The strain from the table dissolves a bit, and I try to guide my wayward princes back to the important matters. “I still think we should visit the Autumn Realm to see what’s going on. Couldn’t we go through the door here in Castletree?”
I’d opened it myself accidentally when Kel had shown me that it connects to the four realms.
“It’s a possibility,” Keldarion says.
“We can’t go back.” Farron taps nervously on the table. “At night—”
“We could use your necklaces to take us home to Castletree before each sunset,” I suggest.
Ezryn sighs. “The lockets work more for emergencies. They wouldn’t be feasible to use long-term, especially if we stray from Castletree. Our magic is already limited as it is, but the longer we’re away from here, the harder it will be to activate the portals.”
“Okay, what about a day trip?”
“There’s no way we’ll be able to sort this out in a day. Then my parents will question why I’m leaving and,” Farron shakes his head back and forth, “what if they ask me to stay?”
“We could ask to reside in the Ember Wing,” Dayton says. “It’s distanced from the main keep.”
“We could stretch the truth and say you need to commune with your magic at night.” I look up, thinking. “Or some other excuse for why you’d be unavailable.”
“That’s not a horrible idea,” Ezryn offers.
“No.” Farron stands. “What will you do with the wolf? I can’t very well go to Keep Oakheart’s dungeon and lock myself up. And it’s irrelevant. Day or night, the beast doesn’t care.” A tear falls down his cheek. “Look what I did to Dayton!”
We’re silent, and my heart mourns for him. So trapped he can’t even go back to protect his realm.
“You’re the High Prince of Autumn, Farron,” I tell him, feeling like he needs the words to be spoken aloud. “Your people need you. We have to figure out a way.”
“There isn’t one, Rosie.”
Slowly, the door creaks open, and Astrid stands there, her face paler than usual.
“We’re in the middle of a meeting,” Kel says. “What is it?”
Her red eyes flick from me to Kel. “There’s someone here… Someone who says they’ve been invited to dinner.”
“Perth shouldn’t have arrived yet,” Keldarion says, waving a dismissive hand. “I certainly haven’t invited anyone.”
No,a smooth voice purrs in my mind,but you did.
My heart races. “It’s Caspian.”
24
Rosalina
ThePrinceofThornsis at Castletree.
Kel stands up so fast his chair clatters to the ground. Ice grows from beneath his feet, a sheet cracking along the floor. “What ishedoing here?”
A little peep escapes me as a memory returns.
“What?” Keldarion snarls.
I throw my burning face into my palms. “When we were dancing at the Winter Solstice Ball, I jokingly invited him.” Peering between my fingers, I gaze upon three stunned faces and my awkward reflection in Ezryn’s helmet. “But it’s not a big deal. I’ll tell him his invitation is rescinded after he threw his tantrum and destroyed the entire ballroom with his thorns.”
I jump up before any of them can stop me and rush out of the dining hall. Unsurprisingly, I’m followed by a 6’5 frosty giant. As I scurry past Astrid, I whisper an apology. The poor thing, I can only imagine how traumatizing it would be to hear a knock on the door and see the bloody Prince of Thorns standing there.
I march into the entrance hall, ready to tell Caspian to go to hell, but stagger to a stop. I find myself unable to draw in a full breath as I look upon him, radiant and otherworldly in his beauty.
