Darkness.
Endless, weightless darkness.
Had I fallen asleep in the library? I didn't remember closing my eyes, and yet here I was—adrift in nothingness. No floor beneath me. No ceiling above. Just the soundless, breathless void. Then, a voice echoed through the black. Soft. Familiar.
What memories are you going to show me, Lily? As I blink.
Suddenly, I stood before a narrow, twelve-foot door, slightly ajar. Pale light seeped through the crack, illuminating the elegant interior of an unfamiliar coach. Not Hartwell Mansion. Somewhere else entirely.
Inside sat a girl with long, white hair that cascaded like a river of snow across her shoulders. She sipped tea with unsettling calm, dressed in regal poise, as if the world outside her coach was hers to command.
A maid stood nearby, head bowed.
"My lady, I did what you asked."
"Good." The girl's voice was smooth, cold. "That will teach her not to steal what belongs to me."
Steal? A chill crawled across my skin. What was she talking about?
Before I knew it, a tear had traced its way down my cheek. I turned, leaving the door behind and entering a moonlit corridor. Shadows gathered in the corners. The moon began to vanish behind creeping clouds, like a curtain slowly closing.
Who was that girl? Did Lily know her? Were they friends… or something far worse?
A figure stirred at the far end of the hallway. The darkness peeled back just enough to reveal him. A knight's uniform clung to his frame, frayed and bloodstained. Scars marred his skin, and he swayed as though exhaustion pressed down on every bone.
And yet, he opened his arms.
Then the moonlight returned, and I saw him.
Blond hair. Eyes like shattered glass.
Julian.
Older. Tired. Alive.
Without thinking, I ran into his embrace. I wasn't sure if it was instinct or Lily's memory buried in me. Maybe both.
"I thought you were arrested," I whispered, holding him tightly. "Banished. Why are you here?"
He didn't answer right away. He just clung to me like someone remembering how to breathe.
"I had to see my little sister," he said, his voice cracking. "To know if she was alright."
"You shouldn't have come," I said, pulling back just enough to see him. "If the guards catch you—"
"You don't have to worry about me, Lily." He smiled faintly. "I can take care of myself."
"You don't look like it," I muttered, eyes falling on the bruises that lined his jaw and arms. "You look like hell."
He gave a weary chuckle. "Wait. Lily, I need to tell you something."
His grip tightened on my shoulders. He leaned in, voice low.
"Alistair… ######### #—"
The words broke apart. Shattered. Swallowed by something that did not want me to hear. A force beyond memory or dream, something primal and ancient. Blocking the truth.
Then—footsteps. Heavy boots. Guards.
Julian pulled away.
"I have to go," he said. "Be careful, Lily. Please. Take care."
He turned so quickly, as if it hurt him to keep looking at me.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, unsure who the words belonged to. Me—or Lily.
Then a single word echoed behind him, slipping through the fog like a thread from a forgotten tapestry.
"Althaea."
---
I jolted awake.
"My lady?" Emily's voice brought me back. "Did I wake you?"
She stood by a pile of toppled books, arms full of dusty tomes.
"No," I murmured, wiping the tears from my eyes. "I was already waking."
"You seem… upset."
"Do I?" I offered a weak smile. "Just a bad dream. About… a witch."
"A witch?" Her brow furrowed.
I turned to the window. The sky outside bled gold and amber. Sunset. How long had I been asleep?
"The young Duke asked to see you in his office," Emily added, already turning back to the shelves.
"Thank you, Emily." I rose, brushing the remnants of the dream from my skirt.
There were so many pieces—memories not written in the novel I once thought I understood.
A man who once called her Evie. A lover, perhaps?
The bond between the Hartwell siblings, far deeper than fiction ever suggested.
And Julian… returning even after banishment. The book never said they met again. Why did it leave that out?
And what had he done to be arrested in the first place?
---
I stood outside the office door, hand trembling as I knocked. A voice called from inside.
"Come in."
I opened the door.
And cried.
I didn't even know why. Was it Lily weeping through me, or my own sorrow? Maybe both. Julian was just a boy—grieving parents, clinging to manhood, protecting a sister who was no longer there. And now, standing before him, I was not that sister.
"Why are you crying?" Julian rose from his chair, concern etched on his face.
"I'm sorry, Julian," I said through tears.
He pulled me into an embrace. I sobbed quietly in his arms.
"Let's eat," he murmured. "We'll talk after."
---
In the dining hall, no maids were present. Just silence. A silence so sharp I could hear maids whispering beyond the walls—how they had quit, unpaid by the crumbling Hartwell fortune.
Julian sat across from me, the weight of it all pressing into his shoulders.
Was he disappointed in himself? That he spent the last of Hartwell's money to save a stranger? That he'd hoped I was someone I wasn't?
"Lily?" he asked suddenly. "Can I call you that?"
"Yes," I said, surprised. "If you don't mind."
He nodded. "What are you planning to do now?"
I looked at him, unsure how to answer. And then, the words came.
"I plan to help you rebuild the name of Hartwell."
"Is that so?"
"It's the least I can do. After everything."
"Troubles?" He shook his head. "You're no trouble, Lily."
His words stunned me. Was he trying to make me feel better? Or did some part of him truly believe that?
"What do you mean?"
He hesitated, voice low. "When I asked you to visit our—my parents' graves, you looked… lost. But I thought it was grief. I never imagined you were someone else entirely."
A long pause settled between us.
"When you told me the truth… I was shocked. But even if I'd known sooner, I still would've saved you. I don't regret it. And to be honest…" His voice trailed off, then returned, softer. "You and my sister… you're alike. Your mannerisms. Your fire. It feels like… she's not completely gone."
He awkwardly resumed eating.
I watched him in silence.
We're alike? Lily and I?
That couldn't be true… could it?