So much of the joy of being the ruler had slipped away from her over the years. And ruling over these zombies was getting tiresome. It almost felt like… cheating. Not that the Revinir was against cheating. She admired a good cheat, which was why she had almost liked Dev before she threw him out the window to his death. She felt a twinge of regret over that, truth be told.

But ruling over people she’d forced into obedience just wasn’t bringing much joy anymore. She’d come to that stark realization in a striking way last evening. Having Thisbe here for the past few days, not under any kind of spell, had been… lovely. It had been the nicest time the Revinir had ever experienced since she’d been a child.

She remembered her previous best day when she was young. She’d been regularly spying on Marcus and Justine and Eva Fathom and Gondoleery Rattrapp, all of them trying to do magic in their own ways. One summer day they’d relented and let her join them. The sun was shining on the rocks and stream where they often met up. Gondoleery had managed to make a tiny pool of water freeze, despite the heat. There had been a minnow trapped in that cupped area of the stone, and when Gondoleery had frozen the water without a thought for the minnow’s well-being, it had given young Emma a chill of horror and wonder. It had opened up her eyes to all the possibilities in the world that went beyond her usual way of thinking. She’d realized that people had more opportunities to do so many things—good or evil—than they actually took. That she had choices she’d never considered because they were outside the realm of what her normal day-to-day activities had consisted of. It was a breathtaking realization, and Emma would recall that revelation again, many times.

Remembering it now made the Revinir think hard about what she was doing. The two best memories of her life were spent with people who weren’t being coerced or controlled. Thisbe had wanted to be there with her last evening, and they’d laughed multiple times together. She’d enjoyed it so much that she’d taken a risk and had given Rohan to Thisbe, sort of as a gift—a thank-you, in a way—for liking her for who she was.

The Revinir had regretted it almost immediately, but she’d realized there was nothing Thisbe could do now that Rohan was under the mind-control spell. She’d had all the remaining ancestor broth destroyed after Dev had spilled that important information in the tower. And she had plenty of dragon-bone broth stashed around the castle to feed him just in case.