Page 96 of Where Shadows Bloom

“I’m going to rescue you,” I said, “and when I do, I’ll write a hundred poems for you. For your eyes alone.”

She drew back, and my heart dropped at the alarm in her face.

“You mustn’t come here.” Her voice was choked and meek. “You cannot come for me. You must run; get as far from this place as you can, before the king hurts you—”

“I don’t care,” I said. “I’ll fight. I’ll fight for you, and I’ll win. I won’t stop until you’re safe.”

“Please. Please, I couldn’t bear it if something happened toyou. You were right. The palace is dangerous. The king even more so.Please, Lope.” Her forefinger stroked the glass, right over my cheek. Her eyes shimmered with tears. “You spent your whole life saving me. Let me save you. Just this once.”

“And I’ve spent my whole life obeying orders,” I said. “No longer. I’m coming for you. No matter what it takes.”

She didn’t speak. Her long lashes fluttered, dripping more tears on her cheeks. Her lip trembled. “All right,” she whispered. “Let me know what I can do to help.”

“You intend to come below?”

The voice was Sagesse’s, acerbic and surprised. Her brows were raised as if in a challenge.

“Yes,” I said.

“Lope,” said Ofelia, “your theories were correct—thereisa door in the gardens. That strange, isolated doorway we saw near the bosquets of the gods. But it is locked behind a fence, and when I was taken there, the king had his guards all about.”

“I tried to break in once before. The guards intercepted me, I—”

“You could create yourowndoor,” said Sagesse.

My heart leapt. “But—the king hired you for your power to speak with the gods,” I said. “I don’t have the gift that you do.”

“There is only a ritual to be performed. Anyone can do it, if they know how. Yes, it would behelpfulif you had someprior fortune in communicating with the gods—”

“But you have!” said Ofelia. “The Shadow King, he knows you. He has heard your prayers. He has read your poetry.”

She was right. Ihadbent the ear of a god.

“When we open this door,” I asked, “will Shadows come through?”

“Yes,” Ofelia and Sagesse said in one voice. My throat tightened. Ofelia knew these doors very well. It was thanks to the king that she’d been banished through one.

Sagesse continued, “When you make this door, when the Shadow King welcomes you, he will guarantee safety only for the person who opens the door and the person he’d bargained with. This is why Léo may open the door unharmed. And why I was not attacked by the Shadows.”

Eglantine drew closer to the mirror, her fingers trembling. “If we do this, if we open this door, can we let you through?”

Sagesse simply shook her head. “I cannot say. But it’s our only chance.”

“There must be some way for us to help you,” I said. “The King Below—he likes bargains?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then I’ll make one with him. Something good enough that he’ll free the lot of you.”

Sagesse pressed her lips into a thin line. “I admire your certainty, child. But bending the will of a god is no easy task. First, the door.” She looked back at her daughter, thefirst glimpse of warmth appearing in her eyes. “Lope will need your help, Eglantine. It’s better to have a second person close at hand. You’ll need to be in a dark place where you can concentrate. Light a candle to help attract the attention of the Shadow King. Make a line on the ground where you want the door to be—a line in your own blood. And the person who creates the door, they must prepare something to sacrifice. Something cherished. A body part or some sort of ability will do, as long as it’s deeply precious. Place a symbol of the sacrifice on the line of blood.”

Ofelia’s hand covered her mouth. She was growing quite pale.

Sagesse nodded. “King Léo, for instance, gave up his dancing.”

Any sacrifice, I’d make. I’d do it for her. “What next?” I asked.

“Write down an oath to the Shadow King, that in exchange for passage into his world, you’ll give him whatever you’ve promised him. Mark it with the blood of the person who will enter the Underworld and burn the note. Speak to the king of Shadows and beg him to let you come here.” Her hand curled into a fist. “I will speak to him here, too, to encourage him to let you in.”

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