For some plants, mortals, and all animals, too,
this begins but has no end
and ends all that begins.
It didn’t fully connect with the second part of the riddle, though. But maybe it did, and she just couldn’t see that part clearly now.
Her fingers trembled as she reached for the chain again.
“Please be correct.”
Camilla had three chances. If this failed, she still had two more tries.
She rolled the first letter into place.
H
Then the second.
E
The third.
A
Fourth.
R
And hesitated on the fifth. She read over the riddle again, this time with growing suspicion. It didn’t mention any consequence for a wrong response, but she didn’t trust the game master.
For some plants, mortals, and all animals, too,
this begins but has no end
and ends all that begins.
Envy’s chest barely rose, his breathing labored. Even if they didn’t have to hurry to solve the next clue after this, they were running out of time.
Camilla sent up a quick prayer to whomever might be listening and twisted that final letter into place.
T
Envy’s body jolted as if struck by lightning, a howl of pain tearing free, echoing through the chamber, a symphony of agony. The magical chains flared with a light so brightly intense, Camilla had to blink several times before the little spots disappeared.
“Envy!” She went to pull the chains away from his skin, then screeched. The chains pulsed with power now, ratcheting up in intensity. “Shit.”
He slumped back to the ground, groaning. He was still unconscious. The chains radiated a menacing buzz now, indicating that each wrong response would intensify the magic running through them until it grew so powerful it could end an immortal life.
Camilla jumped to her feet, pacing. She could not get the next one wrong.
For some plants, mortals, and all animals, too,
this begins but has no end
and ends all that begins.
What? What connected them all? It had to be simple.
Camilla felt tears threatening. She was frustrated and scared and downright furious with the game master. His game was bad enough without subjecting them to mental and physical torture. She stopped pacing, using her surging emotions to center herself.
The game master knew they were close to finishing the game. Which meant she’d see him soon. Camilla focused on that, allowed it to fuel her. She and Envy had not come this far to be thwarted by the Unseelie King in the final moments of their game.
When she walked into that wretched court, not if, she would do so as a victor.
Starting with this cursed riddle.
Camilla repeated it out loud, determination running through her in waves. The game master thought himself clever, but she was too. She knew the answer. Knew it was simple. Fear had shut down her logic, but she would not allow it to overtake her now.
For some plants, mortals, and all animals, too,
this begins but has no end
and ends all that begins.
Some plants. Mortals. And all animals, too. Think, she commanded herself. What do they have in common? The careful phrasing. Some plants. All animals. And simply mortals.
They were all living things. But that didn’t connect them. Some plants. Camilla paced away, her thoughts focused inward. Some plants… all plants were alive. But some plants…
“All right,” she said. “If I were in House Sloth, plants would be broken down into categories. Flowering, fruits, trees, bushes… and annuals and perennials.”
Her pulse thrashed. That felt right. Some plants were annuals; they needed to be replanted each year. Some plants were perennials. They came back each year on their own.
Suddenly, she knew what the answer was.
Chills raced down Camilla’s body.
“Death.”
Some plants died. Mortals and all animals died too. Death ended all that began. And once it began, there was no undoing it. Death also had five letters. It fit.
It had to be the correct answer.
Still, as she knelt next to Envy, seeing the sickly pallor of his normally healthy, bronze skin, she hesitated. One more wrong answer and she didn’t want to consider the torture he’d experience. At her own hand.
She couldn’t waste any more time debating.
Camilla hissed through her teeth as she clasped the chain again, finding the link with the letters. She twisted them into place quickly this time, pausing for only a beat on the final letter.
DEATH
She hoped she wasn’t dooming Envy to his. The H clicked into place and an eternity passed in a second; then the glow intensified, and Camilla internally damned—
The chains shattered in a flash of fire, freeing the prince.
Camilla sobbed and then gently pulled him onto her lap, stroking his head.
“Please. Please get up.”
She had read enough fairy tales as a young girl to know that the prince was supposed to wake the love of his life with a kiss. But Envy was a demon, and Camilla was no damsel in distress. She pressed her lips to his forehead.
He didn’t magically stir. But his skin was starting to regain some color now that the chains weren’t constantly attacking him.
Camilla rocked him gently for a few more seconds, still painfully aware of the clock Abyssus said was counting down their time to solve the final clue. They were so close. They were in the site. If they lost, her talent would be stolen forever.
She could leave Envy, find the next clue on her own…
Awareness suddenly prickled against her skin. She glanced down, startled to find Envy’s emerald gaze locked onto her.
“Did we lose?” he asked, his tone void of emotion.
“Not yet.”
“You could have left me.”
She could have. There was a question in his eyes. One she did not have an answer for.
Camilla carefully maneuvered him off her lap and stood, brushing down the front of her dress, then glanced around. “Abyssus said we have until sunset to solve the last clue. We’re almost out of time.”
FIFTY-EIGHT
ENVY TOOK QUICK stock of his injuries as he sat up. On the surface, he didn’t appear too bad. But looks could be deceiving. The worst of his aches and pains were still there.
He pushed himself up to his feet, head pounding from the strain.
Camilla, thankfully, had already turned her attention to the Pillars. The fear he’d seen in her, the tenderness, both were gone, replaced by a brutal determination. If he hadn’t seen her, hadn’t experienced that hellish torture, she’d have given no outward indication that they’d battled a dark force. He wanted to ask about Abyssus, if she was all right, but she clearly was.