Xavier was not in the bedroom when Alice woke up. It was a relief to find herself only in the company of Missy, who was soundly asleep. Her little chest moved up and down as she breathed, tail slightly twitching now and then.

It had been three days since her escape attempt and resulting head wound, and she hadn't left the bedroom once. Xavier would bring her meals and things to entertain herself with, but she felt very closely watched, even more so than usual.

Even so, Xavier was the only person actively watching her.

She was starting to get a little suspicious that he might be the only person in the castle, after all, but the soft footsteps and occasional noises from castle staff proved otherwise. It was only that Xavier didn't let her interact with many of the other residents. Even etiquette lessons with Lila had come to a screeching halt, and he didn't seem inclined to have her resume them.

Alice put down the sketchbook that she'd already half filled with doodles and drawings. She wasn't an incredible artist, but it passed the time. There were a few books on the side table, as well, but they seemed to be a bit of a random selection. Among the titles were Little Women, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Jungle, and Heart of Darkness, along with two volumes of collected short stories.

Of the lot, only The Wonderful Wizard of Oz managed to hold her interest. The Jungle was too gruesome, Little Women too wordy and boring, and she'd made it about ten pages into Heart of Darkness before falling asleep with the book in her lap. She found herself picking up Dorothy's tale again, opening it to the bookmarked page. Missy had been enjoying hearing Alice read the tale aloud, but they could always go over the parts she missed when the little possum woke from her nap.

Dorothy and the Scarecrow had just entered a forest with some particularly irritated apple trees when the door to the room opened. Alice jumped to attention, expecting to see Xavier walking inside, though he'd only left her a few minutes ago.

However, it wasn't his crystalline antlers that peeked through the threshold, but another fae.

"Willow!" Alice gasped, dropping the book onto the bed beside her. The jolt from the drop roused Missy, who gave a toothy yawn and stretch before she scrambled up onto Alice's shoulder.

"I told you I'd be back!" she said, smiling. "Sorry it took a minute. I had to be careful."

"It's okay. Found out anything?" Alice asked, beckoning Willow over. Her friend perched on the edge of the bed, shaking her head.

"Nothing. I've looked at what I could in the library, but it's difficult to hide in there, and my Shadow form can't pick up books to read. How about you?"

"I'm under strict watch, if ya couldn't tell," Alice grumbled. "I've been tryin' to poke at him about my magic, but he won't budge. Just says I need to rest."

To be fair, he wasn't entirely wrong about that. Willow's medicine had healed the vast majority of the damage, but three days wasn't enough for the bloody wound to completely close. She had a fresh bandage on, but it still needed regular changing.

"Okay, so... Let's think about this. Besides animal speak, what else do you do?" Willow asked, tilting her head slightly in a way that was reminiscent of Florian's mannerisms. It made sense that they'd grown up together— they had some of the same quirks.

"Um... kinda nothing," Alice admitted. "I can do basic things, but they're never as strong as my sisters or my ma, even if they do them the exact same way. Why do ya ask?"

As annoying as it was to admit that she didn't have an incredibly specialized or flashy skill set, it was just what they had to work with right now. And, the longer that Alice sat with that information, the more she was starting to realize that it... didn't really matter to her.

She liked being able to speak with animals. She had everything else she needed.

Why did it matter if she couldn't conjure fire from her hands?

"I have a theory," Willow admitted. "It might be far-fetched, though."

"What... is it?" Alice asked hesitantly.

"I was thinking about how I started to try and remember a few things after I talked to you the first time, just bits and pieces," she said slowly, gesturing vaguely with her hands as she spoke. "I... I wonder if you're a magic eater."

Alice blinked.

"What in the name'a Sam Hill does that mean?"

"I've... heard things here and there," Willow said, biting her lip briefly as she tried to explain. "Sometimes there are people who don't do much magic because their primary ability is to store magic."

"... I'm sorry, Willow, I still don't get it," Alice sighed. "You're sayin' I'm a battery that can't power itself?"

"Exactly!" she said, snapping her fingers. "You absorb magic from people just by being near them. It's passive, and it's not enough to hurt, but I bet you've been doing it for years without knowing. You're storing it up in your body, just amassing it for later use."

"What damn use is that if I can't get it out?!" Alice asked. "And why would that help you remember?"

"You absorbed the layer of magic blocking my memories for long enough that I could break through," she said, smiling. "Unfortunately, I... don't know much about how you could go about accessing what you've stored."

That... actually made sense.

Not to mention that if Willow was right, it gave them an explanation for why Xavier kept everyone out of the castle and away from Alice except for the bare minimum staff. If her magic was enough to gnaw away at whatever made them forget Florian, and Xavier claimed he'd never heard of him despite spending hours upon hours in close quarters with Alice...

The only logical explanation was that Xavier was lying. He did remember Florian.

He just didn't want anyone else to remember him, for some yet unknown reason.

"Great," she muttered, groaning. "Now I gotta figure out how this works."

"You could try the library?"

"Can't do it. Nothin' in there's in English."

"You want me to translate?"

"Nah, that'll take—" but Alice cut off suddenly, standing from the bed. "Actually, yeah. Can ya take a look at this?"

She scrambled around to the back side of Xavier's desk, feeling underneath for the hidden latch. Luckily, he hadn't said a word about her poking around the desk, and he didn't seem to be aware that she'd found the compartment.

Alice slipped the leather-bound book out of the hidden drawer and handed it to Willow. The fae woman blinked at it for a moment, but she didn't question how Alice had managed to find the compartment in the first place.

"It's Xavier's journal," she explained. "Or... I guess I'm assumin' it is. I can't read it."

Willow flipped open the front cover, eyes scanning the text, but after only a moment, she frowned.

"This... isn't fae," she said, squinting at the pages. "I can't even read this. It looks like some kind of archaic human language."

"Shit," Alice hissed. There went her idea. She didn't even know anyone who could read ancient languages—

Wait.

Yes, she did.

"You said you know a way outta here?"

"I do. I don't think I'll be able to get past the wards again, though, so if I leave, it better be important."

"It is," Alice said, taking a long breath. "I know a few people who could probably help us out."

Willow immediately brightened at that, eyes going wide. "Why didn't you lead with that?"

"Can you get a message out to Howard's Knob?" Alice asked. "There's a professor that lives near friends'a mine. I think he could probably tell us what's in it."

At the very least, he was the best hope they had.

Hartley was the most intelligent person she knew, not to mention an incredible wealth of knowledge when it came to ancient languages of all kinds, human and Other alike. If anyone would be able to translate it for them, it would be him. She just hoped he wasn't too upset with her for how she acted before running off.

"I can handle journal delivery," Willow said firmly.

"Okay... um..." Alice fumbled, beginning to pace around the room. "Problem: We can't move the journal. He'll know something's wrong."

"Or..." Willow mused, trailing off.

"What?"

"Tell him someone stole it. We'll make the room look like it's been ransacked, like I didn't know where to look." She nodded slowly as she spoke. "He might figure out it was me, but I'll be long gone by then."

"How do I get away with not hearin' any of that?" Alice asked, eyebrows raised. "You wanna lock me in the bathroom or something?"

"No, they still would have heard you scream if someone did come in and lock you away, and I don't want to knock you unconscious..."

"Please do not do that," Alice sighed.

"Agreed," Missy squeaked. "There's been enough of that already."

Alice thought she'd had enough of being knocked unconscious to last her a lifetime. It had only been a couple of days since her head wound, and she didn't want another one for a myriad of reasons. Though, admittedly, her first reason was just... not wanting Xavier to smother her so much.

"Sibella flower," Willow said suddenly. "It's a fae plant. The vines grow down in the garden."

That name sounded familiar... Alice frowned, trying to remember. Florian had said something about them before, tried to warn her away from them.

"Oh!" She snapped her fingers, finally remembering. "You wanna put me to sleep."

"I think it would be best. I'll leave a few of the flowers around the bed. You'd essentially be entirely unconscious until someone came to wake you up."

"I... don't think I like that," Missy said, hissing slightly.

"Then you can be the one to go look for help," Alice said, gently patting Missy's head. "If you act scared and try to bring someone back to help me, that makes us look even more innocent."

"... Okay, I can maybe get behind this after all," the possum conceded.

"Lemme write a letter for ya to give to Ellie," Alice muttered, grabbing a piece of blank paper and a pen from the desk.

"I'll go grab the flowers while you write," Willow said. "How long do you think Xavier will be gone?"

"No tellin'," Alice muttered. "He's usually out most'a the day."

"It'll take me about an hour to brew the sleeping draught from the pollen. It's the safest way for me to control the dose," she explained. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"You're sure this is safe?" Alice looked up from her writing briefly as Willow turned to leave, but her fae friend only smiled.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," she said confidently. Alice knew that tone. It reminded her of someone she very desperately wanted to see again.

"... So when you go to Howard's Knob, I'm gonna need you to talk to my friend, Ellie," Alice said, twiddling the pen between her fingers. "I think ya'll are gonna get along like a house on fire."

"That's... good?" Willow asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, that's good." Alice couldn't help but laugh.

That Sibella flower was very, very potent.

Even hours after Xavier arrived in a panic to shake her awake, Alice was still groggy and struggling to keep her eyes open. She'd managed to get out of the room by saying she wanted to walk a little, just enough to help herself wake up, and Xavier had agreed to escort her to the castle library so she could wander the stacks.

Willow had done an excellent job absolutely trashing the bedroom. She made it truly look like someone was searching for something, down to leaving the hidden compartment in the desk open, though Alice pretended she didn't see Xavier push the drawer closed when he checked through his desk.

As she rolled her shoulders and stretched for perhaps the thousandth time, Missy scurried back over from where she'd been exploring.

"Handsome prince, incoming at twelve-o-clock," she squeaked.

Alice's heart rate sped up almost instantly, a smile coming to her lips entirely unbidden as a tall, familiar form stepped silently around the corner of the nearest bookshelf.

Florian smiled down at her, dressed simply in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark pants, and practical boots. His braids were pulled back into a ponytail, and his antlers sparkled in the few rays of sunshine that peeked through the curtained library windows.

They were in the backmost corner of the library's second floor, somewhat shielded from view. Noises certainly echoed in the quiet space, but it would be difficult to pinpoint exact conversations coming from this area. Knowing how delicate the situation was, Alice wasn't completely comfortable with speaking here, but this was as private as they were likely to get.

Time to make the best of it.

"How's the head?" Florian asked quietly, leaning in close to examine the bandage. He absolutely dwarfed her, just like Xavier, but his pale eyes didn't seem lifeless like the king's did. They were expressive, full of life in a way that made her feel almost giddy.

"It's getting better. Willow, uh..." Alice gestured vaguely above her head, and Florian nodded in understanding.

"Good. She's the best— has been since we were kids. I have to thank you, by the way," he said, stepping closer.

"I... didn't do anything?" Alice shrugged helplessly.

"You helped her remember me. That's an incredible gift."

The soft look in his eyes was almost too much to bear, and Alice found herself looking down, a little embarrassed. It didn't feel like she'd done much at all, and she certainly didn't know how she'd done it, but she couldn't deny that just seeing him happy made her feel warm inside.

Was this what it was supposed to feel like, she wondered?

With Hart, she'd wanted him happy, but the thrill had come from when he was pleased with her. The gestures he'd made towards her were the ones that made her feel good, not just knowing that he would be happy no matter what. It was so, so calculated, she realized. It was calculated in such a way that it wouldn't break her heart.

Florian, on the other hand, had taken her entirely by surprise.

He didn't have the same mark that Xavier did, she realized as her gaze landed on his bare forearm. He didn't have the scar that marked their blood vows, that was the symbol of their soul bond.

Alice... wasn't sure how she felt about that.

More than anything, she'd been trying not to think about Xavier's claim that they were mirror souls over the last few days. That had proved especially difficult, considering there wasn't much to do but think while she'd been stuck in the bedroom. There was something there, she thought, some kind of pull towards him, but it wasn't... quite... right.

With the half-finished blood vows in the mix, Alice wasn't even sure that she could trust her own feelings anymore, though. She felt a deep sense of disappointment and dread seep into her bones as she looked at the bare spot on Florian's arm where the scar should be. And then... then she noticed something else.

There might not have been a mark on his forearm, but there was one on his open palm. It wasn't an intricate mark, just a simple slash, but it was there. Alice knew what it was, too. She knew from Ellie and Kaz, from seeing the scars on their palms before and after their case was solved last year.

"Blood bargain..." she mumbled, eyes going wide.

"What was that?" Florian asked, turning towards her.

"Your hand—" she said, reaching out to grab at it, wanting to examine the scar more closely.

"W— wait—" he stuttered, trying to pull away, but he wasn't fast enough.

However, instead of grabbing his arm to bring it closer, Alice's hand passed through his.

Through it.

"Y—you're a ghost!" she gasped, jumping back on instinct with her hands over her mouth.

Wait.

He couldn't be a ghost. Alice didn't have the Sight like Ellie. She was lucky to pick up on the vague impression of a spirit nearby, much less see one clearly. Alice had never seen a spirit with as much clarity as this in her life.

Not to mention... he'd touched her before. In the library, he held her hand! He couldn't be a spirit. At least... not all the time?

Taking a deep breath, Alice forced herself to calm down, taking a hesitant step back towards him.

"... Not a ghost," she amended.

"Not a ghost," he repeated.

"Are ya some kinda haint? Spook?"

"I suppose that depends on what you mean by haint," he mused. "I hear that can have many meanings."

"Then where... where's your body?"

Florian's eyes flicked momentarily towards the castle, but the change was so fast that Alice thought she might have imagined it. Instead of responding, he sighed.

"I'm afraid that is something I cannot tell you."

Alice huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. She still couldn't quite get the hang of what Florian was allowed to say to her and what he seemed physically prevented from voicing. If she could just pinpoint something, anything, it might be enough to help her guess what was happening, to navigate this strange silence...

And then she remembered something.

"You're in Shadow form, aren't you?" she asked. "Willow mentioned it."

Florian beamed. "Clever rabbit," he said, nodding.

"I knew it!" she cried, a triumphant little thrill in her chest. "But... Why hasn't Xavier used it?" Alice shook her head frantically. Maybe he had, though? Maybe she just hadn't seen him use it.

"Xavier's... essence... does not align well with light magic," Florian said distastefully, nose wrinkling a little. "He can't use this form, not without extreme pain."

"His essence?" She raised an eyebrow, blinking at him.

"He is shadow aligned, more so than any Shadow Fae. Truly, I believe it would be more accurate to say he is aligned with darkness, though I would imagine you've suspected that for some time."

So, Xavier wasn't a Shadow Fae. Clearly that implication could slip by whatever magic kept him from speaking plainly. Maybe implications were fine, things that allowed her to put the pieces together, but no explicit details unless she'd figured them out already.

That must be it. That was the key— it wasn't about Florian's knowledge of his situation. It was about what Alice already knew and what she didn't understand yet.

"Could you talk to me about it if I already figured out what was goin' on for myself?" she asked quickly.

"Yes," he said without hesitation, nodding fervently.

That was progress in itself.

"If I asked if you could show me where books are on something, could you do that?"

"I can do anything not explicitly related to asking for information on my situation," he said carefully.

"Perfect," Alice said, nodding. "I need some information on seventh daughters, and maybe some Shadow Fae history, too."

"I can show you where they are, but..." He trailed off, waving his hands helplessly. "I won't be able to sit with you long enough to read every book to you aloud. Even if I were in physical form, that would be... difficult, to say the least."

Shit. She'd gotten overexcited and forgotten why she hadn't dug into the library stacks in the first place. Mayve it was the head wound getting to her.

The majority of the library was in... not English. The books weren't in the nigh-on-unreadable arcane language of Xavier's journal, but they might as well have been. Alice couldn't read either of them, and Florian was right: They didn't have time to sit and read through everything aloud. It would be faster to skim the text for anything useful.

"Come with me," Florian whispered, motioning for her to follow.

He crept out of the back corner, down the stairs, and around to the back side of some of the bookshelves on the main floor. From here, if they peeked through the shelves, it was possible to see the main library desk and the single librarian, surrounded by books. He seemed to have some kind of eyesight issues, because he very often needed to pick up a magnifying glass sitting close by as he worked.

"What are we doing?" Alice mumbled. Did he plan to ask the librarian for translation help? That seemed like a bad idea, considering that Xavier could simply demand information on anything she brought to him to read.

"See that magnifying glass on the desk?" Florian whispered. "It's a translation glass. The librarian keeps it close by— it's impossible for him to know all the languages in the library, and even he needs it sometimes."

Alice carefully peeked around the edge of the bookshelf,

"How do I get it without him knowing?" she mumbled, ducking back around the bookshelf and out of view.

"I... I'm not sure," he admitted. "I've rarely seen him leave his desk."

"Leave it to me," Missy said, sidling up to Alice's leg. "Possums are excellent schemers."

"Okay, then," she said. "Missy says she'll take care of it."

"She will?" Florian asked, looking down at the possum.

"I trust her," she said with a smile.

"I'll distract him. You get the glass while he's gone, then get out before he sees you," she said confidently.

"What about you?" Alice asked, kneeling down closer to Missy's eye level.

"Don't worry, he won't notice me. I'll meet you—"

"Meet us in the gardens after you finish up," Florian offered, unaware Missy had been squeaking about the same thing. "We'll use the hidden compartment I showed you to store the glass and the books."

"Good plan, pretty man," Missy squeaked, giving a very firm nod of her possum head.

"What was that?" Florian asked.

"She... um," Alice stammered. "She said it's a good plan. She also said you're pretty."

"... Pretty?" Florian's brow furrowed as he looked back and forth between Alice and Missy.

Alice's cheeks burned, and she was suddenly quite preoccupied with the library floor. He was very, very pretty. Granted, Xavier was pretty, too— they did share the same face. They weren't the same people, though.

Not even close.

"Okay, let's get cracking. You can flirt later," Missy said.

Alice chose to ignore the second part of that statement, reminding herself that Florian did not possess the gift of animal speech and could not have heard the comment.

"Wait, what are you gonna do?" she hissed.

"You'll know it when ya hear it," Missy said, and then took off into the shadows.

"Could you... um..." Alice trailed off, looking between Florian and the way Missy had gone.

"Keep an eye on her? Certainly," he said, nodding. "I'll make sure nothing happens to her."

Though she wasn't sure how much an incorporeal prince could do, his physical similarities to Xavier would probably be an advantage if any trouble came up, and it made her feel better to know that Missy wasn't alone. Alice and her possum friend were two reckless peas in a pod, and she'd grown attached very quickly.

Once Florian had slipped away, Alice tucked in to wait, carefully watching to see if anyone else entered the library. No one did. No one ever did. The longer she thought about it, the more it made perfect sense that Xavier might intentionally be keeping the other Shadow Fae away from her to keep their memories from resurfacing.

But... why? And did he just plan to hide her away forever? That wasn't exactly a sustainable plan for the long term.

A bang that made Alice flinch interrupted her train of thought. She could analyze Xavier's motivations and actions later— at the moment, she needed that magnifying glass.

"What was..." the librarian muttered, standing to peek in the direction of the sound.

A much, much louder crashing noise followed.

"What the hell are you doin' over there, Missy?" Alice muttered under her breath, peeking through the rows of books as she watched the librarian step away from the desk and walk towards the clamor.

The desk was out in the open, easily visible from most parts of the library, so Alice chose to wait a moment before she took action, making absolutely certain that the librarian had walked away somewhere entirely out of view. The last thing she needed was a report that she'd taken a translation glass. They couldn't afford any slip-ups.

Thankfully, judging by the awful, continued crashing from a different part of the library than before, it sounded like Missy had things covered. The little possum was probably terrorizing the bookshelves, and having a wonderful time doing it.

Alice bolted for the desk, snatching up the magnifying glass as she passed, and then ducked behind the nearest shelf. The clattering and banging sound continued from the far corner, but she wasn't about to risk running through the room in the open.

Instead, she stuck to the walls and the shadows, only making for the door when she heard a particularly loud crashing sound. Whatever Missy had done, it would certainly be enough to keep the librarian busy while she booked it back to the gardens.

The books tucked under her cloak and magnifying glass stowed safely in her pocket, Alice hurried towards the gardens as quickly as she could. Hopefully, there would be enough time before her expected dinner date with Xavier to dive into reading a little.