With shaking hands, she grabbed the history book, flicking through to find the passage she needed.

Sometimes revolution can occur within the nation itself. This is rather common. What is not common is for unanimous provision in said overthrowing, as in the case of Alexis Wolfson of Maradova, who on 12 August 1589 overthrew the current ruler and was met with unbridled support, even from within the palace. Rumour went so far as to declare that when he seized the throne, flowers bloomed and the sun shined in Maradova for the first time in ten years.

Lottie felt dizzy. Everything plummeted into place.

The numbers weren’t codes or combinations or anything to do with her dorm room. It was so much simpler. They were dates, and not just any dates – they corresponded to the Maravish Golden Flower Festival, held every ten years to celebrate the day Alexis Wolfson had seized the throne.

Lottie didn’t know what the plan was and she didn’t know how they intended to execute it, but she knew with gut-wrenching certainty that whatever terrible thing Claude had in store for them would happen during the ball this summer.

Moving with desperate speed, as if her life depended on it, Lottie raced out of the library. It was the fastest she’d run since she’d been chased by Ingrid in the Rose Wood, her feet flying over the cobbled path as if she was light itself – because she had to get to Ellie. She had to warn her.

Reaching Ivy Wood, she bolted up the steps, aching from the effort of sprinting so hard, and she pushed the door open with so much force it banged against the wall.

‘Ellie, I figured it out. Claude –’ But Lottie stopped short, the words drying up in her mouth while her breathing continued ragged and confused, sure her mind was playing tricks on her.

Ellie wasn’t there. And nor were any of her belongings.

Where her and Ellie’s stuff usually blended together like a Rorschach print, there was nothing. Everything that wasn’t Lottie’s was gone. The only thing to show that Ellie had ever been there at all was the sun-bleached paint around where her posters had hung and a stain on the wooden floor where she’d once spilled ink. Other than the shadows of her presence, Ellie was gone. All her angry teenage rebellion and passionate pop-culture references had vanished, leaving the room cold and empty. Lottie’s things looked lifeless without Ellie’s, only taking up a small amount of the space in the wide half-empty room.

Lottie started backing out, still not understanding.

Samuel? she thought. Where’s Samuel? When had he stopped being at her side?

It was right after she saw Ellie in the hall. He hadn’t followed her to the library, so he must have gone with Ellie. She had to find them.