“Why?” I ask, dismounting and stepping closer to the tower.
“Because we’re friends. I want you to be happy and—”
“No, not ‘why did you bring me?’ Why is it in such bad shape?”
She shrugs, peering up at it as if it’s just another pile of rock. “It hasn’t been tended to in generations. Most have forgotten it stands.”
“Why let something so important fall to ruin?”
I gaze up at the Tower, the faint outline of windows just visible against the orange wisps of fading light. As I approach, it swallows me in a cocoon of cool shadow and the scents of moss, damp stone, and earth after the rain. I trace my hand along its cracks and pits, the faultsrough beneath my fingertips. A spark of electricity bites me, and I snatch my hand back.
“It is only important if you’re to believe the legend—that it was once a beacon of knowledge and power and magick. Even if you were to truly believe such folly, any magicks it had are now long gone, banished and forgotten with the rest.”
Marion tilts her chin, her gaze following me. “Hannah,” she starts, her voice soft and cautious, “I’ve been meaning to ask you about your bag of things—”
“Can we go inside?” I ask, not ready to talk about the secrets I’ve been keeping and the purse I hid behind a bale of hay when the stable hands weren’t looking.
“Inside?” She shakes her head, her curls brushing against her cheeks. “There’s no going inside. That was all part of the legend, in which people could enter the Tower in one kingdom and pass through one of its doors into another kingdom or realm entirely. Such a silly, fanciful story.” She clucks.
“Yeah, silly,” I repeat, feeling a connection to the legend I know is more fact than fiction. There’s a sense of familiarity here I can’t quite place. Like falling asleep on a long car ride and waking up, recognizing the moment the car turns into the driveway.
The breeze rustles through the grove of trees, carrying the soft whispers of leaves and the distant call of a bird as our horses graze.
Here, in this forgotten place, I feel so close to being found.
Marion’s voice pulls me from my trance. “Back to your items—”
“Do you and Highgate have an open relationship?”I blurt out, needing to shift the conversation away from myself, away from the things I don’t want to face and the possibility that I did not land in this kingdom by mistake.
“Open?” She tilts her head, her brow furrowing.
“You’ve mentioned having lovers. Does your husband…do the same?” I bite my bottom lip, nerves twisting my stomach into knots. I wanted a distraction, but this is not the one I should have chosen.
“Absolutely not,” Marion says, emphatically swatting the air with both hands. “I could not abide him bedding another person. He is well aware of mymoonlighting, shall we say, but only if I recount the experience in explicit detail afterward.”
“Oh…”
“‘Oh’?”
“Yeah.” I grimace. “Oh.”
“Oh? Honestly, Hannah, you have me sounding like one of those talking birds. Out with it.”
I tuck loose strands of hair behind my ears and fidget with the collar of my dress. “I don’t think he’s exactly following the rules you two put in place.”
“What do you mean?”
I stumble over my response, the words coming out in a rush. “He hit on me, sniffed my hair, told me he wanted me to punish him and that he revels in my disdain. At one point, I didn’t think I was going to get back inside without him following me. I ended up pepper—”
“Did you offer yourself to my husband?” Marion bites out.
“What? No!Hewantedmeto…to…” I stammer, trying to find the words. “Well, I’m not exactly sure, but—”
“I thought you were my friend.”
“Iamyour friend,” I say, confusion squeezing my lungs. “That’s why I’m telling you—”
“With how easily Ashwood fell for Ivy, gods know I could have had him in my bed, but I wouldn’t dare.”
