“They started pouring oil on the floor and ripping down all the tapestries we’d worked so hard to clean and hang. I still can’t remember when I started seeing the fire.

“And then, suddenly, there was someone in front of me, gripping me by my arms. I remember looking down at his hands, thinking they were too big for any human to have. I had bruises from the way he held me later, but I didn’t even feel them at the time. I waited for the sword. But he just kept looking into my eyes, and after studying me for a minute, he grabbed another man in black. The second man looked at me and nodded, and the man who had me by the shoulders shoved me toward the door. After he pushed me, my legs worked enough to get me to the front of the manor. I tripped over Saul on the way out. He was so still, but I didn’t see him until I was on the ground and looked back to see what I’d caught my foot on. I reached back to shake him, but he was already gone.

“By then I had to crawl. I crawled through the front doors and down the steps and into the bushes. My head started racing. I was alone. They let me live, and I couldn’t figure out why. I was prepared to die, Hollis. I always knew it could come. It’s the living when everyone else has left that makes it so hard.”

I nodded. “That I understand.”

Her hands were finally warming up in mine. “My mind was a wreck, but I tried to make a plan. I was asking myself where I could go, what I could do if I was all alone now. I figured I’d have to go back to Isolte. No one looking like me was going to stay in Coroa peacefully on their own. So, I figured I’d steal a horse, go north, and sneak back into Isolte through Bannir. I could live in the country, and no one would know I was an Eastoffe, and I could just grow old. Since I was a little girl, Hollis, I never knew if I’d have a chance to grow old. I am determined now. I will.”

“Of course you will. By the end of this, we’ll have answers, justice. That man will never do this to another living soul,” I vowed.

She kissed my hands, still clutched tightly to hers. “That’s why we need you, Hollis. That’s your part. When you decided you wanted to marry a king, you made it happen. When you changed your mind and wanted a boy from Isolte, you made that happen. When we told you to stay put and you didn’t like it, you made us take you. You tend to work impossible things together. Don’t overlook that,” she said.

I closed the gap between us, embracing her. “How lucky was I to get you?” I said. “Stay here tonight, please. After hearing that and with all that’s on my mind, I don’t think I could manage without you.”