Page 1

Chapter 1

Rosalie

“Can’t you go a little faster?” Rosalie gazed back at her friend, her hands on her hips.

Daphne sighed, her body visibly drooping and her steps slowing even further. Rosalie hurried back to her side, looping her arm through the other girl’s and tugging her down the road. If they kept walking at Daphne’s pace, it would be nightfall before they got anywhere.

“You were the one who said we should come out here to investigate in the first place!” Rosalie said as she tugged her friend along. “Can’t you put in a little effort to stay awake?”

Daphne’s eyes flew open at the accusation, her expression wounded. “I never suggested any such thing! I wouldn’t be so foolhardy. I merely said I saw something strange. You’re the one who dragged me out here.”

“Anyone would think we’d come ten miles instead of only one,” Rosalie cried. “But we’re nearly there. The castle is only a little further.”

Daphne allowed herself to be tugged along, despite the doubt in her voice. “Does it really count as a castle? A manor house at most, surely?”

Rosalie shook her head stubbornly. “The size doesn’t matter. It looks enough like a castle to count. Just think of all that gray stone—and it even has turrets! You can call it what you like, but as far as the Legacy is concerned, it’s a castle.”

“I don’t care if the Legacy considers it a castle or a pigsty,” Daphne said firmly. “We would both do better to stay far away from it. Especially you.”

Rosalie’s mouth set into lines of mulish determination. “Do you think I could sleep a wink with such a horrid specter hanging over me? The castle hasn’t been inhabited in more than a generation, and I just turned eighteen a week ago.” Her voice edged toward a despairing wail. “It can’t be inhabited now, of all times!”

Daphne groaned as Rosalie dragged her around the final turn. Spying a fence post, she slipped free of her friend and flung both arms onto it, resting her head on top. Her eyes fluttered closed.

Rosalie ignored her, too busy staring at the building that had come into view. It was still a fair distance from them, separated from the road by a long stretch of overgrown garden. But from their current angle, she could see down the sweeping, tree-lined drive to the front of the castle-like stone structure. And just as Daphne had reported, the heavy wooden door stood partially open.

“There can’t be a Beast here,” Rosalie moaned. “I won’t allow it!”

Daphne cracked one eye open. “Do you think you can prevent it through willpower alone?” Her curiosity sounded genuine.

Rosalie’s eyes remained fixed on the distant door. “I know you said it looked as if someone was here, but I thought…”

Daphne raised her head, roused from sleepiness to indignation. “Just because I like to take the occasional napdoesn’t mean I’m a fool. I can tell the difference between an open door and a closed one!”

Rosalie threw her a disbelieving look. “The occasional nap? If everyone from Oakden is as fond of sleeping as you are, I don’t know how your kingdom functions at all!”

Daphne shrugged and yawned. “We can’t all have as much energy as you, Rosalie. And you know I wasn’t as bad before I came to Glandore. It isn’t my fault the Legacies punish us for leaving our kingdoms.”

Rosalie’s eyes narrowed. It was true that the Legacies always inflicted discomfort on those who strayed beyond the bounds of their birth kingdom, and it was equally true that it was hard to predict what form that discomfort would take. It certainly wasn’t Daphne’s fault, but Rosalie did blame Daphne’s parents. Glandorians by birth, they had chosen to move to Oakden and have a child there. And when they had eventually grown too uncomfortable living outside their own birth kingdom, they had moved home to Glandore, bringing their daughter with them. Now Daphne, uprooted from her home kingdom, was the one suffering in their place.

Perhaps they thought it was acceptable because Daphne was merely sleepy, but Rosalie found it extremely trying. From what she had learned in school, the famous sleepiness of the Oakden Legacy wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near as severe as what Daphne experienced. The Legacy had magnified the effect to excessive levels when she crossed the kingdom’s border. But Rosalie also suspected her friend of taking advantage of the situation.

Daphne got noticeably more sleepy when she didn’t want to do something. Such as being dragged down the road from their town in order to examine the nearby derelict manor house.

It was a good thing Rosalie had enough energy for both of them. She had acquired it young thanks to the combinationof five siblings and the unwelcome attention of the Glandore Legacy.

“Do you think we should go closer and have a peek inside?” Rosalie asked, hearing the doubt in her voice. She believed in being proactive, but there was a fine line between staying ahead of the Legacy and provoking it.

She expected horrified disagreement from her closest friend but received only silence instead. Glancing over at Daphne, she sighed.

Daphne was asleep. Of course she was.

Rosalie worried at her lower lip as she gazed again at the small castle. Actually stepping onto the grounds did seem like a foolhardy move. But the longer she gazed at the lush garden, the more the roses that covered it seemed to glow as if lit from within. If she plucked a bouquet of them to take home for her mother?—

She froze, horrified. What was she thinking? She didn’t even like roses. She would be happy if she never saw another one again.

Rosalie growled, directing her ire at the faceless, mindless Legacy. The door of the castle was open and already it was trying to lure her in! But even the dimmest inhabitant of Glandore knew not to pick someone else’s roses. And Rosalie knew it better than most.

If she hadn’t been so worried about the door, she would have noticed the garden straight away. When she had walked past two days ago, it had been derelict and overgrown, as it had been every day of her life. But now it was bright and lush with fresh growth. It wasn’t just the door that had changed.