“Well, let’s find out, then.”
They were bickering. Again.
But this time, I didn’t have the energy to distract them. My excitement grew as I ran closer to the light. We were almost out of this forest, and whatever was on the other side, it would lead me to her. I was sure of it. Instinct had led me on this entire journey. An eerie gut feeling I’d never had before in my life that pulled at me, told me where to go. It had led us this far, but I couldn’t understand why. Why all of this felt familiar. Why I knew the way here. Just another reason this woman and I had to be linked.
I arrived at the edge of the forest and stopped suddenly. Leoni bumped into me.
“Sorry,” she said quickly.
Driscoll’s heavy breathing filled the silence as he finally caught up to us.
“I win,” Leoni said gleefully, and he shoved her, then stilled as he took in the sight before us.
“Whoa,” he said, eyes wide.
A meadow spread out, golden under the warm sun, wildflowers sprouting from the ground, so tall they rose to my chest and overLeoni’s tight bun. Mountains rose in the distance, green and jagged. And the tower. The tower from my dreams. There it stood: gray stone, round, and shooting toward the sky, so tall clouds ringed it like a halo. From here I could see the single window at the top.
Leoni sucked in a breath. “It’s... real. You aren’t crazy.”
“Thank you,” I said drily.
“Well, he might still be crazy. He is related to Gabrielle.”
Leoni tipped her head, her round cheeks like two apples as she laughed. “Touché.”
I stared at the tower in fascination and horror. It was a marvel to behold, so tall and foreboding, but... was she really trapped up there? How did she survive? My pulse spiked. What if she hadn’t survived? I’d been dreaming of her for months, the same dream almost every night: the woman’s face in a window, gazing out from the top of a tall tower, screaming for help.
Leoni and Driscoll stood among the wildflowers now, both of them waiting for me.
I followed behind them, and we pushed our way through the meadow and toward the tower. Toward her. My hand hovered over the sword sheathed at my side, ready for any threat that might surprise us.
“Are we sure about this plan?” Leoni’s voice snapped me from my thoughts.
“Yes, we are,” I said, not wanting to have this conversation again.
I understood that Leoni was in a difficult position: she was the former captain of the guard, sworn to protect me, to uphold her vows as a guard of the royal prince. She had rules to follow. Rules she took very seriously. Too seriously. Including that she should never allow me to put myself in any kind of danger.
“It’s just a tower, Leoni,” I said, keeping my tone light and easy in a way I’d perfected over the years. “I don’t think a tower is going to pose a threat to me, and I think I can handle this woman.”
Whoever she was.
Leoni huffed but didn’t argue. Thank the spirits.
“So you’ll grow the vine,” I said to Driscoll.
His face turned stony.
I peered at Leoni, sending her a questioning look.
She rolled her eyes. “He prefers beanstalk.”
“Because that’s what it is. There’s a difference, you know.”
“Okay.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Beanstalk. You’ll be able to grow one to get me up to the top?”
Driscoll studied the tower, then nodded.
I prayed to Spirit Water this woman was alive, that she was okay. I didn’t understand how she survived in a tower, how she got food, how she kept from going insane. The thought chilled me. Maybe she wasn’t sane, which would be a whole other obstacle. Either way, I’d find out soon enough.
