I just didn’t know which was true.
A draft blew through the cell, sending a shiver down my spine. The flames in the torches outside the bars flickered. Something light and airy pressed against my skin, and the hair on the back of my neck rose in warning.
“Who’s there?” I called out. I felt along the floor and grabbed a small, sharp rock as I slowly rose to my feet.
A faint giggle reached my ears.
“My, this one is brave, isn’t she?” a high-pitched voice crooned.
I jumped and slammed my back into the corner, holding out the rock as if it could do anything to protect me. Scanning theshadows, I craned my neck to listen for footsteps, but there was nothing. No movement, no bodies, just darkness.
“Who said that?” I asked.
A ripple of wind rolled across my arm, almost as if invisible fingers danced over it.
“Though not as bright as she seems,” a second feminine voice said.
Well, that was just rude. “Who are you?” I demanded with a growl. “Show yourself.”
“Haven’t you guessed by now, Clarissa Aris?” The last sound was drawn out like a snake hissing through the grass.
“You call upon us in your anger,”
“Your pain,”
“Your desperation,” said a third voice, rising with the other two as they wavered closer.
“And we answer in our strength,”
“In our glory,”
“In our power.”
All three voices blended together, and the force of it sent me staggering to the side. Magic stirred in the air. Old and long-forgotten, like an ancient, primal power that made my own dormant magic raise its head in curiosity.
“The Fates,” I breathed out.
“At your service,” the first one said, and a faint presence brushed against my skin.
I glanced around the cell, trying to find some form or body to lock onto, but it was still empty. “How—what are youdoinghere?”
“Call us curious,” one of them mused.
“We’ve been wondering when someone might come along and break this curse.”
“It was my favorite one, too,” the first one purred.
I wrinkled my nose. “Break the curse? The kingdied. I thought our marriage was supposed to save him? Or did you lie about that to his ancestor too?”
“Braveanda sharp tongue.” Ghostly fingers grippedmy cheeks, pinching them together. I reared back to yank out of their hold, and faded laughter echoed off the stone walls.
“The curse did break, little Empress,” the second voice hissed. “Or is it Queen now?”
“We did not lie. The blight will no longer touch this kingdom.”
“We never saidhowit would break,” the first one said, and I could almost imagine an outline of shoulders lifting into a shrug.
“Nyses Grimaldi’s son simply never asked.” A dark chuckle drifted in the cell.
