He was a hero, and he was gone.

  “He saved my life,” I said. “The Viscount’s too.”

  “I’m sorry… I really am.”

  “They killed him. His own people turned on him, and then they killed him. I don’t know if they somehow heard about what had happened, and they’re planning on finishing the job they gave him.”

  “What job?”

  “To kill the Viscount.”

  “They wouldn’t. They couldn’t.”

  “They can, and they would. You don’t understand these creatures. I’ve seen how vicious they are, how brutal they can be.”

  “But these Sprites are slaves. They’re chained up, oppressed, taken advantage of. They aren’t murderers.”

  “How can you know that for sure if you can’t understand them?”

  Thea swallowed hard, her throat working quickly. “I guess… I can’t.”

  “You can’t… and I can’t trust that those creatures aren’t planning on trying to kill me or the Viscount if they got the chance.”

  “I think you’re wrong about them, Avery… I think all they want is freedom, and maybe now with everything happening in the house,” she paused. “Now might be the right time for them to get out of here, and I want to help them.”

  “So, help them,” I snapped, leaving Thea in stunned silence.

  Slowly, she picked herself up. “I’m going to. And I wasn’t asking for your help. I didn’t even want to tell you, because the last thing you need right now is a distraction.”

  “Thea…”

  “Just win, okay? Don’t let them lock you up in here forever too.”

  Thea turned around and headed for the door. With a knock, the guards outside opened for her and let her out of the room. I watched her leave, her words bouncing around in my head. More than ever I wanted to go and talk to the Viscount. More than ever I wanted Rell here with me. More than ever, I felt alone… as if my circle had closed to a dot.

  I had no one to blame but myself.

  CHAPTER 7

  An unceremoniously dark day had fallen on Emerald Hall. The skies were grey and dark, rain fell in big, hard droplets that slammed the windows like they wanted to break in. If I truly was in the land of perpetual spring, then this was one of those April days where the weather turned to remind you that it wasn’t quite summer yet.

  It wasn’t going to be a great day for a trial, but the Fae weren’t about to postpone it.

  In the morning, Elaith came to my room to make sure I was up and ready to go. I couldn’t help but keep my distance from them, though, especially after I suspected they had a part to play in the disappearance of the Viscount’s cure from the stores.

  I couldn’t tell them what I thought, so I had to keep up the façade, make them think nothing was wrong. I was good at hiding inner pain and turmoil—I’d been doing it my whole life, after all. But Elaith was Fae. Not just Fae, they were more observant than most. I doubted if I was doing nearly as good a job as I thought I was.

  I decided to focus on the trial ahead. Today’s trial was going to be different to the last, though I suspected there would be killer plants involved somewhere. Maybe not monstrous killer plants, but some kind of killer plant. That seemed like a running theme around here.

  Elaith escorted me downstairs, through the manic corridors of Emerald Hall. The first thing I noticed was that they weren’t as packed as they’d been yesterday. The change was subtle; it wasn’t that there were less people buzzing around, they just weren’t climbing over each other to get to where they were going anymore.

  My victory had won the House a little prestige, enough to relieve some of the pressure the guests and the staff were probably having to deal with. They had me to thank for that, but none of them did. They were clearly too busy doing one thing or another.

  Reaching the backyard door, someone was waiting for us to open it. The rain had let up, but only a little bit. The grass outside was wet, and fragrant. The Fae that opened the door for us stepped aside and let us through. I expected to get wet as soon as I stepped out, but the rain never seemed to touch me. It was as if the water was falling around me.

  Looking up, I saw a kind of disturbance in the air; it danced, and shifted above us, shielding us from the rain. When it opened a pair of eyes and looked at me directly, I almost gasped. It was an elemental, a Sprite forced to protect Elaith and me from the rain with its body.

  They’re slaves, I heard Thea say in my head, and they’re planning something.

  Elaith and I walked along the gravelly path in the backyard until we reached a tented area packed with dignitaries and nobles from other Houses, as well as their entourages. The entire area was buzzing with chatter, and laughter, and pep-talks from au pairs to their wards.

  I was offered a drink as soon as I arrived—something green in a long-necked glass. I took it, but Elaith quickly plucked it out of my hand, sniffed it, and tossed the glass and the drink into a nearby bush.

  “And what do you think you’re doing?” they asked.

  “I was given a drink,” I said.

  “Don’t people on your world also warn against taking drinks from strangers?”

  “Well… yes, but it’s early, and I didn’t think—”

  “—you didn’t think, period. Don’t accept drinks or food from anyone but me until the Favoring is over, understand?”

  I frowned. “And why you?”

  “Because I’m your au pair, and I’m trying to keep you from doing something you’ll regret.”

  “You sure about that?”

  Elaith’s usually vibrant, cutting eyes darkened. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing. I just want to get this trial over with. I’m still not recovered from the last one.”

  “Then you had best recover quickly. Excellence is expected of you yet again. I doubt if Invidia would enjoy her House losing prestige once more so soon after gaining some.”

  “I noticed that. At least, I noticed the results. Does anyone actually see the house grow and shrink?”

  “No. Whatever magic is at work there makes sure we don’t.”

  “So, if someone was up all day and all night, they’d never see a new room suddenly pop up, or a corridor expand?”

  Elaith shook their head. “And if they did, they would probably forget, and assume it had always been that way. Trust me, people have tried to unravel the magic—if not to study its workings, then to try and replicate it for themselves.”

  “Good to know the Fae are just as greedy as…” I stopped myself before saying anything else. For a moment I had forgotten who I was supposed to be, and just how many pointy ears were all around me.

  “Good save,” Elaith said. “Now, take this and drink it.”

  Elaith had produced a small phial from out of their pocket and was handing it to me in a way that no one else would see it.

  I took it and stuffed it into my palm before anyone could notice.

  “What is that?” I asked.

  “Take it, you’ll need it.”

  “I thought you didn’t want me drinking.”

  “I’m not a stranger, am I?”

  No, but I don’t trust you.

  I couldn’t tell them that, but the truth was, I didn’t trust them. Their demeanor toward me hadn’t changed, they weren’t overtly doing or saying anything to make me suspicious of them. The only thing that had changed was me, connecting some dots in my head.

  Having watched enough crime TV shows I knew the evidence I had that Elaith was somehow involved in something shady was circumstantial at best. They had access to the stores, so they could’ve had something to do with it. Circumstantial evidence rarely got very far in a courtroom, but sometimes—in some rare cases—that was all you needed.

  I looked down at the phial in my hand. It had some kind of yellow liquid inside it that didn’t look at all tasty. Scanning my surroundings, I noticed Lady Petal looking over at me. She smiled, and waved in that ditsy, air-headed way of hers, then went back to her conversation with her au pair.

  I popped the cork on the phial, pinched my nose, and downed the concoction. I couldn’t taste it, but the texture was… thick, and slimy, and gross. I decided not to un-pinch my nose until I was sure I wouldn’t taste what I’d just swallowed, but it was waiting for me all the same.

  “That was disgusting,” I said, grimacing. “It tasted like bug sweat.”

  “Close,” Elaith said, “It’s a special blend of mucus and urine from a creature we keep in the stables.”

  I scowled at Elaith. “Urine?”

  “Yes.”

  “You mean, I just drank pee?”

  “And mucus.”

  “Oh crap… I think I’m gonna hurl.”

  Elaith clapped cold a hand against my mouth. “Please don’t, you’ll need to keep that down if you want its effects.”

  I mumbled behind their hand, trying hard to resist the urge to bite them for making me drink pee and snot. When they finally released me, and I felt a little less like I was going to puke, I asked. “Wait, what creature?”

  “Irrelevant.”

  “What creature, Elaith?”

  “A fast one. That’s all you need to know.”

  I was about to ask another question when someone else spoke—it was the same round man from yesterday, the one who had introduced me at my trial. “Welcome, lords and ladies, to another glorious trial!” he declared.

  “Who is that?” I asked Elaith.

  “That’s Jovien,” Elaith said, “Emerald Hall’s resident loud-mouth.”

  “Today we have a very special trial planned for our wonderful contestants,” Jovien said, his voice easily covering the entire tented area. “Behind me, you will find a line of trees. These trees lead to a forest created especially for today’s event.”

  Forest?

  My stomach gurgled, but I ignored it.

  I craned my neck around a little to get a better view of the space behind him. I couldn’t remember seeing a forest there yesterday, or the day before, but it was there now. There were trees—thick, dark trees—bunched together on the other side of the backyard. Four gravel paths led away from the tents and into the line of trees, disappearing at the foot of the forest.

  “Inside that forest,” Jovien continued, “Our daring adventurers will have to face each other, and themselves, as they race to find one of the twelve crowns of Spring, hidden deep inside. There can be only one winner here… only one of these lovely ladies will make it out with the crown, earning herself and her House a clear advantage over the others. Who will it be? Place your bets as we get ready to begin!”

  Already I could see the other girls taking up positions on the starting line. Each had taken to a path, and each looked like she was getting ready to speed off into the woods. Considering I had just been in a forest, I should’ve had more confidence going into this than I did, but they all seemed so much more prepared than I was.

  Isolde had taken a runner’s pose. Violet had her hands clenched into fists and her eyes were glowing. Even Petal looked like she was ready to get a running start in this trial. There was at least a hundred feet of distance between the tents and the forest, and this was a race, which meant I was going to get there last.

  I didn’t have magic to help me, or years of athletic conditioning, or… whatever Petal was going to do.

  “I don’t feel good about this,” I told Elaith as I approached my path.

  “You shouldn’t feel good at all,” Elaith said, “Not if the potion worked, at any rate.”

  My stomach churned, almost on cue. “Did you do something to me?” I asked.

  “I did. You need to get a running start, what I gave you should help.”

  “How is pee and snot going to help me?”

  “It’ll give you some of the properties of the beast I extracted them from for a time. Trust me, just run, you’ll be fine.” Elaith patted me on the back.

  “I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

  “Don’t, or the effects will wear off sooner than they should.” Elaith paused. “Actually… I hadn’t considered the fact that your biology is different to mine. I wonder if the dosage…” they trailed off.

  “What about the dosage?”

  Elaith considered. “Nothing. Probably nothing.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” they said, waving a dismissive hand, “You’ll be fine… or you’ll crash a lot sooner than expected.”

  “I hate the sound of that.”

  “Just get in and out fast.”

  “Do you know where I’m gonna find this crown?”

  Elaith tapped the side of their nose. “If I did, and I told you, that would be cheating,” they said, turning around to walk away. “Good luck, Kadeera.”

  “I dislike you!” I hissed, but they were already gone. My stomach was churning, my vision felt like it was swimming, and something was happening to my muscles that I didn’t appreciate. Something was happening to me, but I didn’t know what.

  Trumpets erupted, sending a fanfare into the air. A moment later, Jovien declared the trial had begun, and the other three competitors got immediately moving. Isolde was off like a bolt, racing toward the tree line like… well, Usain Bolt. Violet began to levitate a few feet off the ground, then shot toward the trees on a throne of air. Petal, meanwhile, just ran; or, well, she skipped.

  It was kind of weird, as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

  I took a deep breath to center myself, locked eyes with the trees, and started running… that’s when things got weird.

  CHAPTER 8

  I felt like I was flying. I wasn’t flying, I could feel my feet hitting the gravel path beneath me, but I wasn’t running across it—I was gliding over it. In a manner of seconds, I overtook Petal and her little skipping routine. Another couple of seconds and I was barking at Violet and Isolde’s heels, though the two didn’t seem to care much about me; they were too busy trying to keep ahead of each other.

  I couldn’t understand what was happening.

  My legs were pushing me, my muscles were working, but the speed I was going just wasn’t normal. Raindrops seemed to fall around me and bounce off me, as if they couldn’t quite get hold of me. What in the world had Elaith given me, and where could I get more of it?

  I decided to veer off to the left of my own path, avoiding Violet and Isolde entirely and busting into the tree line like a bullet. I had no idea where I was going, or where to start looking, but being the first into the trees seemed like a good idea.

  Once inside, the canopy quickly closed around me, and I realized just how dark it was. Large, hulking trees dominated the forest, with branches as thick as people, and tangled roots so big and thick I had to bound off them like a jungle cat to get from place to place.

  It reminded me a lot of Darkwood… and then he floated into my mind.

  I remembered the night we had spent in the nook, protected by a tree, and Silvan’s magic. I remembered the fight with the Sprites at the heart of the forest. I remembered the kiss we had shared once we had made it out of that fight with our lives.

  It had seemed like a great idea at the time, a moment fueled by passion and gratefulness, but given how things were between he and I, I couldn’t help but cringe at the thought. I hadn’t seen him since we were separated on our way back to Emerald Hall, but in moments like these, when he clawed his way back into my thoughts, I had to wonder whether he was thinking about me too.

  Whether he regretted that kiss, too.

  He probably does.

  A series of loud cracks stole my attention and forced me to stop, perched on a base of roots as big as a house. I scanned the forest around me, looking for signs of movement. I could hear a struggle going on somewhere nearby—two women, grunting and groaning.

  Violet and Isolde.

  They were competing against each other, not against us. Both wanted to win the trial, and they’d clearly decided that in order to do so, one was going to take the other out first. Petal and I were probably easy pickings, in their eyes, and they were right. I had only won my trial yesterday through blind luck. I wouldn’t have lasted a few minutes in a fight with either of them.

  Petal… well, I had no idea how she’d fare in combat against the likes of Isolde. I didn’t even know why she was in this competition to begin with. She seemed totally out of place in the Favoring, and yet, she was ranked higher than I was in the eyes of the Fae. Granted, they all were because I had been missing for some time, but still.

  A burst of light from the sky above pierced the mantle of trees over me, sending shafts of illumination into the gloom. Off in the distance somewhere, between the gnarly trees, I thought I saw something catch on the light; something metallic, and possibly golden.

  “Better than nothing,” I said to myself, before leaping off toward it.

  We hadn’t been given a map, or a direction to go in, or even a clue as to where we might find the crown. The crown of Spring could’ve been made of wood for all I knew, so chasing something shiny may not have been the right idea, but it was the best I could do given the circumstances.

  I raced along the spines and trunks of trees like a free runner back in the city, instincts guiding me, muscles pushing me forward. Instead of carefully considering my next few steps, I allowed my body to guide me, to tell me whether to leap, or to run, or to climb.

  It was liberating; the most exciting thing I had ever felt in my life.

  Until I leapt, fell short of a branch, and slipped all the way to the soggy, wet ground, smashing my back and shoulders against all the branches and woods in the forest, apparently. I tried to slow my fall with my hands, but only ended up elbow-deep in soggy earth. I had dug myself into the loose soil so hard, it took a moment of frantic pulling and flailing before I could hoist my head back out.

  I fell on my back, spitting dirt out and gasping for air.

  “Holy shit,” I said to myself, spitting a little more dirt out of my mouth and rolling onto my side. The ground was wet, and loose, and strangely sticky, like it wanted to suck me into it. Reaching for a root, I pulled myself onto a tree to get out of the soil and took a moment to catch my breath.