These aren't my chambers. I'm not in Renit's or even Silas's. Instead, I'm laying underneath the magenta duvet in Celestine's chambers—stiff as a dead body. I'm sore, my muscles are rigid and my head is throbbing. To count all the times that's has happened since I arrived here is one too many.

My power drained me. This happens to witches who use up too much of their power at once. And I'm paying for it.

Celestine is sitting across the room, on the chaise, with a book in her lap. Not one of the books Silas bought for her but another novel with an ivory spine, cracked around the edges. With careful fingers, she turns one of the thin pages and explores the story without realizing I'm watching her. I study her frown and her eyes rimmed with black—she's pissed and she didn't sleep well.

The sun is high. I slept through the night and possibly into the afternoon. I've been down the entire morning, so much can transpire in that amount of time. Is Silas dead? That hits me solid in the chest as I recall the last thing that happened out in the courtyard. Foolish. I was so foolish to start a fight that was impossible to win. Against ancient, immortal witches, I didn't stand a chance. And I may have given the crown prince his death sentence. All because I felt the need to stand up for a stable boy.

Everything comes back to me in flashes, one moment after the other. Most of my soreness doesn't come from using the power of ground but Grounding Renit's storm. I used every single bit of what I had left to quell it and now, for the first time since arriving here, I can say we succeeded. Right after I had given up. His storm ate away at me, taking nibbles wherever it could to render me weak but my power ate his whole, all the way from the top to the bottom. From the studies on Grounding I've poured over occasionally, the ease in every attempt is noticed but that doesn't mean the strain stops. This could kill me.

My weakness isn't the only problem, neither is the question on Silas. The king is next and what he will have to say about what happened. This may be my final day in the castle if he decides I'm more trouble than what it's worth. Other witches of ground have to be somewhere in this kingdom and if he tried hard enough, the kingdom has the chance to find them.

Celestine flips a page of her book angrily and that's a sign she realizes I'm awake. I don't know who should speak first but then my inner thoughts slap me upside the head and say, you, idiot.

"How's Silas?" I ask. The first words out of my throat are dry. I look around for a glass of water, even one Celestine left out as common courtesy, but find nothing.

She shuts her book slowly and looks over at me with disgust in her eyes. "There's no word on the crown prince but Hallie and the other healers are working on him. I don't know if that's good or bad," she hushes. She wasn't up all night worrying about my waking but she was waiting for news on dear Silas. The entire capital is doing the same if they heard.

I don't know the extent of their relationship but after living in the same wing of the castle and seeing each other every day, they've become close. And Silas has feelings for her, there's nothing to say intentions aren't mutual. If I'm the one ruining their chances entirely, I will never forgive myself. Celestine is the true love he has the chance to receive as a prince and a king.

"Renit? How...how is Renit?"

She scratches at her cheek, a familiar, angered habit she picked up from our mother. Three simple scratches to her cheekbone before running a hand through her hair. The sight alone makes me sick to my stomach, I hate receiving flashes of our innocent mother. Wasted. Forgotten. Lost. And our father, a mortal who never stood a chance.

"Renit is fine," she mumbles. "Unscathed, of course. He carried you up here and dropped you on the bed like you were nothing more than a sack of potatoes. He ran off again to deal with Silas and the healers. At least he had the attention to summon a healer for you."

"Judging by the fact I'm awake, I would say the healer report doesn't matter," I sigh. Although my body aches beyond belief, I'm alive. The titanium band on my wrist blocks me from the ability to summon my power and test the broken, tattered strength of it but that will save for later. There are more important things to worry about.

Celestine stands from her chaise and sits on the edge of the bed, delicately. She wears a silk dress that reveals her freckled shoulders. Like me, she has gained weight as her face is fuller and her entire being appears healthier. Hair is smoother, shinier, her eyes glisten brighter. Neither of us is a messy village girl anymore. We've lived in a castle for two months. "The healer said you almost reached a Drainage. I've heard of them, it's the bottom of your power, and she said that if you would have gone any further, you might have killed yourself." She shakes her head. "You're too young to have a Drainage, Roux, it can easily kill you."

I scoff. "It makes no difference, my age. Nothing good comes from a Drainage."

"No, age matters," Celestine snaps. She whips her stare over to me, her brows knitted together in fury. "The healer told me that if you had been older and trained, death isn't likely. Just a few days to rest your power and gain strength and you would be fine. That works for someone like Renit or Silas. But with you, at the age of eighteen, you could have died." Silver tears cast a sheen over her eyes and the tip of her nose turns a subtle shade of pink.

I hate watching Celestine cry. Shedding tears makes me want to go pummel the person that did this to her—only I can't because I'm the one who caused all the trouble. I shift uncomfortably underneath her duvet as she wipes at her nose. "But I'm not dead," I promise. Great words, really reassuring.

"The next time, you might not be as lucky. Power is dangerous and there's no telling what the king will do to you after what happened. He might kill you for starting a fight and damaging his courtyard."

I cringe. The thought I didn't want to face myself and the same for her. "Did everyone see?"

She nods quickly, scoffing as to say, duh. "Everyone saw. We crowded against the windows and watched like a show what was happening. No one was strong enough to stop three of you at once so we backed off. The king wanted to see what happened, apparently, so he decided not to kill you when you wreaked havoc." She shakes her head. "Hallie stood with me, worried that death would come to Silas. As soon as she saw that lightning bolt strike down, she ran to him and tried to heal what was left. That was when you passed out." She waves her hand around and lets it slap against her thigh.

I swallow the rasp in my throat. "So what happens now?"

"We wait," she says quietly. She sounds so defeated. "You stay here until you're summoned. I don't know when that will be."

I nod and she releases one final sniffle. "Thank you for not kicking me out." Those are the only words I can think to say.

She blows out a long breath and forces herself to smile weakly. My sister, my shining star, must be so tired. All the things I've done since we arrived, even before then, have always fallen onto her. Without my parents to bear half the weight of my struggles, Celestine has to carry all the burden on her own.

"There was nowhere else for Renit to take you. He figured this was the safest place. But I can't stay, I have to work in the gardens since they're...basically gone now." A laugh underneath her breath is all I receive. "Stay as long as you like."

Celestine slides off the bed and to my surprise, places a gentle kiss onto my forehead. At least everyone doesn't hate me, I can't imagine what Silas could feel after all this. He threatened to kill his brother and for that, received his own killing blow. I shiver at the reminder.

My eyes are heavy with exhaustion and shortly after Celestine leaves, I fall back into a deep sleep underneath her warm blankets and duvet. I'm still in the same clothes I was yesterday so there's no sense to change or even think about taking a bath. I'll save that for later once I know I'll need one. If my life exceeds past this day.

I dream of the fight in the courtyard; it plays over in my head, every second I lost myself. Except I'm not watching through my eyes. Instead, Renit is the one I'm stuck inside—panicking as I try to take down this entire place with the power of ground. He is scared, I sense it, and regret thickens his blood.

With every chance he gets, his eyes drift to the bandages on my arm and when Silas snaps at him for all the terrible things he did, Renit's heart shatters. Something cracks open and light pours in from inside until it's blinding all of Renit's surroundings and he can't think straight. That is when his power takes over.

At the same moment, hell became reality, and the world crumbled. When I wake, someone is knocking on the door and I barely have the strength to stand, to shuffle towards what is Celestine's freedom into the hall.

I open the door on sore legs to a guard in that black and gold uniform to symbol the colors of the kingdom. "You've been summoned to the throne room," he orders blandly. "I will escort you."

Without bothering to protest, I nod and shut the door quietly behind me. There's no fighting now. The guard leads me down the halls and the servants; the guards stare at me and whisper to each other what I've done. That's the one, they say. She's the one who destroyed the courtyard. I'm a dead girl walking.

Yes, I am. There's no denying it now. The king is my doom and my power is my demise.