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No one objected to her words. We were all thinking the same thing. The room the queen seemingly ordered to be built for Cari reeked of privilege and wealth, yet it was the saddest room I’d ever been in.
"You do know that I can still hear your thoughts,” Cari said, “right?”
Her voice had changed. Before I could wrap my mind around the change, I heard a sound behind me and spun around.
It was her.
Her coal-dark eyes were the first giveaway since the mirage she had shown us at the entrance to the castle was slightly different from how she looked now. She looked much younger in reality, around Feremir’s age.
She wore a cape as though she had just come in from a long journey, but the cape wasn’t dirty like our clothes. She hadn’t come in. She was prepared to leave.
“Nice to meet you,” Fiona stepped forward to greet Cari.
Cari gave her an odd look.
“We’ve met,” she said.
“I mean face to face,” Fiona replied.
“What do I do about that?” Cari asked sarcastically. “You are a princess. I don’t know how to curtsey.”
“You don’t have to,” Fiona seemed taken aback. “I just...”
Why are you acting hostile toward her? I asked Cari.
She met my gaze.
“I don’t know,” she replied to the question out loud. “I’ve been trapped here for years. Sometimes, the queen sends servants to clean up and bring me food, but I’m not allowed to talk to them in case I try to control their minds and break out.”
“Why didn’t you?” Dearen asked. “You are a powerful mind magicker. You could’ve escaped long ago.”
“I am sixteen years old,” Cari replied, meeting his gaze. “I was a child for years. Then, the queen told me she would kill me if I tried to escape.”
There was something more to that story; I could feel it. But I was unsure if I was supposed to push her to reveal her truth, especially in front of my friends.
“We will have time to talk about this later,” I said. “We should hurry before the queen finds out we’re here.”
“I agree,” Cari replied. “We should get out now.”
“Not yet,” Kieran took a step forward. “First, take back whatever you did to transform Jasmine into a monster. Then, tell us how you will stop the monsters.”
“There is a well on the island,” Cari started. “The queen uses it to transform all the monsters. She uses my powers to access their minds using the portals. We can use it to turn them back. ”
“And you?” Fiona asked suspiciously. “How did you manage to talk to Jasmine? Mind magic doesn’t normally ignore distance.”
“I discovered a way to use my mind magic to walk around the castle years ago,” she replied. “I went out and found the well. Just like the way it taps into my powers whenever the queen uses it, I found a way to use it as well, to enter the minds of all the monsters.”
“The queen can’t force you,” Dearen said. “You have been helping her willingly, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” Cari replied. She was staring right at Dearen with no ounce of shame in her coal-dark eyes. “I chose to live in a place with books, comfortable beds, and good food as opposed to a dungeon. When I was younger, I thought this was the world. But once I realized there was more, I wanted more. I tried to escape, but she always found me. Then there would be months of torture and darkness until she decided to give me another chance. The last time she did, I decided I would not risk my life again. I tried to live off whatever I had. But it turns you mad, being alone and inside for years. I almost gave in to the temptation to stop it all. Then, I saw Jasmine. She was free, and she was brave. I followed her trail, and when I found her again, I did my best to reach her.”
It was a horrible life. I did not want to talk about it any longer. But Cari had decided to explain herself.
“I know I’ve been a coward,” she said. “But I feel like I deserve a life.”
“Of course,” Fiona said.
“So,” Cari turned to me. “I’ll go into your mind for one last time and stop the process. It’s easy, but I need to be near the well. I’ll make sure no one stops us as we reach there. All you have to do is get us out of this dungeon.”
