Page 66 of Cursed Crowns

For a moment, Rose wondered what her life would have been like if she had married Ansel and come to live at Grinstad Palace. Full of beautiful clothes and terrible food, by the looks of it. But surely as her husband, Ansel would have treated her better than this. She drifted to the window and pressed her palm against the frosted glass. She wondered where the poor prince was buried and was stung by the regret that she could not lay a rose at his grave and pay her respects. She was glad at least that Ansel had been brought home to rest among his beloved mountains.

A knock at the door startled Rose from her thoughts.

“Wren? Are you in there?”

Rose leaped behind the curtain, fearfully peering out at the door handle.Please don’t open, please don’t open, please don’t open.

Another knock. “It’s Tor. Can I come in?”

Rose gasped. Wren hadn’t mentioned a thing about Captain Iversen! What was he doing knocking on her door in the middle of the night? What else was her sister keeping from her? It occurred to Rose that she should say something before he barreled in. “One moment! I’m changing for dinner!” She glanced at the clock and winced.

“Dinner?” said Tor. “At midnight?”

“Bed!” said Rose in a fluster. “I meant, changing for bed! Don’t come in! I’m not decent!”

Tor was silent for a long time. Then there was a soft thud, as he pressed his forehead against the door. “Wren, I can tell you’re not yourself.”

Oh no. Heknew. The blood drained from Rose’s face as she cowered in the curtains. She glared down at the mirror. What was taking Wrenso long? She was going to murder her sister. Gingerly, Rose stepped out from behind the drapes and took a deep breath, preparing to face the Gevran soldier. “Tor—”

“I know you’re upset about earlier,” he went on earnestly. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

Rose sagged against the window ledge. Hedidn’tknow. Yet.

“But I can’t just stand aside and let you do this. I shouldn’t have given you those mice.” He cursed under his breath. “It’s not right. It’s notnatural. Alarik’s not thinking straight, Wren. He’s clouded by grief.”

Rose went perfectly still. This must be the bargain Wren had mentioned. But what could be so terrible that it had unsettled Tor this much? She waited for him to go on.

“Ansel’s dead. If you bring him back, it won’t be the end of Alarik’s fascination with you, it will be the beginning. He’ll never let you go.”

Rose blanched.Thatwas the bargain? Wren had promised to bring Ansel back from the dead? She shook the mirror, desperately trying to summon her sister. Was Wren out of her mind? Could she evendothat? The only witch who had ever toyed with forbidden magic was Oonagh Starcrest. It was her use of human and animal sacrifice—blood magic—that had ended up twisting her soul and the entire fate of the witches.

Rose glanced at the dead mice, a new shiver of dread walking up her spine. They suddenly made a lot more sense.

“I know you don’t want to hear this right now, but I care about you too much to see you go down this path.” Tor’s voice was quiet with resignation. “When you’re ready to talk, I’ll be here. We can figure this out. Together.”

Finally, he turned from the door. Rose stared at the handle with herbreath bound up in her chest, listening to the sound of his fading footsteps. A moment later, Wren’s voice rang out from the mirror.

“Good news! I spoke to Fathom,” she said by way of greeting. “He says we’ll switch back when the final sapphire goes out.”

Rose glanced at the last shimmering gemstone, then glared at her sister’s reflection. “Then I’ll make this quick. You are NOT under ANY circumstances to attempt a resurrection spell.”

Wren’s face fell. “Did the dead mice tip you off?”

Rose plowed on. “Don’t you remember what happened to Oonagh Starcrest when she turned to human sacrifice? You can’t play with death, Wren. It’s forbidden.”

Wren squeezed her eyes shut. “I really don’t need this lecture right now.”

“Well, you just missed a rather stirring one from Tor.”

The last sapphire was winking out. “Promise me you won’t try to do this,” said Rose desperately. “There has to be another way to save Banba. Please, Wren.”

Wren opened her mouth to respond just as the wind rushed back in. Rose yelped as it burst from the mirror and swirled around her. The world tilted, turning to blurs of blue and white and silver, the fur rug at her feet giving way to hard stone, as she landed back in Amarach.

“Wren?” She grasped the hand mirror, but her sister was gone. There was only her own panicked reflection staring back at her, bordered by twelve sapphires no longer aglow.

25

Wren

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