The return to the castle is far less eventful than our walk in the street.

Povenna appeared from a puff of smoke after Abba and I left Selena Grove at the inn.

She stood like a shadow on the road, her eyes glowing like suns through the rain.

“We got distracted,” Abba had said. “I apologize, Lady Povenna.”

Povenna’s eyes, despite being orbs of shifting gold, seemed to remain on me.

She took both our hands. Her skin was hot against mine. Then, the rain vanished into smoke.

Walls and torches emerged from the smoke. They seemed to wobble in my sight for a moment before the hallway settled ahead of me.

Povenna told Abba goodnight before leading me away.

I glance over my shoulder, finding Abba watching as we hurry up the hallway.

“Tatiana?” I mumble. “Are you there?”

‘Of course, I am.’

“Why are you in control?” Povenna asks, leading me to a thick wooden door.

I suppose now is as good a time as any to try to explain what I learned to both of them.

Povenna throws the door open and reveals a dark, twisting staircase.

“The panes,” I start to say as she leads me through the door. But I realize that I haven’t even attempted to explain the panes.

“Pain?” Povenna asks, pulling me up the stairs. Each step creaks beneath us. “What have you done?” The further up we go, the darker it gets. Soon, Povenna’s golden eyes are the only light.

“No,” I say. “I’ve been receiving… messages.”

‘You have?’ Tatiana asks. ‘From your home?’

“No… I don’t actually know—”

“Hush,” Povenna snaps, stopping. There’s a faint creaking above us. “Someone is here.”

The creaking grows louder.

“Zaphenne,” Povenna says, her form straightening in the dark. “Why are you here so late?”

“I was looking for Tatiana.” The girl’s voice comes from ahead. “She was missing from supper. Can I speak to her?”

“Tatiana is tired. Be off.”

There’s another creak.

“I said…” Povenna trails off.

I can barely make out Zaphenne’s wide eyes ahead of Povenna. She’s cast in the golden glow of Povenna’s gaze.

“I need to get by,” the girl mumbles.

We press ourselves against the wall as Zaphenne slips by. Her eyes bore into me as she passes.

“Goodnight,” she squeaks. “Tatiana.”

‘There’s no need to be so forceful with her,’ Tatiana snaps in my head. ‘Mother. Zaphenne has done nothing wrong. She likely wanted me to join her in the bath.’

“The girl can bathe alone,” Povenna says, pulling me along.

‘You’re just angry,’ Tatiana says. ‘Don’t take it out on Zaphenne.’

“Right,” I mumble. “You bathe with other people, here?”

‘We have a few public baths in the castle,’ Tatiana says. ‘I enjoy bathing with Zaphenne.’

“Explain these messages,” Povenna insists as we reach another door.

“They explain things to me,” I say. “When I first got here, they told me who Annandale was. And they told me who you were.”

Povenna opens the door, revealing Tatiana’s barren bedroom. She snaps and a torch catches fire by the door. The room comes to life in its glow.

‘Where do they come from?’ Tatiana asks. ‘How have you been receiving them?’

“It’s sort of like this,” I say, deciding not to bother explaining the panes. “How you’re talking to me right now. But it’s a different voice.”

“There’s someone else?” Povenna whirls on me. “Who?”

“I don’t think it’s an actual person,” I say quickly, already regretting not trying to explain the panes. I should’ve just said it was words on the air or something. “Maybe…”

She releases my arm and starts to pace.

‘If there is a voice, there must be a throat,’ Tatiana says. I understand what she’s saying, even though she is technically speaking without a throat at the moment.

“The messages explained to me that if we didn’t swap soon, a swap would be forced,” I say. “That’s what I was trying to tell you, Tatiana.”

‘You should’ve been more clear! I thought you could just stay in here and never come back out!’

“I was hoping that, too,” I mumble.

“Ask your voice how often the change has to occur,” Povenna says, turning to me. “We will plan around this.”

I try to mentally ‘ask’ the world. No pane comes. I stand there, shifting awkwardly while Povenna stares at me.

“Give me a second,” I say. “You know… the service is kind of shit.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” I turn, plucking at Tatiana’s drenched cloak. “It’s not responding to me.”

“Make it respond!”

‘Alyssa,’ Tatiana says. ‘This voice. Is it the reason you’re here?’

“I don’t know.” I pull Tatiana’s cloak over my head and toss it to the floor.

“You will remain here,” Povenna says, approaching the door. “Abba will come in the morning to collect you for training. If Tatiana is not in control, you will deny her and claim that you are ill.”

I nod.

“Tatiana,” Povenna adds as she cracks the door open. “I told your father that I am teaching you magic. It will be difficult to maintain the lie if you don’t… improve.”

‘She hasn’t given me any more magic,’ Tatiana says. ‘I’m trying, mother.’

Oh, another thing I haven’t gotten around to explaining. The stat pane. I realize that, at the same time, Tatiana hasn’t really interrogated me about any of this stuff. I suppose she hasn’t had much time to.

“Get sleep,” Povenna says. Then she leaves.

‘Now what?’ There’s a faint groan in Tatiana’s voice.

“I’m exhausted.” I think about how I could explain the stat pane to Tatiana as I cross the room.

Tatiana says nothing as I pluck at the tunic. I feel strange about undressing. It doesn’t feel right. But sleeping in wet clothes seems dreadful.

I eye the heavy drawer against the wall, thinking about suggesting it.

‘What will happen?’ Tatiana asks. Her voice is small.

“What?”

‘If you sleep,’ she says carefully. ‘What will happen to me?’

I sit on the edge of her bed, staring at her curtains as they billow faintly.

I suppose that darkness wasn’t too shocking for me. I’d already experienced the afterlife-esque void. I hadn’t considered how that would feel for her.

I spent what felt like hours in that silent dark, waiting for her to wake up. I also had the stat pane and the weird ‘thing’ I’d been talking to. Tatiana wouldn’t have any of that. Just the dark.

“When you passed out after the fight today,” I say, closing my eyes. “I was just in… darkness. Until you woke up.”

‘Darkness?’ There’s a tremble in her voice. ‘What does that mean?’

“I…” I resist the urge to scratch the sore skin under my arm. I really don’t want to touch any part of this body. “It’s like having your eyes closed. But you can’t open them. And you can’t move.”

‘That means,’ Tatiana goes on. ‘I won’t be asleep. I’ll just be here.’

I thought that had been clear. I suppose not. I’m not sure what to say. Should I try to comfort her? I open my eyes and blink a few times.

“Yeah.”

Silence.

I stare at the stone floor, a heaviness growing behind my eyes. The floor seems to drift, and the stones blur together. A bit of blonde hair moves across my eyes as my head droops. Some of it catches on the pink flower.

‘I don’t want that.’

“What?” I blink a few times, raising my head. The rawness of her words stabs at something inside me.

‘Can’t you give me control?’ Tatiana asks quickly. ‘I don’t want to be here.’

“Tatiana.” I raise a hand to the flower, untangling a few stray hairs from it. “I don’t know how.”

She goes quiet again. I can’t bear it.

I pluck at the front of her tunic, peeling it off my stomach with a heavy breath.

“I won’t sleep,” I say, making up my mind as I do. “I’ll stay awake.”

Silence.

I nod, as though that settles it.

“I’ll just sit here. Until morning.”

‘You should dry my hair,’ she says. ‘You’re not supposed to sleep with wet hair.’

Tatiana directs me to the top drawer of the dresser, where I find a brown towel alone inside.

“Why is it by itself?” I ask,

‘The rest of the drawers are for clothes.’

“You only have one towel?” I pick the towel up and let it unfold in my hand.

“It’s my bathing towel. When I’m done with it, I give it to Joane. Then, she washes it and brings it back.’

I start toweling her hair. It’s thick, heavy, and full of kinks. I’ve never had to handle so much hair before. I’d always kept my curls clipped. They rarely got past my ears.

‘Well,’ she mumbles. ‘I don’t think I’ve asked… what’s your home like?’

“Um…”I hesitate, struggling to find a place to start. The silence grows for a few moments before I finally speak. “I grew up in a place called Detroit. It’s in a bigger place called Michigan. Michigan is in an even bigger place called the United States of…”

‘If you don’t want to tell me, it’s fine.’

“What do you mean?”

‘You’re stalling. You’re just talking nonsense.’ Her voice has that sharpness to it, again. That makes me feel a little better.

I twist the towel into her hair, nodding slightly. Water drips out, landing on the stones below.

“It’s not something I’m very interested in talking about.”

‘You should’ve said so. Tell me about the magic, then. We never got to talk about it. How does it work?’

“I don’t know,” I say, twisting the towel again. There’s a sharp pain in my scalp and I pause. “Not really. But I can try to explain.”

‘Stop twisting so much,’ Tatiana complains. ‘Do you not feel that?’

“Yeah.” I pull the towel free with a wince. “But I’ve never done this before. This is weird.”

‘You don’t have hair where you come from?’

“Not this long.”

She lets out a long groan.

‘May I be honest with you, Alyssa?’

I shake the towel out and tilt my head, letting the hair fall over my shoulder.

“Sure.”

‘I hate you.’

I almost laugh, then I feel like shit for having the urge.

‘Does that amuse you?’ Tatiana asks as I start toweling her hair again.

“I suppose your honesty does,” I say. “Of course you hate me. I’m literally stealing your body right now.”

‘I see.’

She goes quiet for a while as I work on her hair. I think about the stat pane, wondering if I can just make it appear. Sure enough, it does.

Oh. So God made up their mind, I see. Charisma is gone. But intelligence is gone too. The fifteen charisma points have been dumped into the pool. And intelligence has been replaced by ‘magic efficiency.’

While Tatiana was passed out, I’d wondered if editing intelligence and charisma would alter her personality. I can’t help but notice that ‘Magic Efficiency’ is something far less personality-based.

It’s like it is taking my feedback into account. I’m disgusted by how responsive it seems, yet unresponsive when I want something. Who cares about stat categories. Tell me why I’m here.

As I think that, a smaller pane appears under the stat screen.

‘Whatever makes this easier for you.’

I stare at it until it fades away. Easier for me? What kind of joke is that? It would be easier I didn’t have to suffer through any of this nonsense at all.

“Alright,” I say slowly. I immediately decide that I’m not explaining any of the missing stat categories. I’ll just focus on what’s here. “Let me try to explain this to you.”

She remains quiet.

“Alright,” I say again. “I have… points.”

‘What’s that?’ Tatiana asks instantly.

“Let me talk,” I insist, shaking her hair. “Save the questions.”

‘Fine.’

“Strength. Magic. Magic efficiency. Defense. Each of those is a… number.” I pause, waiting for her to pipe up. But she says nothing. “Five, three, ten, and zero. Respectively.”

I wave the damp towel and shake the hair again. It feels fluffier around my head.

“I… we… have fifty-one points,” I say. “Each one of those can raise a number. By one. Obviously. Do you understand?”

She’s quiet for a while.

‘I can speak now?’ She asks sharply.

I huff.

“Yes.”

‘That sounds like nonsense. Give me magic.’

“Um.”

‘How did that spell work?’ Tatiana asks. ‘The one you broke Annandale’s sword with. Is that the only one you know?’

“I think I can just…” I hold out the towel, eyeing the word ‘reinforce,’ on the stat pane. “I just say it, and it happens.”

It had literally reinforced the sword enough to break Annandale’s sword. What would it do to a towel? Make it hard?

‘Really? How come some people need to say things to use their magic. Maya doesn’t. Mother doesn’t. But Brevard does. And you do.’

“Clearly, they’re better than I am,” I grumble. I try thinking ‘reinforce’ just in case it does anything. Nothing happens.

‘Do it. Right now.’

I clear my throat.

“Reinforce.”

Black smoke gathers around my hand. It stretches along the towel, as it did with the sword in the arena.

The towel seems heavier, but it still sways. It doesn’t seem to have become ‘hard’ as I’d expected.

‘What’s it doing?’ Tatiana asks.

I wave the towel, and it comes apart. The smoke dissipates as the towel falls to ribbons on the floor.

‘My towel!’ Taiana shrieks in my head.

“Shit.” I wave what’s left of the towel. “Sorry.”

‘What did you do that for?’ she complains.

“I said I’m sorry,” I say, turning and walking to the bed. I wonder if the towel being cloth meant it couldn’t bear whatever the spell did. Maybe solid objects were better. Maybe the fabric itself was just weak.

The stat pane doesn’t move.

‘Cast a different spell,’ Tatiana urges. ‘I need more.’

“You aren’t interested in any of the other categories?’’ I ask. ‘‘Why not defense or something?’’

‘Defense?’ she asks, and I wonder if she was really paying attention when I explained the categories. ‘What would that do? Make my body… stronger?’ There’s a stiffness in her voice now.

“That or strength,” I say. I sit on the edge of the bed, considering the bit of towel in my hand.

‘You can increase my strength?’ That confirms it.

“And your ‘magic efficiency,” I say. ‘‘Whatever that means. I have fifty-one chances to make one of them stronger.”

‘What do ‘strength’ and ‘defense’ have to do with magic?’

“Nothing.” I toss the towel onto the bed. “I guess they’re to do with—”

‘What would it do?’ Tatiana asks. ‘Would it change my body?’

I hesitate.

I recall the point I’d accidentally put into strength during the fight with Annandale. Nothing had changed as far as I could tell. How many points would it take to feel the difference?

‘Alyssa?’

‘‘I don’t know.”

‘I don’t like it,’ she snaps. “Forget about them. ‘Focus on magic. That’s what I need. And… whatever ‘magic efficiency’ means.’

“I imagine it has to do with how many spells can be cast,” I say. “Before you run out, or whatever.”

‘Certainly.’

“Alright.” I look up and the stat pane has moved. It’s right in front of my face. “I guess we’re doing this.”

I raise a hand to the pane and tap ‘magic.’ My finger moves through it like it’s some sort of hologram. I stare at the word, confused.

“Magic,” I say when nothing happens. It goes up by one. In the fight, just a stray thought lost me a point. Had that been ‘patched?’ “You’re at four now.”

‘Four spells?’

“No,” I say through a yawn. “The number, remember?”

‘Just keep doing it!’

I try to shake the heaviness out of my head and the stat pane blurs in my vision.

“What do you think…” I go to wipe my eyes and I accidentally tug on the flower. I wince as the roots shift beneath the skin. “If I alternate between magic and magic efficiency?”

‘You can pull that flower out if you want,’ Tatiana says. ‘It should be healed up by now.’

“What does that mean?”

‘Maya’s magic is in her flowers. The magic in that flower has been healing the wound on my cheek. It should be done by now. So you can pull it out.’

I stare at the stat pane, picking at the flower. So this thing is some kind of horrific magical band-aid?

“But…” I tug lightly on the flower and shudder when the roots move. “It’s under the skin. Pulling it out feels like—” I commit to a tug and yelp at the sudden pain. “Won’t it just open the wound up again?”

‘It doesn’t hurt that much,’ Tatiana chides. ‘You’re being absurd. Besides, Maya is practical. She designed the spell herself. The last reserve of magic is stored in the roots. As it’s removed, it uses that magic to heal the wound it causes.’

“I am not touching the flower.”

‘You’re a coward.’

“Whatever.” I point at magic efficiency. “Magic efficiency.” It goes up by one. “It’s now at eleven.”

Tatiana says nothing while I go back and forth for a while. Magic is at seven and magic efficiency is at fourteen when she speaks up.

‘Do you have to say it every time?’ she asks.

I glance at the forty-three remaining available points with a sigh.

“Apparently.” I consider for a moment. “Put five points into magic.”

Magic goes up by five.

“Oh.” I straighten slightly. “You’re at thirteen, now.” I wonder what else I can do by just asking directly.

A smaller pane appears.

‘New spell unlocked: Basic Guard.’

“This one sounds… great,” I say dryly. “You’ve got a new spell.”

‘Do it!’

I stand slowly, feeling as though my legs are asleep. I wonder if there’s a set list of spells we’re pulling from. Are they set to certain levels?

“It’s called… basic guard,” I say, eyeing the bits of towel on the floor. Nothing happens. “Basic guard,” I say again.

‘What’s it do?’

“I don’t think it’s doing anything.” I blink and let my eyes stay shut for a moment. Everything feels suddenly warmer.

‘Hey,’ Tatiana barks. ‘What are you doing?’

I blink a few more times. Could the spell be failing because of how sleepy I am?

I sit down, and the room is instantly blurry.

‘Alyssa?’

“I’m just…” I shake my head, raising a hand to my eyes. “I wish I had an energy drink or something.”

‘You said…’

I shake my head again, then I slap myself.

“I’m staying awake,” I say. “I know what I said. I’m not…” I trail off when I see a lantern floating in the middle of the room.

I’ve seen it before. But I can’t remember where.

I barely register the bed as I hit it. I don’t understand that I’ve fallen asleep until I watch a world bleed into being around me.

Grass. Trees blur together as the wind moves through them. A glassy pond shimmers in uneven daylight. Stones stand like shadows against the green.

A girl stands in the pond. Her blonde hair shrouds her face, and a black dress billows along the surface of the water.

Tatiana. She’s younger, but I’m sure that it’s her. She looks around ten or so years old.

She turns, the water rippling as she walks across the pond. Above her head, hovering silently, is the lantern.

It gives off no light. It bobs slightly in the air. A crack splits across its surface.

Shards of glass trickle down as the lantern crumples. They glimmer in the air before they hit the water.

The sound is deafening. Like glass shattering against pavement. The water around Tatiana erupts into splashes.

I recoil, finding that I can move. And I raise an arm over my face, as if to protect myself. Even if I don’t understand why.

Tatiana slowly raises her head. Her blue eyes glow faintly, and blood oozes across her face.

A pane appears in the air, obscuring her in my vision.

‘Don’t you want to see the result?’

The pane fades, and Tatiana is looking at me. Her eyes are brown now. The disfigured lantern sits on her head. It twists and red stains the blonde hair beneath it.

A crown.

“It’s heavy.” Tatiana’s voice comes from beside me.

I turn slowly, finding nothing. In the corner of my eye, the Tatiana before me breaks into a run. She crosses the pond in a heartbeat, rushing for me.

Footsteps, each louder than the last. Her shape becomes enormous as she approaches.

Everything in my body screams for me to run, but I’m sluggish. I barely turn my head as she reaches me.

A scream tears free of my throat.

Her voice is small, and I only get a fragment.

“I—”

I snap awake, staring at the ceiling Tatiana’s bedroom.

Daylight spills through her curtains, and there’s a knock at the door.

‘You’re awake?’ Tatiana whines in my head. ‘Thank the gods. It’s been horrible! I’ve been so bored!’