“Rosie,” Farron’s voice shakes, “what are you doing here?”
But I’m tired of being blamed for things that aren’t my fault. “You lied to me. You all did. Made me believe the Enchantress was evil. But what have you all done?” Fear ensnares my heart. “She called you beasts. All of you!”
“Caspian is the monster!” Kel cries. With a roar, he snatches a cluster of briars from the ground and rips them. The castle shudders.
The other princes stand stricken in the doorway, but I clamber up. Keldarion runs to a wall and pulls more thorns from their hold. A greatcrack!sounds as part of the roof collapses. A massive branch lands and I scream, cowering against the wall.
But Keldarion doesn’t stop. More and more, he rips the briars from the walls and ceiling. The castle moans, almost a cry of agony.
“Kel, stop!” I scream. “You’re making it worse!”
“Everything is ruined,” he snarls. Blood drips between his fingers as the thorns cut into his flesh. “It’s all over!”
My plan failed; I’ve only made this worse for him. Forced him to face the people he’s hidden from. And now I’ve discovered his greatest secret.
With a massive heave, Kel rips up two fistfuls of briar. Stones shake loose from the walls, and I scream as a huge branch breaks through the windows, showering us in colored glass.
“The castle is coming undone!” Ezryn cries. “Hurry, it needs more magic!”
The princes rush forward toward the roses, falling on their hands and knees in a circle.
“Channel your energy into the tree,” Farron instructs. “We have to hold this place together.”
Dayton looks up, panic across his face. “Kel, we need your help.”
But Kel is deep in blood and briars. He looks up through his sweat-damp hair, eyes burning with blue flame. His gaze locks on me. “You don’t belong here. Go away.”
“Kel,” I whisper.
“GO AWAY!” he roars.
And with the castle, my home, crumbling around me, I run.
52
Rosalina
Iceandsnowsprayagainst my bare legs. My feet are completely numb, my thin silver slippers already soaked through.
I don’t care, the outside of my body might as well match my heart. Nothing. I feel nothing. All I know is I have to get away, get back home. My real home.
No one follows as I dash across the bridge and run into the deep thorn bushes covered in snow.
Ice clatters from the giant briars as I weave through them. The rising moon provides an ivory pathway. I need to get back to the rosebush, back to Orca Cove, back to Papa and Lucas and everything else I left behind.
I was a fool for ever thinking I belonged here. Tears crystalize on my cheeks, and my clumsy steps push me against thorns that rip my beautiful gown and scratch red lines down my arms and legs.
It’s not like I can feel them, anyway.
I tumble, skin shredding on the thorns, before I land in a pile of muddy snow. I lay there for a moment, breath falling out of me in heavy gasps.
A familiar chittering laugh sounds through the air. My blood turns to ice.No…
Several yellow glowing eyes peer out from the gloom.
The goblins are here.
Trembling, I grip a vine and pull myself up.Run! Rosalina, run,a smooth voice screams in my ear, so loud it blocks out everything else.Run! I’m in a bit of a predicament at the moment. I can’t get to you, I can’t—The voice cuts off in an anguished cry, but the sheer desperation in the words shoots my body with adrenaline. I spring into action, throwing myself into the tangle of thorns and off the haphazard path. Who was that? It sounded so distant, but familiar at the same time.