I settle down next to Saipha, and she leans her shoulder intomine.
“That passageway… You think we were supposed to find it?” Her voice is barely a whisper, and the way she asks tells me she already knows the answer.
“No, not at all.” Even though the air in the greenhouse is humid and rich with the aroma of damp earth, I’m still cold. The stink of green dragon acid is burned into my nose.
“There’re probably a lot more like it,” she muses.
“Probably. This whole place suddenly feels like a gameboard, and we’re the pieces.”
“Sure, except the board changes whenever it suits them.”
It makes me think of the various levers and pulls my father would design. The little boxes with hidden compartments he’d surprise me with on my birthday. The tiny puzzles he’d give me “just to see” if I could figure them out.
Were you training me, even then?I wish I could ask him. Another question for when I make it out of here. I imagine there’ll be a lot to talk about when all is said and done.If I make it out of here…
The silence is heavy. I know what both of our thoughts are drifting back to. The one thing that’s going to keep us up all night, flirting with our worst nightmares and fears.
“Who do you think it is?” she whispers. “My father told me being cursed is incredibly rare.”
“I don’t know.” The back of my head rests against the cool stone as I look out onto the raised gardens. “Hopefully Lucan.”
“Youreallydon’t like him, do you?”
“Can you blame me?” I shrug even though a part of me already regrets what I said.It’s not his fault he’s like this, one part of me says.Oh, Valor bless, stop making excuses for him!another rallies against him.
“He seems like he’s been nice enough to you.”
I don’t respond, too busy mentally arguing with myself over aboy. An utter waste of my mental energy.
“I bet you could win him over,” Saipha continues. “Flirt with him until he’s putty in your hands?”
“Saipha.Gross.” I repeat my earlier statement, and she laughs. The sound is thin and somewhat hollow. But genuine.
“I’m just saying, we could use all the help we can get in here.” Saipha sounds noncommittal.
“Yeah…” I trail off. I can’t get any more words out anyway. Only one thought is circling my mind right now.
It’s me. I’m the cursed one.
20
I don’t know how, but eventually I must have fallen asleep, because Saipha shakes me awake. Sunlight streams in through the windows, and I let out a long sigh. We’ve survived another night.
I stare out into the dim light of the greenhouse, forcing my attention to stay sharp. We’re still the only ones here, so it must be very early. The other supplicants aren’t roaming the halls yet, keeping themselves busy with whatever they find.
“I’m eating everything they serve in the refectory this morning and then having seconds.” Saipha stretches and then extends a hand to me, helping me up. “Then we’re finding you a key.”
I can’t help but agree. But, as we’re leaving, a tiny cluster of red, poofy buds catches my attention. The little plant is growing happily in a pot on a high shelf.
“What is it?” Saipha stops as well.
“Surely not…” I mutter.
“What?” She blinks.
I cross to the pot. It’s just slightly out of line from the rest. As if someone moved it more recently than the others. I lift it, and sure enough, underneath is a shining key.
“Oh, Valor bless.” Saipha curses under her breath. “How did we miss that?”
