The sun was still bright, shining through the windows of the school, as Ivy walked down the hallway of the academy. Evelyn had sent her back to the room to get her gloss. Just gloss and now she needed to hurry back to the gathering crowds.

Her pace was calm, her gaze lowered, her fingers hidden inside the folds of her dress. Inside one palm was Evelyn’s gloss and in the other, the ring. Evelyn’s engagement ring pressed lightly against her skin. It was small plan flowing through her ...