“It’s my fault,” I managed weakly, tiredly. “I’m sorry.” I could barely form the apology amid the all-consuming exhaustion.
Evander’s hand closed around mine, his grip unyielding. “Don’t fall asleep. Don’t leave me.” But no matter how tightly he held me, sleep’s lure was stronger, gradually claiming me.
“I didn’t mean—” The words broke apart as the folds of sleep thickened around me, the edges of the world blurring, slippingaway. There was something terribly important I needed to share with him, but my mouth struggled to form words as the curse pulled at me ever more strongly.
“I am the way back.” I forced the words out. “My power…it will open the door, and you will be able to go through to wake everyone up.”
He stared at me in confusion. “Whatever door there is, we will go through together to break this curse.”
I weakly shook my head. “Only…one. Promise me you’ll do whatever it takes to save your kingdom…even if it means sacrificing me.”
He shook his head. “No. Mirelle?—”
“Promise me,” I said again, my voice breaking despite my efforts to steady it. “If it comes to it—if we can’t find another way?—”
His hand shook within mine, tighter now in is growing desperation. “I can’t.”
“You have to. You have to choose the kingdom.”
The words hurt more than anything I had ever spoken, more than anything I had ever stolen.
His silence stretched before slowly his grip tightened, his hold as painful as the agony wrenching his expression. “I promise.”
As my vision darkened, I dimly saw him wrenching the crown from my hand and dashing it against the floor, breaking off a large shard.
The memory shattered.
The present slammed back into place as the crown slipped from my hands, striking the floor with a dull, echoing sound. The room spun and my knees hit the ground before I realized I was falling, my breath coming in sharp, uneven bursts as the weight of my horrifying realization settled over me all at once.
My hand trembled slightly as I pressed it against the floor, steadying myself. “I did this,” I whispered. The words felt distant, unreal, and yet undeniable.
The silence of the castle pressed in again, but now it was different, a consequence of my reckless curiosity that had brought devastation to an entire kingdom. “I’m the one who caused the cursed sleep to descend across the entire kingdom…and take Evander from me.”
For a long moment I couldn’t move, trapped in the prison created by my remorse. Then gradually, beneath the grief, clarity rose like the dawn penetrating the darkest night. My gaze lifted slowly, fixing on the crown where it lay just beyond my reach. I pushed myself to my feet, bending to pick up the crown and its shattered piece, my mind whirling with an idea.
If the curse was bound to me, then it could be undone by me…not by trapping me as I’d initially believed. I would find another way. I was tired of living in memories stolen from others—I would create my own story, beginning with finding a way to wake not only Evander, but the rest of the slumbering kingdom.
CHAPTER 22
Ilistened intently to my powers as they swept through the castle, searching for the one I felt with unshakable certainty was asleep somewhere within it. They sought a possession worth stealing, and never had there been a greater quarry than the possessor of my heart.
I followed the enchanted thread through the silent corridors, past doors I did not pause to open, through spaces that no longer tempted me with their secrets. Nothing mattered to me now but him.
At last, I found myself standing before a set of doors at the far end of the hall I did not remember ever seeing before. They loomed over me like foreboding sentinels, their surface carved with patterns of intertwined thorns and roses that seemed almost to shift beneath the flickering candlelight, similar to the mural room.
For the first time since I had awakened, uncertainty brushed against the edges of my resolve. Not enough to stop me, but enough to make me feel the weight of what lay beyond. If he wasn’t there—I hastily pushed the sobering thought aside and pressed my hand against the door. It opened without resistance.
The room beyond was vast, though its scale felt muted beneath the heavy stillness that filled it. Tall windows lined the far wall, their curtains half-drawn, allowing thin strands of light to spill across the stone floor in pale, fractured patterns. Dust hung in the air, catching the light in slow, drifting currents, undisturbed by anything but my own movement.
And at the center of it…my breath caught.Him, my beloved Evander.
For a moment, I couldn’t move. The world narrowed to that single point, every thought falling away as my gaze fixed on the figure lying upon the raised dais at the heart of the room. He looked unchanged—exactly as I had last seen him when he pushed me through the portal…and yet entirely different for the unnatural stillness that now claimed him, for the absence of the quiet awareness that had always lived beneath his gaze.
“Evander…” The soft name slipped from me instinctively, as though speaking it might bridge the distance between us.
He didn’t stir. The silence shrouding the chamber remained complete, as though the room itself had fallen under the same enchanted sleep.
I forced myself forward, each step measured and careful, though I couldn’t have said what I feared might break if I moved too quickly. The space between us stretched longer than it should have been, drawn taut by something unseen, until at last I reached the dais and stood at its edge.
