She heard shadows of sounds—Apprentice—and these sounds, too, were cold and sweet. The splashing of waves in the dark.

Apprentice splashed around her. Apprentice. Apprentice.

Sometimes, too, Oracle.

And, once or twice, Alba.

Murmurings rose and fell—Did you see below? Did you see?

When the shadows finally gave way and light found her eyes, she did not know at first where she was. She was draped all in silk, lying on silk, cushions pillowing her body. Sunlight, streaming through the window, silhouetted the forms around her.

The shape of a man leaned over her. “She is awake!”

The rustling of bodies—many—hurried to her side.

Alba, unsure, still unable to see, tried to shift away from the hovering forms.

“Apprentice? Can you hear us, Apprentice?”

She licked her lips. Her mouth felt distant and dry. “Where—”

“Oh!” The bodies broke into hubbub. “She speaks! She speaks!”

A flurry of steps. More. The sunlight was blinding.

Memories, too, rushing suddenly to her—the fur-bound empty creature, the governor-advisor, his violent devouring—were blinding. Oh! The room spun as she tried to rise, the horror of what had happened coming to her all at once. The teeth. The eating. The gruesome macerations. The governor-advisor, oh… he’d been ripped apart…

“Rest, Apprentice! You’ve taken a terrible blow to the head.” Hands surrounded her, urged her back to the pillows.

Alba touched her forehead: a deep bruise. Something had knocked across her brow and cheek and left an aching lump. She tried to remember. Had the governor-advisor grabbed her? Yes, she seemed to recall—he’d tried to push her in front of him when the creature leapt at him. And then she had fallen. She felt her body, patting all over—no, she had not been bitten. The creature had not touched her at all.

“Can you tell us—” A half dozen heads leaned. “What was it attacked the governor-advisor? We’ve had all our men of science to see, and none can identify the bite or claw marks.”

“The king,” she murmured. “His emptiness.”

“The king? His emptiness?” The heads all questioned one another. “No, no. She must still be confused. Apprentice.” They leaned again. “It was a beast. Some brutish creature. Not the king, for he’s missing as well. Did you see the king, Apprentice? Did you see the creature attack him?”

Alba shook her head. She stared at the bobbling heads, beginning to recognize them now as advisors. “Where is the girl Rae?” she asked. “Where is the wolf?”

Their whispering hummed over her, uncertain. “We’ve found no wolf or girl, Apprentice.”

“They were below.”

“No, Apprentice. No one is below any longer.” They drew closer. “But how did you come to be locked away in the palace? How was such a gross error made?”

Again, Alba shook her head. “My prophecy,” she said simply, knowing the answer was inadequate.

“Apprentice…” The heads hesitated. “We’ve seen what you’ve written below—everything you’ve marked on the walls. About the king, the heirs. All you know of the realm. The palace scribe was adamant in making a copy. We sent word to the priests.”