Page 205 of The Crown’s Temptation

Intentionally. The ink had been applied with pressure, thick and certain, drawn back and forth until whatever had been written beneath it was gone. He held the page closer, but could not make out a single letter of the original line.

Below it, in handwriting that was cramped, someone had written a new line.

Beware the crown you bear.

He stared at it, then read it again.

He looked at the illustration beside the rhyme. The small hare mid-hop, ears back. He looked at the crossed out line and the words buried beneath it that he would never recover. He looked at the new line and the handwriting that belonged to someone who had opened this book and made a decision about what it should say.

He looked at Fiorakis.

She had her fist in her mouth and was looking at the ceiling with the focused intensity she brought to most things.

She was not going to remember tonight.

He closed the book slowly.

He sat in the chair with it in his lap and the room quiet around him and the twins settling. Then he opened the book again to a different page and began to read aloud, his voice low and even, and he did not look at the back of the book again.

The Red Dress

DALI

The dress was red.

Maridale would have chosen something quieter. Maridale always chose something quieter. But Maridale was not here and Dali had been waiting long enough to wear red.

She stood in front of the mirror and thought about the amulet.

It was close. She could feel it. She had been patient for a very long time.

Tamal believed the amulet would make them whole. One person. Permanent. No more splitting, no more surfacing and submerging and losing hours to the other one. She could see the conviction in his face every time the subject arose.

She had never corrected him.

What she did wonder, occasionally, was whether he was simply stupid enough to believe that if the amulet made them one person it would be Maridale who survived. She was the stronger one. Anyone paying attention could see that. Maridale faded. Maridale tired. Maridale let people in.

Dali did not do any of those things.

But then again, Tamal was not stupid. Which meant either he had not thought it through or he knew something she did not.

She did not like that second possibility.

Maridale stirred somewhere below. Dali ignored it.

She adjusted the neckline of the dress and looked at herself in the mirror and thought about Yorali. About what she was owed. About the years she had spent in this divided body in this dark place waiting.

She frowned in the mirror. The dress would look better with more jewels. Sarenal was known for its jewels and treasure. She was finding Morrath rather unimpressive.

She sighed. Revenge first, then home.

She smiled at her reflection and walked out of the room.

CHAPTER 46

Be Careful

The tunnel had barely disappeared behind me when it hit.