Page 52 of Twin Crowns

“What nonsense! Willem is a good man,” said Rose, just as fiercely. “He has taken care of me my entire life. Helovesme.”

Banba gave her a pitying look. “No, Rose. Heneedsyou.” At Rose’s silence, the old woman went on, her words like a dagger,twistingin her chest. “Don’t you see? Willem Rathborne had to keep you alive—you were the perfect prop princess that would allow him to rule Eana from behind the curtain. Of course he only needed one of you. He would have killed Wren, too, if he had found her in that chamber.”

Rose pressed her lips together. She knew there was no point in arguing back, in saying what she had always believed. That Willem had burst in just in time to save her. But if that was true, then what had happened to this supposed sister of hers? If Wren was real, then howcould Willem’s story be real, too?

She looked down at her hands, imagining another pair next to them.A twin.Was it truly possible?

“Willem Rathborne is no innocent,” Banba went on. “He would kill every last witch in Eana if he could. But you already know that, don’t you?”

Rose shook her head, even though she knew that part was true. But still, that didn’t mean the rest of it was. This old woman could be lying through her teeth, trying to turn her against her closest adviser and sow dissent in the palace. Rose needed a minute to think, but Banba was tugging at her again.

“Come. It’s time for you to meet the witches you are so afraid of.” The old woman paused, and Rose thought perhaps that she was going to offer her a kind word. Something that might ease the stinging in her wrist and make her feel less frightened of this wild place. But Banba only hardened her stare. “Don’tdisappoint me.”

The last rays of amber sunlight were melting along the horizon when Rose and Banba reached the little cliff village. The patchwork of weather-beaten huts peered over them from the rock face, their slanted roofs tilting toward the graying ocean. Wooden steps climbed up and down the craggy cliffs, some planks angled so precariously that Rose was sure a stiff gust would blow a distracted climber straight into the sea.

Down by the shore, a strange silver bonfire was crackling. Witches milled around it, casting handfuls of sand into the flames that somehow made them burn higher and brighter.Enchanters.The younger childrenwere giggling as they chased each other around the fire, while the older ones tended to their feast.

Rose scanned the faces in the crowd, searching for her own. Her throat was bone-dry, and her heart was thundering so raucously, she could hear it in her ears. “Where is my sister? I want to meet her. I need to know if what you say is true.”

Banba grunted. “You’ll have to take my word for it. Wren is as far from home as you are, girl.”

Rose frowned, waiting for more, but the old woman tugged her along.

Smoke billowed into the sky, dusting the air with charcoal. The clouds were rolling in, hiding the stars behind them. Rose wished she could see them so that something—anything—might feel the same. She shivered in the sea wind, drawing her cloak tighter.

No. Nothercloak.

“Wren.” Rose rolled the name around in her mouth. There was a wildness to it, not like her own that was soft and demure.Regal.In all her imaginings as a child, thinking about her mother and her father, she’d never once considered a sister. Someone who could have made her life so much less lonely.

Stop that, she told herself sternly. This was no time for a pity party. She hadn’t been that lonely, after all—she’d always had Celeste. And Cam.

And Willem.

The witches parted to let her through, watching her too closely. But despite Banba’s prodding, Rose’s mind was back in Anadawn.

The more she thought about Willem, the less sure she felt. TheKingsbreath had hovered over Rose her entire life, but was it her throne he truly cared for? This thing that could not be untangled from her person... her destiny. Was she truly no better than a prop—someone raised to believe a lie so enormous it had hidden her family from her for eighteen years?

Rose was a witch. It was her only certainty in this wild, foreign place. She knew it in her blood and in her bones. But she didn’t know if Willem would forgive her for it, and that troubled her. She imagined him pressing her face to the dirt again, only this time she wouldn’t earn a rose for her innocence. In her mind, his face contorted, as if for all her life he’d been wearing a mask and now she could glimpse the ugly truth of what lay underneath. Bile rose quickly in her throat and she halted, turning to be sick on the sand.

Banba stood over her. “Get up, girl,” she said in a low voice. “Don’t let them see you on your knees.”

Behind her, Rose heard the patter of laughter, a stir of murmurs rippling through the crowd. She caught the wordssoftandpatheticas she knelt in the sand. For a moment she thought she might collapse and never get back up. Let the rising tide claim her. With any luck, the current would deposit her body back in Anadawn. Where she belonged.

“Rose!”

She looked up, wiping her mouth. Shen was jostling his way toward her. The sight of him was enough to make her stand up straight and dust herself off. Take another step toward the flames and all those judgmental gazes. She rolled her shoulders back. She wouldn’t falter in front of Shen—she would not let him, nor any of these witches, see her break.

“Are you all right?” He reached out to steady her.

Banba smacked his hand away. “She’s not a child, Shen. Let her walk.”

Rose didn’t even look at him. “I have nothing to say to you.”

“Rose.”Something inside her cracked at how he said her name. “I’m sorry, I really am. I couldn’t—”

“That’s enough,” said Banba sharply. “You’re making a scene. Tonight is important for Rose. It’s time for her to get to know her people.”

Shen dropped his gaze. “Yes, Banba,” he murmured, before melting into the crowd.

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