Page 82 of Somber Prince

“No,” I said quickly. “But Ciana may be here.”

She exhaled slowly. “Not that again. Dawn, sweetie,” her voice softened. “I loved Ciana. Everyone did. But she’s gone. You need to let go.”

“But what if she’s really here? We can’t leave her behind.”

“How can she be here?” Elaine asked. “The portal to our world was first opened just like five weeks ago.”

“Yes, but if the time moves differently when one crosses the River of Mists, what happened a month ago here could’ve been thirteen years ago back home. Which means Ciana would’ve come here.”

“And then age thirteen years in five weeks?” Melanie looked skeptical.

“No… I mean, I don’t know exactly. But I think she’d age at the same rate. She’d be the same age she left plus the five weeks. Which would make her about three years younger than me now.”

My sister rolled her eyes. “Are you even listening to what you’re saying, Dawn? Time travel? Really?”

“This world doesn’t work like ours,” I argued. “You have to think about what you’re risking by going back. And we must find Ciana if she’s here. We can’t leave without her. Rha is trying to find out if she’s in Kalmena. He said he’ll take me to see her?—”

“What if he’s lying?”

“Why would he?”

She threw her hands in the air. “Because you make it too easy for him by being gullible and naïve. He feeds you bullshit to make you happy, then eats your happiness like a snack.”

“There is no point in lying about things that are easy enough to confirm.”

“Are they? So, has it been confirmed, then?”

“Not yet. He asked, but Princess Alzali doesn’t know the queen’s Joy Vessels by name, and neither does anyone from her escort. She promised to find out?—”

Melanie waved me off impatiently. “Can’t you see that he’s doing everything to make you willingly stay with him? You said it yourself: they can’t force us to be happy. So he makes up lies because you clearly believe anything.”

My face flared with heat from indignity. There was only a three-year difference in age between us, and it drove me nuts when Melanie spoke to me as if it was at least half a century.

I opened my mouth to argue, but Elaine spoke first.

“We can’t dismiss what Dawn said about time travel, Melanie. The people in the sarai have to know the risks that come from crossing through the new portal. Also, if Ciana really is here, we can’t leave her behind. There’s still time to confirm it.”

“How much time do we have?” I asked. “When are you planning to do it?”

Elaine inhaled to reply, but Melanie raised a hand, stopping her.

“It’s best if you don’t know the details yet,” she said to me.

“I promise you can trust me.”

“Sorry, Dawn, but you’re too close to the prince. One wrong word from you to him, and all our plans will be crushed. Also, who knows what he can fish out of you with those smoky snakes of his without you even knowing? I just can’t risk it.”

I bit my lip, thinking about what she’d said. Rha couldn’t read my thoughts. But could he sense something that would give it away? When it came to me, he’d been exceptionally perceptive even without the connection through his tendrils.

Elaine took my hand. “You’re all alone here, Dawn, away from all of us. Please, be careful.”

“I’m safe,” I assured her.

“Don’t let your guard down,” she insisted, looking concerned despite my reassurances. “The prince is enjoying you. But pleasure can be addicting. People often do horrible things to satisfy their cravings. Remember, no matter how much you may like him, he can’t like you back. His kind is incapable of such a feeling.”

Chapter Twenty

RHA

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