On my way to bring the mirror up to Krait’s study, a smoky iridescent glaze fogged the glass as though trying to catch my attention.
I halted in front of King Emmerick Mattock’s sleeping quarters. I passed his chambers often as they were on the way to Krait’s study, but I’d never gone inside. Before he was cursed to sleep, we’d only been acquaintances.
When we’d discovered Caym could still control him, we’d put Emmerick under the Sethe curse to protect the realms. If not awakened within twenty-five years of the curse being cast, he would eternally sleep. Three years had already passed.
The pane’s fog swirled as it grew thicker.
When I took a step toward the door, the movement intensified.Peculiar.
Another step.
The iridescent twirl grew even faster.
Each step nearer to the room caused a greater reaction.
Humming in contemplation, I slipped into Emmerick’s bedchamber. A shelf lined with carved wooden figurines topped the fireplace mantel, and burgundy curtains had been drawn open.
Krait would kill me for not fetching him first, but if I did not act now, then whatever was occurring in the glass might not happen again.
The swirling smoke calmed when my feet were inches from the sleeping North Corridor King’s bedside.
“Curious,” I mused.
Through the fog in the pane, I could make out his features in the glass.
“Emmerick?” I called to him, and his face grew clearer. Fine lines formed between his black brows, and his lips turned down, framed by dark stubble. Finally, his warm golden-brown eyes popped open. I glanced at his sleeping form—he did not stir there.
Very curious.
“Can you hear me, puppy?”
While monitoring him in Helos for Sybilla and Krait, I’d gifted him the pet name—it irked him greatly. He’d been an envoy of Caym’s—a puppet for the Death Origin’s treachery.
An endearing expression of flustered confusion crossed Emmerick’s features. His light brown cheeks flushed a delightful shade of mauve, and he squinted against the waning sunlight leaking into the room.
I smiled into the mirror. “Puppy… I see you. Can you see me?”
He nodded and gasped, “Yes.” The width of his grin matched mine. “I see you.”
My heart skipped a few beats, enamored with the thrill of my discovery. Despite the Sethe curse, I’d found a way to make a sleep-cursed King smile.
Chapter 3
Emmerick
The ocean breeze passed through me. I stood before a windowsill, high above the sea, in a room covered in beige tile. Strung seashells hung as curtains, drawn open to allow the salt-soaked air in.
The South Tower.
I recognized it, though I’d only been here twice in my waking life.
The scene blurred at the edges—a memory.
This one was always terrible to witness.
Amara Odili, my birth mother, faced away from a figure clad in black-and-gold armor. Corric Mattock.
When she glanced over her shoulder, the usual brightness in her golden eyes, which matched the hue of mine, dimmed.
