Sleepless: Chapter Eighteen

A Part to Play [and A Mask to Wear]

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Armed with a handful of polite words, the Sunwalker made quick work of scheduling the ball for the end of the week and subsequently excusing them both from the castle grounds.

With a quick twirl of the amber spear, she cut a sun-colored hole in the fabric of reality and ushered Margo through before following herself.

The air fizzled around them as they stepped through to the other side, as though walking through a heat mirage. Or popping out of a really tall oven.

The room they’d entered was large and made entirely of white marble, with a high arched ceiling culminating in a skylight through which warm, rich sunlight poured down upon them. There was a bed — white mattress, gold sheets, and large pillows — that looked softer and silkier than anything Margo had ever touched in her life, not to mention a desk, a huge circular rug in the shape of a sun, and more. Very little of which she was paying attention to right now.

Margo could barely contain herself, practically bouncing off the walls. “How far away is the end of the week?? That feels like it’s going to be forever! I could go right now — if I can wear this!” She grabbed the edges of the blue dress, balling up two handfuls of it. “Can I wear this to a ball? Is this a ballroom gown?”