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The snowgum continued to thrash like a demon from the underworld. Fire raged around it, lighting up its nine-foot-tall body with paws like small tables. It rolled in the snow, still roaring, as it slowly doused the flames.
The damage my fire had done cut off its magic, making it visible again, but even though I’d burned it, it was anything but down.
My fingers closed around the prince as an enraged snarl tore from the snowgum. Its massive body lowered on its haunches as it prepared to leap again.
“Prince Norivun! Wake up, now!” I shook the prince, grabbing him by the shoulders so hard that his blood seeped through my fingers.
But he didn’t move.
The snowgum lunged, leaping from its position.
This was it.
We would both die.
Agony like I’d never felt before cut through me, slicing me open as my arms enclosed the prince.Not today. Please not today. I don’t want to die.
My eyes squeezed shut as I pictured my sister. My parents. Tormesh. My village. All of it blended in a kaleidoscope of color.
My sister would be alone.
I can’t leave you.
I pictured the castle. Safety. Healers. Help.
The snowgum’s large body slammed into me, nearly tearing me from the prince as the reek of its burned flesh singed my nose. But I didn’t let go of the prince. I kept my eyes squeezed shut as I imagined the castle again. Murl. Safety.
The realm suddenly flashed out of existence, and then we were torn through mist and shadows, air and wind.
The next thing I knew, the prince and I were crashing onto the ground at the castle’s outer courtyard. Guards were only feet away.
Their shocked faces beheld me as my mind began to spin. The last thing I remembered was collapsing to the ground with the prince at my side.
* * *
A warm hand held mine.It was soft, smooth, and thin. Fingers brushed over my skin, back and forth, and I frowned when I detected the scent of roses, then the feel of smooth cream rolling across my palm.Someone was putting lotion that smelled of flowers on my hand?
My eyes fluttered open.
I blinked, then blinked again. Surely, I was dreaming, or dead and dreaming if dreams were possible for the deceased, because Queen Lissandra sat at my side in the Exorbiant Chamber. A beautiful scarf covered her head. The rich blue silk reminded me of the shawls I’d often worn back home to hide my hair.
She smiled faintly and picked up my other hand before slathering it with the rose-scented lotion. “I figured you would wake soon.”
She moved with sure purpose over my palms, coating my fingers. Her warm hands felt soft and comforting. The way my mother’s hands had once felt.
This couldn’t be happening. The last memory I had was of Isalee, the field, the prince, the snowgum—
“Where’s Prince Norivun?” Alarm skated through me as I snapped out of her gentle touch.
“In the healer’s infirmary. It’s thanks to you that he’s alive.”
A heartbeat passed before that reassurance hit me. I sagged back against the bed, only then realizing that my heart was pounding, and a tender ache seared my ribs. I’d thought for certain he was dead. That the snowgum—
But wait, how did we get back?
“The guards tell me that you mistphased him here,” she added in her serene tone.
I smoothed my confused expression as a blurry memory of slamming into the ground by the castle’s outer wall filled my mind. Frowning, I sat up more. “There must be a mistake. I don’t know how to mistphase.”
