As I pulled the bodice of my silken gown on, the morning sun reared through the window and snagged on Theodore’s crown where it sat upon the mantel. I drew nearer and reached for it, the finely polished gold scraping over the mantel’s stone as I took it into my hands. His crown was rather exquisite, but it was easy to miss with how the laurel leaves got lost to his tangle of dark hair.I turned it this way and that, marveling at the craftsmanship. The texture of the veins in the leaves, the ropey detail of the vines. I’d never noticed them before—nor had I seen the words inscribed upon its largest leaves. One word on each. The letters were so small and polished down that I had to squint and bring it to the window to see them clearly.
Power sundered is power lost.
I thought of our severed bond. I thought of Rohana advising me tokeep him.
A knock sounded at the door. “Agatha?” Lachlan called.
She let him in, and he stopped just inside. He wore his full armor, and his gaze fell instantly to Theodore’s crown in my hands. I was dressed, but my hair was still wild, and the state of the bed and furs before the hearth confessed the previous night’s transgressions. It didn’t take long for realization to dawn on his face.
I shut my eyes for a moment. “I know—”
He shook his head. Raised his hand to quiet me. “He’s better with you.” Lachlan glanced to Agatha with a warm look in his eye, then back to me. A teasing half smile quirked his mouth. “Which means that while you’re not the wisest choice for him, you’re certainly the best.”
The urge to go throw my arms around him was overwhelming, in small part because I knew it would vex him, but I resisted and gave a grateful nod. “Will you help me, then?”
“Yes.” He adjusted his sword belt, checked the weapons tucked into it, his face serious once again. “But for the love of the fucking Gods, I beg you to be less troublesome this time.”
Agatha and Lachlan waited in the hall as I finished readying myself. I tucked my narrow dagger into my bodice. In the light of day, the plan to perform the spell and severance had fully faded, like a shadow vanquished by the sun. If the severing draughts weretruly gone, and if Theo and I were parted when I finally found Eusia, I expected the dagger was what I would need.
I tried to make peace with the thought of slipping it through my own chest, but shivered and pushed it away. Courage would come.
My own brutal-looking crown sat beside the bed, and though I hated the thing, I wouldn’t leave it, or Theodore’s, behind. I washed my face and ran my comb through my hair, pulling most of it into a loose twist atop my head. I tucked Theodore’s smaller crown atop my head first, pinning loose strands around it so it was well hidden. Then I set Nemea’s larger crown over the twists and curls. It would have to do.
Before I started for the door, something glinted on the mantel, right beside where Theodore’s crown had sat. My rings. I’d given him the spinel to hold when I’d relinquished the golden chain to the Dellen Mage Seer. I’d asked him to keep the golden stone safe for me too.
For a moment, I wondered if Theodore had left his crown behind on purpose. I slipped the rings on—Theodore’s on my left hand and the spinel on my right—before I left the frigid chamber.
The hall beyond was even colder still. I walked with Agatha and Lachlan, my guards trailing, until we reached a fork in the hall. My retinue went right, toward the hall that would take us to the heart of the fort, but I went toward the gloomy mouth of the hall to the left.
The same guard whom I’d spoken to earlier stepped toward me, beseechingly. “Your Majesty? Breakfast is served in the throne room, is what we were told.”
I stared into the darkness. “I find that I’m not hungry,” I said absently. “I think my friends and I would like to explore Vuoria instead.”
Her boots shuffled uncomfortably over the stones. “Not alone, Your Majesty. We were told you were to never be alone.”
Lachlan looked affronted. “She’s not goingalone,sailor. I’m the commander of the king’s guard.” He pointed to Agatha. “And that’s the most daunting woman in all of Leucosia. No one will stand a chance.”
I reached out my hand, my eye on the key that hung from her belt. The one to my chamber. “I’ll take that, please.” I looked to the five other sailors behind her. “You all guard here. We’ll return shortly.”
They looked uneasy forming a tight line at the hall’s entrance, but Lachlan, Agatha, and I started into the darkness. The temperature managed to drop further as we strode in deeper; the touch of cobwebs whispered against my cheeks. I stopped at the first door and jiggled the knob. It didn’t budge.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you…” Agatha leaned in to whisper, “I’ve been practicing the spell.”
I nearly fumbled the key in my hand. “What?” I shot a bewildered glance at a downtrodden Lachlan.
“Much to my chagrin, she’s a natural,” he said. “Killed two mice.”
“Stop, Agatha.” I forced the key into the hole in the door. “No more. You’re still healing.”
She crossed her arms. “I can’t wield a weapon. I am not a particularly powerful Siren. I refused to come here without some way to protect myself. Now I have one.”
I nodded begrudgingly. I couldn’t scold her too fiercely for wanting to feel safe. Especially here. With great force, I turned the key. The latch gave a loudclunkand the door swung open.
Lachlan’s brows dove. “That’s the key to your chamber?”
I nodded. “I had an inkling.” The tiny, dust-laden room beyond held only piles of old wooden furniture, capped in white sunlight.
Agatha and Lachlan followed me to the next door. “I don’tunderstand,” Agatha said. “Are we looking for Eusia? This seems an odd place for her to be, so high up in the mountains.”
