Annalisa traced a blue flower on the vine with her finger. “Emperor Orlon is twenty-five years older than Sapphira. He bought her when we were still in school.”
Her finger dropped to a crimson flower. “Two princes had a bidding war over Rubia when she was a child.”
She turned her attention to a bright green flower.
“Emeralda gets passed around the nobility of her kingdom. She drinks to forget about it.”
A purple flower.
“Amethyst is thirty years old and she has been pregnant eight times. All of the pregnancies have failed.”
A white flower.
“Pearl’s kingdom drained their treasury to buy her, but she has not given her prince an heir yet. The king beats her with a rod when her cycle starts.”
Finally, a deep wine-colored flower.
“Garnet has not spoken a single word since she was sent away.”
My heart ached. I never knew what happened to the Hyton daughters once they graduated from Ashmore…but I never could have imagined such horror.
Even with all I knew about them, not a single one of them deserved it.
A gentler hand knocked on the door and I answered. Merri was on the other side, a silver tray holding two cups of spiced cream in her hands. Annalisa hiccuped as Merri gave her head a pat and her cheek a kiss.
I filled my belly in silence as I reflected on the memory Annalisa had sent me. In her worst moments, was Derrick what she thought about? Was he truly the other half of her soul?
The bigger question was why was my magic only responding to the sadness of those around me? Divining the secrets of Ilsa and braiding that knowledge into a scourge would be much more useful.
Why was my heart’s desire to be sympathetic instead of productive?
I swallowed my frustration with the last of the warm drink. As much as I hated to surrender to fickle emotion, I had to follow my magic’s direction to win Riyan’s freedom.
Annalisa put out the candles and we slipped into bed. As I rested on my side, looking at the mural of the tree behind us, I counted two of every animal Annalisa had painted. Two ravens, two foxes, two fawns…
…every animal had a twin.
Annalisa pulled the blankets tighter around her, her arms and knees tucked in close to her chest. She had been mean in school, but had she only reached for knives so she would not constantly reach for what she was missing?
Maybe I could help her find what she needed to be complete again.
My white flame slowly danced around my heart and my crystal warmed against my leg. I had ended the day no closer to freeing Fraleigh than when I had arrived at the palace, but maybe the path to liberation did not begin with the destruction of the House of Hyton.
The Hytons were doing a fine job of destroying themselves without me, anyway.
My eyes rested at the bottom of the mural, my eyelashes fluttering closed at the image of two little rabbits.
Treason could wait until after breakfast.
If Brietta was going to take her time clearing Derrick out of their bedroom so we could look for memories within Ilsa’s Presentation dress, I might as well eat.
Annalisa sat beside me on her couch and picked at the tray of iced buns on the low table in front of us. As soon as I lifted a warm bun to my lips, the memory of Riyan’s voice traced the back of my mind. “Take a bite, you’ll love it!”
I sighed and put the bun back down on the painted plate. As good as the bun looked, it was not filled with delicious elskaberry jam. I was not in the middle of the Bloodstone lily field enjoying them from a wicker basket, either.
I was still in Hyton Palace, wondering if each meal could be my last.
Brietta entered Annalisa’s bedroom without so much as a knock. “Come, Sera, we must go to tea.”
