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“So light,” he said slowly, fascinated by their conversation but also aware of Rosalie’s nearness. “Is this how you feel all the time? Is this normal?”

“You’ll have to be a little more specific,” Daphne said with an amused look.

He grinned. “Now it’s my turn not to make any sense.” He thought for a moment, trying to find words to explain it. “I never thought anything was strange in the mountains, but then I’d never known anything else. When I crossed into Glandore, though, it felt like a weight had lifted off me, but I had no idea…” He paused, trying to sort out his thoughts. “I think maybe the discomfort of being out of the kingdom was like an extra weight, strapped to my shoulders and chest. A weight that was always there. And now feeling normal feels light by comparison.”

“It could have been worse,” Rosalie said matter-of-factly, and Dimitri suddenly wondered how the Legacy had affected his mother. What had she suffered in silence, never letting on to her young son? What could have driven her to such lengths?

“I knew there was some sort of enchantment at work in the kingdoms,” he said. “There were enough hints dropped to pick up that much. But I always thought of it as a terrible curse that made the kingdoms into a monstrous place.” He looked around at the trees which crept toward the road now that the town had ended and at the roses that lined the verge. “It doesn’t look so monstrous to me.”

“It is a curse!” Rosalie said explosively, startling him and pulling his attention back to her.

“Well, I suppose it started out as one,” Daphne amended. “What we have left now—the Legacy—is more like the echo of a curse.” She eyed the closest patch of roses. “A very odd echo.”

“You must have read the history of each kingdom,” Rosalie said. “About the first royal families?”

Dimitri nodded. He had focused most on Glandore, but he had at least skimmed the histories of the other kingdoms.

“So you know they founded beautiful kingdoms, unmarred by war or conflict. Except each of them fell prey to some sort of dark enchantment, and now the…echoes”—she glanced at Daphne—“of their stories have sunk into the fabric of their kingdoms. That’s the Legacies. It was many generations ago, but we all experience the consequences of their mistakes and suffer alongside their suffering.”

“And we get the benefit of their triumphs,” Daphne added, seeming much less gloomy about the whole topic than Rosalie. “Personally I like roses. And the birds too.”

Birds? Dimitri tried to remember any mention of birds in the histories he’d skimmed but couldn’t. There had been a lot of material, and his mind had still been reeling from the day’s experiences.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Rosalie gave a strangled sigh. “Who could like roses?”

“I like them.” Dimitri looked down at her, wondering if his face gave away that it wasn’t only the botanical kind he admired. “They don’t grow in the mountains, and I think they’re beautiful.”

Rosalie rolled her eyes. “You would.”

Daphne gave a strangled sound that might have been a suppressed laugh. But when they looked toward her, she was regarding them with her usual air of languor.

“We’ve gotten off topic,” Rosalie said briskly, taking back control of the conversation. “Roses are beside the point.” She frowned. “Or well, not entirely. But the crucial point is that you now know about the Legacy. So when are you going to leave?” She looked at him expectantly.

“Leave?” He stared at her blankly.

She propped her hands on her hips. “You can’t possibly mean to stay! Do you want to end up a witless beast?”

“Err, no. Naturally not,” he said. “But I can’t leave. For one thing, I have nowhere else to go.”

“You’re part of the royal family, and you own an entire castle! Of course you must have somewhere else to go.”

“My lineage might be descended from royalty, but the only relative I’ve ever met is my mother. And she recently died.”

He hadn’t meant to state it so baldly, but the information immediately dimmed Rosalie’s indignation.

“Oh,” she said softly. “I didn’t realize. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” he replied. “It wasn’t sudden, so we had time to say our goodbyes. But even so, she didn’t tell me anything about my family or heritage. I only discovered it from her papers after her death. So if I did want to foist myself on the royal family, I don’t have much in the way of proof. None of them will know me.”

“There’s the castle,” Daphne said. “That supports your claim. Don’t you think, Rosalie?” She glanced down the road in the direction of the manor.

“I’m not sure,” Rosalie replied. “I’d have to see it again today to compare any differences, I think.”

“Please!” Dimitri said promptly. “Be my guest.”

Her eyes narrowed, her face closing off. “Don’t think I’m setting foot in the grounds of that castle ever again!” Her eyes wandered down the road. “But maybe we could just walk past and have a look…”

Daphne grinned knowingly. “I told you that you can’t leave anything alone.”