Page 57

“Hence the painting,” I said, more to myself than out loud.

“Hence the painting,” Adrian repeated.

The air felt heavy in my lungs. “If I was from Two, what was I doing on One when the Decodons attacked?”

“You lived here. Both Leo’s parents and yours suggested a marriage between the two of you with the dream of making travel between worlds accessible for all. Uniting One and Two would’ve been a trial run to see if the worlds could thrive with mankind integrated, existing between both worlds freely. The Nine were approving of it, too. Earth One and Two are extremely compatible, both sharing a similar magic system.”

“I was to be in an arranged marriage as a test?”

“Kind of, but betrothed is a loose term. Your parents are, and Leo’s parents were, good people. They would’ve never forced the marriage if it wasn’t something you both wanted. You would have simply acted as an emissary instead, and connected our worlds that way. But as it stands, the existence of the worlds outside of the royal families remains a secret. To the Esmereldean people, you are known as a descendant from a royal line here on One—well, were known. Now the people believe you to be dead.”

I didn’t miss the way Adrian had said my parents are good people. Meaning I had a set of parents living their life somewhere across the universe, unaware I was alive and well.

“And was it something I’d wanted?” I studied Adrian’s face. “To be married . . . to Leo?”

He looked gutted. “That’s not a question for me to answer.”

No, it would be a question for my betrothed to answer. Among other things.

I didn’t notice Adrian had left my side until he was back, shoving a cup of tea into my hands.

The morning sun was starting to cross the horizon in the distance. The only sign that time was still moving and hadn’t halted.

I nodded my thanks, focusing on his brown eyes; clearer than when he’d found me in Leo’s bedroom. “And who was I to you . . . all those years ago?”

Adrian looked at me, really looked at me, his usual bravado gone. “My best friend.” He set down his own cup of tea, sitting back on the bench beside me. “I’m livid with Leo for what he did. Not because he saved you, but because he’s going to get the two of you killed.” He leaned over his knees, wringing his hands. “Well, the three of us killed, because there’s no way I’m letting you guys take on The Nine without me.”

I smiled, despite the heaviness of the situation. “And here I thought you hated me.”

He laughed, easing some of the tension. “I’m still deciding what I think of this version of you,” he teased. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

I followed him to one of the glass walls overlooking a different field I hadn’t seen yet. This one, a labyrinth of lavender with deep-purple blooms.

“I come here to find peace,” Adrian whispered, resting his hand on the glass. “I hope you can find peace here, too. Should you ever need it.”

My chest tightened, mixed emotions clashing against each other, breaking against my sternum.

Above the blooms, a shift in the sky caught my attention, a slight distortion in the clouds.

The invisible jet.

“Try to hear him out,” Adrian said quietly. “Betrothed or not, you two loved each other.”

I stared at the map with nine spheres connected by the portal line, my back to Leo and Adrian.

It had been ten minutes, ten minutes filled with silence, since we decided to gather in the candlelit meeting room to talk. The sun rising like normal outside, as if this were just another day. As if my entire life hadn’t completely changed.

A banner hung to the side of the map, a detail I’d missed the first time I’d been in here. The material’s dark black offset by a silver coat of arms, bearing a shield with a beast of some sort dancing at its center, surrounded by a sea of stars. In tenebris saepta was threaded in silver ribbon across the top. Malesa bolded across the bottom.

Leo Malesa. The king’s first and last name.

Did he have a middle name, too? Or was that only a custom of Six?

I sighed, facing Leo and Adrian, crossing my arms over my chest.

Leo took his cue to start, opening his mouth, then shutting it, like a fish out of water.

Adrian nodded to him as encouragement from where he leaned against the wall.