I racked my brain, turning over every story or myth I’d ever heard.

“What about Orpheus? You let him take Eurydice.”

But in the end, she did not leave. He was not strong enough. She stayed.

“You don’t need him, especially since I’ve sent you so many other souls.”

Was it truly for me? Or your own ends?

“Does it matter?”

Perhaps not. But now I have two more, and I do not have to give them up.

“Then do it as a favor,” I begged.

A favor? Her amusement grew. Why would I do that?

“Because I’ve served you faithfully. And because we’re the same. I’m trapped in two worlds too, and I don’t think I can get out of that. I’m torn in two forever now.”

I touched the butterfly tattoo on my arm, half black and half white. Just like Persephone, who spent half her existence as a goddess of springtime and half as a ruler of death. Just like me, half human and half gentry. Half lover, half killer. In Swan Lake, Odile is the dark swan and Odette is the light swan, yet both are played by the same dancer.

She only stared, and I desperately tried to think of something. “You said this world is what we bring. I brought love too. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

She considered. That depends. Will you give up your love? Sacrifice it to me? Promise you will stay away from him forever, that you will forsake your love.

I stared at Kiyo’s inert form, thinking how it would be to never see him again. Something inside of me died at that thought, but I didn’t hesitate.

“All right. I agree.”

Persephone stared at me a moment, then Kiyo vanished.

It is done.

“You sent his soul back? He’ll live?”

If his body is healed soon, then yes, he’ll live.

She continued staring at me, and I realized I’d made no such guarantees for my own return. In fact, I could no longer feel that glittering connection to my own body.

You are trapped here, she affirmed.

“I know. It’s okay. It’s worth it.” And I meant it. Kiyo’s life meant more than my own.

Her blue-to-black-to-blue eyes held me. Then, as improbable as it seemed, she sighed.

Go back. Go back to your dual existence. I will see you again someday, and then you will stay.

Her fingers touched my forehead, and a searing pain ran through me. My form disappeared in a flurry of feathers and black wings, and I felt myself being pulled out of this world. Just before I left completely, she spoke again. Her voice was tired and maybe just a little sad.

Keep your love. I have no use for it anymore.

An instant later, I woke up in my physical body, gasping and choking for air as I returned to life.

About two days passed before I had enough of a grip on consciousness to get out of bed. I had dim recollections of a commotion outside Aeson’s stronghold after returning to my body that night but little more. Shaya had cradled me in her arms. Dorian had yelled for a healer. But best of all, beside me I’d seen Kiyo stir.

Now I woke up in one of Dorian’s many guest rooms. It was smaller than his but as opulently decorated as everything else around there. I’d come to a few times before this but only now found the strength to stay up. Nia, who had hovered by my side the entire time, remained less convinced.

“You shouldn’t…you need to sleep more…”

I was stripping off the long chemise they’d put me in, trading up for my recently laundered clothes. “If I sleep any more, I’ll be dead, and I’ve already come too close to that. Where’s Dorian? I need to talk to him.”

“I’m sure he’d come to you, your majesty.”

I winced at the title. “No. Just take me to him.”

Despite her protests, her sense of duty couldn’t disobey the order. She led me through the maze of corridors where I earned a number of curious looks from the various occupants. Since my initial arrival, I’d become sort of a common fixture around here, accepted and ignored. Now people regarded me with the same frightened curiosity I’d first received.

Outdoors, we found Dorian in one of the gardens, standing over a small, fluffy dog. Muran hovered nearby, and between them, they tried unsuccessfully to coax the dog to lie down and roll over. It merely sat looking at them, tail thumping.

Dorian noticed me first, his face breaking into a wide smile. The healers had been at work on him too; no trace of the burns remained. “Queen Eugenie, lovely to see you out and about.”

Muran nearly fell all over himself to bow. “Y-your majesty.”

“We need to talk,” I told Dorian firmly. “Alone.”

“I never tire of being alone with you. Nia, take this unreasonable beast away with you. And take the dog too.” He waved them off.

Once alone with him, I demanded, “What the hell were you thinking?”

“There are so many incidents to which you could be referring, I don’t even know where to start.”

“Yes, you do. You made me queen of Aeson’s kingdom.”

“Your kingdom now, my dear.”

I paced around in the grass irritably. It was the middle of the day, crisp and sunny. “I didn’t want it. You had no right to do it.”

“It’s done. Besides, if I hadn’t, someone else might have snatched it up. Would you have liked to see your charming little sister on the throne?”

That stopped me. Extensive searching had found no trace of Jasmine. She seemed to have gotten away cleanly during the yeshin fight.

“Give it to someone else. There has to be a better choice than Jasmine or me.”

“Give it away?” He laughed his wondrous melodic laugh, the one that declared all the world was a joke. “The land recognized you. You can’t go back on that. It’s yours forever…well, at least until you die. Or pass it on to an heir.”

“Great. Here we go again. I might have known you’d start pushing that.”

“I did no such thing, but…since you brought it up…”

I stopped pacing and glared at him. “Quit it. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t even want to think about it.”

Some of his humor faded. “Maybe you should. Jasmine certainly will be. If she has a son first, all your good intentions won’t matter. You say you don’t want it, but you know…it could all turn out differently if you beat her to it.”

It was so alarmingly close to what Storm King had told me in the Underworld that I didn’t even know what to say at first. Was this a coincidence? I felt pretty sure that all I’d seen there had been an illusion, meant to test my resolve and make me face my fears.

“What’s wrong?” Dorian asked, seeing my face. There was nothing sly or knowing in his expression, only worry.

“Nothing. Look, forget about the prophecy for a minute. Go back to the Alder Land thing. If you were so worried about it falling into the wrong hands, why didn’t you just seize it for yourself?”

“Why, Eugenie, do you think me so power hungry?”

“Yes. I do. I’ve heard and seen as much. When these kingdoms were formed, you wanted more. And you had your chance when Aeson died.” He didn’t answer, and I pushed on, knowing I was right. “But that would have upset a lot of people, wouldn’t it? Maiwenn and the others might have turned against you. But by making me Alder Queen…you got a placeholder. No one can say anything because I defeated Aeson fairly in battle, and now you have easy access to the same power. You plan to use me and this fucking title to extend your control.”

“You have a very low opinion of me. No wonder you’re so upset.”

“Come on. Why else would you have done it?”

He stared in astonishment. “Why, because I love you.” He said it as though it was the most reasonable thing in the whole world. Like I should have known this already.

“You barely even know me.”

“We’ve known each other almost as long as you’ve known the kitsune, and I daresay you think you’re in love with him. Your little foray that night demonstrated as much. By the gods, that was one of the most foolish things I’ve ever witnessed. You stopped breathing. I thought you were dead.”