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Her stupid gown.

She couldn’t stand it. Kestrel began tearing the fabric off of her, each layer of silk and cotton and lace and everything else until she was standing in her undergarments panting.

When her vision went black.

Kestrel froze.

At first, she thought maybe the fire in the hearth had blown out. Even then, her room had large enough windows and was up high enough that the moon would surely be offering some illumination.

She had no sense of her body though. Not her bare flesh, nor her heaving chest as it rose and fell with each panting breath.

It was as if she wasn’t herself. Adrift somewhere that didn’t exist.

Then through the darkness, faint slivers of light began to emerge. They carved jagged pieces out of the blackness, leaving behind different shades of grey. Shapes began to form. Tree branches. Hundreds of them. Weaving in and around each other like a net of loose threads.

She was standing in the Hollows. The same place she’d been in her dreams, she realized.

Much like in the dream, Kestrel noticed the black feathers that were falling from the sky as if hundreds of birds were molting overhead. Large chunks of stone sprang from the earth like fingers, smooth along the curved tops, as if they had been carved and planted there.

Kestrel turned around, finding the still lake behind her. A blue glow emanated from within its depths.

Before she could walk closer, before she could even think to blink, Kestrel felt the water lapping at her ankles and found herself suddenly standing in the water. In the next breath of a moment, the water came up to her knees. Then her hips. Her chest.

Soon, Kestrel was completely submerged, following that bright blue orb into the depths. But she couldn’t swim. Couldn’t breathe.

Suddenly, Kestrel woke up gasping, completely shrouded and tangled in the lace curtains that were hanging over her windows. She clawed for freedom, barely managing to escape. When she did, she realized that dark shadows were oozing from her fingertips like thick tendrils of black smoke. Slowly, they receded, and Kestrel felt herself expanding, a sense of comfort and wholeness returning to her.

Then her bedchamber door creaked opened.

“Evening, my lady. I thought you might—oh my!” Marion gasped at the sight of her, and Kestrel wasn’t sure if it was because she was almost entirely nude or if she looked as wild and disoriented as she felt. Marion’s eyes scanned her head to toe before falling to the discarded garments by the door. “Well, I see you managed to undress yourself. Might I suggest putting on a nightgown before traipsing in front of your windows and displaying yourself for the entire kingdom, my lady?”

Kestrel twisted around, glaring outside. She didn’t much care if the people saw her like this, not that she thought they could from how far away the denizens of the city resided from the castle.

Besides, she had problems farther away than the Ironbloods to worry about.

Why was the Hollows calling to her?

What lurked below those waters and why was it showing itself to her?

With a tut and long sigh, Marion collected the garments off the floor, tossed them on the bed, and came behind Kestrel to throw a nightgown over her. Kestrel shimmied into it without a word, much less an awareness of what she was doing.

“Will that be all then, my lady?”

Half dazed, Kestrel nodded and bid her handmaiden a goodnight. But before the door could shut behind her, she remembered one other thing.

“Marion? Actually, would you be able to bring me less formal clothing tomorrow? Maybe something with trousers?”

Marion’s smile was warm and knowing. “I’ll see what I can muster.”

Chapter 28

A Lesson in the Ballroom

KESTREL

Kestrel was still sound asleep, her face pressed in the center of a book when Marion blew into the room.

“Rise and shine, my lady. You have a busy day ahead of you.”