“We still have five more days.”
“No, Astrid, you heard Marybeth. Tris will be coming for us by morning. This is the only option that might save your life.”
“Don’t do this, Torben! If you face her, she’ll kill you!”
“She most likely will. But there’s a chance I can fulfill my bargain instead and save both of our lives. If so, I’ll find you. If I manage to survive what I’m about to do, I’ll follow your scent to the ends of the earth. There’s nowhere you can go that I won’t find you. So run, Astrid. Run.”
That was the last thing he said to me before he strode from the bedroom and left me sobbing, tugging my cuffs with all my might. But I was still stuck when the light of the Chariot began to glow from the hallway, and I was still trapped by the time it went out.
Now I claw at the box, chipping my fingernails in my haste to pry open the lid. No matter what I do, it won’t budge. Regardless of how futile my efforts are, I can’t sit still. I can’t simply wait while Torben sacrifices himself for me. There’s no other way his meeting with the queen can end. She made it clear this morning that she intends to silence us. That she’s willing to kill even those who serve her if it hides her guilt. Whatever scheme Torben has up his sleeve, it won’t convince her to spare his life.
The tune begins to slow, turning stuttered and haunting. My pulse riots. Every second that ticks by feels like an eternity. Mama Cat rubs my elbow as if she can sense my agitated mood, but not even her presence can calm me. Finally, the lid to the music box pops open. The first thing I see are three carved bears, mechanically moving in a sweet dance. I choke back a sob at the sight. Then my gaze lands on the brass key nestled in a velvet compartment. My fingers tremble as I extract the key and shove it into the lock on my cuffs. The process is too slow, too clumsy, but eventually I manage to open my bonds.
I spring from the bed at once, my steps made unsteady by how my body ripples with fury, heartache, and sorrow. Thankfully, I manage not to trip over my own feet as I don my shoes and rush down the stairs. With every shaking step, I try not to consider how much time has already passed, try not to imagine what Tris could do to Torben at merely the sight of him. What she already could have done.
I make it to the foyer and out the front door. Outside, the evening sky glows with the last blush of sunset. Only then does reality strike me in full force.
I stare down the walkway, Marybeth’s corpse no longer draped across it, toward the main road. A road I’ll have to take to Larklawn if I want to hail a cab. From there, the palace is at least an hour away.
My chest tightens, my own powerlessness a vise over my heart. All I want is to close the distance between me and Torben. Whether he still lives or not isn’t something I can consider.
I just…I just need to…
A sob rips through me, so fierce it sends me to my knees.
What am I doing? What do I do?
A small voice answers in the back of my mind, telling me Torben was right—that I should run. It’s why he left to sacrifice himself for me. Barging into my stepmother’s palace will only make his reckless actions meaningless.
But…
But I can’t…
I can’t give up on him.
And if it’s already too late, if Queen Tris has silenced him and snuffed out his life, then…then I’ll do whatever I can to face her one final time. I may not be strong, and I may not have the kind of magic that could help me win a fight, but I’ll do whatever I must to take that wretched harpy down with me.
Wiping the back of my hand over my eyes, I force myself to my feet, fingers curling into fists.
Steeling my resolve, I start down the walkway—
And freeze.
A kelpie emerges from behind the shrubbery, cloaked in the darkening evening shadows. My heart leaps into my throat at the sight of his rippling mane, his ruby-red eyes. I’ve only ever met one kelpie before—the night I escaped the palace after my father died—and I can’t help wondering if this is the same creature as before.
“You,” the kelpie says, voice chilling and ethereal. “We’ve met before.”
I take a step back, alarm bells ringing in my mind. It is the same creature. But why is he here? I breathe deeply and invite my magic to hum through my blood. My eyes lock on his, and my magic ignites.
The kelpie rumbles with a dark chuckle and takes a few slow steps closer, his mammoth hooves clopping against the stone walkway. Hooves that send my stomach churning. “You fooled me once. You will not fool me again.”
I retreat closer to the manor. “What do you want?”
“The same thing I wanted then. To take you where you need to go.”
“You mean, you want to murder me,” I say. “I know what kelpies do. You’ll allow me on your back, strangle my hands with your mane so I can’t get free, and then sink me into the depths of the nearest water source.”
“My kind has been known to enjoy such sport,” the creature says, a note of wistfulness in his voice, “but that practice has been outlawed. Doing so could result in my own death sentence.”
