THE EMPRESS COULDN'T SHAKE THE FEELING OF BEING FOLLOWED. She had left her guards back by the bridge and the only other person with her, the bridgemaster, was ahead of her. He guided her along a trail with the evergreens looming above them, as the early morning wind whistled through their dark leaves.

Valencia held her fur coat tighter around her body. The magical cold was not dying down in the slightest, making Valencia wonder whether Leya, the enchantress, had found her thief yet.

It will soon be over, the empress thought.

Once they found out what the bridgemaster and the witches wanted, they could find Auden and bring peace to the empire at last. As Valencia's mind wandered to the future, the rustle of leaves caught her offguard. She whisked around and swore she saw the ghost of a person.

"Who's there?"

The bridgemaster grunted. "Either dead men or the witches playing tricks."

"No, no," Valencia said as she walked to where she heard the sound. "This is one of mine."

She stared at Elliot dead in the eye. He offered her a smile.

"I told you to wait," Valencia said.

"I couldn't. These witches—"

"Told me to come alone," Valencia finished for him, "What will they do when they see you? Oh, they probably already know."

The bridgemaster clapped his hands. "Let's go!"

Elliot grabbed Valencia's hand, and they walked together. His thumb rubbed small circles on her smaller hand. She calmed at his touch.

This felt intimate.

Mira Audet would laugh if she saw Valencia in this way.

The empress had known the witch in what felt like a lifetime ago. Valencia sighed at the memory. Mira Audet worked on Valencia's campaign briefly as a seer. This wasn't a job Mira wanted or enjoyed. No, the witch had been a troublemaker from the beginning, not even once mentioning what was really happening to Homer. Though Valencia could sense that somewhere deep down in Mira's half-shaped heart that she supported Valencia's cause.

The forest cleared into a small village of makeshift homes built in a circle around a towering fire. Embers spewed every which way and smoke filled Valencia's lungs. The bridgemaster guided them to a particular home, held the fabric of the door open, and let Valencia and Elliot enter.

Mira stared at them. She had the longest, midnight black hair Valencia had ever seen, reaching just above her knees. Her eyes were a soft brown, but a fire crackled in them. Mira's skinny nose scrunched up in disgust.

"Pathetic," she spat out.

Valencia gaped at the witch. Pathetic? This woman dared to call the empress pathetic, after giving her a home, and food, and a cause to fight for?

"I can see right through you," Mira added with a laughed.

The empress's devil snickered in the background. Something hard and terrible tugged at Valencia's heart.

I like her, the devil whispered, and perhaps I even love her more than you, my rose.

No, Valencia prayed to him, I am your's.

Elliot spoke up, pulling Valencia from her thoughts. "What do you want from us?"

"Nothing from you," Mira pointed at Elliot. "But from the lovely empress, I dream of redemption."

Valencia scoffed. "Just cut to the chase."

The witch moved closer to the empress. "Your blood, empress. I want it."

"No," Valencia said matter-of-factly. "I'm not one of those travelers that you can use. Mira, my empire is suffering, so I ask of you to find some kindness in your soul to let us pass across the bridge."

Mira's brown eyes scanned Valencia. Her eyes then landed on Elliot.

"If not you, then him. Choose."

Blood was the money and magic the witches dealt with, and Valencia wanted no part in it. She looked at Elliot, who's grey eyes stared right back at her.

"I'll do it," he answered, his voice strong, his stare unwavering.

Valencia slightly shook her head no.

"You have to go," he whispered to her. "Think of your Lehua."

He was right. Painfully so.

The beginning of a smile curved on Mira's dark red lips. Her slender arm clasped around's Elliot's, pulling him towards her.

"You will do nicely," she said to him, then turned to Valencia, "the bridgemaster will take you back, empress."

Valencia watched the witch take Elliot away, not knowing if she'd ever see him again. Blood was a sacrifice he was willing to make for her. For his country.

She felt the urge to stop him. To take Elliot back to the palace and figure out some other plan to find Auden Oberlin. But she knew what her devil would want her to do. A sacrifice is a sacrifice.

Valencia had made too many herself.

You belong to me, her devil thundered.

She shuddered from the cold and cutting edge of his ominous voice.

You cannot be loved, the devil said.

You cannot love another, the devil said.

You do not deserve that kind of happiness, he laughed.

Elliot disappeared into the woods, and with him, Valencia's heart broke a little more, with the promise that her devil would patch it up looming over her.

•   •   •

OPHELIA FOWLER WATCHED THE EMPRESS EXIT THE WOODS WITH THE BRIDGEMASTER. The elder man went back in his home, his work for them done. The blockade in front of the bridge had been removed minutes ago and Ophelia could only wonder what Valencia did.

The detective noticed Elliot was not with the empress.

Of course, Ophelia thought, of course the empress would sacrifice him. She just doesn't care.

"Ready?"

Valencia nodded, and they began walking across the wooden bridge, with guards ahead of them and more behind. Time went by painfully slow. Ophelia watched the blue water far below glisten under the sun. She imagined it was warmer.

Ophelia felt frozen.

At the end of the bridge, they were welcomed by grass and weeds growing rogue. Not enough people lived here to care about upkeeping the land. The north tower, made of stone, towered above them.

In the small circular window at the top of the tower, Ophelia saw the ghost of a person hurrying past. She smiled.

The empress, the detective, and their guards entered the stone tower with caution. Ophelia entered first, breathing in the dusty air. The floorboards creaked under the pressure of her soles. The detective watched Valencia climb up the twisted staircase, and then went up after her.

At the top, a quiet darkness welcomed them. The room was large, the walls were still a rough stone, and a small window allowed in little light. And it was awfully bare. Ophelia knew she saw someone up here. Her eyes looked up, and she made out a thick rope coming off of the ceiling. It must lead to an attic.

Valencia saw too. The empress grinned, and pulled the rope. A door in the ceiling flung open, and out came the one and only Dr. Auden Oberlin, who crashed onto the floor. But Ophelia was not looking at him exactly. She stared at the glass vial that shatter next to the doctor, it's clear liquid turning into a billowing white gas with every second that passed.

"No!" Ophelia screamed, "Valencia, run! It's a poison!"

She didn't know for sure, but everything Ophelia knew about Auden Oberlin suggested it could be. The pungeant smell permeiated the room as Valencia rushed down the stairs. Ophelia was quick to follow and guards hauled Oberlin down the stairs.

The empress's hand glided down the railing as she ran down the stairs. Ophelia was not sure when it happened, but one second they were fleeing, and the next the stairs gave out and they were falling.

Gravity claimed its prize. Ophelia felt motionless as she fell down several meters to the floor. She hit the ground on her backside, saving her head from injury. With all the adrenaline coursing through her body, Ophelia didn't feel the stinging pain yet. She twisted her body to locate the empress and gasped at the site.

Valencia laid on her stomach with her face stuck to the floor. The detective crawled over, lifted Valencia's face, only to find the empress unconscious. Ophelia screamed for help. The other guards had fallen around them too, but several were  outside the tower too. Ophelia's eyes began to droop.

The white gas took hold of the entire tower. It was not long before everyone was slumped over, under the influence of an exotic poison of Dr. Oberlin's choosing.