When she woke, a feeling of dread overcame her again. Tears spilled down into her hair, and another wave of sobs came. She’d never been so devastated in all her life. Her conviction wavered. Fifer had no idea how hard this was—wouldn’t she understand if Thisbe’s will caved? Because none of this was worth what she’d had to do to Rohan.

She cringed. Yes, okay, it was worth it for the sake of the worlds. For the greater good. For all of the other people. Just… not for Thisbe. She couldn’t imagine offering up a greater sacrifice than this. Having no one realize it for what it was made it all the more difficult. That’s why this had to end soon. She would take whatever reasonable risks she had to take. But she was glad she hadn’t made an impulsive move last night. With so many servants around, it could have backfired terribly.

But how could she do it? Thisbe thought about the Revinir as Emma, the little girl who felt betrayed by her older siblings. She thought about how the Revinir had shared a little piece of herself with Thisbe earlier. It had been so strange to realize that the Revinir had feelings.

At first Thisbe had thought of her as one-dimensionally evil, but she’d learned that the dragon-woman went deeper than that. Still, it wouldn’t be hard for Thisbe to put an end to her. She’d done some of the most heinous things Thisbe had ever heard of.

Perhaps there really was a way to slay the dragon-woman while she was in the ballroom—on the balcony. The impact could rip apart that area of the castle, so it would be risky. And a couple of servants could go down with her, because there was always someone standing nearby to address the Revinir’s whims. That would be a shame, but this really couldn’t go on any longer.

Thisbe wiped her eyes and got out of bed. She cleaned up and got ready. And then, with a start, she realized that she was currently without a servant’s watchful eye over her, and she had a near-perfect opportunity to send a message to Fifer. She pulled out the component and wrote:

Fife,

Things will have to happen soon. Alert the troops.

Thiz

She wanted to write more. She wanted to pour her heart out to one of the two people who actually knew what she was doing. But she couldn’t risk it. A wave of emotion passed over her again, but she didn’t have any tears left. Would Fifer even understand her pain? She was probably living large in the palace with Dev, having a grand time.

As she turned to go to the balcony, a shadow passed in front of the glass doors, followed by a quiet knock.