Page 109 of Twin Crowns

“You’ll see.” Wren pulled her sister deep into the cellar until they came upon the old broom closet. Inside, the witch markings glowed like twin stars in the dark. Rose gasped, instinctively leaping behind Wren. She twined her fingers in the back of Wren’s dress as though to pull her away from the danger.

Wren chuckled at her sister’s horror-stricken face. “You don’t have to be frightened,” she told her. “This place is a secret gift. It’soursecret gift.”

She pressed her hand against the stone and felt a familiar heat buzzing against her palm. The wall parted with a groan, and Rose whimpered as the passageway revealed itself, its hollow darkness feathered by the faraway glow of the everlights.

“Well?” said Wren over her shoulder. “Are you coming?”

Rose’s green eyes shimmered with curiosity. She rolled her shoulders back and raised her chin. “Well, it ismypalace,” she said as she stepped out from behind Wren. “Of course I’m coming.”

With her fear suddenly consumed by wonder, Rose slipped through the opening without so much as a backward glance. Wren followed her sister into the passageway, their footsteps echoing around them as they fell into step.

Rose drifted toward the first everlight and swished her hand above the purple flame. “What are these things?” she asked, looking up to where the rest of the flames flickered along the tunnel.

“They’re called everlights.” Wren told her how they were made and how long they had been burning. “They’re relics from the witches who once lived here.”

Rose was silent for a long time, staring into that purple flame as if she could glimpse a whisper of the past inside it. “They’re still here,” she murmured. “After all this time.”

Wren glanced sidelong at her. “You can’t destroy magic, Rose. It will always find its way home.”

Just as I have,thought Wren.

Rose looked up, and Wren was struck by the sadness in her face. She felt the same melancholy inside her and was overcome by the urge to throw her arms around her sister and make it go away. “I never knew what we took from them,” said Rose in a cracked voice. “I swear I never knew about any of it.”

“How could you?” said Wren softly. “You only knew what Rathborne taught you.” Without meaning to, she took her sister’s hand and curled it in her own.

Rose’s bottom lip began to wobble.

Wren gently squeezed her fingers. “It’s not your fault.”

“It’s not that,” said Rose, her face crumpling. “It’s just... Wren, you’re mysister.”

Wren’s throat constricted. “Don’t you dare cry, Rose.”

Rose took a shuddering breath as her eyes filled with tears. “I’m n-not c-crying.”

“Stop that,” said Wren as her own eyes began to prickle. “I mean it, Rose.”

Hot tears slipped down Rose’s cheeks. “How could you have known about me for all these years and just left me here? Left me withhim.” Her voice broke again. “Didn’t you want to meet me? Toknowme?”

“Of course I wanted to meet you,” said Wren, and when her own tears fell, she scrubbed them away, wishing she could erase the unpleasant feelings that came with them. Guilt and loss, and this new yearning for the life they might have had together if things had been different.If onlythings had been different. “I thought about you every day of mylife, Rose. You’re my sister. I just...”

“Wanted to steal my throne first?” said Rose, wiping her nose.

Wren offered her a watery smile. “It’s nothing personal.”

Rose sniffed again, and just when Wren thought her sister was going to admonish her, she flung her arms around Wren’s neck and buried her face in her shoulder. “I have asister!”

Wren slowly hugged Rose back. It felt nice. It feltright.Her chest warmed and her tears dried, and when they pulled back from each other, both girls were wearing the same smile, one born of gentle hope.

They ambled onward, past flame after flame.

“I always wondered what it would be like to grow up here,” said Wren after a while. “When I was little, I used to wear Thea’s favorite tablecloth around me like a dress and make Shen have afternoon tea with me up on the cliffs. We’d drink it cold from cracked mugs with our pinkies out and pretend we were in the courtyard at Anadawn, looking out over our kingdom.”

“I can picture that perfectly,” said Rose with a giggle. “When I was young, I used to dream of faraway cliffs that teetered over the ocean, imagining what it would be like to tiptoe along them with the wind blowing in my hair. Agnes said she could always tell when I was dreaming of adventure because I would wake with a smile on my face.”

Wren grinned at her sister’s confession. “Now that you’ve seen those cliffs, did they live up to your dreams?”

Rose bit her lip. “To tell you the truth, they frightened the life out of me. I clung on to Shen like a terrified squirrel.” Wren could have sworn her sister was blushing, but perhaps it was a trick of the everlights.

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