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But sleep escaped her, sounds of scratching following her ears, the image of that shadowy being beckoning to her. And she knew that in the light of day she would need to investigate.

Enid blocked the hit from Kaemon’s sword, spinning and ducking to hit him on the back. But shadows swirled up and knocked her back, making her stagger to the ground.

“I’m so sorry!” Kaemon cried out, rushing to help her up.

She swatted his hand away and stood on her own, then jammed her finger into his chest. “That was amazing, don’t ever apologize for knocking me over while sparring. If I underestimate you and you knock me down, then I earned it.”

Kaemon grimaced. “I still hate it.”

She grinned and patted him on the back. His magic was getting stronger and stronger each day he was here. Which made her theory seem more plausible. Kaemon’s lack of powers had been due to the lack of magic in Nemus. Enid had never thought that the lack of magic could cause so many problems to them, only for sinks or conduits, but since Kaemon had been in Nemus during his formative years, it could have stunted his ability to draw power to himself. She hoped it wasn’t permanent.

“You’re getting better,” a deep voice said.

Enid looked to the entryway of the barracks and saw Dryston standing there, staring at them with that same distant and disbelieving look on his face that had rested there often since seeing Kaemon wasalive. He seemed to tread around Kaemon carefully, as if afraid that if he moved too hastily, the mirage would disappear and Kaemon would be dead to them again. Enid’s heart ached at knowing how much choosing to save her had cost her brothers. All the better. Why say it out loud? Now that Kaemon was back, maybe it was best to ignore it all and let the regret die away. She only hoped it could.

Kaemon grinned as Dryston walked over, pulling out his own sword. “Let’s see your footwork,” Dryston said.

Kaemon nodded, slipping into his defensive position.

“I’ll leave you two to it,” Enid said.

Dryston caught her arm as she walked away. “King Edond said to stay out of the forest.”

She flashed him a grin. She didn’t know how he knew what had been on her mind, but it was often like Dryston could just sense her rebellion, smell it in the air as if she were announcing it to the world.

“I’m not going to do anything dangerous, Drys, so you can just focus on training Kaemon.”

He nodded and let her arm go. She grabbed a towel to dry her face as she left. Servants milled about, bowing to her as she passed, which made her feel itchy. She just nodded at them, hastily making her way out the back. She knew Edond had told them to not go into the forest,that it was dangerous, but that was at night, right? Besides, how much worse could it be than what they’d already encountered? And she wanted to see where that being had been. See if she was now having waking nightmares, imagining things that weren’t there.

She snuck around the gardens so no servants saw her, no sneaky eyes that would report to her brother. She wasn’t afraid of the king finding out, but her brother? The twin goddesses themselves wouldn’t be able to stop his wrath.

She snuck around the back of the palace and out the gate, leaving a rock to prop it open for later. The forest looked like everything they’d encountered on the way up. Lush, beautiful, shadowy. A path greeted her, and she stepped onto it, wondering if she should follow it or make her own way. This was where she’d seen the being the night before. Her palms became clammy at the thought.

If others could trek out there, then it surely wasn’t so dangerous that she couldn’t. She continued on, making a note of her surroundings for when she came back through. She’d been held so long in The Darkened City that she felt her skin buzz with the excitement of doing this on her own. Out in the world, in a dangerous part of it, exploring. On her own. The freedom of it made her feel almost drunk.

Like she could do anything.

Be anything.

How in the world could she be deserving of someone like Avenay—the put together, intelligent seraphe, beautiful and smart and going places—when she had barely met herself yet?

Oh, everyone else knew Enid well enough. Everyone had names for her. Daughter of the Darkened City, Queen of Iniquity. Broken, reckless, worthless. Dryston had kept her from the royal guard for years because he couldn’t trust her.

And was she trustworthy? Enid didn’t even know. Because she’d never had enough freedom to prove to herself that even she could trust herself. Every rebellion had been her own way of trying to figure her own integrity out. And at every turn, someone had come along, ripping it away, telling her she was being reckless.

How in the world could she offer anything of worth to Avenay when she barely knew what she had to offer?

Snap.

Enid halted, ears attentive. She looked around and saw movement in the forest. She drew her bow swiftly.

“Don’t shoot!”

Onora came out of the brush, that signature frown on her face.

“Why are you following me?” Enid asked.

“I saw you sneaking about and figured it would be best to know why you didn’t want anyone to see you coming into the forbidden woods,” Onora said, crossing her arms and examining Enid. “Why were you sneaking?”