Corin and Elly exchanged confused glances. They had only jumped through the portal this morning. Or had it been evening? When Corin found Elly in the snow, had Elly been waiting for her, or was it the other way around? Corin lowered her head in her hands and strained to remember the time, but it hung like a broken string, one that she didn’t remember snapping apart in the first place.
“Don’t bother trying to count back. You’ll only give yourself a headache,” Malicine said. “Now, how did someone like you enter the princess’s dreams?”
Corin squeezed her eyes shut and returned to the beginning, recalling winding tunnels, stagnant air, and rotting soil. She remembered screaming, but what had she seen? The memories were too much of a blur. Elly answered for her.
“I was traveling through the tunnels below Gyldan. There were bodies. Too many bodies left behind.”
Yes, that was it. Elly had been the first to make it to the buried castle. Then Corin followed her, barely escaping from . . .
“There were three women,” Corin recalled. “They looked human, but they possessed magic. They were talking about opening a portal, and—”
Malicine slammed their palm on the table. Plates rattled from the sudden movement, a crack shooting along the table’s iced surface like a long vein.
“You talked to three faeries?” Their tone was sharp, accusatory. “What were their names?”
“I didn’t interact with them, only heard them talking to eachother. There was a man with them. They called him Ezran—”
Malicine stamped the end of their staff to the ground. The table shattered as platters of food melted away. Cold water struck Corin’s skin, forcing her to jump from her seat. The windows burst wide open and let in a blast of wind.
“Where did they open the portal?” Malicine demanded.
“All I remember was a hole filled with light. The portal closed after I crossed—”
“Where?”
“How am I supposed to know?” Corin snapped. “You changed the terrain.”
Malicine crossed over to the balcony that overlooked snow-covered valleys. A blizzard rolled across the white land, rumbling beneath their anger. Black wings sprouted from their back as they leapt over the ledge and soared through the air. Their raven followed like a shadow. Snow dispersed from their path, and the blizzard masked their silhouettes, so that they were hidden from the rest of the world.
Corin rushed over to the windows and shut the doors. She spun around to Elly. “I have no idea what is happening, but we need to get out of here.”
Elly approached the glass pane. She didn’t turn away, even as ice pellets struck the window. “It’s just like the story said,” she murmured. “The demon who cursed the princess. The prince searching for his true love to wake her up. It’s still happening, Corin.”
“And it’s none of our business. We need to get back to Gyldan before we’re trapped here.”
She snatched Elly’s wrist and dragged her to the staircase. If they escaped while Malicine was distracted, they could hide until it was safe to return through the portal. She didn’t know how they wouldfind it, but if Elly was by her side, at least they would be together.
“I want to stay,” Elly protested.
“I don’t care. We’re leaving.”
Elly wrenched her hand out of Corin’s grip. Their shoes slicked against the ice floor, nearly making them both fall. Corin grabbed the handrail of the staircase. The touch sent a freezing shock to her bones. The room turned unbearably cold, the warmth of her sister’s hand fading away.
“I’m not going back,” Elly said.
“This place isn’t real, El! It’s some girl’s imagination fueled by demon magic!”
Corin gestured to the flowers carved underneath the ice, the white gemstones across the banister that glistened like teardrops, the cyan leaves and dewy fruits that promised a false life they could never have.
“If something’s too good to be true, it isn’t. It just means something worse is around the corner, waiting to catch us off guard.”
Elly stared for a long moment. Her eyes, once the color of summer soil, darkened to coal. “Why do you always do this?”
“Do what?” Corin snapped.
“Anytime something good happens, you find the bad in it.”
“I’m being realistic, El. It’s the only reason we’ve survived this long.”
