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“It doesn’t matter what I believe, because you’re not going to trust anything I say.”
His lips twist. “Finally, something out of your mouth I know to be genuine.”
I could speak all kinds of truths right now—that demons are hallucinations of my mad father, that magic only exists in the world of my mother’s cult—only I’m no longer sure they’d be truths. Everything I thought I knew has been flipped upside down by a red-haired woman with flames dancing along her fingertips and a desperate need to resurrect her dead husband.
My father believes in demons. He’s railed against those who told him they didn’t exist, and look where that has gotten him? He’s been cast aside, an unfortunate case left in society’s gutter. Now here I am, in a place where everyone seems to believe demons and magic exist. I’m wearing scars to prove the former. Am I to hold fast to my denial and become an inverse reflection of my father?
The only certainty I see before me is that there are too many things I can’t explain with what I thought I knew. But Sofie warned me of that too.
The rules of the world to which you are accustomed are about to change.
And in the world that I’m currently trapped in, there are kingdoms to kill for, beasts who feed off people, and magic I’m sure I can’t fathom.
God only knows what else there is.
Zander’s attention veers back to his view outside. “How did you destroy it?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t understand what’s happening to me.” Sofie was adamant that these people not discover my true identity, but what does that mean? That I’m not Princess Romeria of Ybaris but a doppelganger she has somehow planted at the worst possible time? That I’m not from Islor or Ybaris and had never heard of either place until a few days ago? Where even is the real princess? What did Sofie do with her body?
Is this somehow her body?
A shiver of panic courses through my limbs.
Regardless, I can’t imagine how knowing who I really am could be more dangerous to me, but I have to believe Sofie was speaking the truth. She thinks my success will bring Elijah back to her, and she wouldn’t risk that.
Still, how am I to survive in this place as the woman who murdered a king and queen?
With a version of my reality, I guess.
I take a deep breath, not sure how this will be received, other than—likely—not well. “I don’t remember anything before waking up in the garden, the night I pulled Annika from the river.”
Zander’s chuckle carries through my room. “Innocence by oblivion. How convenient. Has anyone used that defense to explain away murder in my court yet?” He pauses with dramatic effect. “No, I do not believe so. You are the first. Congratulations.” His tone drips with sarcasm.
I roll my eyes at his back. “It’s the truth, whether you believe it or not. I don’t remember my life in Ybaris. I don’t remember coming here. I don’t remember meeting you, or anything that might have happened between us.” My cheeks heat at the implication.
The silence stretches on and I hold my breath, studying his form while I wait for his response. Broad shoulders lead into a tapered waist. Beneath the cover of that jacket, I acutely recall powerful thighs pressed against my hips and hard curves against my fingertips. Under other—vastly different—circumstances, I would be looking for ways to gain his attention. Now, I wish I could disappear from his bitter thoughts forever.
Finally, he turns and leans against the frame to face me, folding his arms across his chest. It’s a casual stance, but nothing about his harsh expression reads as casual. “You’re losing your talents. I’ve already caught you in your lie.”
“What do you mean—”
“Sofie. The name of your coconspirator?”
Shit. He’s right. How could I remember her if I don’t remember anything before that night?“That was a lie,” I blurt before my alarm gives away too much.
His eyebrow arches, but he says nothing. He’s waiting for me to elaborate.
I don’t dare to look away for fear of appearing guilty. “I was terrified, and you were demanding a name, so I made one up.”
“You are telling me that no such caster exists.”
“Yes. That’s what I’m saying,” I lie, while convincing myself it could be the truth. Is Sofie her real name? Do I know for certain she is one of these casters?
He seems to consider this. “But you did have help from someone in Islor. Either someone within the court or the household.”
“If I did, I don’t remember. I don’t remember who I am.” Not this version of Romeria, anyway.
“And yet you remember your name.” He turns back to peer out the window.
