions."

Tears prick at my eyes. Theo stands with such force that the chair falls, and he storms at me. "If you don't allow this, you will become one of them!" he shouts in my face. "I guarantee that if you go back; if you bother to reconcile with your shit husband, he'll kill you like all the others have. Is that what you want, Marie? Is that what you want?"

My back hits the door and I suddenly realize he has pushed back through way of step. Not a single touch, but the shrill volume of his voice turned my body into a defensive state, demanding I move away. A bolt of ice itches at my fingertips, waiting to cast a shield over my body, but I will not reveal the truth to my magic to everyone in the room.

They don't deserve to know. All this time they spend worrying about Rylan killing me when, in reality, I'm more worried about Cloak slitting my throat once he realizes I'm the very Luminary he hunts. If only I told him that, along with the memory that he kissed one to piss off her husband. After killing me, I imagine him washing out his mouth with soap.

"Control your husband," I hear Setsuko snap.

Gustus grumbles underneath his breath, something about how I should've listened a long time ago and abandoned the life I had in Gudgeon. Ice crystallizes in my veins.

Cloak appears in my line of sight, shoving Theo away with his shoulder. The door falls open behind me and he leads me into the silent, empty hall, shutting the door quietly enough that I don't hear the lock click.

I pace back and forth, biting at my nails—doing anything to release the building tension inside me. I want to scream; I want to argue with all of them and explain exactly why this is a terrible idea.

"My life is not yours to decide." My voice is hard and brittle, glass on the verge of shattering.

I'm left to wonder why so many people wish to shove me out of the way of my decision-making. Perhaps I'm too kind, perhaps I'm not authoritative enough for the world to believe I can make my own decisions.

Strong hands grip onto my shoulders and spin me towards the source of them. I stare at Cloak's chest, my hands balled into fists to keep from punching anything that moves. He wipes at the tear leaking from the corner of my eye and says, with lethal calm, "Just listen to what I have to say."

Without four pairs of eyes staring at me, I suppose it is easier to digest this ludicrous information. But I will not agree. This is not my fate, to bind to a prince for the rest of my life.

"I will claim you in front of Rylan. It won't include anything more than that." Forcing me to remain calm, he keeps his voice soft. I refuse to look at him. "The claim will last a lifetime, yes, until one of us dies, but this will provide you as much protection as you need. I'll have a pendant crafted so when we part ways, everyone will know. Even after the marks fade."

I scoff. "From the way things are looking, I'll never leave this palace behind."

"I plan to tell my mother that your methods are working." As if realizing that we won't be around each other as much anymore, or at all, his hands rub up and down my arms to ease the tightening in my chest. My head snaps up, stare flying to his. An expectant grin spreads across my face. Adding to the excitement, Cloak pushes on. "But I plan to keep you around until the intervals are spent."

Suddenly not caring less about the claiming ceremony, I turn my attention back towards it. My methods are working. I'll live. Cloak is allowing me to live. Months ago, he told me my life didn't matter, and he didn't frankly care whether I lived or died. How that seems so long ago. How so much has changed since those beginning days.

A hollow laugh leaves me. "I do not see how you can offer such a thing. A claim is more important than you are leading me to believe."

"You are blowing this out of proportion. I have no contact with those I've claimed in the past. They're just nameless women that I picked from the crowd."

I arch a concerned brow at him.

"Then I spent the night with them. That's all." He shrugs like this is no big deal.

"Don't expect that to happen with us," I grumble.

He takes one step back. "So you'll do it? You'll participate?"

My face scrunches up into denial. "No, I will not. This is a ploy to trap me in another deal or another commitment. I don't wish for that, Cloak. You don't understand the barriers put up after my marriage to Rylan. To be honest, I don't think I can ever fall into another agreement or deal again." I straighten my spine and school my features into neutrality. "I spent too much of my life believing I was heading down the right path, all the while ignoring the truth. It's time I start deciding things for myself."

Cloak's shoulders hang as he sighs. "All right." He raises his hand, only to drop it back against his leg.

We bask in the quiet for a moment. Muttering sounds from behind the door, Gustus scolding Theo for charging at me and expecting an honest reaction out of such a harsh approach. As usual, Setsuko keeps to herself when the matter doesn't concern her. Out of everyone in that room I wish to apologize to, she would be the first.

"I wish to retire to my room," I say, more as a demand than a simple state of fact.

Cloak exhales in minor frustration. "Do you wish for the servants to send your soup with you?" he asks.

Tempting, but no. I shake my head. "I believe I've lost my appetite."

He steps aside, but grumbles, "Anyone would," underneath his breath. I don't bother with a retort or the apology that threatens to break through my lips. Shouted from the rooftops. Maybe, just once, I won't owe them anything. An apology or a conclusion to their dilemma.

Claiming or no, Cloak and I will part ways at the end of this. Now that he has agreed to including his mother in this deal, promising her that my methods are working, my fate becomes clear. I'll leave this palace without a scratch on me. Months down the road, I'll forget my room, the hallways, the faces of the servants, and small moments I've shared with each of the Terravale royal children.

The queen won't be halls away, guards won't linger down the corridors. Life will resume as normal. I can't possibly recall what that feels like; if a shred of normalcy has ever slithered into my life, only to shrivel against overwhelming expectations to succeed. Gudgeon Village isn't meant for the easygoing or the rich.

The village was designed for people like me. Those that keep to themselves, but can do a decent job. I can stand for myself when the time is right, but my mouth remains shut during many hours of the day. Keep your head down and do your job, Ocanthio told me on my first day. That's the first key to success.

Also, don't look a captain in the eye. That's like staring down the alpha of the pack. A challenge of death.

Something nags at me, though. On my way back to my room, the constant reminder of losing friendships clouds what should be happiness at the realization I'll survive. Cloak, Gustus, all the friends I made during my time here...I won't see them again. A melancholy hole opens in my stomach. Do I want to go back to my old life? Of course, I do. Yet this feels too soon, like more long weeks should come after this.

Perhaps Cloak has already claimed me in a different way. An attachment I can't bear to lose. A responsibility I have no reluctance to keep.