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Kaelis takes a step forward, closing on my personal space once more.

His chest swells to the point that I think I am about to see the usually in-control prince lose his temper.

But, when he speaks, his words are soft.

“And how much worse do you think it was when my father had unfettered access to the world’s Arcanists before I was at the helm of this institution?

If he made his own son give up his future, do you think he used strangers more gently? ”

Realization strikes. “You’re not looking for the World for him, are you?

” Kaelis simply holds my stare as a response.

I’d always assumed the entire royal family to be at the behest of King Naethor Oricalis—operating as one.

When he doesn’t speak, I fill the silence, waiting for him to tell me I’m wrong.

“Maybe your father did task you with finding the World…but it’s not for him. You’re doing it entirely for yourself.”

“Precisely. And you are essential to my plans.”

“Why me ?” The way he says it further emphasizes that my role in this is more than just my being one of the last, formerly missing Majors.

Kaelis leans forward, forcing me to lean back. His arms frame me. The glow of the statue softens the usually harsh lines of his face.

“You are the Wheel of Fortune, the least understood Major because your power is luck itself—changing fate. That luck has given you the ability to craft any Minor Arcana with any ink.”

My escape from Halazar, the inks available to me then…even Glavstone giving me fewer and lower quality supplies across the months. My suspicions were right: It was all a test .

“Every Major Arcana will ink from these waters a single golden card.”

“Not silver?” I’d understood silver was the sign of a successful Major card.

“Silver signifies Major cards that can be used. Normal cards. The one inked here is special— gold. It is a card that captures the Major’s entire essence, and only this card can be used to summon the World itself.

These cards can only be inked once, cannot be cast, and there is only ever one in existence.

The Arcanist who can place all the Major cards in their slots and offer a vessel for the World to take shape within will be the one to claim its powers.

” His fingers slide across the grooves of the divot at my side, the one for my card, the Wheel of Fortune.

“I have thirteen of these golden cards—soon to be fifteen, when you and Sorza perform your task. I’ve gathered them either from seeing the individuals through the academy myself or by bringing them here to ink from the waters of the World. ”

“And the other five?”

“No one has the Star yet. My father has the other four.”

“He didn’t make you give up your gold cards?” My words are steeped in skepticism.

“They were inked before me, not him, so they fell into my hands. And he thinks them safe with me.” Kaelis shrugs in a manner that betrays he finds his father foolish for that thought. “And neither of us can summon the World without all the cards.”

“So it’s a stalemate,” I murmur under my breath. His father demanding the cards could potentially put him at odds with his son who controls all magic. A risk that, unless he was about to use the cards, would not be worth it.

“Which is where you come in. I cannot get these cards for myself, and my father would never give them up. But…” He dips his chin slightly.

“Never before has there been an inker like you. Never have I met someone so lucky that the only way for even a prince to capture them was with an elaborate trap.”

“But only a Major can ink their own card.” I remember what the others told me earlier.

“A card that works, yes.”

“You believe that with my skills, I can make convincing counterfeits of all the four Major Arcana your father has.” I’m finally seeing the design of the web I find myself in. “You plan to steal them.”

“Very good.” The praise rumbles up the back of his throat. My body tries to shiver in response, but I refuse to let it.

“My father will visit on All Coins Day. We’ll find an opportunity to get you close to him; he’s never without the cards on his person.

He’d die before he let someone else hold on to them.

” Kaelis rolls his eyes. I bite back a remark that killing the king could be a compelling option.

“Once you see the cards, I trust you’ll be able to make the fakes.

I’ll give you the rest of the year to perfect your work.

Then, at theball for the Feast of Cups, we’ll make the switch.

He’ll be none the wiser, and I’ll have everything I need to call upon the power of the World. ”

“What about the Star?” The last missing Major.

“I know where the Star is.” Kaelis shrugs nonchalantly. “Not something you need to worry about.”

“And the ‘vessel’ for the World?”

“Leave that to me as well.”

“If you want me to work with you, you can’t leave me in the dark about everything.” I frown.

“I’m hardly ‘leaving you in the dark’ given everything I’m telling you—showing you.

” He motions to the statue behind me, but I don’t turn, keeping my eyes locked with his.

“You have a hard enough task ahead of you, I think. Stay focused on that, and when you are successful, we will move on to the next part of the plan.”

We. I haven’t lost sight of who still holds the power in this arrangement. But…something is different about this interaction. Something has shifted between us. He is telling me more. And, if all he says is true, he’s letting me know of a treasonous plot.

“Fine,” I say, for now. I can research this “vessel” on my own time anyway. I’ve a lot of information-hunting on the World ahead of me.

“All I need from you are your skills as an inker. Show me what made you so in demand in Eclipse City’s underworld.” He levels his eyes with mine once more. Even though he’s not touching me, I feel him along my entire body. An errant desire to touch him flits through me, and I quickly banish it.

“Did you destroy the Starcrossed Club?” I whisper. It’s so easy to blame him for everything, yet every time I try…my accusations unravel.

“I never touched it.”

Somehow, I continue to believe him. “What’s in it for me? If I help you, what do I get out of it?”

“Beyond being engaged to a prince and all the comforts that come with it?”

“You’re remaking the world; you can do better than that. I don’t even have a guarantee our engagement will stick after you get what you’re looking for from me.” Every steadying breath nearly has my chest brushing into his. I blame Halazar for how hyperaware I am of his proximity.

“I can give you what you know you always wanted.” His eyes are alight with amusement. “A new world, a better one. One where Arcanists are free to do as they please.”

I consider it, but only briefly. “Empty promises.”

He’s not surprised in the slightest by my skepticism. Eyes lazily trail down my face and land on my lips. “What must I do to prove to you that I need not be your enemy?”

I can’t stop myself from licking my lips, the attention making me realize how dry they are. “Change your name—your destiny. Give up the Oricalis Kingdom entirely when you remake the world. Shatter it.”

“Give me the World, and I will. Gladly. ” His eyes bore a hole straight through me, as if he can see everything I am and have ever been. All my thoughts.

“Arina.” I keep my focus. “While I’m helping you, help me find her.”

“Done.” Given that he offered as much earlier, it’s good to see he’s consistent.

I search his face. Instinct is screaming not to give in to him. But what other choice do I have? This might be my best path forward in so many ways. “You didn’t have anything to do with her disappearance?”

“No, I swear it.”

I still don’t know if I can trust him. Why would he admit to possibly harming someone who I’ve made clear is important to me? After all, he needs me, and that truth—if it were true—would result in him losing my compliance. Which also means it’d be pointless to ask outright about my mother.

But I can leverage my proximity to him to continue my own investigations into her disappearance. Like I told Silas, Use them. The crown sees us as tools. It’s only fair.

If Kaelis is speaking the truth, then he will use the World to rebuild things and make them better. That’s the bare minimum outcome. Hopefully my inquiries have led him to believe I have faith in that.

Meanwhile…at the very least, I will find out the truth of my mother’s death. Uncover what happened to Arina. And find a way to steal the World for myself. That’d be the best outcome.

“So, will you help me?” Kaelis arches a single brow. “No more sparring or resisting, and we work as a team?”

“Very well,” I say reluctantly, reminding myself over and over that this is a means to an end. Nothing more.

“Good.” Kaelis pushes off the pedestal and his arms glide away, no longer framing me.

I’d forgotten how cold this cavern was, and it highlights how warm his body is.

He looks me up and down one more time, but there’s a shift in his expression.

Something more thoughtful. Almost sincere. “Now let’s find you something to eat.”

“What?” The change in his demeanor has me startled.

“You still look like a breeze might blow you over.” He must really believe everything I said and see us as a partnership. “I prefer my women with more substance.”

“I don’t care how you prefer your women.”

“The way you looked at me just now said otherwise.” He smirks, and I scowl.

Kaelis waits until I open my mouth to tell him off before he speaks again.

“Besides, you’re not going to prove to all of them just how talented you are if you pass out in your first week, and I know you missed dinner.

” He must have been looking for me in the main hall.

“So come, eat an early breakfast, then rest some before your morning class. We have work to do, you and I. But I will not have you suffering further through it.”

“Have I suffered enough already for his highness?” My usual bitterness returns readily.

Kaelis’s expression falls and turns serious once more. His hands twitch, as though he wants to ball them into fists. There’s rage simmering in his eyes, but not for me… Who? I wonder.

“I thought we were past this,” he mutters.

“You can’t sweep a year of Halazar away with a few words.”

“ I never wanted you to suffer there. Were I able to remove you sooner, I would have. But I couldn’t risk it before the Fire Festival. The engagement alone wouldn’t have been enough. You needed the protections of the academy as an initiate, then student.”

Once more, I nearly believe him. If we’re to work together, then maybe I want to think that I’m not making a deal with my mortal enemy. But I can’t let him get the better of me. He’s already wormed his way too far under my skin for one interaction.

“Clara—”

“I’d like to leave,” I say firmly. I might be his reluctant partner, for now, but I’m not his lapdog. “Show me the way back to the dormitories.”

To my surprise, Kaelis does. He guides me through the passageways up to a point at which he ventures no farther.

The prince tells me how to find my way from there and leaves me with a respectful tilt of his head.

My ears are ringing from the deafening silence and the sense that there is still much left unsaid behind his eyes.

As soon as I get my bearings, I head toward the library instead of the dormitories.

It’s empty in the small hours of the morning, but the lamps still glow.

I hunt for any mention of the World. Mother’s stories are alive in my head as I nibble on Jura’s cookies in place of the dinner I missed hours ago.

The World… It could do anything. Fix everything.

Everything spiraled out of control when Mother died.

We lived on the streets. Arina and I fought and stole, breaking almost every law.

We became reckless, obsessed with Mother’s murderer.

But, with this, I could bring Mother back.

And if she were here again, somehow, I know it’d all make sense.

That one thought has me up past the sunrise and dragging my feet to classes.