She was talking about Catherine. How much had she extracted from the witch before killing her? “You murdered her.”

“She gave me no choice. She should have learned the first time not to cross me, but still she insisted on meddling,” she said. “Now do you wish to see the truth? If not, it matters little to me.”

Except that I could see that it did. There was anticipation in her voice and an intensity in her stare that betrayed her. I might not have known her true identity, but that didn’t mean I didn’t know her. She wanted me to see what happened, but for what purpose, I wasn’t certain. To prove she wasn’t a liar? To gloat? Seeing wouldn’t change anything, but it would delay her plans, and maybe Tristan would think of a way to get free. I nodded. “Show me.”

Going back to her chest, Anushka extracted jars of dried plants that I did not recognize, putting a pinch of each into a basin, along with what I thought was a tortoise shell. On top of it all, she drizzled a dense and foul smelling liquid. With a touch of a lit candle the potion burst into flames, and she set the smoking basin between us.

“Look at me and inhale,” she said, and then in a different tone she added, “Remember.”

The smoke seared my nostrils, and with the word, magic rose in a torrent, from the earth, the sky, the flames, and the water they burned upon. Infinitely more power than she needed, but it was rich and heady on the air, ready for the taking.

Then the room fell away, and when I opened my eyes, I lay beneath the sun in the heat of summer. This was different from when I’d taken Catherine’s memory – then I had been but a witness. Now I was myself, but I was also her.

I lounged on a divan, my fingers trailing through grass so lush it felt like streamers of velvet. In the distance, the royal palace gleamed in the sun. It seemed far vaster than I remembered, but perhaps that was because I’d only ever seen it cloaked in shadow.

I – no, Anushka lay in the gardens, but they were not made of glass. Instead, a natural beauty that the trolls would later try to mimic with their art surrounded her. Flowers, plants, and trees all rose up in a wild yet cultivated abandon, and through her eyes, I drank in colors more brilliant than any I’d seen. Tiny creatures with gossamer wings flitted between the flowers, the blooms opening with the touch of their tiny hands. It was a charmed place, as magical as the garden that now stood in its place. Only her eyes were not for the flowers or their tiny gardeners, but for the troll approaching her.

I recognized King Alexis from his portrait, but no painting could capture the arrogance of the man walking toward me. His utter surety that he was the most powerful creature in this world, and by that right, would one day rule it all. Dropping to his knees next to the divan, he caught Anushka’s face between his hands and kissed her deeply. My mind clambered back and away from the feel of it.