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She panted, letting her head rest against the floor of the cave. Each breath hurt but she had to keep moving. Had to finish the trials. She had no idea how much time had passed since she had left home but they were sure to have noticed her absence by now. She thought back to Marcellus, the echoes of their fight ringing in her mind.

If you die, I have nothing left to live for.

Something soft pressed against her hand.

Thicket’s eyes flew open, expecting to see the otter. Instead, a fox was crouched beside her. Across the small chamber, a second fox crept from one of the surrounding tunnels. She sat up. The foxes inched back.

“It’s okay,” she said, reaching her hand out.

The fox closest to her slunk closer. Its cherry pink petals were starting to droop. Some even trickled off, scattering across the ground as though it was preparing to make its transition from spring to summer.

The fox nuzzled her hand, arching its back. She smiled, scratching its ear. More petals came off, some sticking to her drenched clothes. The second fox approached, sniffing her curiously.

“Do you know which tunnel I should choose?” she asked them.

In a flash, the foxes lunged for her. She recoiled but it was too late. They each snatched an object from the belt at her waist. The sword Marcellus had given her—and the queen’s crown.

She hadn’t even known she had been carrying it.

“Wait!” Thicket lunged after the foxes but they darted away, each taking a separate tunnel.

Her head whipped between them. She couldn’t follow them both, but she couldn’t part with either of them.

Her mind and heart were torn. But the longer she sat here waiting, the higher the chance she wouldn’t be able to retrieve either.

The crown was a piece of her kingdom’s history, a pledge to them that she was willing to carry the weight of responsibility.

She should go after it. Should put her kingdom before herself.

But she couldn’t ignore the twinge of heartbreak that came from parting with the sword.

What does happiness look like to you?

Thicket wanted to be a good ruler. Wanted to do her best to make up for all her people had lost. But Thicket couldn’t give up on the possibility for her own happily ever after.

Crowns could be reforged. The feelings imbued into the ring Elian had carried with him for a century and the sword Marcellus had selected for her, couldn’t. She couldn’t give up on it yet. Not when she still needed to face them—and herself.

She darted into the left tunnel.

The fox’s trilling laughter bounced off the walls. Thicket ground her teeth through the pain, propelling her feet faster. The fox veered down another tunnel and vanished into the open maw of a cave. Thicket barreled in after it then skidded to a stop. She shrank back a step. A fox stood in the center of the room. It was significantly larger, about the size of Bayo, with a pair of wings tucked by its side. Wings that looked surprisingly similar to the Record Keeper’s. Like the Seeker of Souls, it had a powerful, ancient air to it.

It must have been one of the Numyna.

A second fox, the one who had stolen her belongings, darted out from behind the Numyna. It threw one last look at her over its shoulder. Thicket swore the fox grinned before vanishing into one of the darkened crevices at the cave’s edge.

“That fox,” she said, fighting to steady her breathing. “It stole something of mine.”

The Numyna’s canines flashed. “I am the Tricker of Thoughts and this will be your last test. If you wish to retrieve your object and make it to the others, you must first answer a riddle. If you fail, I will keep you both here with me forever.” It licked its lips. “I can already tell your soul will be delicious.”

A shiver curled down her spine all the way to her toes.

“Are you ready, are you listening, for I will only say it once.

“Everyone is born with me,

And many die with me.

But some manage to escape.