Finnick stands atop a metal pot with two berries over his eyes, speaking in a high-pitched voice. His words are unintelligible to me, but whatever he says makes my mother and Evangeline laugh. He then spins around, shaking his hips in a silly manner. The moment he notices Zephyr and me, he screams, throwing the berries in the air.
“Why are you sneaking up on us?” he shouts, offended.
“It’s hardly sneaking when we’re out in the open. Would make us pretty bad at our job,” Zephyr muses.
“Yeah, well, you’re tall and big. You’re always bad.” He harrumphs, flying to land on Mother’s shoulder. I half expect him to stick his tongue out at us, but he simply crosses his arms over his chest and glares.
“Good morning, my dears. Did you sleep well?” Mother asks, smiling warmly at us. Despite her cheery disposition, her eyes hold a tired acceptance. Like she knows she’ll never be able to get enough sleep until this is all over.
“Perfectly fine. Shocked to see Evangeline not where we left her,” Zephyr says, though not unkindly. There is an edge to his voice that tells me he was more distraught than he let on. She’s not our prisoner and should be allowed to roam free. I suppose we are both just feeling extra protective over her.
Evangeline offers a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I washungry, and Finnick offered to show me the kitchen. He ended up giving me a tour of the castle,” she says, her voice full of wonder. “This place is beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like the entire castle was carved straight from the earth. Stone walls looking like natural cliffs, and the beautiful florals all throughout.” The awe and reverence in her voice are unmistakable, and I can’t help but swell with pride at the thought of her falling in love with her new home.
Good. If she loves the kingdom, she’ll be more inclined to save it.
“Evangeline is making us breakfast. Isn’t that kind?” Mother smiles. She’s warming up to the human nicely.
“You don’t have much around here. I had to make do with what I could find. But my mother always told me I could make a meal with nothing but water and sugar.” Evangeline laughs, though there’s pain in her eyes as she speaks about her mother. “I definitely need more than water and sugar, but I found a few things. Finnick showed me how to use the stove. It’s different from mine back home.
“In fact, many things here are different,” she continues, gesturing around the grand kitchen. “I’m excited to learn how to use everything. This will definitely be my happy place.”
“Doubt for much longer,” Zephyr mutters as he takes a seat on a high stool.
Evangeline frowns, brows drawn together in confusion. “Why do you say that?”
Before Zephyr can speak, I jump in, “I take it Ender wasn’t forthcoming with information?” From ourconversation back in the tent, I know Evangeline knows very little—if anything—about why she’s here.
“He never spoke about it. Everything I know came from the contract I had to sign. It mentioned a kingdom at war that would need my help, but it wasn’t specific. I just thought I would be in the background. Like, maybe cooking for the soldiers or something,” she admits.
Next to me, I notice Zephyr clench his jaw, head shaking. I know he’s feeling just as pissed at Ender as I am. Evangeline should have been fully informed of everything before she was allowed to sign the contract. The selfish part of me is glad she’s here because my kingdom needs her, but I regret the circumstances that brought her to me.
“Why am I here? Really?” Evangeline asks after a pause, looking between Zephyr and me as if we hold the secrets to all her questions. Some we do, but mostly we are just as in the dark as she is. Like how the curse chooses its victims or how we can cure it.
But I can tell her what I know. “My kingdom, and by extension, the entirety of Mescos, is at war with creatures known as the Nephilim,” I start.
“The creatures I saw when I first got here.”
I nod, my voice low and firm as I say, “Exactly. They poison our lands with their curses. According to my intel, each kingdom faces a different curse, but the outcome is always the same—destruction, death, decay. The Nephilim want us broken. They feed on pain and suffering, growing stronger with every life lost. Their goal is clear: to strip Mescos of its magic and claim it for themselves.”
I take in Evangeline’s horror. The way she grips the mixing spoon in her hand like a weapon ready to be wielded. To her credit, she doesn’t flinch or shy away from her curiosity. She’s scared—that much is evident—but she’s not giving in to her fear. “They are foul, terrible creatures,” she whispers.
“That they are,” Zephyr agrees. “But you stood your own against one.” There’s no mistaking the undertones of pride in his voice. Evangeline must know it too, because her cheeks redden, and she hides her smile by looking down at her hands.
“You said the Nephilim curse the kingdoms,” Evangeline goes on. “What curse do you face?”
Zephyr meets my gaze. He knows how much of the burden I shoulder. How I equate the curse to my failure as king. “Our food supply is dwindling,” he speaks for me, tearing his gaze away to look back at Evangeline. “They are poisoning our land. Killing it slowly.”
My mother gently reaches out to touch Evangeline’s shoulder. “Do you remember the man from yesterday? The one with the black veins throughout his body?”
Evangeline nods slowly. “He was in so much pain. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“The poisoning doesn’t stop at our food. It poisons the body too. It’s a slow and painful death, not one I would wish upon anyone. In my decades of healing, I’ve never seen anything like it. The worst part about it is there’s no rhyme or reason for those who get sick. Some have eaten poisoned food, but others have not. The curse excludes no one.”
“Is there a cure?”
My mother shakes her head, forlorn. “None we’ve been able to discover. All I can do is make them as comfortable as possible. Sit with them as they take their last breath. Sometimes it takes them within minutes. Other times, it ravages their bodies for weeks.”
A heavy silence falls over us, weighted by the enormity of what lies ahead. The magnitude of it presses down like a storm about to break. Evangeline—whether or not she realizes it—has agreed to shoulder a burden that could shape the fate of us all. Our kingdom teeters on the edge of ruin, caught in a fragile balance between survival and devastation. And now, it rests in the hands of a human woman, the only one who can tip the scales.
