She was about to ask himwhy, then. But something stopped her.
The hum flared up, bright and stark. The bond she shared with her sister reverberated through her.
Essie’s white-hot fear flooded Roa as she looked to the terrace.
The sun was gone. The moon was rising.
I still have time....
And then: pain burst inside her, like a sword slicing through her shoulder. Like a fire blazing down her arm.
Essie’s pain.
Roa screamed with it. Startled, Dax came toward her. Roa staggered back, away from him, and tripped over the hem of her dress. She plummeted hard to the stone floor, cracking her elbows. But the pain of it was nothing compared to that of her sister’s.
It split Roa in two.
She heard Dax’s guards call out. Heard them burst into the room, their frantic footsteps thundering across the floor. Heard Dax’s voice murmuring. But just like Essie, they seemed a world away.
Essie. Something’s happened to her.
What had Rebekah done?
Roa tried to rise and fell again.
This time, instead of cold stone against her cheek, two strong arms caught her. A voice spoke her name. The sound of it brought Roa back.
As Dax’s concerned face came into view, she realized she was sobbing.
“What is it?” Dax peered down at her, eyes wide with fear, the crease between his eyebrows deeper than ever. “Are you hurt?”
Not me,she thought.My sister.
“Please, Dax. Open the gate.”
Thirty
The next morning, Dax told Safire to open the gates. Safire advised against this. Dax insisted. So Safire refused.
What followed was an argument that spanned nearly three halls of the palace and took up the entire morning.
Finally, at midday, Safire gave in and reluctantly ordered the palace gate opened for the queen. Roa and her guards rode straight to the guesthouse where Theo was staying—a trip that took twice as long as usual. Due to the crowds gathering for the Relinquishing, the main streets of Firgaard were packed from wall to wall. And when Roa got to the guesthouse, she found no trace of Theo.
Her shoulder still burned like fire, and the ache of it drove her on. She needed to find out what happened to her sister. Desperate to get to Essie, she climbed back into Poppy’s saddle and set out for the only other place he could be. This, too, took far longer than it should have. At one point, Roa screamed at the teeming crowd of visitors to get out of her way—to no avail. There was nowhere to move.
Safire could have made them, Roa was sure. But Safire was back at the palace, overseeing security measures.
Finally, they arrived at Baron Silva’s stronghold. Roa left her guards in the courtyard and ran inside.
Two servants led Roa to a room on the second floor. When she knocked on the door, Theo opened it. Dark hollows were carved beneath his eyes and he clutched a brass box in his arms.
He stepped back, letting her in. Two house guards stepped in after her, shutting the door and taking up position against the wall beside it.
“What’s happened?” She pushed her sandskarf back from her head. “Where’s Essie?”
Theo swallowed, his arms tightening around the brass box.
Roa looked to the thing he was holding.
