Page 110 of The Arrow and the Alder

Seph thought of her family. If shedidbring them here, technically Grandpa Jake would take his rightful place as king, but he wasn’t in any capacity to rule. Even if they managed to heal him, he was very old, so perhaps her papa would step into that role. He was next in line, after all, assuming he was alive. Regardless, she was still a princess…

It was all too much, honestly, and it made Seph dizzy thinking about it. She didn’t know the first thing about running a kingdom. She’d barely been able to protect her family, and yet even then, she was forced to admit those difficulties had arisen from the poor leadership of a greedy baron. How would they have fared under ajustruler? Was there such a person?

Couldshebe that person?

It is hard to live in two worlds, my Josephine. It will tear you apart…There will come a day, and very soon, when you will have to choose.

Seph picked up the little book that Alder had left, and she began reading through the stories, and it was to the stories so cherished by her grandfather that she eventually found sleep. Just like she always had when she was a little girl.

Seph strode briskly up the path that led to the hall, feeling uniquely renewed and determined this morning. She’d awoken with clear purpose and a burning desire to solve the mystery of her grandfather’s coat. It was as if Ava herself had set a fire in her soul—one that burned away every fear and insecurity.

Without those, the answer to last night’s dilemma was immediately obvious.

She had questions as to the details, of course, but she trusted Ava and her saints to sort those things out as Seph engaged with them.

Many kith smiled as she passed by in her exquisite gown of silver, and she knew what they saw.

Her great-grandmother.

Seph had left her hair down on purpose, to remindthemas much as she intended to remind herself that this was in her blood. The guards didn’t stop her as she pushed through the grand double doors and into the great hall.

Celia, Tyrin, Priestess Nistarra, and a few more silver-robed kith stood around a table, bent over the coat, but at Seph’s entry, they all looked over.

Priestess Nistarra stood tall. “Princess Josephine.”

Seph scanned their faces, though her gaze lingered on Celia despite herself, and she felt a prick of jealousy. She shoved it down and smiled instead. “Good morning.”

“You look well,” Tyrin said, matter-of-fact, as always. “I trust you’re feeling better?”

“Much, thank you.” Seph stopped beside the table. “I was informed that you would like my help with this.” She gestured at the coat.

There was a beat of silence. No doubt they were all struck mute by this shift in Seph and how closely she resembled her great-grandmother just then. And strangely, Seph felt her great-grandmother’s presence, as if she’d come down from the heavens to lend her strength.

“Yes,” Tyrin answered at last. His gaze fell to the coat, and his brow creased. “There are a few…additional counter-enchantments I thought we might attempt. Being in Basrain’s company gave me some ideas, and if the Fates are kind, hopefully we might have the light out of this coat by the week’s end.”

“Are we supposed to do that?” Seph asked, and they all looked at her.

Celia’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“There’s a reason Massie wants it,” Seph replied. “And I don’t believe it’s because he intended to give the power back to the land. Which further leads me to believe that releasing the power isn’t enough. It actually needs to beplacedsomewhere so that it doesn’t go into a person.”

It was what had made the most sense to Seph as she’d stayed up late into the night, reading and thinking. So much thinking that her head still ached.

Tyrin and the priestess exchanged a glance.

“And where would we place it?” Celia asked coolly.

Seph studied the coat and the swirling script that ran like rivers over the iridescent fabric. She wished she knew how to read the language of enchantment. “I don’t know, but I would like to revisit the translations. You’ve said there are quite a few enchantments you’ve never seen before, but the ones you do understand…how do they translate?”

“They seem to be a kaleidoscope of unrelated terms.”

“What sort of terms?”

Priestess Nistarra sighed. “Basic enchantments for protection and strength. A heart for courage. There is one for light and for sorrow, and even one for a star, so it is like looking at a collection of words, but they’re all mixed up and out of order.”

The priestess’s words brought to mind a story Seph had read last night. Well, it wasn’t so much the story as it was the script her grandfather had written in the margins:

Heart of a star.

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