The trunk shimmers, fading away to reveal a luminescent doorway.
Rosalina gasps and I grab her hand, pulling her with me inside the tree. We step into a dimly lit room, cramped with old shelves and even older books.
“A secret library?” Rosalina asks.
“The Queen planted the alder tree when she first created Autumn. It’s enchanted so that only the royal family can enter. It’s protected by a very ancient warding spell, so the fire didn’t affect it. I stayed in here for hours, but I could hear the fire blazing, the walls collapsing around me. The goblins, laughing.”
Rosalina stares at a space between the stacks. Could she know that’s where I’d curled into a ball, hands pressed to my ears, listening to my realm’s destruction but doing nothing to stop it? The memories keep flooding back, unwanted and unbidden. I try to push them away, but they propel at me, one after the other. Each feels like a weight pressing down on my chest, suffocating me.Coward, coward, coward.
My heart races faster, and I want nothing more than to get out of this cramped space, but my legs have forgotten how to work. I shuffle backward, smacking into a bookshelf. My eyes are wide but unseeing, and I think my lungs may burst from my chest—
“Farron, it’s okay. I’m here. We’re safe right now. Nothing like that’s going to happen again, alright?” Rosalina’s hands are on the side of my face, and she guides me down to a sitting position. “Let’s breathe together. Deep breath in, hold at the top, and out.”
I close my eyes and concentrate on her voice, letting her guide me. Finally, my heart feels like it’s not going to rip free from my chest, and I bat my eyes open.
She’s right in front of me, smiling softly.
“You’re still here. Even though you know the truth about me.”
“Oh, Farron,” she whispers. “You came for me when I was at my lowest. That’s what we do. We stay together.”
I lean against her chest. “Do you understand now why my mother doesn’t trust me? Why the people have no faith in me?” My voice wavers. “Why I won’t be able to stop this winter?”
She pulls me to my feet and puts her hands on her hips. “You’re not alone, Farron. You’ve got three other High Princes and one human to help you. Besides,” she spins around and stares up into the towering trunk, “think of this tree. It’s thriving in adversity, still growing amidst the destruction. You have the same resilience.” Her eyes sparkle with determination. “Bloom among the ashes.”
“I wish I had your optimism.”
She turns to the stacks. “What are all these books? They must have been important if they were kept within the tree.”
“After the fire, the most precious books kept at Keep Oakheart were moved in here for safekeeping. Family histories, diaries of ancient rulers, that sort of thing. But most of these books were kept hidden for good reason. Some knowledge should not be pursued, for the rewards are too uncertain.”
“You mean these are evil books?”
“Grimoires,” I correct, “filled with twisted and dark spells. Unfortunately, we will find no aid here.”
“But maybe there’s something—”
My heart pounds in my chest, and I tug at the collar of my shirt. “Rosalina, I’ve already tampered with enough dark magic. If you do something wrong with one of these spells, it could make everything worse.”
Rosalina runs a finger down the spine of one of the books. “The goblins that attacked the library… Did Caspian send them?”
“Maybe. He’d betrayed Kel at that point and had fully joined the Below’s forces. But I think more likely it was Sira.”
“Sira?”
My throat tenses to even speak her name. “Yes. Someone even Caspian is afraid of.”
Before I can tell her more of the Queen of the Below, Rosalina leans against a shelf, her shoulders shaking. “Rosie? What’s wrong?”
“I’ve been keeping a secret from everyone. I think I’m afraid of the answer.”
“What?”
Her brown eyes sparkle as she turns to me. “I can hear him in my head. Caspian. He talksinsideof me.”
At first, I’m about to laugh. It’s an impossible notion. But the fear in her gaze stops me. She’s serious. “When did this begin?”
“At the Solstice Ball.”
