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It was the shortest vision I’d had of Dhalia, but perhaps the most useful. She still guarded the details of her plan, not letting me see into those thoughts, but today she gave me something almost as helpful.
I now knew that her hope for survival hinged on Queen’s Day, the day of the Choosing Ceremony, and that she had to wait for the ambassadors to enact her plan. And King Ulther would make the way open. She had a way home.
With the victory of that realization came the bitter sting of the situation. I thought Dhalia survived by continuing to live here in the fae realm. But that must be wrong. She survived by escaping at the Choosing Ceremony. It was why she had to wait for this specific day. It was why she said she’d miss them. Dhalia didn’t outlive the two years in the fae realm. Somehow, she escaped back into her realm and lived there.
My heart sank. The tales the fae believed were untrue. Dhalia didn’t survive here. She had to leave this realm.
If I wanted to live, I would have to leave too.
Bash mentioned they’d tried that before, and the queen still died. Dhalia must have found a way around that. My knuckles tightened over the canvas until the wooden frame groaned in protest. “This isn’t what I wanted,” I spoke to the night. I begged it for a different solution. “I don’t want to run back home. Let me stay but still live.”
Outside, the first drops of rainfall came, mirroring the night Dhalia made her escape. I took that as my answer. I’d asked for a way, and I had it. If I hoped to live, I couldn’t have a place in this realm.
I bit back tears. Dhalia might have found one way, but I could find another. I could still trap the kings into freeing me. I could find the missing king if that was what it took. I would live.
But if not . . .
My eyes strayed to the watch on my nightstand, sitting next to Antonio. If I didn’t find a way in the next eight months to save both myself and Gaia, then I’d have a backup plan. I stood to take the device in hand, watching the second hand tick by.
At the next Choosing Ceremony, if I didn’t find a way to live by then, I’d use this watch to stop time and escape.
My fingers tightened over the band. Don’t make me use this. Let there be another way.
The rain fell harder, slamming against the balcony. It marked the first rain I’d experienced since arriving here and accomplished drowning out all thoughts in the roar of cascading water. I craned my neck to find the grey clouds gathered over my island. It seemed none of the other islands carried a storm tonight—only mine.
I set the watch down gently, switching to hold Antonio in hand.
I’ll be back, little one.
I’d lost sight of what mattered. This realm had distracted me. Malcom deserved a sister who came back for him, not one who lost herself in the lavish fae realm. Once more, guilt gnawed at me. By now, that guilt had made its home in my heart, and it didn’t plan to leave.
I’d been right. The two sides were tearing me apart.
Malcom needed me. Cal needed me. We were family.
But I wanted to stay.
I set Antonio on the desk and breathed out. This didn’t need to be decided now. I had eight months to find another way to survive. I’d deal with where I planned to live later. Eight months to be at peace with leaving one realm behind.
Eight months until I betrayed half of my heart.
Lord Winster sent a platter of fruits and loaves of honey bread the next morning with a note saying, “From your ally,” as if I’d forgotten he existed. In truth, he’d dwelled in a far corner of my mind, but as I sliced a grapefruit with a knife, I debated how I could repay him for his warm welcome into the fae realm.
Now that I’d been here for a while, his little trick didn’t feel so horrible. But I’d made a promise to get him back for it, and that wouldn’t be forgotten. I had no doubt Talen and Odette would help me scheme something grand, and we’d be laughing about it for months to come.
My pondering paused as a wisp—the first I’d seen unattached to a chariot—sped through the open balcony doors. The translucent ribbon shimmered with gold dust that tangled through my hair and cupped under my chin, pulling my attention outside. There, its chariot waited in the sky a step away from the banisters. The wisp coiled around my arms to nudge me toward it.
It took me a moment to realize I was being summoned.
“Give me a moment,” I said, taking a last large bite of sugary bread. The wisp nudged again. “I’m not even dressed,” I protested. “I’ll be right there.”
Seeming content with that, the wisp waited.
I set the food aside. “Any hints on where you’re taking me so I know how to dress?” I asked. It didn’t answer. “If I show up in the wrong attire, it’ll be your neck.”
The wisp understood and darted into my closet, winding through the clothes until settling over a blue silky gown with capped sleeves.
“Simple, yet comfortable,” I said, taking it from the rack. “Good choice.” I tied it on and slid two rings through my nostril, adding a few copper rings for my toes that peeked out from golden sandals. I pulled my hair back with a band.
