“You’re okay. Take a breath. You collapsed at the party. Sonali and I had you brought back to your rooms.”

“Oh.”

She glanced around through bleary eyes but only found Darby.

“Sonali already left. She said you were stable. The only thing she could recognize was that your well of magic had depleted to an unsafe level.”

“Oh,” she repeated.

“What happened?”

Kerrigan shook her head and came up to one elbow. Darby offered her a glass of water, which she drained. “I don’t know. One moment, March and I were arguing, and the next, my magic went on the fritz.”

“Has this ever happened before?”

“No.” Kerrigan sighed. “Yes. It happened when I was arrested. And it happened a lot during the tournament.”

Though she didn’t mention that it’d happened in the tournament because she was having visions. Here, she hadn’t even seen anything. What was happening with her spirit magic if she was having the same circumstances of her visions but no vision?

“Okay. Well, this is way beyond me. I think you need to talk to Helly when you get back to the mountain and try to find a cause. In the meantime, you have a very concerned gentleman waiting for you.”

She winced. “March?”

Darby shook her head. “Fordham.”

“Right.” Kerrigan sighed. “I do need to talk to him.”

“Try to rest. I’ve been doing some reading about healing magical ailments, and anything that depletes your magic isn’t good.”

“Story of my life.”

Darby smiled at her and then opened the door, letting Fordham inside. He closed the door behind him but didn’t take the seat. He just stared at her with that guarded expression back on his face. She hadn’t ever wanted to see it again, and now, she was only going to make it worse.

“Hey,” she croaked.

“How are you feeling?”

She shrugged. “Like my magic depleted and I passed out.”

“I see. Did you have a vision?”

“No,” she whispered, staring down at the stone floor. “I didn’t. This happened when I was arrested, too. I didn’t have a vision then either.”

“That’s unusual.”

“I’m supposed to see Helly about it when I get home.”

“That’s a good idea.” He paused before taking a step forward. “What happened with March?”

She closed her eyes, wishing she didn’t have to say what was about to come out of her mouth. “We’re still engaged.”

Fordham froze. “I see.”

“It’s complicated.”

“I’m sure it is,” he said on a sigh.

“He had guards in Lillington. They found us in the hot springs.”

Fordham’s gaze turned stony. “Of course he did.”

“We were still engaged at the time,” she breathed. “And he threatened…”

He held up his hand. “I know precisely what he did. You don’t have to explain.” He laughed brusquely and turned from her. “It’s the curse.”

“Fordham, it’s not.”