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“Tella, what are you getting dressed up so quickly for?”
She jumped, heart leaping into her throat at the sight of her mother stepping into her room. But it was only Scarlett. Save for the silver streak in Scarlett’s dark brown hair, she looked almost exactly like their mother, Paloma. Same tallish height, same large hazel eyes, and same olive skin, just a tiny shade darker than Tella’s.
Tella glanced over Scarlett’s shoulder into the next room. Sure enough, their mother was still trapped in an enchanted slumber, still as a doll atop the sun-bleached quilt of their dull brass bed.
Paloma didn’t move. She didn’t speak. She didn’t open her eyes. She was less ashen than when she’d arrived. Her skin now had a glow, but her lips remained a disturbing shade of fairy-tale red.
Every day Tella spent at least an hour watching her carefully, hoping for a flutter of her eyelashes, or a movement that involved more than just her chest rising up and down as she breathed. Of course, as soon as Paloma woke, Jacks—the Fated Prince of Hearts—had warned that the rest of the immortal Fates, whom Legend had freed from a Deck of Destiny, would wake as well.
There were thirty-two Fates. Eight Fated places, eight Fated objects, and sixteen Fated immortals. Like most of the Meridian Empire, Tella had once believed the ancient beings were just myths, but as she had learned in her dealings with Jacks, they were more like wicked gods. And sometimes she selfishly didn’t care if they woke up as long as her mother woke up as well.
Paloma had been trapped in the cards with the Fates for seven years, and Tella hadn’t fought so hard to free her just to watch her sleep.
“Tella, are you all right?” Scarlett asked. “And what are you all dressed up for?” she repeated.
“This was just the first gown I grabbed.”
It also happened to be her newest one. She’d seen it in a shop window down the street and spent practically her entire weekly allowance. The dress was her favorite shade of periwinkle, with a heart-shaped neckline, a wide yellow sash, and a calf-length skirt made of hundreds of feathers. And maybe the feathers reminded Tella of a dream carousel Legend had created for her two months ago. But she told herself she’d bought the dress because it made her look as if she’d floated down from the clouds.
Tella gave Scarlett her most innocent smile. “I’m just going out to the Sun Festival for a bit.”
Scarlett’s mouth wrinkled, as if she wasn’t quite sure how to respond, but she was clearly distressed. Her enchanted gown had turned a wretched shade of purple—Scarlett’s least favorite color—and the dated style was even older than most of the furniture in their cramped suite. But, to her credit, Scarlett’s voice was kind as she said, “Today is your day to watch Paloma.”
“I’ll be back before you need to leave,” Tella said. “I know how important this afternoon is for you. But I need to go out.”
Tella wanted to leave it at that. Scarlett didn’t understand Tella’s relationship with Legend, which was admittedly complicated. Sometimes Legend felt like her enemy, sometimes he felt like her friend, sometimes he felt like someone she used to love, and every once in a while, he felt like someone she still loved. But to Scarlett, Legend was a game master, a liar, and a young man who played with people the way gamblers played with cards. Scarlett didn’t know that Legend visited Tella in dreams every night, she only knew that he showed up sometimes. And she believed that the version of him Tella kept meeting was not the genuine Legend because he only visited in dreams.
Tella didn’t believe Legend was still acting with her. But she knew there were things he wasn’t telling her. Although Legend did ask the same question each night, that question had started to feel like just an excuse to come and see her—a distraction to hide the real reason he only appeared in her dreams. Unfortunately, Tella still wasn’t sure if he visited because he truly cared for her, or because he was playing yet another game with her.
Scarlett would be upset to learn that he’d been showing up in her dreams every night. But Tella owed her sister the truth. Scarlett had been waiting weeks for this day; she needed to know why Tella was suddenly running out.
“I have to go to the palace,” Tella said in a rush. “I think something has happened to Legend.”
Scarlett’s dress turned an even darker shade of purple. “Don’t you think we’d have heard rumors if anything happened to the next emperor?”
“I don’t know, I only know he didn’t visit me in my dream last night.”
Scarlett pursed her lips. “That doesn’t mean he’s in danger. He’s an immortal.”
“Something’s wrong,” Tella insisted. “He’s never not shown up.”
“But I thought he only visited—”
“I might have lied,” Tella interrupted. She didn’t have time for a lecture. “I’m sorry, Scar, but I knew you’d be unhappy. Please, don’t try to stop me. I’m not objecting to your meeting with Nicolas today.”
“Nicolas has never hurt me,” Scarlett said. “Unlike Legend, he’s always been kind, and I’ve been waiting months to finally meet him.”
“I know, and I promise I’ll be back to watch Mother before you leave at two o’clock.”
Just then the clock chimed eleven, giving Tella exactly three hours. She had to leave now.
Tella wrapped her arms around Scarlett and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you for understanding.”
“I didn’t say I understood,” Scarlett said, but she was hugging her sister back.
As soon as she pulled away, Tella picked up a pair of slippers that laced up to her ankles and then padded across the faded carpet into her mother’s room.
She pressed a kiss to Paloma’s cool forehead. Tella didn’t leave her mother very often. Since they’d moved out of the palace, she’d tried to stay by her
