I knew at once this was the Duke of Seren’s chambers.
The moon was setting, but the last of its silver light streamed in through the open balcony doors. The wind sighed, stirring the curtains. Anna came to a halt, a strange mark on the floor between us. It was wide and dark. Old blood that had dried long ago.
“This is where it happened,” she said to me, meeting my gaze. “Where the Duke of Seren was murdered. Where the curse was cast. His sister always believed she was the true heir, not him. And when she hatched a plan to be rid of her brother, six other court members readily joined her, never dreaming of what their ruthlessness would inspire.”
The golden jewel gleamed at her chest. I let out a long breath, the dagger slick in my hand.
“Why have you brought me here?” I asked.
“Because you need to see it,” she replied. “You need to stand on the same ground where the crime was committed.”
“Did my uncle kill the duke?”
She chose not to answer. I could hardly discern her face—the face I had drawn for myself months ago.
“They say the duke was a cruel man,” I said.
“Does that excuse the court of the murder they plotted? Lady Raven may have first spoken the idea aloud, but it lived in the other six hearts.”
I was quiet.
“Go on,” she taunted me when my hesitation continued. “Strike me and bring about the end.”
“You act as if you’re not a part of me,” I said. My hands shook, much to my dismay.
She smiled. “Of course I’m a part of you.”
Knox Birch’s nightmare suddenly came to mind. He had wanted to claim the throne of Seren, and he had cut down his wife and daughters to do it. He had sliced through his own heart and had not even realized it until afterward, when the blood stained the ground, when he had obtained his desire at an unthinkable cost.
But there is no other way, I thought. The dream had to be vanquished so the throne could be claimed and the curse broken. I wondered if the greed shone in my eyes like a film as I prepared to pierce Anna’s heart. I wondered if one had to become a monster in order to end the curse.
I took a step closer. One moment, it was just her and me. The next, a rough hand yanked me backward. I collided with someone’s broad chest, the point of a dagger prodding my side, just beneath my ribs. A little more pressure, and it would pierce me.
I froze when Lennox hissed into my hair, “Did you think I was going to let you be the victor here, Anna? Do you truly believe you are the one destined to break the curse? You, a girl from the gutter who never deserved to be warden with the likes of my brother. You shouldn’t even be here.”
I didn’t reply. But I thought on the past, when he had defeated me for Hereswith. When he had stolen my home, all because I had hesitated.
I stared at phantom Anna, whose eyes slid to Lennox as he held me roughly against him. Behind her, the balcony doors sat open, eerily as if they had been left that way a century ago. The sun was just beginning to rise, the mountains incandescent with gold.
And I dared to spin and turn, risking the dagger he held at my side. It cut through my dress; I felt the blade bite my side, but I forgot the pain as I cast a repelling spell at him with deadly accuracy.
Lennox was blown off his feet, hurled up and away to the other side of the room. He slammed into the wall and for one wild moment, I thought I had killed him. I only felt a tiny bit of remorse.
He slid to the floor with a grimace, his eyes shining with fury as he charged again. I dodged the spell he spouted at me; I effortlessly danced around the green fire he created, and we met in a clash that robbed our balance.
On the cold, bloodstained floor, I struggled to slow him down. Because he was crawling to reach Anna, and it was a race to break the nightmare before the sun did. The light was creeping ever closer through the window and doors, and I bared my teeth and dragged Lennox by the ankle back to me. Among the scrambling, I thought I saw the glistening of bones, lurking beneath the duke’s bed. As if a skeleton had been swept beneath it.
Lennox was dazed, but he fought me until I disarmed him. I flung his dagger away and held my blade at his throat.
“Anna . . . ,” he whispered, suddenly trembling. “Anna, think of Phelan. He will come to hate you if you wound me.”
“Wound you?” I taunted.
“You mean to kill me?”
I stared at him, but from the corner of my eye, I watched as the sunlight inched closer to where Anna stood. She was becoming transparent, about to melt away.
“Do you know I swore allegiance to your mother?” I asked, pressing my dagger deeper into his neck, just to see him squirm beneath me. He let out a yelp when a bead of blood welled. “You fool! I’m fighting on your family’s behalf, but if you get in my way again . . . I won’t hesitate to cut you down.”
“All right, all right,” he panted, lifting his hands. “Get off me, will you?”
Around us, the room became illuminated. Dust and cobwebs and the patina of memories. The shadows gave way to light.
Anna sighed. She turned into a wisp of smoke, victorious. The nightmare had slipped through my fingers.
And the curse remained to be broken.
36
I couldn’t stop shivering.
I fetched a fur-lined cloak from my bedroom and laced it tightly at my collar before I knocked on Olivette’s door. Exhaustion was heavy as a millstone on my shoulders; I waited for someone to answer. I could hear murmurs within the chamber, and then the lock was unbolted and Nura cracked the door.
“Anna?” she asked, glancing beyond me.
“It’s me,” I reassured her, and she welcomed me inside.
Olivette was sitting upright in bed. Phelan stood before one of the windows, framed by sunrise, and Mr. Wolfe was tending to the fire.
All of them looked at me when I entered. I stopped, feeling my vulnerability like a burn. I could hardly look Mr. Wolfe in the eye.
“How are you, Olivette?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
She held up a bandaged forearm. “I’ll be fine, Anna. It wasn’t bad.”
“It only required twenty-five stitches,” Nura said pointedly.
“And thank gods you could sew it up without a hitch,” Olivette replied, just as sharply. I sensed the two of them had quarreled, but it was centered on the fact that Nura had nearly witnessed her partner’s dismemberment.
“Is it safe to assume you did not break the dream, Anna?” asked Mr. Wolfe.
“Unfortunately. I failed.” I felt Phelan’s stare from across the chamber, but I didn’t lift my eyes to him.
“You didn’t fail, Anna!” Olivette cried.
Ah, sweet Olivette, who only saw the good in people. I smiled at her, but it sat on my face like a wince.
“Is there anything I can do for you?” I asked, eager to wash away the stain of my dream.
“Can you brew a pot of tea from thin air?” Olivette asked, and I laughed.
“How I wish.” The meat, bread, and water once a day was fine, I supposed, but I couldn’t deny that I craved a good stout tea.
“That’s what I want the moment I leave this mountain,” Olivette stated with a sigh. “A pot of tea with cream and honey. And some blueberry scones.”
I caught the worried expression that crossed Nura’s face as she gazed at Olivette. We might be on the mountain for a while.