Whatever that squirm was, Rae knew it was not kind. She felt it twisting inside her, felt it twisting the way worms sometimes twisted through the insides of sheep.

Nothing she ate that evening from the table laden with delicacies tasted like anything other than dust.

L

EMPTY, EMPTY, EMPTY

The first night after the heir was revealed by the apprentice, the no-longer-a-boy-boy-king slept as he had not slept since he spent his days with the frogs under the hornbeams.

“At last.” He sighed into his pillows. “At last. Now might I escape the prophecy.” His sleep was as smooth as the silks on his bed.

The second night, he woke, just once, when the moon shone too brightly. “But what of the twin?” he wondered, gaze fixed on the moon-bright walls. “No.” He closed his eyes. “The twin is no more. She was found all alone.” He turned over and slept, and the next morning, he enjoyed his breakfast, the honey-drenched figs, the baked porridge cookies. “The heir is captured. The twin is no more,” he reassured himself, licking his fingers.

The third night, though, he tossed and turned. He called for cooked cream. He called for Governor-Advisor.

“Are you sure of this plan?” he asked, spoon jiggling with custard.

“Of course.”

“Because we must not harm her. The apprentice warned, we must not.”

The king did not like the way Governor-Advisor looked at him, the way he occasionally, even, rolled his eyes. I am not a child! he would silently protest, or, sometimes, even snap aloud, I am the king! But tonight he waited for Governor-Advisor to explain.

“We will not harm her. We’ve given her only what she’s requested. She stays with the wolf she has asked to keep. She eats from the same platters that feed you.”

“But she will not…” The king could not quite say the word.

“No. She will not live to threaten your rule. And yet—we do not harm her.”

“How will she…” The king still could not say it. “… if we do not harm her?” He could not grasp the logic.

“Does she have a wolf?” Governor-Advisor’s voice was thin with disdain.

“Yes.”

“And do we feed the wolf?”

“No.”

Governor-Advisor crossed his arms. His lip twitched. The king considered these two questions for a long time. “Ah!” he exclaimed at last.

This was reassurance enough that he slept nearly till noon.

On the fourth night, the no-longer-a-boy-boy-king could not quite determine what had disturbed him. Not the moon; it was behind a cloud. Not fear of the twin; he knew the twin had not lived. Not the worry they had not heeded the apprentice’s warning; Governor-Advisor always was wise. But something roused him. Something made him sit up in bed.

What is that sound?

Night silks trailing, he paced his chamber. He opened his door. He wandered the halls.

His feet were sticky, slapping on the cold stone.

He looked in the kitchens. He looked in the dining room. He listened at the door of Governor-Advisor.