Chapter 49

Morning dawned with great reluctance. The night had passed in a haze of fitful slumber, talking with Demetri, and then even more fitful sleep. What had happened yesterday with Rosaline was still weighing on my mind, and the anxiety of what the new day would bring ensured that I woke up with the energy of a sloth. Demetri and I had talked about random stuff—well, it had mostly been me trying to subtly pry information from him about the Spade Kingdom and him playfully maneuvering the questions. In some aspects, he reminded me of Malekh. Although they hadn't spent much of their lives together, they were quite similar. Demetri was different from what I thought he would be, and I realized now that he had actually allowed us to see a few glimmers of his true personality three years ago. Maybe, if things had been different, he would have shown us more. After our talk, I'd been lost in a maze of my own making as my mind meandered through all the possible