“And she had the same problem as Helian?”

  Rosa nodded. “Yes, she fell asleep for days at a time.”

  The revered mother squeezed Rosa’s hand tightly and continued. “The ties between a saintess and their body are somewhat fragile, as it’s not the one they had originally. It’s possible for them to… come loose, and the soul can eventually be set adrift.”

  Was Helian going to leave? After everything we’d been through?

  “Aifé… did her best to keep Mother here. But it wasn’t enough. Not after Haruko died.”

  “I failed her. I think she always wanted to go back, and in the end, she didn’t have much reason to stay-”

  The revered mother coughed and turned to Rosa. “I’m sorry dear, that’s not what I meant-”

  Rosa shook her head. “You’re not wrong. I’m sure she loved us in her own way, but… we were never that close, and we probably made her life harder. I wish I had understood at the time.”

  I was starting to understand how all of this connected, but it still didn’t make sense. “Why Helian, though? She doesn’t want to go back. I’ll admit I haven’t exactly been the ideal spouse, but I thought things were going okay…”

  “We think someone did this on purpose.”

  The revered mother nodded in agreement. “It’s quite possible, though it would be very difficult to do. It’s hard to explain her condition otherwise. You probably had nothing to do with it. Though you may be able to help her wake up.”

  This was the first good news I’d heard in weeks. “I’ll do anything.”

  Rosa smiled. “I know. We’ll figure this out, okay? I’m pretty sure I know who’s responsible, so we just need to prove it and then put an end to them.”

  “I hope that will go faster than things did with the marchioness…”

  Aifé cleared her throat. “To be honest, it may take a while. But there are things we can try in the interim. You said the dragon wanted to meet her, yes?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I was thinking we could go once she woke up.”

  “It might be best to take her there as soon as possible, if it’s safe to do so. The dragon may be able to help. They’re reputed to be wise and powerful beings, after all, and it sounds as if they know quite a bit about saintesses.”

  It would be a difficult trip, but the idea was tempting. If Gold could do something to wake Helian up, I’d happily give up anything she asked in exchange.

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  “It’ll be tricky, but I think that might be possible. The weather should be better by the time we arrive.”

  Rosa looked at me with concern. “I’m sure you want to leave right away, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. You look like you could fall apart at any moment.”

  The adrenaline helped me forget about my bruises for a while, but by now it had faded, and it felt as if I had earned some new ones during my brief adventure at the temple.

  I sighed. “You’re right, Your Highness. I’m sure Helian needs to recuperate, anyway.”

  Rosa frowned. “Yes, that’s probably true. I forgot to tell you about what happened before you arrived…”

  I was certain Helian had just never thought to bring it up. After all, she went through a lot… and always had a lot on her mind. I was sure she hadn’t kept the details of her encounter and resulting connection with Coroban a secret on purpose.

  And even if she had, it was probably just so I wouldn’t worry.

  Even so, the idea of a guest observing all the time we spent together made my skin crawl. It was bad enough knowing that the author had plotted out the biggest events of our childhoods, as if they were watching us dance for their own amusement… but the idea of being watched from inside one’s own head was an even worse kind of violation.

  I supposed Pretense had been a guest of a sort as well… waiting for an opportunity to ruin everything. At least I no longer had to worry about that.

  Assuming nothing was wrong with the sword Gold gave me.

  Had Coroban been manipulating Helian all this time too, just like the sword did to me? I couldn’t think of anything, but perhaps the result was more subtle… anger or suspicion, maybe.

  “Frost, are you okay?”

  Rosa looked very concerned. I had gotten too engrossed in my thoughts. There was no value in worrying at this point… best to focus on helping Helian. Though I couldn’t focus on that to the exclusion of everything else, lest I make another mistake. Now that the adrenaline was no longer pumping, I felt guilty for beheading that priestess. I probably could have settled for cutting off her hands to deal with the threat, but at the time all I could think about was how Helian and Rosa were in danger.

  Well, I’m not certain how concerned I was about Rosa… I was worried about her, I think.

  Aifé was right to be upset with us, and I could tell she was trying not to think about what had happened, since she had been so distraught over it earlier. I hoped this wouldn’t damage her relationship with Rosa too badly… though it seemed as if their relationship was not great to begin with, Rosa’s attitude towards her seemed to be improving as time passed.

  “Frost. What’s wrong?”

  Oh, right. “Sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts. I’m okay, I think. Other than all the bruises.”

  “It’s fine to be worried about Helian, you know. You don’t have to pretend that it isn’t getting to you.”

  “Well… it’s been hard to sleep, but otherwise I think I’m coping with it. It’s not the first time she’s been in danger, after all.”

  “You knew the future back then though, didn’t you? You really shouldn’t ignore how you’re feeling.”

  Aifé stopped looking out the window. “You knew the future? What does that mean?”

  Rosa scratched her head and looked guilty. “Sorry… I shouldn’t have said that, but I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. There was a prophecy that foretold Helian’s future. The two of them broke up over it.”

  I grimaced. “That’s not quite right.”

  Rosa nodded. “Okay, sure. Helian decided breaking up would keep Frost safe, and Frost disagreed.”

  “Anyway, I managed to mess with the future a bit, so things didn’t turn out how they were supposed to. It was mostly an improvement, I think.”

  “Your mother was going to die, for one thing.”

  I nodded. “That’s true. And she wasn’t going to be my mother, I think. Well, she couldn’t have been, anyway – it’s possible that was always meant to happen.”

  Aifé looked pale. “You two are far too casual about this. A prophecy? How did you learn of it? And you changed the future?”

  Rosa smiled. “You get used to it after you’re around these two for long enough.”