The day after Gavaran’s warning, Sterling tucked her hair under a scarf and headed into the city. She may not have a solution to her shadow problem, but she could still work on the other one.

  The best way to figure out what her kingdom needed, she decided, would be to speak with the citizens. She didn’t believe they would speak openly with her if they knew who she was. Hopefully, by hiding her silver hair that was regaining a little more of its color every day, they would not recognize her.

  When Sterling left the castle grounds on foot, she realized she needn’t have worried about anyone knowing who she was. Not a single person, soldier or otherwise, looked in her direction.

  The first person she tried to speak with was a woman with a child a few years younger than her.

  “Excuse me. Might I ask you a few questions?”

  The woman’s eyes darted to her face and then away, looking over the street. The child stared at her boldly. If either of them knew who she was, they didn’t let on.

  “Make it quick,” the woman said, keeping her voice low. “I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

  “Why would you be in any trouble?” Sterling asked.

  The woman gave her a bewildered look. “Don’t you know the rules?”

  Sterling almost told her she didn’t because she was new to the city, but caught herself in time. If she’d said that, then the woman really wouldn’t speak to her. Like Ratha never had any visitors, Nyrene didn’t either. Kai had mentioned the kingdoms kept to themselves and while he had spent a lot of time away from Nyrene, looking for her, it was not normal for elves to do so.

  “Of course, I know,” Sterling reassured her. “I just meant that there isn’t anyone watching us.”

  The patrol had already passed by, and it would be a few more minutes before the next one came through.

  “You can never be too careful,” the woman said. “You never know who might be spying.” She looked Sterling up and down again, pausing on the scarf in her hair.

  Sterling had selected her plainest looking dress, but the scarf was a midnight blue silk with tiny red flowers embroidered around the edges. When she’d asked Iris what kind of flowers they were, the servant girl had told her they were rhododendron flowers, and she could have the real thing brought to Sterling’s rooms if she liked them.

  “Have you heard about the Queen’s return?”

  “I’ve heard plenty, and I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “What do you think of her?” Sterling couldn’t resist asking.

  “What do I think? I don’t think anything. We saw her once. If she really is the Queen, then why is the other still ruling? Is it because she allows it, or was she only a ploy?”

  Ssshow her, the voices hissed.

  Sterling ignored them. The point of this was not to make herself known.

  “But your magic has grown stronger, hasn’t it? If she wasn’t here, then you wouldn’t have your magic.”

  “Or was it another lie? Why should we trust anything? What can magic even do for me?”

  Boots sounded on the cobblestones behind Sterling.

  The woman grabbed the arm of her child and rushed off without another word.

  Sterling followed more slowly, allowing the patrol to pass her by. They looked her over as they went, but didn’t move to stop her.

  She continued on her walk through the city, stopping anyone she came across. There weren’t many on the streets and of those who were, very few wanted to speak to her. The ones who did echoed what the first woman had said. They’d seen someone declared Queen, but they didn’t believe it was real. They were also suffering under Gavaran’s rules. There were many complaints about long working hours and little to bring home to their families. Who was this benefiting? They wanted to know, because it was not them.

  Sterling wondered the same. Was this the Winter Queen’s doing? Or Gavaran’s? Was he trading with the humans or someone else? She did not know the answers to any of these things.

  Sterling returned to the castle defeated and with sore feet. What was she meant to do here? She couldn’t even help herself.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Show them what you can do. Make them bow to you. You will have control of all.

  Thankfully, the potion tasted like nothing, or this would have made things all the more unpleasant. Seraiah recalled how the world had spun before she’d fallen into the vision during her previous experience and hurriedly settled herself on the bed.

  With the potion vial still clutched in her fingers, she stared up at the ceiling. Her heart beat loud in her ears, but she knew it wasn’t an effect of the potion. Soon she would see her sister again, and the thought was terrifying. So many things could go wrong. Sterling might not even know she was there, or worse, the shadow living in Sterling would. She wished Kai had never suggested the possibility of the shadow using Sterling’s magic against her.

  Do not think of that now. Imagine the perfect scenario and that is how it will be.

  If this went perfectly, she’d find Sterling alone, and they could talk. She could tell her sister everything she had learned about the shadow creature and warn her to never use her magic or it would grow stronger. Perhaps she could even discover what Gavaran was planning. If she was especially lucky, she might learn of the Winter Queen’s plans as well and have something to report to the Summer King. They could settle this all in one vision and move on with their hunt for a way to remove the shadows.

  Darkness pulled at the edges of her sight, and the ceiling wavered as though it had turned to liquid.

  It is time, she thought as the darkness overtook all.

  When the darkness cleared again, it wasn’t Sterling she saw.

  It was Lonan.

  He was huddled in the corner, his back pressed against the stone wall behind him. His arms were wrapped around his knees, and a lantern sat at his feet, casting a small pool of light.

  The stale smell of the air made Seraiah think they were in the tunnel system around Metrius. But that couldn’t be right. Lonan couldn’t be here. He was dead.

  The last time Seraiah had seen him in a dream had been outside of the Unseelie Court. He had tried to warn her away from going, but she hadn’t understood what he’d meant. She’d thought it was another nightmare, forcing her to relive his death again. Another small part of her had feared it was the madness. She still couldn’t say for certain that it wasn’t.

  Seraiah stepped closer, trying to get a better look at him. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d seen a vision of the past. Maybe this was one of them.

  Shadows danced over Lonan as he rocked back and forth, mumbling to himself. This didn’t seem like the sort of behavior she remembered from him, but she couldn’t make out any sign of a wound on his chest. In fact, he looked exactly like he had on the day she’d met him.

  Fear danced down Seraiah’s spine. Did that mean this vision wasn’t real? Was this the madness taking her thoughts and twisting them to show her things that had never and would never exist?

  “Lonan?” she called. “Lonan, can you see me?”

  He stopped rocking. “Who goes there?”

  “It’s me, Lonan. It’s Seraiah.”

  He resumed his rocking.

  “Lonan?”

  He looked up at her, and no recognition sparked in his eyes. “Leave me alone, creature. Be gone with you.”

  “But Lonan, it’s me. I’m your friend Seraiah. Don’t you remember? You took me to find dragons. We survived cave beetles together.”

  He stopped rocking again. “Seraiah,” he repeated dully.

  “Yes, yes. Seraiah. Do you remember me?”

  Lonan’s face contorted, and this time when he spoke, his voice wasn’t his own.

  “Stop meddling in fate, little seer,” the Winter Queen’s voice spilled from Lonan’s mouth. “You will not win.”

  Darkness swooped in, folding her into its embrace, and Lonan disappeared.

  When it let her go again, Seraiah’s eyes immediately found Sterling. Gavaran wasn’t with her, but someone else was.

  Seraiah recognized him as the elf who’d grabbed Virelai. From what Virelai had said about him, he had the ability to bend light and make himself invisible. He’d also tricked Virelai into trusting him when the entire time he was feeding information to Gavaran.

  The two spoke in hushed tones, and Seraiah could only catch one word out of every three. They seemed to be planning some sort of meeting and were keeping it a secret from Gavaran. For a moment, Seraiah thought maybe Sterling had fallen into the same trap Virelai had. Then she noticed the way Cylan flinched away any time Sterling got too close.

  He was afraid of her.

  What had Sterling—no, the shadows—done?

  Whatever meeting they were setting up, Cylan didn’t seem to agree with, but he still said yes to Sterling’s demands. Her sister waved her hand in dismissal, ending the conversation, and Cylan stood to leave the room. He brushed past Seraiah without seeming to notice her on his way to the door.

  After he was gone, Sterling turned toward the windows, revealing her face for the first time.

  She may not have had bruises or a broken nose, but she didn’t look much better than when Seraiah had seen her in the underground prison after her kidnapping. Dark circles appeared under Sterling’s eyes, making her look like she hadn’t slept since the day she’d accepted Gavaran’s offer. The fancy dress and neatly plaited hair couldn’t hide her unhappiness.

  “Sterling.”

  Her sister didn’t respond.

  “Sterling, can you hear me? It’s Seraiah. Please, say something.”

  Again, no response.

  Sterling continued to stare out the window at the view of the ocean.

  Maybe she could try to touch her. Seraiah remembered how, in the prison, she’d been able to touch Sterling’s hand and her sister had felt it.

  Seraiah cautiously placed a hand on Sterling’s shoulder. As soon as her palm made contact, Sterling flinched away.

  “Stop it,” Sterling said. “Leave me alone. I will not let you take control again. I don’t need you anymore.”

  At first, Seraiah thought Sterling was speaking to her, but her sister’s eyes never focused on her.

  “Please,” Sterling begged. “Stop whispering to me. I don’t want to listen.”

  “Sterling, it’s me, Seraiah.” She reached out again, trying to take Sterling’s upraised hand.

  When their fingers made contact, Sterling ripped her hand away as if she’d been burned.

  “I said leave me alone,” Sterling screamed.

  Somewhere nearby, a door opened and closed, likely someone alerted by Sterling’s raised voice.

  Seraiah felt rather than saw a ripple of power burst from her sister, lashing out at her invisible enemies—lashing out at her.

  Before it could touch her, the vision dissolved.