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Your eyes are your soul; if someone seeks to control you, look away.

In times of extreme peril, the castle evacuates. You might think, the first person to be evacuated is the queen.

This is not the case.

A queen is not born a queen. A queen is chosen because she is the most powerful, the most frightening, and the one most willing to do what needs to be done to protect the kingdom. So, when the castle evacuates, every terrified individual departs, except the queen.

She remains until the threat is eradicated.

This thought plagued me as I tiptoed the abandoned halls. When the great hall had fallen to ice and shadows, two things happened at once. My mother grabbed Rook and dragged him away. Lottie, drunk with bloodlust and power, went after the queen. I’d chased her and lost them.

As anticipated, it didn’t take long for Queen Aenor to douse the fires.

The castle bore the chill that accompanied a calm winter morning.

The walls themselves were coated in ice, and my breath floated out in a misty cloud.

With the castle empty, I no longer heard the drums—the beating hearts of all those humans.

Quietly, I searched for Lottie in my human body.

As a hound, sensations were overwhelming.

The smell, the lust for blood—it was too much.

Even in human form, my perceptions were altered considerably.

In the shadows, I could see farther. I could hear the rats scurrying around the castle and smell the metallic blood wafting from all the corpses strewn about.

Even as a human, it was dizzying, how much I craved the blood.

The willpower it took not to fall to my knees and drink was astonishing.

Following my nose, I rounded a corner, where a headless guard lay on the floor.

An unfortunate sign Lottie had come this way.

I looted the guard’s clothing to ease my shivering.

As I tucked the shirt into my trousers, a haunting melody floated through the halls.

Almost like a harpsichord, but more…rickety.

I was struck with the horrifying image that, instead of ivory keys, the instrument had been threaded with human bones.

I tracked the noise tentatively, like a deer stepping out into an open field.

The creeping melody brought back memories of a toy I’d once owned.

A colourful box with a protruding handle, which played music when you cranked it.

When the song came to an end, a jester sprung out, startling the user.

That same apprehension stiffened my movements.

Tiptoeing through the castle, I scanned every nook and shadow, taking the paths where the melody strengthened.

The strange music beckoned me outside, into the moonlit courtyard.

Surrounded by high walls and parapets, this courtyard served as the main entry to the castle.

On the far side, the iron portcullis was down, preventing easy escape.

The portcullis was the least of my worries.

On her knees, Lottie was restrained in a wooden device.

Like the stocks, her head and hands were immobile, but the device was not fastened down.

High in the air above her neck, a blade of ice reflected the moonlight.

Queen Aenor stood beside Lottie, absently stroking the strings of an ice instrument.

Beneath the moon, still dressed in her amethyst gown, the queen was a sight to behold.

I was happy to have found trousers, because they made it easier to maneuver.

I’ll admit it was less than comforting to see the queen had remained in her beautiful dress.

Which undoubtedly made it impossible to flee.

Gait steady, I stalked forward. The queen flourished her wrist, and the instrument vanished. A bone in my hand broke as I started to change.

“Ah ah ah!” Queen Aenor warned. The icy blade dropped several feet, stopping above Lottie’s neck. “We’re going to have a civilized chat.”

“Take the blade from my sister’s neck!”

“You have access to innumerable weapons if you choose to change. The blade stays.” Queen Aenor’s skirts swished as she strode forward, stopping a few paces away.

“You risked your life, and your family, to free a beast—a beast who murdered countless people. The first of which was your own blood.” She scoffed, looking at me as if I were mad. “Did you not love your father?”

The compulsion to change blurred my vision.

Fury threatened to distort my bones, to grant me the power to rip this woman apart for hurling such a hideous accusation.

Behind the queen, the blade of ice inched closer to Lottie.

I closed my eyes and breathed. Catching the scent of horse manure, I clung to it, anything to bring me back to the present.

“The man you took prisoner,” I said, with great difficulty. “His name is Rook—er, Everard.”

“Everard?” Queen Aenor interrupted. We stared at each other in silence, woman assessing woman. Finally, the queen looked at me piteously. “Do you really believe he returns your affection?”

Indignance readied me to argue, but the question struck a nerve, trapping me in silence.

“Liliwen,” the queen started. The tilt of her head, and the accompanying tone, reminded me of my father—of his manner of speaking when he told me something he knew I didn’t want to hear, but did so anyway, because he cared for me.

A wound of vulnerability opened, and I swayed, suddenly unsteady.

Easing closer, Queen Aenor murmured, “Do you think he won’t leave you as soon as he’s free? ”

“I—”

I’d traded my life, and the lives of my family, to break Rook from this castle. Was I so certain of his character?

‘The doubtful mind sees mistakes, not reason.’

Smiles, kisses, and pretty words ran through my mind. All from a lonely man in a grand prison. Rook was so rude when we first met; when did that change? Absently, my hand drifted to my stomach.

When he learned I could read.

Rook’s demeanor changed as soon as he realized I had something to offer.

When I was an opportunity for freedom. When he’d saved me from that Lady of the Lake, was he saving his chance at escaping?

The same way I’d saved him after the axe lodged in his throat?

For the better part of my friendship with Rook, I’d lied to him, manipulated his feelings, so I might use him to my advantage…

Had it been the other way around?

And when Rook did find a cure, when he no longer transformed into a terrifying beast and could leave the hidden castle, would he choose me?

When a world of opportunity was available to him, would he choose me?

Had I been a fool to risk my life, and the lives of my family, for him? Queen Aenor watched me; the longer I delayed answering, the more her smile shifted from concern to satisfaction.

“Don’t listen to her,” Lottie panted.

The queen whirled on Lottie. “I am not speaking to you.”

Lottie craned, so she could see me. “He saved Lys. He didn’t have to do that, Lil.

He did that for you.” Queen Aenor advanced, waving her hand.

An invisible force struck Lottie’s cheek, crashing her skull against the wooden trap.

Lottie shook her head, reorienting herself and called, almost drunkenly, “I don’t know much, Lil, but he loves you. ”

Rook kneeling at Lysander’s bed.

Rook, leaning against the ash tree, passion heaving his chest—looking at me like I was the bright stars above.

‘Your obedient servant.’

No one would come between us, not when we were so close to freedom.

My voice was strong when I said, “Rook might be cursed to change into a beast, but none of the slayings were his fault. He didn’t choose to kill anyone.

That choice was made for him.” To my surprise, Queen Aenor wasn’t shocked.

Instead, she crossed her arms and nodded.

Part of me forgot I was speaking with the queen when I cried, “You knew it was Marek?!”

Queen Aenor bobbed her head. “That night in your hovel, I discovered it, the same as you.”

I threw my arms out. “Then why arrest Rook?”

“He is a beast!” Queen Aenor snapped, her facade of calm slipping.

Lottie mumbled, “Nobody’s perfect.”

Queen Aenor ignored her and continued. “Despite what Everard might have told you, there is no cure! If he cannot be controlled, he must be put down. Even without Marek guiding his steps, the beast will kill again!” Shaking her head, she cried, “Your love cannot change him!”

“Maybe I don’t want to change him!” I snarled back.

Maybe I want to be right there with him, tearing into all of you!

“And what of us?” I pointed to Lottie, and then tapped my chest. “Do you think we should all be put down?”

The queen scoffed and made a face that said, ‘Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to.’

“So, you mean to execute us?”

“Your sister, and your mother, yes.” Queen Aenor frowned.

“But not you, Liliwen. You have a gift.” The queen let out a low, melodic whistle.

It reminded me of Ruven’s father, calling the herding dogs.

“While I disagree with Marek doing it behind my back, he had the right idea. Your condition requires a heavy hand.” I glanced behind me and saw Bronwyn and the advisor exit the castle.

Bronwyn cradled a bloodied stump where her hand was no more.

The queen’s lips parted in horrified surprise.

Bronwyn stared at the cobbles, unable to look upon the queen. “The captain and the Hound escaped.”

Relief flooded me—extinguished as Lottie laughed.

The icy blade fell closer to Lottie’s neck, but Queen Aenor appeared unbothered.

Joining Bronwyn, the queen brought a hand to rest beneath her chin.

“We have her children, and the beast’s lover,” Queen Aenor reassured.

“They will return. They can’t help themselves.

” Lottie and I exchanged a glance and a shared thought.

The queen thought she could exploit our love for one another… Perhaps we might do the same?

Queen Aenor nodded toward the advisor.

With her good hand, Bronwyn waved in the advisor’s direction and said, “Change.”

That word nearly stopped my heart.

No. It can’t be!

The advisor shook their head, refusing the command, though it was hard to ignore the tremble of the advisor’s fists clenched at their sides. Bronwyn advanced and screamed, “Change now!” The advisor shoved Bronwyn.

Wasting no time, the queen strode to Lottie.

Slamming her foot on the device, she said, “Change, or I cut the younger one’s head off.

” Though their entire body quivered, the advisor shook their head in stark refusal.

“Fine,” Queen Aenor snapped. “Have it your way.” The ice blade dropped with a dull thud , prompting a pained shriek from Lottie.

The advisor and I lurched forward. The queen thrust out a hand, stopping the blade from cutting Lottie further.

The advisor collapsed, taking a knee on the cobblestones. Grasping their head, a sharp exhale pierced the cloth. The quivering of resistance gave way to severe tremors, and ripping fabric filled the air.

All this time, there was another hound among us.

It stood in the courtyard, looking so different than Rook when he changed. Rook was the night, but this beast was fairer than the moon above.

Unbothered by the transformation, the queen said, “Before our kingdom existed, there was another town and another castle, deep within Scrying Hollow. But of course, you know this.” She smiled.

“You’ve visited the castle, haven’t you, Liliwen?

” I barely heard her; my attention was locked on the hound, readying to leap in front of Lottie should it move.

The queen continued, “A wrathful woman governed that castle, Countess Alifaire, who was fascinated by the magic of transfiguration.” Queen Aenor waved at the fair hound. “Human to beast, in particular.

“The townsfolk tired of their family members disappearing, and rumours spread of the countess’s experiments.

Whispers of loved ones turned into beasts or fed to the countess’s pets.

The people rallied and came for Alifaire, but it was her own children who turned against her.

Together, they slayed their mother’s beasts.

Countess Alifaire was cursed to live out the end of her days, trapped in the castle.

Her evil seeped into every tree and stone inside that forlorn place, eventually bleeding into the hollow that grew up around it.

“The countess’s son fled to the east, founding L'orée du bois. Her daughter settled here,” the Queen said, waving at the castle walls.

“Alifaire’s descendants lost power and favour, and their line faded.

The world forgot about the countess and her castle in the Hollow.

But, here and there, a child would pop up with their great-great-great-great grandmother’s ability to control beasts—”

I gasped and looked at Bronwyn.

“Yes,” Queen Aenor said. “Although the countess’s practices were barbaric, I admit it’s rather useful to govern a beast.”

Bronwyn commanded the advisor-turned-hound forward. It did as it was told.

“You have a choice,” the queen began. “I admit, it’s not an easy one, but it’s a choice .

You may join me, and your sister will be executed efficiently.

Unfortunately, your mother and your new friend must also die.

But again, it will be efficient and quick.

Refuse me, and I will kill those you care for.

It will be slow, and their pain, unending.

And when they are tortured and dead, and you are begging for death, I will not permit you to die. ”

Stark silence filled the courtyard.

“You will serve me either way,” the queen murmured.

“The manner in which you choose to do so is up to you.” Over the Queen’s shoulder, I met Bronwyn’s eyes.

When Bronwyn looked at me, a compulsion to change swelled.

I fought it, afraid if I gave in, Bronwyn would have complete control of my body.

Like a crocodile floating along the river, the hound inched closer.

Lottie snapped me from my trance. “Too weak to protect your own castle?” she hissed. “Must keep a dog?”

“Seems both Liliwen and I have a pet,” the queen replied, unbothered. “I’m just better at controlling mine.”

In my time of need, my father had not abandoned me. His most important lesson thundered in my ears, like a trumpeting alarm.

When all else fails, flee.

That’s exactly what I did.

If I could get away, there was a chance for us all.

“Retrieve her!” the queen called.

“Bring her back!” Bronwyn shouted.

Arms pumping, I entered the castle once more.