Rose dropped her hand, distraught. Standing up, she turned to face Queen Spina. “Where is SHE?!”, she screamed, her hand wrapped around her slender throat. Smiling, she answered. “I took her”. Rose raised her trembling hand with a ball of blinding light. “WHERE TO?!” Queen Spina glared into her eyes, mischief swelling. “The shattered world”. Rose’s eyebrows creased furiously. “What?” Queen Spina grinned then swiftly grabbing hold of her wrist. Rose gasped as the world around her faded into gray smoke. 

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Rose sat up rapidly gasping for air. Standing up, she dusted herself off, coughing up grey powder. Rose bent down, taking a chunk of it into her hands. "Stardust?", she said aloud. Rubbing the clumps from her hands, she began to run. "Celeste! CELESTE! Where are you?!" But as she ran, the surroundings never changed. The dark gray sky and black thorns were the only thing in sight. "Wait," she whispered. Her eyes narrowed as she turned around, the creases in her hands flickering with light. "You wretched queen!", she growled as she came face to face with her nemesis. 

"You won't find her, my little thorn,'' she teased. "I know this place! This is what I saw in my vision," Rose stated. "Yes, I know. You like it?" 

"Stop! Where is Celeste?" Queen Spina sighed. "Behind you." Rose's eyes widened as she turned. "Celes-", she started,  only to find she disappeared again. "She's beside you.", the queen taunted. Rose swiveled to see nothing. "Enough with the games!!!" Queen Spina laughed wickedly as she faded into fog. Rose screamed in anger and despair as thorns once again clawed at her neck.

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Rose woke up, hot tears streaming into her ears as she stared up at the stone ceiling of Queen Spina's castle. "Rose! You're awake! We have to find Celeste, NOW!", Mila said, stuffing a flower into her hand. Rose sat up her legs kicking in instinct. "What is this?," she asked staring down at the exotic magenta flower. "It's a healing flower. Place a petal on your tongue. You hit your head." Rose tossed a petal onto her tongue without hesitation. She looked up at them, suddenly crying. Amos bent down to Rose and hugged her. “We’ll find her, I promise,” he whispered. Rose shut her eyes, squeezing him tighter. “I’m just glad you're alright. All of you”.

“Come on, we need to find Celeste,'' Mare said. As Rose stood up they glanced at each other curiously. “What’s wrong?” Mila winced before she spoke. “She never said how to find her if anything ever happened to her”. 

Rose placed her head in her hands, then had a flashback of the night in the forest. “Wait! I know how to find her!”, Rose exclaimed. All of their eyes lit up with hope. “How?!”, Mare asked. “The night me and Celeste snuck out of the castle to see the lights, she showed me she that she could control the constellations of the stars. She also told me our code before we left the castle the first time! One blinking star means north, two means south and three means watch for her constellations!” 

“When did you girls sneak out?”, Amos asked. “That’s not the point, we have to leave now,'' Rose said as Mila nodded. They sprinted out of the thorny castle, stopping short as a whimper was heard, then the sound of nails on a chalkboard. Rose jogged towards the sound. “Shivat!” Shivat was tangled in a bush of thorns, leaving scratches on Shivat. Mila walked over to the bush, yanking them off with flower vines. Rose pulled her into as hug, staring at her pleading eyes. “You're alright. We saved you”. Rose caressed the scratched surface silently. The hidden sun was setting, the sky rapidly growing dark. “It isn’t night yet, what do we do now?”, Mare said looking helpless. “Well, we’re not going to wait for the sun to set, and neither is Celeste. Those stars,” Rose said pointing upwards, “are coming out early tonight.” They all glanced up, blinking repeatedly as the wind blew into their eyes. The lavender sky began to fill with faintly glistening stars. Rose grinned as a lonely star blinked brighter than the rest. “Looks like we have somewhere to go”.

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Thank you! Also, thank you so much @Lainey_White for the new cover, it's incredible.