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Lavender’s back hit the steps of the dais, throwing her head forward.
Something clattered to the ground, catching in the blue firelight emanating from Thicket’s phoenix.
The stolen Queen’s Crown. Sword still angled at her sister’s throat, Thicket picked it up. “I’m taking this back now. Per the terms of our duel, you no longer hold any claim to it. It is over, sister.”
The throne room doors were flung open as dozens of guards swarmed inside. Vindryan guards.
Caspian came next. His movements were slow, his breathing labored. His eyes collided with Thicket. “Miss Vogeli!” His gaze quickly shifted to Lavender, head bowed, Thicket’s sword at her throat.
“The Soumort Princess. Seize her.”
The guards obeyed without question, binding Lavender’s arms and legs with steel shackles.
“You cannot contain me forever,” Lavender snarled, fighting against their hold. “One day, I will break free. And then, I will see you dead.”
The hatred in her sister’s voice made something deep inside Thicket’s chest ache. The Lost Soul Lagoon may not have been entirely accurate, but it did get one thing right. Thicket wanted a sister. Wanted her sister. To see the depths of Lavender’s hatred—to know she hadn’t hesitated to take her life—pained her.
But this deranged, half feral woman in front of her wasn’t her sister. Only the broken, discarded shell.
“Take her away,” Thicket ordered. She watched as the guards hauled Lavender out of the throne room.
She had won.
She had won.
The relief was all consuming.
Her vision blurred. The world tilted.
And everything went black.
Chapter Fifty
Thicket’s eyes fluttered open.
“You are awake.” Lotta stood from the chair nestled beside her bed, resting her book on its cushion.
“Lotta?” Thicket groaned, her entire body screaming as she fought to rise. “Where am I?”
Lotta’s hands found her back and helped ease her upward. “In one of the guest bedrooms. We brought you here after you fell unconscious.”
The fog coiling around Thicket’s mind instantly cleared. “Lavender, is she—”
“Detained,” Lotta said, “in one of the holding cells beneath the castle. We have confiscated her Aneuma and put up barriers around her cell, however they are all temporary measures, I am afraid. She is very weak, having expended a lot of energy during your fight. But it will come back.”
One day I will escape. And then, I will see you dead.
Thicket squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the words as she touched the spot on her cheek her sister had sliced open. Her fingers found only smooth skin.
“All of your wounds have been healed. Nothing appears to have scarred and with some rest, you will make a full recovery.”
Thicket sat straighter, heart hammering. “What about Marcellus?”
There was a slight twitch to Lotta’s lips, but her voice remained even. “The doctors said it will take a few days before he can resume his usual duties, but he sustained nothing life threatening.”
The relief had her sagging back against her pillows. Frustration was quick to replace it. “Why is he even here? I told him to go to Sleeria.”
“After leaving the Desert Kingdom’s palace, Marcellus sought me out. He told me of the deal you struck with the Emperor and told me to go to Sleeria in his place while he chased after you.”
