Chapter 15
The memories I retained each time I passed from this world and the dream returned without pattern or reason, surfacing at unexpected moments during my waking hours, as though I stumbled upon the key that unlocked them.
I studied the door, tracing the delicate curves of each carved rose framing the wood, the pattern echoing the one I had seen within the dreamscape just last night. It was the same door, I was certain of it…though diminished somehow, like a shadow of one far more vivid.
A moment once shrouded in fog began to sharpen, rising to the surface to paint the blurred memory with color. Details followed in its wake, each one falling into place, bringing the image into clearer focus.
I had sensed a strange power emanating from this corridor during my first tour of the palace.
At the time, I had been unable to investigate the enchanted pull that beckoned like a siren.
Now I remembered standing before this very door in the ruined castle of my dreams—whatever lay beyond it calling to me with a force stronger than even the objects I stole…
along with the dream version of Evander trying to lead me away.
I cast a sideways glance at the man beside me, curious what emotion I might find. But whatever stirred beneath the surface had been carefully concealed behind a composed mask, protecting his secrets from my seeking.
“This is where you wish to begin?” His tone was hollow, absent of its usual charm. “An odd choice. First walls, now doors. I’m certain there are more interesting places to investigate.”
I frowned. The diversion was subtle, but unmistakable.
Just like in the dream, he was trying to prevent me from discovering whatever lay beyond.
For all their differences, both versions of him shared this thread.
I might have found this development intriguing…
if it hadn’t put me on my guard. I doubled my determination to discover what he was hiding.
“How gentlemanly of you to retract your offer and choose for me,” I said coolly. “Have you suddenly remembered what you needed my help with that makes you so eager to break your promise?” Though I kept my tone light, I was certain he could hear my barely concealed suspicion beneath it.
He studied me, his expression unreadable.
“I wouldn’t dream of going back on my word,” he said at last. “You seem to have little freedom befitting your…position. I merely wish to ensure our limited time is used productively.” His gaze flicked to the door.
“You appear familiar with this place. Have you been here before?” The knowing glint in his eyes told me he suspected as much.
For a moment, I was tempted to admit I had been here once before, in a dream that felt far too real. But I still wasn’t entirely convinced those visions were anything more than imagination. Even if they were real, caution still warned me about entrusting my secrets with this enigmatic man.
“I sensed something here during my first tour of the palace,” I said instead. “I was under guard at the time and couldn’t investigate. That’s all I’m willing to share at present—our arrangement involves cooperation, not the surrender of every secret.”
I expected him to press further, but after a moment’s pause he inclined his head. Though he let the matter drop, it was the first clear confirmation of the warning I’d been given—that he was not to be trusted. I would not forget it.
For someone who claimed not to remember why he needed my help, he seemed to have very particular ideas about what we should—and should not—investigate. Whether that awareness was conscious, or something deeper—something his mind had yet to reclaim—remained to be seen.
I tucked the thought away and reached for the handle.
Between the guards’ reluctance to let me pass and Evander’s sudden diversion, I half expected it to be locked.
To my amazement it yielded at once, opening easily, as though it had been waiting for me.
Evander hesitated, then without further protest, he followed me inside, as though anxious to stay close.
I wondered whether that was to protect me against unknown dangers… or to keep me from finding something.
The room beyond the door was not nearly as grand as I expected, given the force that had drawn me to it. A narrow chamber stretched before us, dust coating nearly every surface, as though it had been abandoned in haste. At first glance, there was nothing of interest…nothing obvious, at least.
But beneath the surface, magic hummed through the stones, each one holding the echo of what had once been here. With so many memories clamoring for my attention at once, and with Evander watching closely from the doorway, I couldn’t risk investigating any of them.
One of many reasons I much preferred working alone. Yet strangely, I no longer felt tempted to search the memories that might be hidden beneath the surface. Nor did I mind his company; it filled a void in my heart I hadn’t realized was so vast until it was no longer there.
A peculiar sensation threaded through the magic filling the room, soft and elusive…nostalgia, or the faint impression of coming home, an emotion unfamiliar to me.
The thought unsettled me. Since losing my family, I had never stayed anywhere long enough to create such a feeling.
I had spent my life drifting from place to place, stealing to survive, never lingering long enough to belong.
It was one of the reasons I carried so few personal effects—the emotions tied to them were difficult enough to bear without my power forcing me to relive them in vivid detail.
And yet, for all its familiarity, I was certain I had never set foot here before. Even in my dream, I had remained outside the door. I glanced at Evander, wondering if the feeling belonged to the room’s enchantment, or if it was mine alone.
The change in him was immediate and striking.
The easy smile that had rarely left his face was gone, leaving behind something far more guarded.
For a moment, he looked almost exactly as he had in the dream, lending unsettling weight to my growing suspicion that the two versions of him were somehow linked… even if I couldn’t understand how.
His gaze darted restless around the room, as though he expected something—or someone—to emerge from the shadows and catch us.
The shift in his demeanor and tension in his posture was so reminiscent of his dream-self that for a fleeting moment, I wondered if that version of him had followed me into waking reality.
“Evander?” I asked uncertainly.
He met my gaze and the strange uneasiness that had overcome him cleared. “Let’s investigate and be done with it so we can move on.” But something indecipherable lingered behind his words, as though a quiet war waged just beneath the surface.
We ventured deeper into the room. Upon closer examination, I noticed one wall remained untouched by the neglect that shrouded the rest of the chamber—a remnant of the ruined castle from my dreams. A mural stretched across the stone, its colors vivid despite the decay surrounding it.
It was too large to have escaped my notice before, making me wonder if the magic had only just parted like an invisible curtain, revealing what had always been hidden beneath it.
Two castles faced one another across a lake so still it reflected the sky like polished glass.
One towered beneath a golden dawn, its towers bathed in light.
The other rose pale beneath a silver moon, its towers softened as though seen through mist. For all its simplicity, something about the image unsettled me, as though it held a truth just beyond my understanding.
Beyond the empty room’s tall windows, the sky darkened unnaturally quickly—as if night had been drawn over the world like a curtain. The room dimmed until only the light from the mural’s painted moon remained, its glow bright enough to rival the torches lining the walls.
Without thinking, I stepped closer. Evander drew in a sharp breath and reached towards me just as I brushed my fingers against the painted stone.
The mural shivered beneath my touch, causing the painted castles to shimmer, their reflections warping within the painted lake.
Magic suddenly surged, causing the world to lurch and the mural to glisten with light.
Color drained from the surrounding chamber as another scene emerged in its place.
The silence shattered, urgent voices echoing against the stone walls as figures rose like phantoms from the air. Their misty forms gradually took shape to reveal men and women dressed in rich fabrics, their expressions shadowed with fear.
A tremor of magic rippled through the room, spreading through the chamber like frost creeping across glass.
One by one, people began to collapse, their startled gasps dying on their lips before they could become screams; their bodies simply gave way as sleep claimed them without warning.
Panic erupted among those still standing—frantic shouts, shaking, pleas to wake up.
But one by one, their frantic shouts and pleas for the others to wake were swallowed by the same unnatural sleep… until only a lone figure remained.
He stood near the mural, rigid with shock as he stared at the spreading chaos, his face obscured by shadow.
As though sensing me, he turned. For a single, suspended heartbeat, our eyes met.
Recognition flickered across his face, followed by something far darker—an unspoken warning cut short before it could form as a violent surge of magic exploded through the chamber and darkness swallowed the room.