I do as she says, mind clearing. Rosie’s eyes aren’t blue.
There’s a hand on my face, a rough one.
“There you are,” she says. Not Rosalina, but Wrenley. A cloak of blue covers her white and gold acolyte robes.
“W-what?”
She places a finger to her lips. Slowly, I take in my surroundings. In a cage of steel, looking out at the Hall of Vernalion, the throne room of Keep Hammergarden. It’s eerily silent besides the deep breaths of Prince Thalionor, who is slumped in a chair next to the throne. The steward is looking rough, body shaking.
Kel stands in a cage beside us, completely still, eyes vacant.
Stars, had I just been like that?
“It’s the red flowers,” Wrenley speaks lowly. “They help others see the High Prince’s reasoning.”
“Turns them into mindless husks, you mean,” I snarl under my breath. “How did you escape it?”
She touches her pointed ear where a white flower sits, and I mimic the movement, realizing she’s placed one behind my ear.
“Kairyn told us all to wear these when we left the monastery,” she says. “We thought it was a symbol, but I realized the pollen of the red flowers does not affect us. And if you chew a petal, it will restore your magic.”
I do as she says, though no magic returns to me. I’m still on empty until I get home to Castletree. She shakily pulls a key ring off her belt. “Got these off a sleeping guard.”
The lock clicks open and she grabs my hand, leading me behind one of the stone pillars. “Some of the acolytes are fleeing the monastery, fleeing Florendel. But I couldn’t leave without you.”
A hollowness tightens in my chest. “You’re trembling.”
Her hands squeeze into my shirt, and tears pool over her blue eyes. “It’s just … I was at the monastery and … and he came.”
She falls against me, and I instinctually wrap my arms around her. “Who came? Kairyn?”
“No.” Her voice is soft, near empty. “Ezryn.”
“Why would he…” Then I remember, that’s where the Nightingale said she was taking Rosie.
“I don’t know. Rage from his banishment, from losing his magic?” Her lip quivers. “He killed them all—every last one in his path. It was a slaughter. Everyone, even the women and the children. I barely escaped.”
“No.” I shake my head. “Ezryn wouldn’t do that. He…” My voice trails off. There’s always been a darkness in the Prince of Spring, one I’ve glimpsed in the feral rage of his beast. But losing his creed, his magic. What if something happened to Rosalina? “He wouldn’t.” But my voice has lost its conviction.
Fear is still plain on her face, and there’s dried blood on her cheek. “We have to go. Quickly, before they return.”
“I’m not leaving without Kel.”
She keeps a firm grasp on my arm. “I don’t have another flower. He could become dangerous if we move him.”
I stare at the cage, the blank-faced Winter Prince inside.
“Kairyn won’t kill him,” Wrenley pleads. “He’s too important.”
“No.” I yank my arm away. “I’m not being parted from any more of my family.”
Taking the flower from behind my ear, I rip it down the middle. I place it under his nose, then stuff a petal between his lips. “Come on, big guy, wake up.”
Wrenley grips the back of my shirt in earnest. “There’s movement down the hall. We have to go. Leave him!”
I hear it too, the clatter of armor, that deep, commanding voice. The new High Prince of Spring returns.
“Breathe, Kel,” I growl, practically shoving the flower under his nose. “Start the lock.”
With shaking hands, she does. I don’t want to put the girl in more danger, especially after she’s been through so much, but I’ll be damned if I lose someone else today.
The voices grow louder. Kel blinks, gasping, and the milky film fades from his eyes. Wrenley opens the door, and I grab Kel as he topples forward.
“There’s no time to explain. Come on.” I hoist his arm over my shoulder, and we stumble from the cage.
“This way, behind the tapestry. The servant’s exit,” Wrenley says.
We enter the small stone passage as the doors to the throne room open. Wanting no more to look on the wretched new High Prince of Spring than I would like to shove my dick through hot coals, I let the tapestry fall behind us.
Wrenley leads us through the twisting corridors until we exit in a small alley outside of the keep. By the sun, it’s early afternoon. I rapidly explain the flowers to Keldarion.