‘Tonight, I am going to Ciliria to meet with the Shadow Witch coven.’ Both of her friends opened their mouths to protest but she raised an assured hand. ‘I am not asking permission. I am informing you in case something happens – you will know where to search for me.’

The two stared at her with bewildered expressions.

‘I know it’s hard to understand, but I need to do this and I just –’

‘Sapphire, there is darkness in that forest – in those witches – that we can’t even begin to understand.’

‘I need answers, Evera. I have to go.’

‘No. You do not. You have a family, Sapphire. You are the crown princess and want for nothing. I have no idea why you’re so bent on unravelling this gift you’ve been given.’

Her tone was not harsh but steady, and Sapphire blinked, trying to find a reason the girl was wrong – but there was none. She looked at Kaian but he shrugged.

‘Evera is right. The risks outweigh the rewards.’

Sapphire leaned her head back against the chair, staring up at the ceiling. Evera was correct. They both were. She knew that. But she also knew that tonight was an offer that would not be extended twice. She knew if she didn’t get answers, she’d never stop thinking about it. Never find peace, not really.

They did not know the things she did … the feeling of the barrier, the lightning that bent at her control, the hairpin curve of Ashes’ lips … Sapphire did and she wouldn’t let them go.

‘I need to go. I’m not asking you to understand. But I – I want to know where I belong. Why I can do things others can’t. Why I disappeared to Witrotean and how I found my way back.’

Kaian and Evera exchanged a look – their resolve breaking.

‘I am going.’

‘Pig-headed, foolhardy, and certainly self-destructive,’ Kaian said with a sigh. ‘But I can’t, in good conscience, let you go alone.’ The two girls watched as he pushed away from the chair and headed towards the door.

‘Meet me on the shore when night has fallen,’ he called over his shoulder, slipping out of the room, the heavy door clicking closed on his heels.

The two girls sat in silence for a few moments until Evera took a deep breath.

‘Some questions are better left unanswered. Are you truly that unhappy?’

The question gave Sapphire pause, and she turned it over in her mind. Was she unhappy? No.

Sapphire knew what unhappy felt like. Cold nights, an empty stomach, a home too small for so many girls. This was not unhappy. But still, she couldn’t shake the crippling curiosity that brought her to this moment.

A childhood gone.

Powers she could not understand.

Chasing darkness was a risk, but it was worth it.

‘I fear, without answers, I’ll never truly feel like I belong. Here or anywhere.’