I followed Rosaline, who had shards of my hope shining in her crystal eyes, up the first step. We climbed the gilded staircase and she led me through a corridor decorated with rich tapestries of fair-haired men and women. Rosaline quickly snuck me through another door and up a tight set of spiraling stairs until we reached the top of one ofthe towers.
Rosaline stepped toward one of the arched windows and gestured for me to stand next to her. She pressed one palm to the glass and pointed up withthe other.
“You need to go to the top of the mountain,” Rosaline whispered. “Fraleigh is not the only being who can wield magic.Find Daigen.”
Daigen. Each syllable soundedlike salvation.
“What is Daigen?”I asked.
Rosaline exhaled and rolled the answer around in her mouth before she responded. “He’s the size of a man, but he’s red and has the horns and feet of a goat. Just…just find him. And don’t take ‘no’ foran answer.”
The terrifying red monster from Astrid’s paintings. The very same creature that cut Riyan out of his mother when hewas born.
“This…Daigen will really help us?”I asked.
“You don’t have another choice,” she replied. “Trust me, I’ve worked for Fraleigh for years and know more about magic than any other mortal in Lycaster. I can’t use magic myself, but I know the three beings who can. Fraleigh,Daigen, and—”
“Ganora,” I finished. My breath turned to ice in my lungs as I saidher name.
Rosaline’s eyes turned grim and she let out a breath. “I hope you find Daigen first. He’s tricky, so keep youreyes open.”
I imagined a horned red monster would not be too hard to find amongstthe snow.
Rosaline took her hand off the window and gestured for me to follow her back down the stairs. The tower door creaked open and we carefully snuck through the corridor, each of our footsteps a whisper on the wooden floor. She led the way down the staircase and we silently crossed the grand entrance. As far as I could tell, Fraleigh was nonethe wiser.
Rosaline opened the door for me and we stepped out into the evening air. Riyan was sitting in the grass and surrounded by the white flowers. He was even taller than me when sitting down and Fraleigh expected me to justfigure outhow to consummateour marriage.
I should have known nearly five-hundred years of unlimited power would turn her cruel. Maybe she did not even havea heart.
Riyan noticed us and smiled. He rose from the field and came over to kneel in frontof us.
“Did it go well?” he asked. Hope swam inhis eyes.
His optimism was an arrow in the chest. Rosaline and Iexchanged glances.
“We have a new lead,” I replied. “We just have to travel alittle farther.”
I was not ready to tell him our new destination was the home of hisworst nightmares.
Riyan gave us a half-smile and then shrugged. “Not a problem. I can get anywhere quickly. Wehave time.”
We did not have time. Sure, we may have had twenty-four days left until the marriage annulled, but time would slip away from us faster thanRiyan thought.
Riyan pulled out a small circle of white flowers from behind his back. He reached over and gently placed the flowers on top of Rosaline’s head. Rosaline gasped and her crystal blueeyes sparkled.
“You remembered!” she cried. Riyan gave her a dimpled smile. Green fire burned inmy chest.
I tried not to stare at Riyan’s gift as Rosaline turned to me. “I wish you luck, Serafina. She’s hard to understand most of the time, but Fraleigh does indeed know everything. She’d never tell you that you could figure out your problem if itweren’t true.”
I doubted that. Fraleigh was only angry with me for my insolence. She clearly had no real faith that I could find a way to make Riyan anormal man.
Rosaline blew a goodbye kiss to Riyan and turned back insidethe palace.
She peeked out from behind the wooden door and looked me in the eyes. “By the way, any woman who would confront the Great Sorceress for her husband like you did ismuch morethan just asatisfactory bride.”
My mind was too exhausted to accept the compliment and the door painted with gold spirals closed on us. Riyan held out his hand and I looked up at him—our new silent signal that I was readyto go.
A smile blossomed through the fatigued muscles in my face as his fingers wrapped around my back and he picked me up. He placed me on his shoulder and gave me a moment tosettle in.
