The voice said my name again.Not loudly. Almost gently, the way you’d say something to a child you didn’t want to startle awake, and somehow that gentleness frightened me more than shouting would have. I took a step back before I’d decided to. My body seemed to trust it less than my mind was still trying to.Beside me, the king’s arm shot up, flat and firm, a silent order to everyone at once. *Don’t move.* Nobody did. Not Rowan, not the guards, not even the wind, which still hadn’t found its way back into the clearing.-----“Who are you?” I asked, once I trusted my voice to hold steady. “How do you know me? Why can’t I see you?”Three questions, thrown out one after another the way I’d thrown them at the king in the carriage. This time, at least, I got an answer — though it wasn’t the kind that satisfied anything.“Because you have forgotten,” the voice said.That was all. I waited for it to continue, to explain what exactly I’d forgotten or how, but the dark beyond the door stayed
Last Updated : 2026-07-25 Read more