The scene shifts again, and I’m no longer in Annika’s memories—I’m in her thoughts. I see everything like I’m watching the world from above. I see the Labyrinth in so many of its forms, and then I’m winding through Victory’s streets as if I’m a bird that’s taken flight. I see festivals, and ballrooms, and buildings I somehow remember. I see the Colony when it was new; I see what it took to build it.

I see the Resistance, and their struggle, and their desperation.

I see humans falling in battle, their bodies being carried away by silver vehicles that shoot through the air in a blink.

And I see a city I’ve never seen before but know is the Capital. A procession of carriages. The faces of the four princes.

I can’t explain how I know them, but I do. I know their names, their courts. It feels like in this moment, I understand everything.

Prince Ettore of War. His hair is wild and black, like flames hissing at the air. He wears his colors—deep red with burgundy armor and thick rubies set in his black gauntlets. A pair of knives sit at his sides, both of them lit with an eternal fire that hisses from their sheaths. On his head is a crown of bone and bloodred diamonds, each tip sharpened and dangerous. Everything about him is long and lean, and his smile is as wicked as his court’s reputation.

Prince Damon of Famine. His eyes are an unnatural violet, his long, braided hair the color of the deep sea. With heavy eyelids and a warm olive complexion, he is stoic in his carriage, like a phantom in a painting. He wears his house colors with silent pride—a high-collared black tunic fit close to his body, allowing him to move like a wraith in the darkness, and a thin black cape embellished with the faintest gold threading. A crown of black coral twists around his head, and dark ink swirls across the left side of his face.

Prince Lysander of Death. The brother whose court no human has returned from. Dark skin, broad shoulders, and hair cropped short, he wears a crown more elaborate than all his brothers. Made of gold blades that spike through the air like antlers, it boasts an enormous emerald in the center, surrounded by crystals in every shade of green. His house colors—a pale chartreuse—are apparent in his loose-fitting garb. Simple in comparison to his headdress, his arms remain bare save for the golden coils around his biceps. The material at his waist is cinched with a studded belt, and layers of green silk hang down to his feet.