Benches of white stone curved along the inner walls, and I ran my hand along the cool surface. Free from dust or dirt, it was entirely clean. My spine tingled, like someone trickled cool water down my back.
A sudden gust of wind blew through the space, sending my skirts billowing and filling my lungs with the strange lilac and woodsy scent.
More flowers dotted these vines than anywhere else. I inched closer, their leaves rustling in the wind blowing increasingly stronger. I cupped one in my hand; the flower was cold. Ice cold. Like it had frozen, though it bore no marks of frost.
Like the flowers in the field, were they made everlasting by magic? Perhaps it would explain this strange tingling. The lingering remnants of magic.
A burst of laughter echoed around the clearing—Eleanor’s. It startled me so thoroughly my finger nicked against a thorn. Deep-red blood oozed, stark against the greenness of the vine.
The wind ceased, dropping away as an unnatural stillness settled over the clearing.
Everything was silent. Nothing moved. Birds didn’t sing. Small animals didn’t scurry in the underbrush. Even the leaves didn’t flutter.
Utter silence.
A prickling sensation washed over my neck, increased tenfold, and reminded me of another time of eerie quiet.
No. Don’t think about it.
I searched for the cause of my unease, gaze darting through the clearing. Pierce stalked toward Eleanor and Harkin. The latter sprawled on his back below a wide terrace while Eleanor keeled over in laughter at the top of the steps.
I could see them, but no sound reached my ears, like I was looking through some kind of soundproofed window.
Movement in my peripheral snapped my head in the direction of the forest, and I squinted through the dark trees. Only the outline of the large trunks were visible, nothing else. All was still.
Something or someone was there. A presence. I sensed it, that feeling of being watched, but no matter how hard I squinted into the darkness, I saw nothing but trees.
Another shrill of laughter rang out, and with it, all sound returned. The stillness ceased, as if it hadn’t even happened at all.
“Lia! Are you ready to go?” Eleanor called out, her arm tucked into Harkin’s elbow, and face flushed from laughter. Neither they nor Pierce gave any indication they noticed what I had.
I offered Eleanor a tight small, unsteady after the encounter. “Sure.”
Eleanor and Harkin chatted animatedly as we wound back to where the men waited with our horses. I trailed behind them, my mind buzzing and heartbeat erratic.
Something happened when I cut myself, when my blood touched the vines. I sensed magic, at least what I thought was magic, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with the curse, and if it did, could it be a sign that I was different? Could I do what five others failed to do? I couldn’t succumb to madness; Eleanor was counting on me.
In a daze over the encounter, it took until we reached the horses for me to notice Pierce hadn’t been scanning our surroundings like he usually did.
No, his gaze had been zeroed in on Lord Harkin, where his arm linked with Eleanor’s.
It wasn’t until after our evening meal and Eleanor had retired to her own tent that I had an opportunity to confront Pierce. He had been acting odd around Harkin from the moment we met him. It was clear he hadn’t liked the young lord touching her, and I needed to know why.
“What’s the deal with Harkin?” I hissed at him once my sister disappeared behind canvas walls.
“Miss?” His brow furrowed in what I could only suspect was feigned confusion.
“Don’t play dumb with me. You’ve been acting weird all afternoon, ever since we met him.”
He sighed, flicking his gaze to the patrolling guards, and lowered his voice. “You shouldn’t trust him. His loyalties are questionable.”
His loyalties? What did that mean? “He’s not loyal to the king?”
Pierce pressed his lips into a thin line. “Just be careful.”
Which gave me absolutely nothing. It was clear from the look on his face he wouldn’t say more, and what he had given me was a whole lot of nothing.
I stormed into my tent, more confused than ever. We were surrounded by so many unknowns, and I didn’t know who to trust. Not only that, but tomorrow, I had to break a curse. Had to risk insanity—madness—to do it.
