He strode ahead on the path, between ripples of white-hot glow.

Sophie pursued him, pumping with hope. In the trail light, she could see the slashed ink on her skin beneath the gold ring. This was the moment she’d been waiting for since she’d lost Tedros to Agatha two years ago. The moment to show her prince a love so deep, it had carved his name into her. And if she could only find a way to make him feel that love as deeply as she felt it . . . then maybe, just maybe, words could change a prince’s heart after all.

“At first, I thought all a queen does is choose china and throw cotillions and kiss babies at parades,” Sophie began. “But when I was with Rafal, I saw the way the other students looked at me. I wasn’t the old Sophie anymore, amusing and frivolous—I was the new Sophie, a girl who’d made something of myself. That’s what made them resent me, I suppose . . . they didn’t realize someone so young could be so extraordinary. It wasn’t as if I was born special or enchanted like them. All I ever had was a pretty face and a hunger to have a big life. And yet, I spent so much time fretting about the scale of that life that I forgot to ask what it should mean. That’s why I couldn’t commit to Rafal in the end. He might offer me immortality, infinite power, eternal love . . . but it was Evil’s love. And no matter how Evil he thinks I am, I still want to be Good, Tedros. Even if I have to war against my own soul until the day I die.”

Tedros’ eyes moved to her.

“There are two queens,” she said, her voice stronger now. “There’s the queen who doubts her crown. Choose her and you’ll forever distrust each other, sparring and bickering, because in her heart of hearts, she doesn’t want a queen’s life. Your father chose that queen and suffered until the end. Now you can go back to where his story went wrong and fix it. You can choose a queen who wants to be your queen. A queen who will fight for her people the way she fights to be with her king. The queen I couldn’t be for Rafal, because I’m meant to be that queen for you.”

Tedros stopped, gazing at her so intensely it was as if he was seeing her for the first time.

Heart throbbing, Sophie held his eyes, the mist of their breaths coalescing.

“If they see a king and queen doubting each other, they’ll lose faith in you,” she said. “But choose a new type of queen and they’ll see how a king should be treated: with unconditional love, respect, and loyalty. No one will give you those things more than me, because unlike Agatha, I never doubted you.”

“Sophie . . . ,” he whispered, touching her waist.