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Meli’s smile widened. “You aren’t crazy.

” She looked past me with an unfocused gaze and I knew what she was doing—reading my aura.

“You say aura? We say Uhra … like Ooh-Rah. It means soul in the language of the Fae. Most cannot see them. But healers, oracles, necromancers—anyone who is clairvoyant can see uhras. Typically, I just catch a glimpse of someone’s soul; but with trust and connection, sometimes I see more. ”

“Can you see mine?” I asked, feeling self-conscious.

“Yes… it’s gold and blindingly bright. You stand out—you need to be careful with who you trust. There’s a lot of energy buzzing around you. It’s bound to attract attention, especially from those who seek power. I’m sure the Queen keeps uhra readers near her— something to be mindful of.”

“What do you mean readers ?”

“Some faeries spend a lifetime trying to interpret uhra shapes and colors. Some make a career of it. A red soul shows dominance… passion. Blue… empathy, tranquility. Yellow… optimism and warmth. Green… independence and ingenuity. Personally, I don’t believe in over-simplifying something as complex as a soul.

Uhras can shift and change throughout one’s life or even with our moods.

They can mask themselves if a soul is conflicted enough—show a false color, for example.

Trust your gut when it comes to reading them. That’s my advice.”

Meli had no idea how much she’d already done for me. She was a beacon, guiding me through the fog I’d been stuck in since arriving. I’d never be able to repay her for her kindness.

“What does it mean if someone has no uhra at all?” I asked.

She raised her brows. “That they’re dead. Everyone has a soul.”

Right on cue, Raf appeared. I’d been so absorbed in our conversation, I hadn’t heard him come in.

He was leaning against the counter—a bemused smile playing on his lips as he looked at us.

His wavy, dark hair spilled over his brow and I watched him push it back, only for it to immediately spring forward.

He was always shaking that same lock of hair out of his eyes.

It was irksome… just like everything else about him.

“Are you ready, Goldie?”

I snapped to attention. Goldie ? That’s what my mother had called me once upon a time. I hadn’t heard that nickname in a decade. I said goodbye to Meli and fell in step with Raf as we walked back to our horses.

“What was your errand, Raffie ?” I couldn’t resist smiling. The nickname sounded as ridiculous as I thought it would.

“Call me that again and I’ll turn you into dust.” He doubled down on his surliness and for some reason I found it hilarious.

Maybe it was the gift of a light heart that Meli had just bestowed on me, but I couldn’t stop laughing. He was so distracted watching me, he tripped, making me laugh harder. I was hysterical, bending over and clutching my stomach.

“Stop it. People are watching,” Raf said under his breath, scowling at me. The surrounding villagers were indeed staring as they quickened their pace to pass us.

He let out a snort, covering his mouth, before another laugh bubbled out of him. And then we were wheezing, keeled over, with tears in our eyes. There was no explanation for the fit of madness, other than we both seemed to be in desperate need of a good laugh.

Finally … Goldie and Raffie had come to a truce.

Later that evening, I sat around a table with the royal family and their guests.

Rafael and Louis were both absent. The seating chart had shifted to Arnold and Galen closest to the Queen, which meant I had to sit next to Isla.

I knew I shouldn’t have had any issue with her—I’d encouraged Galen to pursue her, after all—but having to converse with her was a different story.

I kept to myself and prayed she’d do the same .

“So Marigold, do you have your dance picked out for the Hyacinth Festival yet?” Isla smiled at me innocently.

I choked on a piece of bread. Dance?

“Oh, I won’t be dancing,” I said politely, before taking a generous sip of wine.

“Don’t be silly . Everyone that’s part of the ceremony has to dance. Are you going to partner with Louis or Rafael?”

I cringed, unsure of how to respond.

Galen cut in. “She’ll be dancing with me.” He looked like he’d surprised even himself. The slight slur in his voice let me know he’d been drinking.

“With you ? But I thought—” She turned, looking back and forth between us.

“What’s this about?” snapped the Queen. “Galen, you’ll be dancing with Isla, of course. Have you lost your mind?”

Galen glared at her, his green eyes locked in a silent battle with her icy blues.

“No, Mother. I can think of no higher honor than dancing with the first world walker we’ve had in two-hundred years.

In fact, it’s cause for celebration.” Galen stood, ushering the footmen over. “A round of champagne, please.”

They scurried over with a chilled bottle, fresh from the ice chest. “To Marigold. To Erador. To Nymera. May we unite the worlds!” He threw back a glass and poured another, then sat back in his seat dramatically, appearing quite pleased with himself.

Everyone at the table was so stunned, it took a moment for someone to break the silence.

Arnold sputtered, “A-a world walker? Your cousin is from Erador ? Why am I just finding this out? How?”

He turned to the Queen, standing and leaning his hands on the dinner table in barely contained ire.

“Your Grace, you’ve been hosting a world walker for weeks and haven’t told me—the council?

” He pounded his fists on the table and the guards ran over to Sylvia’s side, weapons raised.

He lifted his hands up in apology. “I meant no harm. I just didn’t think I’d ever see the day.

When will she open up the portal? Are we going to address the public?

We need to convene and tell the others!” His head was about to spin off his body.

“ SILENCE !” yelled Sylvia. He sat back down and crossed his arms.

“Marigold is a hybrid. Raised as a human. She does not yet have access to her powers. She managed to arrive here while she was sleeping—or so she says. We’ve been hosting her while she learns how to access her magic…

so she can open a doorway. I was planning to wait until the festival to announce her to you all.

” The Queen flashed a murderous glare at Galen.

I felt my blood drop to a frigid temperature as tensions around the table escalated.

Arnold turned to me. “The gods gifted a mongrel with world walking gifts? What kind of blasphemy is this?” He looked so irate that I stood and backed out of my seat, grabbing a butter knife. The way he said mongrel made my gut twist.

“And you believe her? That she can’t open up a portal after she’s already done it?

Have you even interrogated her? Perhaps she needs proper persuasion.

Hand her over, I’ll get her to open a bridge out of this world by tomorrow morning.

” He bared his teeth at me and my hands iced over in response.

Dahlia was hanging on his arm, trying to pull him back to his seat.

“Enough!” Sylvia commanded. “Guards, please take Arnold back to his rooms until he’s calmed down. Take the women back to their prospective rooms as well. Galen, you’re staying with me.” He defiantly glowered at her. I felt like a carcass being fought over by a pack of rabid wylks.

I glanced back at Galen as I was escorted out. He stared back with raw, unfiltered agony in his eyes. His amber uhra was dim, with a flickering dark blue flame at its center.

I recognized his pain, because the same sunken feeling lived in me. Hopelessness, loneliness… self-loathing… it should’ve been impossible for so much to be conveyed in one look, and yet I’d felt all of it—as if I’d been looking into a shattered mirror.

His outburst had been a cry for help. He needed someone who cared. But it couldn’t be me. I turned away and didn’t look back.

I was fast asleep when I heard a quiet rapping on the door. I was rubbing my eyes, when the door unlocked and Galen strode in. I sat up, only able to see the outline of his body in the darkened room .

“Galen?” I asked groggily.

“I’m sorry for waking you. I wanted to make sure that you’re okay.” He sat on the side of the bed. I moved over, making room for him. He smelled like a whiskey barrel.

“I apologize for tonight,” he said raggedly.

“I didn’t mean to start a fight with my mother in the middle of dinner—nor did I mean to embarrass Isla…

or put you in danger. I just… snapped . First, she tells me who to marry, then they made me—” He took a deep breath, followed by a long exhale.

“I’m a mess, Marigold. I don’t deserve your forgiveness.

I-I’m worthless,” he said, his voice cracking.

It was difficult to believe that this was the same male who’d come to my room weeks ago, drenched in confidence.

“Hey… It’s alright. I’m okay,” I assured him, rubbing his back.

“I was surprised Arnold didn’t already know.

Why was your mother keeping it a secret?

The Elders wouldn’t harm a world walker, would they?

” They’d been waiting two-hundred years for someone to rescue them.

I couldn’t imagine they’d jeopardize that, even if I was a mongrel.

The word scuttled around in my stomach, making me want to hurl up my dinner.

“No, they need you. I think my mother was keeping it a secret for her own purposes. Everything is a game to her. They run my life. I can’t escape them. The other week they made me—” He looked down at his hands, unable to get the words out. I took them and held them firmly.

“I killed someone,” he murmured, his voice barely audible.

“A faerie… He was caught harboring a pregnant human. They captured him, but she escaped. The Elders claimed the baby was his. They’d been holding him—torturing him—to get to her.

But he wouldn’t reveal where she was. They brought me in to burn him slowly…

to make him talk.” He squeezed my hand until it throbbed.

“They didn’t need my flames. They have their own ways of getting information.

But he wasn’t the only one they were trying to break.

They want my unwavering loyalty. It’s not the first time I’ve been forced to hurt people for them.

He was barely hanging on. I couldn’t do it—it was clear he’d been suffering for a while.

So I turned his heart to ash… in seconds.

I told them it was an accident. But they knew I was lying. They’ll make me pay for what I did.”

Rafael had been right . The Elders were using Galen to torture people. He’d killed someone, someone who’d died protecting the woman—the human— he loved. But what Galen had done had also been a kindness; he’d ended the man’s pain.

My insides twisted with disgust, anger, devastation…

but it was empathy that overtook me—rooted itself deep into my gut.

I cared for this man. And I was worried for him—worried he’d lose himself if he continued to wander through darkness.

He needed a guiding light. And I was a healer. Maybe none of this was a coincidence.

He was broken before me—splayed open and bleeding his soul onto my sheets. I pulled his head down to my lap and brushed his hair with my fingers as he cried. It was a level of closeness I’d never experienced with a man before. My heart swelled.

“They’ve made you hurt others?” I tried to comfort him with my touch, even as I internally screamed.

“Yes… Since my father died, they’ve been seeking out improper pairings and any hybrid offspring. I’ve tortured for them… killed for them. In the name of the law. I-I don’t agree with their views. Please don’t think less of me. I already hate myself.”

My heart cracked open. I didn’t think less of him. Maybe I should’ve after what he’d just admitted… but I also understood that his hands were tied. “What you’ve done doesn’t define you, Galen. You ended his suffering. What you did was brave . What can we do to stop this from happening again?”

“They’re too strong to be stopped. And I’ve been conditioned for violence since I was a boy—long before they made me hurt anyone.

As a child, my own mother whipped me to build character .

She thought I lacked the ruthless edge that is needed in leadership.

I’m afraid by the time I become King, I’ll have no goodness left.

” My heart sank at his confession. He’d been raised with brutality instead of affection. Had he ever known love?

“Great leaders don’t resort to fear to control others. What she views as weakness, I see as strength. The fire inside you can burn the world down or… it can burn for the world. It’s your choice. Not hers. She has it all wrong,” I said.

We sat in silence and I bit back what I wanted to say next… until I couldn’t keep it in. “What if you escaped back to Erador with me?” My chest pounded as I awaited his answer .

He glanced up at me with shining eyes. “I couldn’t leave my people behind. It would be a coward’s choice.”

“Not if we broke the curse. You could be a hero to your people.”

“No. It’s too late for me to be a hero.”

We didn’t talk after that. Instead, I continued to stroke my fingers through his hair, shedding silent tears for the faerie who’d died protecting his family. And for Galen… who was destroying himself for his Crown.

“I didn’t want to hurt any of them,” he whispered into the night.

“I know.”