“There’s something else,” I say, hesitating as I take another bite of the buttery biscuit. My hands tremble slightly. “I had a vision.”
That gets their full attention.
I withhold nothing—because I need to trust them. About the water going black. The ice closing in above me. And then thewoman, glowing and unreal, her voice coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once.
“She spoke about the curse,” I say. “About the past. And then I saw flashes. The king. A wedding dress on fire. My sister. A rose turning to ash in my palm.” I shake my head. “I don’t know what it meant. But it felt like a warning.”
Mariel leans forward, eyes sharp. “The library.”
“What?” Cassy blurts, her expression mirroring my own confusion.
“If there are answers about the past—about the curse—they’ll be there,” Mariel says. “And that vision coming to you? That wasn’t a coincidence.”
I wince as I shift in bed. “I’m not so sure I want to go back there. I barely made it out last time. One of the books bit me, and its venom was downright vicious. If Marb hadn’t healed me—”
Cassy gasps. “A book bit you?”
“They’ve got fangs,” I say dryly. “It was inked with runes. I almost died.”
She puffs out her cheeks. “That’s horrifying. But… I found a book yesterday. One of the quiet ones. It was just sitting there like it was waiting for me.”
“Did it bite you?” Mariel asks.
“No, thankfully. It just sneezed dust at me.” She shrugs. “I think it liked me. Or pitied me.”
Despite the ache, I smile. For the first time in days, the weight on my chest shifts. The fear isn’t gone—but it has company now, and that makes it easier to bear.
Finally, I ask the question I’ve been avoiding. “How long have I been out?”
“Two days,” Mariel replies. “Mae healed the worst of your wounds, but she made us swear not to leave you alone.”
“We were scared,” Cassy admits. “The first night, you were burning up.”
The emotion in her voice nearly undoes me, but I swallow it down. I’m awake now. And we’re not done yet.
“What about Vivian?” I ask. “Did she—?”
“She’s alive,” Mariel says softly, and relief crashes through me. “Barely. She’s recovering in the east wing.”
“We’re visiting her after breakfast,” Cassy adds. “She loves carrot cake, so I figured I’d sneak her a slice.”
“I want to come,” I say immediately, swinging my legs off the bed.
“Easy,” Mariel warns, steadying my shaking arm. “We’ll go slow.”
Once I’m standing, an awkward silence settles—until Cassy speaks again.
“There’s something else.”
Mariel nods. “The next Trial is about a month away. Maybe less. But until then, we’re each required to spend one day—and one night—with the king. Every week.”
My heart stops. “What?”
“It’s a set rotation,” Mariel says carefully. “You finished first in the Trial, so you choose your day first. After that, the rest of us pick. The only exception is Sunday. He chooses who he wants then.”
“And if I don’t choose?” I ask.
“He chooses for you,” Cassy says softly.
