I wanted to ask Mags if the king had come back and said anything else. If he’d changed his mind. If a miracle had occurred. But I kept silent as I walked into her chambers. She glanced up at me, her eyes swollen and red. “Albree has already been dismissed for the day,” Mags said, her voice steady. She knew how to carry herself, no matter how she felt inside. Always the queen. “I need you to help me with something.” I ran to her side and pulled her into my arms. “Anything, Mags.” Trevin cooed in his bassinette next to the bed. We held each other, arms encircling our bodies as if we’d become one intertwined person. “You need to take Trevin and leave with him. Take him far away, Lianne. You have to save him.” I backed away, stumbling off the bed. “But I can’t take him and leave you to die.” My heart pounded and I felt the fires in my stomach flare as my anger rose. “You have to. You can run now and no one will know until the end of the day. You’d have a head start on everyone else.
