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“Then there is nothing to talk about,” I snapped, stepping around him and continuing my ascent toward the bath I desperately needed. He called my name again but this time I didn’t stop to face him, just waved a hand over my shoulder as I slowly slipped back into my own body. The body that did not let me forget—no matter how long I stayed outside of it—the pain I held just beneath its skin.

Chapter three

HYACINTH

Myeyessnappedopen,my head whipping toward the crashing sound at the other end of our quarters. Landers jumped from the bed, pulling a dagger off the side table as I pulled the silken sheets up to my chest.

“I know, I just need to talk to her. I’ll be fast.” Ata’s voice sounded from the sitting room on the other side of the double doors that led to our bedchamber. I could hear Elric trying to stop her from crashing into our room as I sighed in relief.

It was too early for this.

If Ata walked into our rooms with any face other than her own, I was going to unleash hell.

“Good morning, yourMajesty,” Ata drawled as the door swung open on its hinges, clashing with the marble wall. She bowed in mock respect then, smirking at Landers, she sauntered over to the end of the bed and sat.

Her features wereverymuch her own andmuchtoo animated for this early hour. I studied the fresh bruises scattered over her face—the eye that had been swollen shut.

I knew what that meant, knew where she had been tonight—whatshe had been doing tonight.

Landers dragged a hand over his face, setting his dagger back against the wooden table as he looked over at Elric.

“Andyouare the man I am entrusting the safety of my realm to? The man who cannot keep this feral woman out of our chambers at four thirty in the morning?” Landers asked.

I groaned at the time as Ata grinned up at Landers. Elric’s lips twitched upwards as he looked at the mischievous smile carved onto her face, then cleared his throat.

“In my defense, your Grace, she was wearing your face when she got past my men.”

Landers pushed a hand through his hair as he looked over at Ata for an explanation. She shrugged, picking at her nails as she sunk deeper into the bed.

Landers let out a long sigh, his shoulders relaxing as he pulled a tunic over his head and gestured for Elric to sit. I motioned for Ata to come sit next to me, under the blankets like we used to do, as I flicked my fingers toward the balcony doors, shutting them to lock out the crisp wind that had begun flowing in. She looked at me for one hesitant moment before turning her gaze back to Landers.

“What is it now, Changeling?” Landers asked as he settled into the chair across from Elric. A pillow flew toward him and Landers held two fingers up, stopping it inches from his face and letting it fall to the ground.

“Don’t call me that,” Ata snapped, chucking a second pillow across the room.

“Ata.” I tilted my head toward her, plastering a smile on my face, and in the sweetest voice I could conjure, asked, “What do you want?”

She rolled her eyes at my saccharine tone then looked down at her hands as she pulled a dagger from her belt and began picking under her nails. “I had the dream again,” she stated, the words sharp as they left her lips and my back straightened at the sound of them. “It was different.”

“How?” I forced my voice to stay steady as I glanced at Landers. He ran a hand over his face, his brows pulling together as his jaw tightened and met my eyes.

“It wasn’tmeburning this time, it wasyou.” Ata said quietly.

My skin chilled, my blood turning to ice as Landers stood.

“When was the last time you had this dream?” Landers asked, his voice hard as rose from the chair and began pacing in front of the fire.

“The last time I told you—two weeks ago. It has never changed before,” Ata said, watching as Elric’s hand tightened around the hilt of his blade.

“When Hyacinth was burning, where was she?” Landers asked, stopping his pacing and clutching the back of the chair he’d been sitting in.

Ata’s voice hardened as she answered. “In the throne room; sitting on your throne.”

Elric’s eyes flashed to me as Landers went wholly still—the fae stillness I only ever saw in him when danger was closing in. Landers’s eyes darkened as he absorbed Ata’s words, his grip on the chair tightening until his knuckles turned white.

“Then, it seems, the dream has changed for a reason.” He turned to Elric, his voice low—grave. “Get Dukovich to the war room immediately. We cannot push this conversation off any longer.” Elric stood, nodding as he turned for the door.

“Don’t youdare,” Ata hissed, sliding off the end of the bed, her tone menacing as she lifted her chin.