*Lena*

“We’re going home,” Mom said as she riffled through the dresser in her bedroom at the castle in Winter Forest, her eyes wide, and a distant expression etched into her brow. I turned to the doorway as Maeve ran past in a blur of copper blonde hair, her footsteps retreating down the hallway.

It had been a few hours since we’d received word about what had happened in Breles. I should have felt stunned by the knowledge, but only a feeling of ...