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She turned and slammed the wardrobe shut.

This was lunacy. A god had spoken to her of all people, and at the worst time. Did he give her this sword because he expected her to stay in the palace? Now that a god had entered her room, she knew now more than ever that she could not stay.

She rushed for the window and turned the lever.

Icy wind spilled into the space, entirely different from the floating breeze that had just touched everything.

She was an Adriel , for Divinities’ sake.

She was an orphan . She couldn’t carry a sword like some warrior in the mountains—especially in the palace.

Ryn’s feet hit the soil with a quiet patter as the midnight wind tugged her nightdress and tousled her hair.

She moaned at her scraped knees after dragging them down the palace walls for the climb, and she shivered as the breeze picked up, sending loose leaves and flower petals dancing through the garden.

Everything looked larger than it had last time—the trees more crooked and pointed, the branches a little sharper, the soil a little blacker.

She hiked through the plants, slipping past shrubs as she hustled down the orchard path until she came to the square fountain she recognized.

She looked both ways, and seeing no one, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Ryn slipped into the lilac bushes. Their scent engulfed her as she pushed through, reaching for the other side, stretching her fingertips toward that white wall as it came into view; the barrier between her and freedom.

Her dress tightened, lurching her to a halt, and she glanced back to find her nightdress caught on a branch.

Was this that “El” god playing tricks on her?

Was this his way of telling her she couldn’t leave now that he’d gifted her a sword?

Was he a scheming god like some of the others?

She took a hold of her skirt and yanked .

The skirt tore from the branch and Ryn yelped as she flew back, hitting the outer wall. She lifted the hem of her nightdress and groaned at the tear in the silk. Even though the dress was meant for sleeping, it would have been the richest thing Ryn owned.

Now she might as well slice the dress into squares and sell it off as fabric.

“Did you really think you could escape twice?”

Ryn nearly screamed as she whirled. Her heart doubled over at the sight of someone in the shadows leaning back against the outer wall a few feet away.

A long, navy robe hugged his body. Ryn turned to flee, but he swung around her and slapped a hand against the wall, blocking the path and forcing her to go flat against the stone before their bodies might touch.

His fingers splayed beside her head, his arm hovering by her ear.

Ryn’s pulse returned as she stared up at him, noting he was no longer wearing his gold crown. But in his royal kings’ robe, he couldn’t be mistaken for anything but what he was. She was a fool for ever thinking he was a landscaper.

The King was taller than her by several inches.

Ryn worried about the golden dust left on her cheeks as his gaze hovered there for a moment.

His stare flickered back up to hers, and she froze, gaze-locked with his dark eyes that were like the bottom of a deep-sea abyss where the light couldn’t reach.

She couldn’t deny that he was just as handsome as the gossiping maidens claimed, especially up close.

He was nothing like the troll she’d imagined; even his eyelashes were long and black enough to make the Divinities jealous.

Ryn’s toes curled into the grass. She was too afraid to swallow, too afraid to move at all. “ You let me escape last time.” Her whisper was coarse.

What found his mouth wasn’t exactly a smile, more like the beginnings of one. “Perhaps I did. But one free escape is generous enough, don’t you think, Maiden?” He leaned over her further. “Which makes me wonder why you came back after I lifted you over the wall myself?”

The question left a strange feeling in the air. It was asked with accusation, as if the only explanation was that she was a crazy person.

As if she was an empty-minded brick .

Ryn smirked in disbelief. The King’s eyes sailed down to her smile and stayed there. His lip twitched.

“Why do you think I returned, King?” she asked. “For the compliments?” There was a slight edge of sarcasm to her words, small enough that she could deny it if necessary. He raised a brow, and Ryn bit her lips together after she said it.

The uneven wall dug into her shoulders. She finally moved to adjust, but she stiffened when she bumped into him. She slammed herself back against the wall again, heat erupting in all the places her nightgown had accidentally brushed his royal robe. Her breath was a hostage in her lungs.

The King didn’t react to the collision; he chewed on the inside of his cheek, blue eyes squinting. Then he said, “I think you’re curious about the monsters here.”

Ryn had to think for a second before she realized he was answering her question. Her voice shook when she replied with, “Ah. You caught me.”

The King frowned. He pulled back, his hand sliding off the wall and falling to his side.

He kept his dark, steady gaze on her. A moment later, he said, “Guardswoman—” Ryn’s eyes widened.

She looked over and spotted Heva standing by a bush with a pale face.

Ryn hadn’t even noticed Heva arrive. Hadn’t noticed Heva following her.

“—if this maiden escapes,” the King said, “I’ll have you killed in her place. ”

The King didn’t glance at Heva once as he spoke. That faint, beginning-of-a-smile found him again when he pulled his eyes off Ryn and turned, heading into the dark trees and leaving Ryn in the garden with her guardswoman’s fate tied to hers.

Ryn stayed perfectly still against the wall. She had no idea how many seconds or minutes passed before Heva appeared in front of her, took her arm and guided her through the garden. She glanced back at the white wall one last time as it slipped out of view.

Ryn was a prisoner of glass and stardust, soft-petalled blooms and sweet fruit.

Anyone else might have craved the position she was in—wouldn’t have seen it as imprisonment at all.

But she only saw a white-walled cage around her, sealing her in with enemies who would show no mercy once she was caught.