Page 127 of The Shrouded Queen
But the stones beneath me were cool.
With a frown, I sat up.
The floor was made of solid limestone cubes—a single tile as large as my whole body. Twin marble columns stretched far above me, bordering a doorway with doors that were no longer there, reaching for a ceiling that didn’t exist.
I spun around and saw a crumbling statue of a beautiful woman with long braided hair, her left eye sure and strong, her right eye covered with a patch.
Ketet.
Beside her, limestone stairs led up to nowhere, the second floor having fallen apart a long time ago. A small pool sat at the bottom of the steps, at Ketet’s feet. Serene and still enough for the sun to be reflected perfectly off it, like a mirror.
This was a temple. One that hadn’t been used in centuries, by the looks of it.
“Rade?” I called. But the temple was utterly deserted. No qareen. No Rade.
I got to my feet—and glanced down in surprise. My injured leg no longer hurt; the other one did. I pulled up the hem of my dress to reveal the wounds on my ankle and knee, but they had all switched to the opposite leg.
My hand immediately dropped to my chest.
The scarredXwas still there, but it wasn’t over my heart; it had moved to the right side of my chest. A quick inventory told me the claw wounds on my shoulders and lash scars on my back had also shifted.
The Mirror Realm. Everything was reversed.
A cough sounded behind me.
I whipped to the front of the temple.
A figure stood in the entrance, a mere shadow with the sun at their back, leaning heavily against the doorjamb, breathing hard.
My qareen. Though not shackled, like Rade had promised, it didn’t appear to be in the best condition. If I surprised it, maybe I could—
The figure stumbled forward, face coming into view, and my brows knit together. “Keir?”
Rade’s First didn’t respond as he brushed past me and dropped to his knees in front of the pool, plunging his hands into the water and gulping down handful after handful.
His tunic gaped open, sweat stains soaking through nearly every inch of the fabric. His sword was sheathed down his back, but the makeup that usually painted a mask around his eyes was faded and smudged, revealing sunburns all over his cheeks and forehead.
“Keir, how are you here? Rade said he…”
“Locked me up?” he gasped between swallows. “He did. One minute I’m in a cell, the next I’m waking up in the sand. Thanks to your blood, I assume.”
“My blood?” He’d tasted it just hours before the ceremony. My eyes widened.
“It tied us together somehow,” he said as he continued to drink.
“Did you know that would happen? Is that why you tasted it?”
“Nope. Just lucky.”
I recalled that image of the bride and groom bleeding out on the altar. Blood did seem to be the key to this last leg of the ritual. My blood in Keir’s system must have dragged him into the Mirror Realm with me. A man who, not twelve hours ago, had tried to take my head off with an axe.
Great.
But that wasn’t my most immediate concern. I glanced back to the entrance of the temple. “Is Rade with you?”
He paused, water dripping down his chin, and looked around as if just now realizing. “He’s not with you?”
I shook my head, stomach tightening.
