Belgor’s smile grew even wider and, for the first time, more than a bit dangerous. “I believe you now have all the information you need to answer that question.”

  Trent huffed.

  “That necromancer wasn’t there to kill Victoria that night. He was there to capture her, stab her with one of those daggers that can toss a mage’s soul into the Firmament, and then replace her with a devil mage. A devil’s soul. The devil mage inside Tallun never intended to seize the throne until I forced his hand.” Trent sighed. “He meant to take it inside Victoria.”

  Emerald frowned. “All that would make a lot more sense to me if you’d explained even half of it beforehand. I think you and I need to have a long discussion after this.”

  “We do. You’re right. Later.” Trent focused on Tallun once more. “Your blind zealotry and poor judgment almost doomed our realm. You murdered your wife and almost got your daughter killed. You’ve failed as a father, a monarch, and a knight. You disgust me.”

  Tallun stared at the ground and spoke softly. “I disgust myself.”

  “Even so, this... wandering endlessly in this void, never to be free of your torment... it’s too much, even for your crimes. Victoria wouldn’t want this for you. Even I don’t want this for you. So I would suggest you accede to Spike’s offer.”

  Tallun looked up, weary and lost. “Spike?”

  Trent beckoned with one hand. “Would you step out, please?”

  Spike considered, then stepped forward. To Tallun, it must look as if the devil mage in armor had emerged from a solid wall. Tallun still saw the maze. All the souls here did.

  The failed king’s eyes widened only incrementally before he relaxed. “Now I understand. My own mind is allowing me an excuse. I’m trying to convince myself you’ll save everyone so I will be willing to die. Clever. Very clever.” Tallun looked down. “The answer is still no.”

  Trent scowled. “This is your last chance to escape this nightmare.”

  “I don’t deserve to escape. I’ve made that clear enough to myself. Leave me be, figment. Leave me to my mistakes. I can’t ever correct them, but I can seek penance.”

  Trent considered that, then pulled Ruby from her sheath. He glanced at Spike. “Will you send his soul to oblivion if he refuses to agree?”

  Spike shook his head. “No.”

  Trent nodded, then stabbed Tallun’s soul in the chest with Ruby. The man gasped, then screamed, and then burst into ash. As Trent had hoped, one who had made a deal with a devil mage was still a devil mage... or close enough that Ruby could strike true.

  A moment later, there was nothing left of the soul of the failed king of Dalry. Just a pile of ash that vanished with the wind. Emerald stared, wide-eyed, then looked at him and bit her lip.

  “Okay, I can’t decide if that was evil or hot.”

  Trent sheathed Ruby again. “He murdered Dalry’s queen, betrayed his own daughter, and left our nation at the mercy of devil mages. He doesn’t get to decide if he lives. I once told Victoria I would respect her wishes regarding her father’s execution, but she’s not here.”

  Emerald watched him knowingly. “And you don’t want her to suffer for the rest of her life. Which she would if she knew her father’s soul was wandering this limbo, consumed by grief and regret. You’re a kind man, Trent. She’s lucky to have you as her knight.”

  Trent didn’t answer her. He didn’t have to. Emerald was a perceptive woman.

  He looked at Spike again. “Lead me to my fiancé. I’ve learned all I need to from this man.”

  Spike looked at the space that Tallun had just occupied. “What sort of blade is that?”

  “If you play your cards right, perhaps you can make a deal to learn the answer.”

  The armored man observed him for a moment, then nodded with what might actually have been respect. Trent hadn’t intended to earn the respect of a devil mage, but the more he learned about Spike, the more he found himself convinced that not all devil mages were evil. Lord Belgor and Xorumon were manipulative, but so were countless politicians across Dalry.

  With Emerald still clutching his hand, a touch that grew more pleasant with each moment they walked, Spike led them across the featureless gray plain and onward. Every so often, Trent caught the shadow of a lost soul fumbling against invisible walls or quietly sitting in an invisible corner. The existence of this place unnerved him.

  Until he had learned he was a mage, that other realms existed beyond this one, and souls could be removed and placed inside bodies, he had never believed in the soul. His beliefs had changed the more he was exposed to magic, but even then, his belief in realms beyond his own remained iffy. There could be a pleasant afterlife, or there could be pleasant oblivion.

  But there were certainly hells. And this was one of them.

  Finally, after what could have been five minutes or five hours, Trent spotted a familiar woman in the distance. Princess Ivy, with her head held high and her long black hair trailing behind her, strode confidently on a path parallel to their current route.

  Even after a week, she didn’t look depressed, or exhausted, or hopeless. She looked as determined as Trent had ever seen her, and his heart swelled at the sight of her. He had found her, just as his wives had told him he would. He could save her like she’d saved him.

  Emerald bumped his shoulder with hers. “You actually did it. You clever rogue. If we were dating, this would be the point where I’d kiss you and slip you some tongue.”

  Trent squeezed her hand. “Keep an eye on our host, would you? I think it best if I speak to her alone at first. After seeing Tallun, I want to approach her cautiously.”

  “Oh, sure. Spike and I will just...” Emerald turned to the armored mage. “Game of riddles? I know some good ones.”

  Trent hurried off toward Ivy before he could hear Spike’s reply. He slowed as Ivy continued striding relentlessly parallel to him. He paused at what he suspected was a wall only she could see, took a breath, and stepped out so he was standing where she’d walked.

  “Ivy?”

  Ivy froze in midstep, then kept walking. She didn’t look back and didn’t reply. Did she think he was a figment? After a week in this place, she might have seen many of those.

  Trent hurried after her, following her path but not touching her. He needed to know how sane she still was before he risked touching her and possibly sending her into a worse mental state. He focused on everything he had learned about Ivy since they’d met.

  Ivy was determined. She was logical. And she appreciated directness.

  “Ivy, I am not a figment. I stabbed myself with the same dagger that the devil assassin stabbed your servant with during the eclipse. By doing that, I was able to travel into the Firmament and find where they sent you. I killed the devil mage who tossed you into this place and came to find you. Revca is elsewhere in the Firmament, waiting to draw me back.”

  Ivy’s shoulders tightened as he spoke, but she kept walking. If she had summoned figments, even unconsciously, Trent Marstons could have been appearing to her all week. He could have reassured her again and again before leaving her wandering in this endless maze.

  “Ivy, stop wandering this instant. I’m real. I’m here. And I’m going to get you out.”

  Ahead of Ivy, another figure appeared. As Trent reflexively reached for Ruby, his eyes widened. The figure ahead of Ivy was one he knew well. It was him.

  Ivy kept walking as she pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. “Please kill yourself.”

  With a scowl, Trent’s doppelganger strode past Ivy and produced a fine silver rapier that looked exactly like Ruby. Trent considered pulling his own Ruby, but then he remembered what Kari had taught him about the Firmament before they visited her parents’ farm.

  “Intent matters as much as anything in dreams. You have to believe you can do something before you can do it.”

  Trent believed his doppelganger couldn’t move. The other Trent froze in mid-step. With a wave of his hand, Trent believed his doppelganger would burst into ash just like the devil mage he’d killed earlier... and Tallun’s traitorous soul. It did so.

  He quickened his pace and snatched Ivy’s arm. His hand passed through her, which sent him stumbling. He then realized that her intent must be to remain untouchable. Whose will was stronger? Hers, or his?

  He didn’t want to find that out. He dashed ahead of her instead, which caused her to slow and regard him with disdain. He then drew Ruby.

  “Ruby, return!”

  In a burst of red energy that manifested directly in front of Princess Ivy, forcing her to take a step back, Ruby appeared. She straightened, opened her eyes, and beamed at Ivy.

  “Oh, thank the gods you’re safe!”

  Ruby dashed forward to pull Ivy into a “Ruby hug,” which likely would have made it difficult for her to breathe if not for the fact that Ivy simply passed through her. Yet Trent could tell from Ivy’s tense expression that she was starting to believe... and didn’t dare to.

  Ruby huffed as she passed through Ivy, then walked back beside her. “It’s me. Please believe us. My master risked his soul to save you. We risked our souls to save you!”

  Trent planted himself in front of Ivy. “I am not a figment, Ivy, and even if I am, aren’t you tired of wandering? Stop and talk to us. We’ll convince you of who we are, and then we’ll get you out of this place. Your body is back at the monastery, waiting for you.”

  Ivy tried to walk through him. Trent held out his hand and willed her to stop. As his palm pressed into her very real breastbone, Ivy’s eyes widened in surprise. She slapped at his hand and took a step back, glaring at him suspiciously.

  “Who are you? You’re not a figment.”

  She believed he was real. Finally. “I told you, I’m Trent.”

  “Trent Marston is safe in a place where you can never touch him. He’s going to find and destroy you one by one. If you think I’m going to spill his secrets just because you wear his face, you can flit back to whatever realm you inhabit. I will never betray him.”

  Trent swallowed as he took in the depth of Ivy’s strength and loyalty. He had never known she was this devoted to their cause... but perhaps he should have. Ivy might not wear her heart on her sleeve, like Ruby, but her heart certainly wasn’t made of ice.

  Princess Ivy Anastasia Stansfield was made of sterner stuff.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “It’s really me, Ivy. Also, this isn’t a maze.”

  Ivy eyed him coldly. “It certainly isn’t much of one. I’ve seen more interesting mazes back home on the estates of minor nobles.”

  “The devil mage who first interrogated you placed the idea of an endless maze in your head so you would summon it, but it’s merely an empty plane filled with wandering souls like yourself. I found this place, and Revca can bring me back. I’ve come to bring you back as well.”

  Ivy scoffed. “If you’re going to deceive me, at least don’t insult my intelligence.”

  “I’m not. I really can⁠—”

  “Even if you were Trent, and even if what you say is true, you could not free me from this place. I am not bonded to Trent Marston. I am not bonded to anyone. Did the mages who taught you neglect your classes on basic soul theory? Or are you testing mine?”

  Trent frowned as he considered that. “You’re certain about that?”

  “Of course I am. Are you satisfied now? Or do you have other inane questions to ask?”

  “Would that still be the case if I drank your blood?”

  She opened her mouth to berate him, then frowned. “You could not do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Trent and the others would have taken my body somewhere safe.”

  Ruby smiled and once more tried to touch Ivy, only to have her hand pass through Ivy’s wrist. “We did! Trent took your body back to the Enchanter’s monastery. He put you in the guest room, where Mistress Kari has kept you alive. We just need your soul back!”

  Ivy eyed Ruby dubiously. Trent realized then he knew how to finally convince her of the truth. Ivy had refused to tell the devils anything about herself or about him.

  She had resisted their interrogation about him, which meant they didn’t know everything. Which meant he could let Ivy interrogate him. He stepped closer to her.

  “It’s really me. I came here to find you. But if you need proof, ask me something the devils wouldn’t know. Ask me something only I could know.”

  Ivy laughed coldly and stepped away from Ruby. “You think that’s clever?”

  “You have to trust me for this to work.”

  “Oh, I trust you. I trust you to deceive me.”

  “Ivy—”

  “Since you seem intent on continuing this game, let me end it. You want me to ask you questions about Trent that will reveal secrets you don’t already know. That won’t work.”

  Once again, Ivy’s cool logic and level head threatened to place a wall between them. “That’s not the case, but I recognize how difficult it will be to convince you. So tell me this instead, Ivy. What must I do to convince you of who I am?”

  Ruby tried to touch her arm again, but her hands once more passed through Ivy’s body. She frowned. “Please. You have to believe us.” She brightened as a thought occurred to her. “What if Emerald joined us? Would you listen to Emerald?”

  Ivy frowned at Ruby. “Summon all the figments you like. I won’t be fooled again.”

  She had said “again.” Ivy must have given into her belief that he had come to rescue her before now, and had her hopes dashed each time. Again and again, she’d been fooled.

  Trent stared at her calmly. “Tell me what I can do to convince you I’m real.”

  “Fine.” She straightened and stared defiantly. “Tell me you love me.”

  That was not the demand Trent had expected. It was also a demand he couldn’t meet, at least not if he was honest. He cared about Ivy, and he respected her a great deal, but she had kept a distance between them for as long as they had known each other.

  She had also lied to him about the prophecy regarding the devil assassin who Belgor and Xorumon were certain would kill one of them. He understood and appreciated her choice to be a heroine, but he also still felt she had been foolish to hide the truth from them.

  Kari was right. If Ivy had told them everything, they could have been prepared to stop the devil assassin instead of Ivy forcing herself to sacrifice her shadow servant—and her soul—to stop it. Perhaps that was the way to reach her. By telling her what she didn’t want to hear.

  “I respect you, Princess. I respect you as a ruler and as a woman, and it took great strength to leave your people and join us in hopes of saving them. I also appreciate all you’ve done for us since you joined us, and your decision to save me at the cost of your own life was a noble choice. But I don’t love you. Not yet. Your heroic sacrifice was also entirely unnecessary.”

  Ivy scowled. “That wasn’t what I asked you to say.”

  “And I didn’t tell you what you wanted to hear because I’m not a figment of your imagination, or a devil mage in disguise. You should have told me the truth about Xorumon’s warning. You should have told me that if we went to Clarion, either you would die or I would.”

  Trent saw a flash of uncertainty pass across her features, and then her brow furrowed in concentration. Did she think he was somehow sneaking secrets out of her head? She must be desperate to stop that from happening.

  Trent decided to keep pushing. “Had we known that he and Lord Belgor were certain I would die, or you would, we would have taken precautions to ensure that the devil assassin never even got close to me. You would never have been tossed into this morass.”

  Her features hardened. “There was no way to stop that assassin.”

  “Yet we never tried, because you didn't trust me and my wives to devise a plan. I wouldn’t have gone off with Emerald alone while Revca went to confront Scylla’s Daughter. Our whole tribe would have been there to protect me, which meant you wouldn’t have been forced to defend me alone. Sapphire could have killed that devil, or Revca, or even Ruby.”

  Ivy jabbed a fingertip into his chest. “I saved him from you!”

  “You saved me at the cost of your own soul. Please tell me you at least considered how your death would affect any chance at peace. You are Corrin’s last hope. Your marriage to me, and your proximity to the crown of Dalry, is the only way Corrin and Dalry can find peace.”

  Just like Tallun when confronted with the truth, Ivy’s eyes widened as she recognized the truth in his words. She really hadn’t considered this until now... or perhaps she had, and she had convinced herself it wasn’t true for the sake of her own sanity.

  Trent kept relentlessly pressing her, because he knew no other way to reach her through her mental fog. “I came here to save your soul because you saved mine, and because I truly do care about you. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t also motivated by loyalty to Princess Victoria and to the cause of peace between our nations. We can’t have peace without you. If your people learn you died, they’ll blame us. The hostilities with Corrin will only grow more fierce.”

  Ivy glared at him, but the force behind her glare was flickering like a torch in a fierce storm. “That won’t happen. Narius will⁠—”

  “Prince Narius is a child!” Trent snapped at her, in hopes of shocking her further out of her haze. “You think he won’t believe the devil mages possessing your father and his councilors when they tell him we abducted and murdered you? Even if he does somehow see through their ploy, they’ll simply toss his soul in here and replace him with a puppet.”

  Ivy trembled at that thought. Trent hated seeing her like this, frightened and hopeless and overwhelmed, but he had to break her resolve to save her. He had to make her believe she was lost before she’d believe she’d been found.

  “If you don’t return with me, our efforts to save Dalry, Hesia, and even Corrin from these devil mages will fail. If you don’t marry me and join Victoria’s court as a wife of her first knight, your people will never have the peace they deserve. I need you alive.”