“What?” Ren flung back her covers. Leaped to her feet. “Why?” Was this the heir’s doing? When drowning Ren didn’t work, when the girls all began to shield themselves from curses, had the heir turned to another method of destruction?

“Lie down,” Mama barked. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you. You’re in no condition to go running around the Keep.”

Ren caught the bedpost. For an instant, spots danced at the edges of her vision. She blinked once, twice, and her sight cleared enough for her to grab her dressing robe. Normally she’d never be seen in public like this—hair sticking up in every direction, the black-and-silver robe contrasting horribly with her pale pink sleeping gown.

But news of her sister’s arrest drove all other concerns from her mind.

“I need to see Akeylah.” Akeylah would know what had happened. Together, they would find a way to save Zofi. Fight back, if this arrest was indeed the heir’s doing.

Mama caught her wrist. “Ren, you mustn’t get mixed up in this. Rumors are already circulating—they say Zofi may have had something to do with the Eastern rebellion, or possibly even Prince Nicolen’s death.”

One of those, Ren thought. The other was all me.

Technically, she didn’t know that Zofi killed the Silver Prince. But it didn’t take a genius to piece it together. Not after Zofi begged Ren to free her friend, who’d been accused of Nicolen’s murder, from the dungeons. Zofi swore her friend was innocent. How could she have been so certain, unless she knew who the real killer was?

They all had secrets.

“I’m already mixed up in it, Mama. As you just reminded me, family bonds are irreversible. Zofi is my sister, like it or not.” Ren tore her arm free and grabbed the doorknob.

“Florencia,” Mama said in an entirely different voice. “Stop.” Startled, Ren glanced over her shoulder. Her mother’s expression had gone cold and hard. It was a look Ren had seen before, though never directed at her. The mask Mama put on when she was spoiling for a fight.

“You said if I told you the news, you would explain what happened in the baths. Before you scurry off to the sister you suddenly love so dearly, you owe me this much.”

Ren searched her mother’s face. Waited for some crack, a hint of sympathy. She found no quarter. So Ren lifted her chin, and gave none in return. “You will have your explanation once I am satisfied it is safe to give it to you. It’s for your own good.” Her mother stormed forward, but Ren slammed the door on her outraged shout, and hurried toward the mahogany tower.

5

Akeylah