Iris paced the room, her hands fidgeting restlessly as her thoughts spiraled.
"Okay, so you can't make any mistakes this time, or you have no other lives?" she said, her voice rising.
"What did Aelthrya even mean by that? Will she stop your rebirth cycle? Make you her slave? Send you to hell? Lock your soul away… or just destroy it entirely?"
Zarah sat on the bed, taking slow, steady breaths.
"Iree, you're not exactly helping," she said tensely. "I hadn't even considered my soul being erased from existence."
"Well, you need to consider it now!" Iris snapped, stepping forward and grabbing Zarah's shoulders, shaking her.
"We need to make sure you succeed!"
"I can hear you!" Zarah shot back, her head spinning from the shaking.
"And if you get any louder, the entire palace will hear you!"
Iris huffed and let go.
"Who would even be awake at this hour?" she muttered.
"No sane person is up right now except us."
Zarah sighed, nodding, but before she could respond...
A knock sounded at the door.
Zarah and Iris looked at each other.
"You jinxed it," Zarah said quietly.
"Oh, shush, I didn't," Iris muttered.
"You're the one who said someone might hear me."
"Are we even sure it's because someone heard us?" Zarah said skeptically, pulling her feet up onto the bed.
"If the Goddess can visit me, what's stopping ghosts?"
Iris felt the hair on the back of her neck rise.
She let out a nervous laugh.
"Oh, shut up, Zar. It's probably just the wind."
Despite her words, she moved to climb onto the bed,
Something brushed against her foot.
Iris screamed.
"A GHOST!"
She scrambled onto the bed in panic.
Zarah screamed too.
The door burst open.
"Lady Iris! What's wrong?" Marceline rushed in, only to pause when she saw Zarah.
"Lady Zarah? You're here? I didn't see you in your chamber, I thought you might be here."
She looked between them.
"Why were you screaming?"
Zarah turned to Iris.
"Why are we screaming?"
Iris pointed toward the foot of the bed.
"A ghost touched my foot!"
Marceline followed her gaze.
A pillow lay on the floor.
She stared at it for a moment...
Then burst out laughing.
Zarah and Iris exchanged a look before glancing down and spotting the pillow.
Zarah slowly turned to glare at Iris.
Iris gave a sheepish smile.
"In my defense… you scared me first."
Marceline quieted her laughter before asking, "Lady Zarah, what are you doing in Lady Iris's chamber at this hour?"
Zarah stepped down from the bed, grabbing a shawl and draping it over her nightdress.
"I had a nightmare," she replied with a small smile. "I got scared and came to Iris."
It wasn't exactly a lie.
She had come because of a dream,
Just not the kind she could explain.
Iris climbed off the bed as well, moving toward the wardrobe to retrieve a shawl.
Marceline nodded, a faint teasing smile returning.
"So, both of you are scaredy cats, it seems."
Zarah and Iris let out small laughs.
"What about you, Lady Peirce?" Zarah asked as Iris returned, wrapping her shawl around herself.
"Why were you looking for us at this hour?"
Marceline's smile faded.
She took a slow breath.
"There was a fire… at your brothel."
The words landed heavily.
"Some lost their lives. The injured have been brought to the Imperial Palace through a teleportation spell."
Zarah and Iris exchanged a glance.
Zarah already knew.
But knowing it in a dream,
And hearing it aloud...
Were two very different things.
Her breath hitched.
Faces flashed through her mind.
Voices.
Memories.
She looked away.
Her hands trembled, just slightly, before she forced them still.
'Focus.'
She didn't have the luxury of breaking down.
Not now.
"Is Duke Zepher back as well?" Zarah asked.
She needed to find Nolan.
Needed to warn him.
She had barely two days before the death anniversary ball.
"No," Marceline replied calmly. "Lord Nolan is bringing Rosetta here."
"Bringing?" Iris asked, while Zarah raised a brow.
Marceline's expression didn't change.
"He has her bound in magical restraints. She's tied to his horse and being forced to walk the entire way here."
A small, quiet part of Zarah felt… satisfied.
"But that's not why I came," Marceline continued. "A woman named Halley, she's in critical condition. She's asking to see the two of you."
A pause.
"It may be her final wish."
"Where is she?" Zarah asked immediately, already moving toward the door.
Marceline exhaled softly.
"In the infirmary. Come with me."
She turned,
And led them out.
The infirmary was overflowing.
Burned girls of all ages lay across the space, some lightly scorched, some severely wounded, some barely clinging to life.
The air smelled of herbs, blood, and charred flesh.
Ines stood to the side, speaking quietly with the Chief Healer about the conditions of the patients.
Nearby, Jennifer sat beside Halley.
Halley's burns were severe, raw, oozing, already infected.
Jennifer's own injuries were bandaged, healing steadily.
"May Julie rest in peace…" Halley murmured, a tear slipping down her temple.
Jennifer glanced at her.
"You must regret it," she said. "Ending up like this just to save her… when she died anyway."
Halley let out a weak breath.
"Try thinking beyond profit, Jennifer."
Jennifer's expression didn't change.
"That's exactly why I'm still standing here."
Halley's lips twitched faintly.
"No," she said quietly. "You're standing here because Her Majesty is nearby… and you know you're not injured enough to escape her notice."
Jennifer's gaze sharpened.
"You talk too much for someone who can barely breathe."
At that moment, Marceline entered the infirmary,
Zarah and Iris close behind her.
Zarah spotted Halley on the bed and moved toward her immediately.
"Miss Halley!" Iris rushed to her side.
Halley smiled faintly at them, her expression weak but warm.
"You girls… look so much better…" she murmured.
Zarah reached out instinctively,
But a hand caught her wrist.
"No."
Zarah turned.
Ines stood beside her, her gaze firm.
"She's severely infected."
Jennifer straightened at the Empress's presence and dropped into a deep curtsy.
"Blessings and glory upon—"
Ines raised a hand, silencing her.
"This is an infirmary," she said calmly, her eyes briefly scanning Jennifer's bandaged legs.
"Even you are still a patient."
"But Your Majesty—" Zarah began, her voice strained. "Miss Halley is—"
"Zarah," Ines interrupted, her tone steady, "she is infected. If you touch her, it may spread to you, or worsen her condition."
Her gaze softened just slightly, but her voice did not.
"Burn patients are fragile. Even the smallest contamination can cost them their lives."
Zarah's hand slowly fell.
Her expression dimmed, but she nodded.
She understood.
Jennifer watched all of this in silence.
The way the Empress spoke to Zarah, It was different.
Not like the others.
Iris leaned closer to Halley, her voice quiet.
"Miss Halley… you wanted to see us?"
Halley nodded faintly.
"Yes…"
Her breath caught slightly.
"I wanted to thank you…"
Her eyes shimmered.
"You never took my name… even when you were punished… even when it could have lessened your punishments."
Her voice trembled.
"Thank you…"
A tear slipped from the corner of her eye.
"You two… were always my favorites…"
A faint, tired smile touched her lips.
"Even though… I know I shouldn't have had favorites…"
Jennifer's eyes widened.
So it had been Halley.
She had always suspected someone on the inside had helped Zarah and Iris with the escape six years ago, but there had never been proof.
No one had spoken.
And now,
It was Halley.
Because of her… the brothel had lost millions.
If not for the Empress standing there, Jennifer would have asked if the woman had lost her mind.
"Miss Halley, don't speak like this is the last time we'll talk," Iris said, her voice trembling, her eyes filling with tears.
Halley smiled faintly.
"I am old, Iris…" she murmured, her body growing weaker, heavier, limp.
"Sixty isn't old," Zarah said with a shaky breath. "You're still young enough to recover."
Halley let out a soft, breathless chuckle.
"Both of you… have such a poor sense of age…"
Iris glanced at Zarah.
'The healing.'
Zarah caught the look.
She understood.
Her heart pounded.
Slowly, she closed her eyes.
Focused.
She reached inward, searching for something she didn't understand.
Something the Goddess had spoken of.
Her palms grew warm.
A faint light flickered between her fingers.
Zarah's breath hitched.
'This is it...'
The glow shimmered,
And faded.
Nothing changed.
No wounds closed.
No breath steadied.
Zarah's eyes flew open.
Halley's gaze had already begun to dull.
Her chest rose once,
Twice,
Then stilled.
A small smile remained on her lips.
Iris turned away, breaking into quiet sobs.
Jennifer exhaled softly and looked elsewhere.
'Another one gone.'
Zarah didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
Her hands trembled as the realization sank in.
She had been right there.
And still,
She couldn't save her.
Tears spilled down her face as Ines pulled her gently into her chest.
Zarah clutched onto her, shaking.
She was useless.
The Goddess had said she could heal.
Then why couldn't she?
Why couldn't she save someone she cared about?
Ines said nothing.
She simply stroked Zarah's hair.
Zarah's grip tightened.
No.
This wouldn't happen again.
She would learn.
She would master this power...
So no one she cared about would die like this again.