Thirty-One

I pace around the room, my steps no doubt creating trenches in the soft rug as I wait for whoever McDougall left to find. Each minute since I arrived back in Towerfall seems to take an eternity. I wring my hands and take deep breaths, trying to prepare myself.

The heavy door opens, and my heart leaps into my throat.

Marion stands there, her face a mask of surprise and something else I can’t quite place.

“Marion, I…” My voice falters, the words sticking in my throat.

Before I can say more, she bursts into the room and wraps me in a hug. “Hannah! It’s been so long. I never thought I’d see you again,” she chokes out. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

“So long?” I murmur, squeezing her back, the warmth of her embrace flooding through me.

Marion straightens her arms, pulling back to look at me. “I needed time to think, and instead, I lashed out at the only person I’ve ever trusted enough to call a true friend,” she says, her eyes shimmering with tears. “I was wrong, Hannah. I was so wrong.”

“We’re never letting a man come between us again,” I say through tears of my own.

“Never again. No matter who he is.” Marion’s tears spill over, and she pulls me back into her arms. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I missed you too,” I whisper back, my tears soaking into her shoulder. “You’re my best friend, Marion. I don’t ever want to lose you.”

We sit down on the settee, the light pouring in through the windows illuminating Marion’s tear-streaked face.

“How long have I been gone?”

She takes my hand, her fingers trembling slightly. “Nearly a fortnight.”

“Almost two weeks?” I say, my mind struggling to process the time change.

“Long enough for me to send Highgate away to our country estate. After what he did to you, I couldn’t bear to even look at him.” She wipes her eyes, a watery smile plumping her cheeks. “I don’t belong to my father nor my husband, and now, with the queen determined to remove herself from life at court no matter the outcome, I no longer belong to Her Majesty either. I am alone for the very first time.”

“You’re not alone. I’m here, and you always have yourself. Marion, you are strong, so much stronger than you realize. You can find your own path and make your own choices.”

A fresh wave of tears wells in Marion’s eyes. She dabs at them with her fingertips, a small smile breaking through. “You really think so, Hannah?”

“I fucking know so, Marion.”

“I second that,” McDougall says, stepping closer. “Although perhaps with slightly less vulgarity, Lady—” He pauses. “I’m suddenly realizing I don’t know your surname, my lady.”

“I’m not a lady. At least not in the way you’re thinking,” I explain with a shake of my head. “The Empress, she brought me here, but I’m from a bit farther than the Kingdom of Cups. Way farther, actually. I’m not from this realm at all.”

“Not from this realm,” he repeats, his voice soft, as if testing the words.

“My realm is very different from this one,” I continue, taking a deep breath. “It’s…ahead, in some ways, but lacking in others.”

“Hannah, that’s ridiculous.” Marion’s eyes widen, her mouth dropping open in shock. “It’s impossible.”

“It’s magick, Lady Highgate,” McDougall says gently, his gaze steady and unflinching. “I have lived a long life and seen many things. Magick is not bound by the same rules that govern our understanding. If Hannah says she is from another realm, then I believe her.”

Marion’s gaze flicks between McDougall and me, her disbelief slowly giving way to acceptance. She squeezes my hand tighter, her grip almost desperate. “But how? How is that possible?”

“This,” I say, holding out the card. “This is the magick that brought me here.”

I hand her the Empress, rippling with magick, and she takes a sharp breath when she touches it.

“The Tower,” I say. “It called me here.”

“The stories…” She shakes her head, looking up at me. “They’re all real?”

“I’m the proof,” I say. “It called me here because I have a purpose to fulfill—to help you, to help all of Pentacles—and that starts with saving Kane.”

“Kane Blackthorne? Why didn’t you say as much sooner? He’ll meet the blade at sunset.”