Page 68 of Cursebreaker

Beside me, Titus’s fist clenches.

“Rise,” she says. “Let me look at you.”

There’s something about her smile that seems forced as she sweeps down from the dais to greet Gabriel. And there—a flicker of panic in her eyes as her gaze darts to Titus and me.

It’s the armor, I think. The Bloodknights must be a nuisance here at the palace, and despite whatever deal Leo’s parents might have struck with Morana’s regime, the queen seems far from pleased with Calantha’s soldiers. Still, she glides gracefully toward Gabriel, her head held high. “Oh, our Leonora just adored you. Please,” she insists, “you must let me give you a tour of the palace.”

“My dear,” the king says, his voice taut, “surely you don’t mean to leave your party?”

Her shoulders tense as she turns to him, and when their eyes meet, it’s as if a thousand unspoken words pass between them. His lip twitches, the ghost of a frown, and his gaze drinks her in as if memorizing her. As if saying goodbye.

Two Bloodknights step forward to escort the queen, but the king raises his hand. “Sir Bellamy’s soldiers can accompany them. Besides,” he says, swirling a goblet, a rueful grin playing on his lips, as sharp as a blade, “if you go, who will supervise me?”

Supervise. The Bloodknights exchange a look, hesitating before stepping back behind the king’s throne.

The queen doesn’t waste time, beckoning us to follow. Her pace increases as she leads us from the ballroom, down long hallways and up winding staircases, the muscles in her shoulders coiled with tension.

We say nothing as we follow, but I think I hear Titus’s heart beating faster and faster until—

“In here,” Queen Sade says with false brightness, opening a door and ushering us inside.

We enter a sizable bedroom, and Sade quickly closes the door behind us, sealing us in the pitch-blackness.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Sade says, her steady voice breaking as she pulls Titus into her arms, weeping softly on his shoulder.

Titus returns the embrace. “I wasn’t sure you’d know it was me.”

She draws back, placing a hand on the side of his helmet, her palm resting over his metal cheek. “I could smell you from a mile away.”

It’s too dark, but I see the hint of Titus’s smile lighting his eyes. Once, Leonora told me that her mother was a windwalker with a particular talent for recognizing people based on their unique scent. “Everyone has one,” she said. “And my mother never forgets a smell.”

The memory feels like a mockery now that I know this was Morana, stealing not just Leo’s body but her mind as well.

“Is this her?” the queen asks, turning to me. I don’t know what I expect, but Sade pulls me into a hug. “We know it wasn’t your fault what happened to our girl.”

I’m too stunned to move—to speak.

“They brought her back to us,” Sade says, speaking quickly now as she steps back to face Titus once more. “As a warning. If we didn’t fall in line—if we didn’t obey—they threatened to feed her body to Morana’s hounds—to the Deimos.”

I barely have a moment to process what’s just happened—what the queen has said—before she flips a switch. The electric chandelier buzzes to life, revealing a room adorned in shades of petal pink and dusky lavender. A room fit for a princess.

And there, lying atop the bed in a casket made of glass, is Leo.

I wonder if I smell like fear.

I don’t get close enough to see her. I don’t want to. But Leo has been dead for weeks, and even from where I stand, I can tell her body shows no signs of decomposing. No. She looks serene, as if she had just dozed off. As if any moment she might wake up and her laughter will fill the room and the ache behind my ribs will stop hurting.

I don’t know what Morana has done to preserve her body this way, but a rotten stench hangs in the air—sharp and putrid. Cursed magic.

Rage bubbles up inside me, boiling my blood. Leo didn’t deserve to die the way she did. She definitely doesn’t deserve to be kept on display like this—as a warning, a threat. She deserves to be put to rest. She deserves peace.

Titus lurches toward the casket. Sways.

Gabriel’s hand touches his elbow, steadying him.

“You must leave.” Queen Sade stands up straighter, and though her voice shakes, she looks more determined than she did before. “Take her body with you.”

Titus staggers backward a step, as if she’s struck him. “We can’t.” His voice cracks, his chest heaving.