A wave of hope and joy washes over me like a burst of sunshine in my chest. The weight that’s been smothering me lifts.
“A locket,” my father says. “I never knew it opened.”
“This could be it, Papa.” And though I try to not let it, hope quivers its way into my voice. “All the princes had necklaces like this that returned them to Castletree.”
“Can you make it work?”
I pull back my brown hair into a messy ponytail. My heart races, and everything sharpens to a new clarity. When I was in Castletree, the magic responded to me.The memory of a dangerous voice flickers inside my mind:Trust your own instincts above all else.Maybe the Prince of Thorns had some wisdom in his twisted words from the ball after all.
Carefully, I hold out the locket the way I’d seen Farron and Dayton do. Papa’s gaze widens with my every move.
A loud knock sounds at the door, shaking the whole cottage. I cry out and flinch, and the locket flies from my hands.
“No!” Quickly, I throw myself to the ground. I snag the necklace and hold it protectively against my chest. “It’s alright. It’s alright.”
The walls shake with another resounding knock. “Rosalina! I know you’re home. Open up.”
Lucas.
Papa pulls me up. “Don’t fret.” He leads me into my room. “I’ll get him to leave.”
More knocks rattle the cottage. I clutch my elbows, trying to stop myself from shaking. “I’m so stupid.” Did I really think the locket would work for me? The High Princes are the most powerful fae in the Enchanted Vale. I’m a human. “I can’t doanything.”
“Don’t say that.” My father casts another anxious look at the door.
“I don’t understand. This isn’t me.” Tears flow down my face. “I was never afraid to speak my mind to the princes. When I thought I was trapped, I never stopped fighting.”
Papa places a reassuring hand on my back.
“These fae are so powerful, but when they made me angry, I would tell them. I stood my ground out there—” I pause, gasping in air. “I don’t understand why I can’t do the same thing now. Why can’t I tell him to leave? Why can’t I tell him I don’t want to marry him?”
My father gives me a soft expression, even as the knocking grows to a frantic pace. “Because you are afraid.”
“But Lucas is only a man, and they were beasts.”
“Perhaps your heart knows what to fear and what is safe. And it’s hard to see a monster when he’s proclaimed a hero.”
My father’s words settle deep within me, and I wipe my eyes. “I just wish I wasn’t so scared.”
“Your flame may simmer now, coals in a hearth. But it is there, of that I have no doubt. Do not be afraid of the fire within.”
“I can’t let you go out there for me.”
“Nonsense. That’s what fathers are for.” He puffs out his chest. “I haven’t always done right by you, but this I can do.”
He closes the bedroom door behind him, and I let him face the battle I can’t. I reach into my pocket, touching the ring. Even the thought of it near me feels so wrong.
I can’t help but pull up my sleeve. There, carved into my arm: the scarred letters that go from forearm to wrist. The name Lucas.
I yank down the fabric, hiding the shameful secret. One I’ve kept from everyone in my life.
Only Lucas knows, and he’ll never let me forget it.
But I’m not that girl he branded. Not anymore. The locket feels heavy in my hands. Maybe it won’t work for me, but I have to try. Something led me to Castletree in the first place. Something inside me responded to the magic in the Enchanted Vale. And this locket is my best chance. Even if it doesn’t work, I’ll never stop trying.
But I can’t havehimhere.
Papa and Lucas’s argument drifts through the door. I know how it’ll go… They’ll fight for a few more minutes, then Lucas will storm out. Then in a few days the whole thing will repeat, like watching a play I hate, but I’m strapped to my seat. I can’t leave when the curtain goes down.
