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Kolfinna wanted to tell him he was being too rude, but even she leaned in to hear the answer to that.

“You don’t understand what it’s like to be trapped here for so long.” Revna folded her hands over the table, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “I’ve gone centuries without seeing anyone. I felt the presence of two people—you both—and I … I craved that connection. It’s been so many years since I last spoke to anyone.”

“I’m so sorry,” Kolfinna whispered. “That must be terrible. I can’t even imagine the loneliness.”

Blár studied her with a scowl but seemed satisfied enough with that answer.

“It is terrible,” Revna sniffed. “Rune magic can’t work without a source of mana. How else do you think this castle, even abandoned as it is now, is running still? There always needs to be a power source for any type of magic. We—my sisters and I—are that power source. We’re running the Black Castle with our bodies and mana, without our consent, of course. Our magic is leeched and used to preserve the castle, this dimension, andallthe dimensions in this castle.”

“We were in a dimension before this one, and we didn’t run into any of your ‘sisters,’” Blár said.

“There are dozens of dimensions in the Black Castle and there are only ten of my sisters, myself included. It only makes sense that some of those dimensions don’t have my sisters in them. But regardless of that, we still run this whole place. Whether we’re in a specific dimension or not.”

“Is there any way you can break free?” Kolfinna asked.

“No, unless someone else helps me.” Revna smiled sadly at Kolfinna. “Unfortunately, I don’t think you have a high proficiency in rune magic, do you?”

Kolfinna shook her head. “No … I don’t. Rune magic is a lost magic. No one really knows how to use it.”

“That’s a shame. It was a backbone of our society. Everything ran because of rune magic.” Revna sighed, suddenly looking very bone-weary. “Such a shame indeed … If you’d like, I can teach you.”

“Let me guess?” Blár’s voice was like steel against Revna’s vulnerability. “You want Kolfinna to learn rune magic so she can free you?”

Revna matched his cold stare and she regarded him silently. Kolfinna felt the air stir uncomfortably as the two shared frigid looks with one another. Finally, Revna spoke, “Why, of course. I’ve been trapped here for centuries. I would like to be released from here. I don’t think it’s unreasonable. Kolfinna needs to learn how to use rune magic if she wishes to survive in the Black Castle. Not to mention that it’s part of her heritage! She’s a fae. Do you wish to rip that part away from her? The purpose of the Black Castle is to help sharpen your rune magic abilities. I’m surprised you both made it so farwithoutusing rune magic.”

Kolfinna didn’t miss the suspicious gleam in Blár’s eyes, nor the way his mouth tightened in rage. She reached forward without thinking and placed her hand over his. His cold eyes shifted to hers and she gave him a pleading look.Please, she tried to say through her eyes.

She waited for him to lash out, to rip his hand away from hers, but he did no such thing. He only flattened his lips together, clearly not happy with the idea of it. Kolfinna clung to his silence, relieved. She doubted an opportunity like this would ever come her way again. What better way to learn the lost rune magic than to have someone well versed in it teach her?

Kolfinna withdrew her hand from his and bobbed her head. “That sounds fair. I would love to learn.” She practically sat on the edge of her seat. All thoughts of the Black Castle and their trials were forgotten as she imagined herself wielding rune magic. The imagery was exhilarating; she wanted to touch back to her roots. To be a fae without fear. “Maybe even now.”

“I love your enthusiasm, but I think we can try tomorrow. You’re exhausted.”

“Ah …” Kolfinna sank back in her seat, her excitement deflating. “All right.”

“Don’t look so sad! You’ll feel a lot better if you rest and then we try tomorrow. Rune magic will drain you, trust me. You’ll need the rest.”

Blár sat rigidly, as if the seat could never be comfortable enough for him. Thankfully, he didn’t object, though he sure looked displeased. Kolfinna’s gaze cut over to the window on the wall; golden inscriptions wove over the glass from the outside in hundreds of horizontal lines. She turned back to Revna and tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

“Um, I feel fine, so we can definitely start now, but if you think it’s better to start tomorrow, that’s fine too …” Kolfinna folded her hands atop the table. “Oh, and I did have another question that was bothering me.”

“What is it?”

She glanced at Blár. “We actually came with a party of people, but for some reason, only Blár and I were warped here. I don’t know where the others went. But during our first trial, we were all warped to the same location—a ship. Why is it different now?”

Revna’s gaze shifted between the two of them and she seemed to weigh her options carefully before picking a grape from the fruit bowl. “Were you two in a separate room than the rest of the party?”

Now that Revna mentioned it, Kolfinna had pulled Blár aside to ask him something while the rest of the party moved forward to another room. “Yes.”

“There’s your answer.”

“Why did we get warped, though, and not everyone else?”

“It happens at a random time, but once a day, people are teleported into a dimension within the Black Castle. Each room is linked to a different dimension. If you happen to be in that room when the time for being warped happens, you’ll get warped. Simple as that. Some rooms are immune to that, but you’ll know which rooms they are because they’ll be written on the walls.”

“You seem to know an awful lot about this place,” Blár said slowly.

“Yes,” Revna said with an exasperated sigh. “I would know a lot, considering I’ve been trapped here for so long. But I also trained here when I was younger and taught here too.”