Page 106 of Twin Crowns

“It’sgenius, Celeste,” said Rose. “All Wren has to do is stay hidden until the wedding tomorrow. Willem won’t know what’s coming. Not until it’s too—”

TAP! TAP! TAP!

She froze at a sound from outside. The girls whipped their heads around to find a lone starcrest sitting on the window ledge. It tapped its beak against the glass, watching them with its bright, beady eyes.

A trickle of unease snaked down Wren’s spine. She got up and went to the window. The starcrest launched itself into the air, circling once before gliding back toward the west tower of Anadawn. She watched it go, and this time, when she glimpsed the face in the window, she gasped.

Rose was on her feet in an instant. “What is it?”

“There’s a woman in the west tower.” Wren leaned out of the window, trying to get a better look at her. Her face was pale and gaunt, dwarfed by reams of cloudy white hair. Then it was gone again.

“She warned me.... The flames are inside me... the burning... ah...”Rathborne’s words echoed in Wren’s head, and she was reminded of him doubled over in pain after the poisoning.

“She warned him,” Wren murmured. She plucked the rest of his ramblings from her memory as a new horror dawned inside her.“The enemy wears two faces, Rose.... We must come for the witches before they come for us.... And they are coming.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Rose in mounting alarm.

“Oh no.” Behind her, Celeste had already pieced it together. She came to the window, giving voice to Wren’s thoughts. “Willem’s got a seer.”

“It was never just the birds,” said Wren, cursing her own stupidity. Somehow the Kingsbreath had done the impossible—he had gotten his grasping hands on a damned seer. “Someone’s been whispering to him about the future.”

Warning him, thought Wren angrily. “No wonder he’s been so skittish.”

She stepped away from the window. “A seer’s vision sharpens over time. As a prophecy draws nearer, there’s always more to know. More to see,” she told them urgently. “If Rathborne truly has a witch at Anadawn, we won’t be able to hide from her for much longer. Not now that you’ve come back here, Rose.” She couldn’t help the hint of accusation in her voice.

“We need to get the seer out of here before she can expose us,” said Rose.

Celeste blew out a breath. “It might already be too late. He visited her last night after the ball. I saw his guards outside the west tower.”

The three of them glanced at the door at the same time, halfexpecting the Kingsbreath to barrel through it and arrest them. There was only the distant stirring of maidservants rising to face the day and the faraway growl of Gevran beasts as they paced the courtyard.

Wren ground her jaw, thinking.“If not last night, then tonight.”

Rose and Celeste exchanged a worried glance. “We could free her before then,” said Rose.

“And find out what she knows,” added Celeste. “What she’s been telling him.”

Rose nodded. “The Gevran Feast begins at sundown. Willem will have to be in attendance. That gives us some time.”

“He won’t take his eyes off you tonight,” warned Celeste. “The guards will be watching your every move.”

Wren’s smile was slow and creeping. She felt the tides of destiny rippling around her and glimpsed a plan floating in its waves. “But no one will be watchingme.” She could easily make it to the west tower with the help of her magic. She just needed a way to get inside the turret without arousing suspicion. “I’ll need the key to the tower. The one he wears around his neck.”

“I could steal it from him at the feast,” said Rose, clenching her fists as she summoned her courage.

Celeste looked to Wren. “I could take it to you.”

Wren nodded. “I’ll have it back before he even notices it’s missing.” She turned to Rose then. “Just make sure you dance with every Gevran in attendance. Be bright and bubbly. No one can suspect a thing.”

“Why don’t we start the subterfuge right now?” said Celeste as she skipped across the room. She plucked the violet dress from the stool bythe vanity and tossed it to Rose. “Let’s go for a morning stroll in the courtyard. The more people who see you acting normally today, the better.”

“And what about me?” demanded Wren. “What amIsupposed to do?”

Celeste smiled thinly. “You can go back to not existing for a while.”

Just then, Agnes arrived with breakfast. Wren slid under the bed, waiting impatiently for her sister to finish eating. Then Rose and Celeste took off, leaving Wren to munch on the leftovers. Afterward, she returned to the window, resting her elbows on the ledge. Outside, the flag of Eana was rippling in the summer breeze.

When she was Queen, she would rip it down and restore Eana, the first witch queen, to the crest. This land would be ruled by her descendant, and the halls of Anadawn would sing with magic once more. Freedom was coming at last, and it would be granted by a Greenrock witch born and raised on the sands of Ortha. Not a pampered Valhart who barely had a handle on her own magic. No matter how Wren’s plans had been altered by Rose’s return, her mission had not.

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