There were voices in the royal wing. And as soon as she began paying attention, her skin broke out in bumps at the familiar deep voice she heard just a few steps away.

“No,” Cassius Locke snapped. “Don’t kill either of them. I want to question them. And don’t put them in the dungeon either, not until we know how they got the girl out before. Go. I’ll follow shortly. I want to be the first to speak to them.”

Aurora locked eyes with Sly and her stomach sank. She heard the heavy footsteps of the departing soldier, but nearby a door opened and closed quickly. She took the chance to undo the latch and slide open the wooden door of the passageway, and she curled her fingers carefully around the tapestry that hid their position.

A quick peek revealed an empty hallway, but only moments later the door to what had been her private rooms for eighteen years opened sharply, and the tall, dark form of Cassius Locke emerged. His hair was longer than the last time she saw him, less regal, edging on unkempt. He wore all black, just like she had remembered, but patches of his tunic had been singed away, revealing reddened, burned skin. His hard face was smeared with ash, but his eyes were set with determination as he closed the door to her rooms and stalked down the hallway.

To interrogate the friends she had left behind.

She released the tapestry as though it had caught flame like so much of the rest of the palace, and clamped her palm over her mouth until her lips ground painfully into her teeth.

When the hallway had grown quiet, Sly said, “We should go.”

Aurora did not have any other answer. She was tired of leading. Clearly, it was not something she did well. So she did as the other hunter said, and they slipped into the hallway and moved quickly into her mother’s room at the end of the hall.

Luckily, it was empty. No waiting soldiers. No unconscious maid.

No Jinx either.

Aurora held up her mother while Sly ducked out to check the balcony and confirm what they feared—their escape route was long burned. Sly came back, and her eyes fixed on the bed.

“The bedclothes will have to do. We can use them to wrap your mother and lower her down.”

Aurora nodded, still feeling numb, but she carried her mother over to begin the process. Sly laid out one linen blanket on the floor, and Aurora carefully positioned her mother on top. Efficiently, Sly rolled the queen onto her side and said, “Pull her knees up. We need her as small as possible.”