I closed the doors to the guest room with slow, deliberate care, mindful of every movement as I slipped back inside. My mother’s breathing remained soft and steady, undisturbed by my absence. The warm afternoon light spilled through the window, casting long shadows over the modest furnishings. She lay curled toward the golden glow, as if instinctively seeking its comfort. For a moment, I let myself believe she was safe, untouched by the weight pressing against my chest.

  But Tritetia’s words refused to leave me. They clung to my thoughts, whispering with the certainty of an inescapable fate.

  "When your mother dies, you’ll destroy everything."

  Tritetia’s vision had shattered any sense of security I had. I had not been naive enough to think that simply leaving Polec would guarantee my mother’s safety, but if Tritetia’s visions were true, then I hadn’t done enough to avoid her death. That if I didn’t do more, if I couldn’t shift the wheels of fate, my mother was still destined to die. A hot, familiar anger burned beneath my skin, seething just beneath the surface. My body ached with the urge to do something—to tear apart the neatly arranged furniture, to sink my claws into something and destroy it.

  But I didn’t have claws yet and so I closed my eyes instead. When I opened them again, the room was the same—quiet, still, untouched by my turmoil. I turned toward the window and pushed it closed, shutting out the evening air as the sun dipped lower on the horizon. The sky blazed with hues of amber and violet, its beauty at odds with the churning unease within me. Below, the gardens stretched in perfect symmetry, stone paths weaving between trimmed hedges and flowerbeds. It was all so controlled, so meticulously ordered, as if the palace itself defied the chaos I carried inside me.

  Tritetia had said that seers could not change their own visions, that they could only see ahead and then watch. But if someone else intervened—if I acted, if I took the knowledge she gave me and did something—then the future could change. That nothing was set in stone until it happened, and as long as I knew what to expect, I could prevent it.

  I knew nothing about Tritetia’s mother, or why she was fated to die, but I understood desperation. Understood the raw, suffocating fear and pain of losing the only person who mattered. She had looked at me with the same quiet anger and fear I had carried for five years and that, more than anything, told me she was just as desperate as me. I didn’t know anything about seers, but she had known enough about me to say exactly what I feared most.

  I took a deep breath, glancing at the mirror to see my expression. My eyes were mostly green, but I could see the specks of gold threatening to overtake them. I took a few deep breaths, doing my best to calm the storm brewing inside me. It took longer than I would have liked, but gradually, the gold dimmed, retreating into the familiar green. I had barely been in the palace for a full day, and already, my emotions were pushing me dangerously close to the edge. If I wasn't careful, someone besides Caspian would notice, and I couldn’t afford that.

  “Caspian,” I muttered, glancing out the window for any sign of the Crown prince and princess. I didn’t know if Caspian would mention seeing my eyes turn gold or if he even knew what that meant, but I would definitely need to confront him about it. Pretending to be a naive child was annoying, but I could just question him under the guise of thanking him for his help in the store. It would also be a good chance to learn more about the animosity between him and Yssac, and whose death had driven Isadora away from magic.

  A knock at the door snapped me from my thoughts. I turned just as the door opened, revealing Galene standing in the entryway with a small tray of food. She stepped inside with practiced grace, her green eyes immediately flickering to my mother’s sleeping form before settling on me.

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  “I see Lady Linota is resting,” she observed, her voice quiet but composed. She gave me a gentle smile and I carefully yawned as she set the food on the table in the room. “That’s good. Her Highness instructed me to ensure you both ate, but she also wished for you to rest after your journey.”

  “Is Princess Isa back yet?” I asked innocently, watching as Galene shook her head.

  “No, it’s likely her mother and father are having her stay with them tonight.” Galene took her time to unpack the tray and I noticed the way she seemed to be lingering. Had Isadora sent a message after all, or was this her own curiosity getting the better of her?

  “So she sleeps with her parents too?” I said innocently, expecting the laugh Galene gave in response to my question. She shook her head, amusement flickering across her expression.

  “Not quite.” She finally stood, facing me with the now empty tray. “But even a princess can’t refuse an invitation from the Emperor and Empress so easily.”

  I hummed, pretending to be satisfied with that answer, but I was already cataloging the information in my mind. So, Galene didn’t seem to expect that Isadora would be returning to her palace tonight. That meant whatever conversation she and Caspian were having with her parents was taking longer than expected and we wouldn’t get an answer about our situation until tomorrow at the earliest. Whether that was good or bad, I still didn’t know and I hated how I already wanted to ask Tritetia about it.

  Galene leaned down one more time, adjusting the placement of the plates with meticulous care. “I’ll leave this here for when Lady Linota wakes. Eat while the food is warm, little Master.”

  I beamed at her. “Thank you, Miss Galene!”

  She offered me another amused smile before turning back toward the door. I waited until it closed behind her before letting my expression drop, sighing as I rubbed at my temples. I wasn’t really hungry, but I knew better than to let the food go to waste. My mother would notice if I didn’t eat, and the last thing I needed was for her to worry. More than that, if my powers were returning sooner than expected, I needed to strengthen my body to withstand them. I hadn’t trained before, not when my mother was alive—she had wanted to keep what I was a secret. But I had already made sure that wasn’t an option and now I had the chance to master my powers

  As I sat down and began to eat, my thoughts returned to Tritetia’s offer. Tritetia had told me to try and join their game tomorrow and she would lose Valaine so we could talk. Despite her shyness, she had been completely serious when she had made her offer, and I couldn’t deny that it was enticing. A part of me wanted to dismiss it, to tell myself that I didn’t need her help. But the truth was, if she had already foreseen my mother’s death, then I needed to know everything—every detail of that vision, every thread of fate that bound my mother to her demise. I needed to know how much time I had left.

  I frowned as I took another bite, glancing back toward the door. What bothered me the most is she held all the control on our agreement. I would depend on her to tell me what to do, and whether or not she told me was completely up to her. I knew from her expression that she wanted me to save her mother, but once her mother was safe, what guarantee did I have that she would continue to help me? I needed to find something on Tritetia, some sort of secret that would put us on equal footing.

  I picked at the food in silence, listening to my mother’s gentle breathing as the room settled into quiet. The weight of everything I had learned pressed against my chest, making each bite of food taste dull. The thought of my mother’s death being inevitable, even after everything I had already done to change our fate, made my stomach twist uncomfortably.

  My mother shifted slightly in her sleep, and I turned to watch her, my gaze lingering on her peaceful face. I had been so young in my first life, too naive to realize how much she sacrificed for me. Back then, I had relied on her completely, trusting that she would always be there to keep me safe. But now I knew better; I knew that she wasn’t untouchable, that her kindness and quiet strength weren’t enough to protect her from the cruelty of men like Marquess Blackwood and his son.

  But I would be enough.

  I glanced toward the window, where the sky was deepening into shades of dusky violet. The garden below was quiet now, the two girls long gone from sight. Tomorrow, I’d get my answers. I just needed to make sure Tritetia wasn’t the only one with something to bargain with.