Glittering Shadows (48 page)

“Why didn’t your mother come?” Nan asked.

“She said it sounded like too much.” Thea was disappointed when Mother refused the invitation, but she understood.

Right around midnight, Sebastian managed to break away and come over to them. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Can you do that?” Thea asked.

“I’m the king, I can do whatever I want.”

“So far that has been the opposite of true.”

“Ooh! I definitely vote for sneaking out,” Sigi said. She’d been cross all night because her father had somehow gotten invited to the party, apparently by a few politicians who
had commissioned paintings from him, and he was drinking a lot and being very loud. “Is there an after-party? With better music?”

“There sure is.”

They grabbed Freddy and Marlis and piled into a car together for a short jaunt to Lampenlight. The lights were still dim thanks to the electricity restrictions, but the streets were absolutely
packed with people celebrating. Thea laughed. “Don’t tell me: You’re putting us to work as waitresses again?”

“The guys rented out Café Scorpio tonight,” Sebastian said. “That is, the ones who aren’t fancy enough to go to the ball.”

“Lucky them,” Sigi said.

“The ball wasn’t that bad,” Nan said. “Marlis, was the Austerity Cake something you and I used to make? It tasted so familiar.”

“I found the recipe in the books! We made it during some terrible wheat famine. It has potato in it.”

Inside the dim, smoky club, the band was hopping and Ina Brand was dancing on one of the tables. One of the men was holding her snake. Bottles of wine and trays of food covered every table so
the waitresses could dance with the men instead of serving. Thea saw her mother in the corner talking to Walter, the pianist. When she saw Thea, she raised a glass of champagne in greeting.

A deep pang shot through Thea at the thought of leaving this city, leaving Lampenlight. But she had seen Urobrun now, the mountains and forests that her ancestors had known. Maybe she would see
something like Lampenlight grow up in Irminau, and she would be one of those glamorous patrons she used to serve.

“Thea!” Hedda ran up and gave her a hug. “You lucky thing! I can’t believe you never told us you were dating the
prince
. Are you going to be the queen? Do you need
ladies-in-waiting?”

“Oh goodness. That’s a horrifying thought. Do people still even have ladies-in-waiting?”

“Well, they must have a lady’s maid.”

Hedda’s tone was joking, but Thea understood the real fears that came with working as a waitress. Thea glanced at Sebastian. He was still getting mobbed with congratulations, but at least
he’d been able to sit down with a glass of wine. “It’s definitely premature for me to hire a lady’s maid, but I won’t forget about you.”

“Then again, there are about a hundred handsome men in here,” Hedda said. “Maybe I’ll beat you to it. Your success inspires me.”

“Please do. I’d love it if you came to Irminau.”

She slipped away from Hedda and joined her mother. “Mother! You said going out would be ‘too much.’”

Mother smiled. “I wouldn’t fit in with all those government luminaries, but this night is a nice way to remember the city before we go,” she said.

Thea knew her Mother struggled with leaving the home she had shared with Thea’s father, but at least they would stay together, and they still had family who had never left Irminau. Thea
was eager to meet her cousins.

Thea danced with Freddy, who was a terrible dancer, and she was a very popular partner with all of Sebastian’s men who had lost a hand or arm—or two in the case of Max and a few
others—and were now adapting to new prosthetics themselves. They weren’t so nervous with her.
Meanwhile, I had to face losing my hand without any company in my misery,
she
thought a bit grumpily.

Except, of course, Sebastian. Not that he had ever shown much misery. But that was what she loved about him.

When she was tired and a bit tipsy, she dropped her head on Sebastian’s shoulder and watched her friends. Hedda flirting shamelessly, Mother making new friends in the crowd, Freddy and
Marlis stepping on each other’s feet, Sigi and Nan kicking their heels. The future was, perhaps, no more certain than it had ever been, but in this moment, she was exactly where she wanted to
be.

F
irst, to Su Mon Han, who should have been in the acknowledgments of
Dark Metropolis
. Never write your acknowledgments at the last minute!
She gave me an amazing critique and some wonderful ideas for the first book between rounds of edits when I was feeling tired and burned out, and helped me feel energized and excited again. Some of
these ideas have bled through into this book as well.
Arigatou, Su-chan
, I know how busy you are!

I always have to thank my partner, Dade Bell, but especially with this book. How do I write battle scenes? I go to Dade and say, “I need X and Y to happen, HELP,” and he plans out
the whole thing complete with diagrams and maps. He is amazing and I don’t know how I could have done this book without him.

To my editor, Tracey Keevan, for editorial notes that are wonderfully detailed and smart, but not intimidating. It’s been such a pleasure working with you. And to the whole team at
Hyperion, for beautiful covers, marketing, copyedits, and everything else you do.

I did a lot of research for this book, much of it never used, some of it most definitely applied, and I appreciate everyone around the Internet and in real life who answered a question for
me.

And as always, to readers and fans, from the kid who picks up my book at the library to the book bloggers who keep my chin up on a bad day. I can never thank all of you enough for choosing my
stories out of all the books in the world.

JACLYN DOLAMORE
spent her childhood reading as many books as she could lug home from the library and playing elaborate games of pretend. She has
a passion for history, thrift stores, vintage dresses, drawing, and local food. She lives with her partner, Dade, and three weird cats in a Victorian house in western Maryland.
Glittering
Shadows
is her fifth novel. Visit her online at
www.jaclyndolamore.com
.