"Stop there, you fool. You tricked my lad into falling for your sexless body," Issy spat from the dark as she strode toward me.
I pretended not to hear and kept walking toward my chambers. "Didn't you hear me?" she shouted.
Because she'd said my name I stopped and turned. Issy closed the distance. "So you've decided to—" she began. "Really, Isabella? Who do you think you are?"
"You always insult yourself, and you don't even know it," I replied, anger pricking at my tone. "You called my body sexless, and yet your handsome, rude boyfriend fell for it. Then what does that make your body?" I circled her, keeping my voice low.
"Shut up, you fool!" Issy snapped and grabbed a fistful of my hair.
"Leave me alone!" I screamed, clawing at her hand. Pain flared as she yanked, and I tried to pry free.
"Atris!" someone yelled. He charged in and shoved Issy off me. She released my hair; it fell in a tangled halo around my shoulders. For a moment I stood stunned — Atris, who usually avoided me, who rarely spoke, had just saved me.
"Iris, are you all right?" he asked, pulling me into an awkward, earnest hug.
"I'm fine," I said, shocked and uncertain. "Thank you." I wrenched my hand from his and turned away. "I need rest."
"Wait, Iris—" he began, but I had already opened my bedroom door. The chandeliers threw cold light across the room; the moon was full. I slid under the blanket and called, "Martha."
"Yes, Your Highness," she answered, crossing to my bedside.
"Bring me the book I gave you," I said. The book—history, customs, rules of Royal Prep—felt like an anchor. Rob set it in my lap, and I began to read with sudden, frenetic focus.