Contents
12. Twelve
Overview
Ezra deepens trust by revealing the royal greenhouses and the origins and dangers of vitella, then withdraws for duties. Amara, exploring alone, is hunted by vox in abandoned corridors. Ezra saves her with shadows and wings but, drained by the curse, can’t open a one-way passage. They end up trapped in Gil’s office, forced to wait together.
Summary
Ezra escorts Amara to a secluded greenhouse filled with rare herbs and rings of pink roses. He introduces multicolored vitella—green for healing, red for longevity, and purple as a life-stealing poison—offering guarded access with his protection. Their rapport grows over three days of gardens, library time, and dinners he cooks.
On the fourth day, Ezra warns he has kingly business. Left alone during a rainstorm, Amara fails to find Gil for book recommendations and wanders into unfamiliar corridors, descending into a dusty, abandoned warren beneath the castle. Realizing she is lost, she encounters a vox, then more drawn by eerie clicking calls, and flees in panic to a dead end.
As three vox close in, shadows surge and Ezra arrives, wings fully unfurled. He drives the creatures back; his shadows drain their life until their red eyes dull to gray. Furious, Ezra rebukes Amara for roaming, roughly hauls her over his shoulder, and reveals a secret passage by twisting a suit of armor’s head.
They emerge into a hidden anteroom connected to the library, but the library door is stuck and the tunnel cannot be reopened from this side. Ezra, magic depleted by the fight and weakened by the curse, cannot force it. Disappointment replaces his anger as he orders Amara to wait. With no exit, they must remain in Gil’s office until Gil returns or Ezra’s power replenishes.
Who Appears
- AmaraNarrator; bonds with Ezra in the gardens, gets lost, is hunted by vox, and ends up trapped with Ezra.
- King Ezra KincaidFae king; reveals vitella lore, saves Amara with shadows and wings, scolds her, then is stuck due to drained curse-weakened magic.
- GilLibrarian; absent, but his office and locked door trap Amara and Ezra as they wait for his return.
- PoppyAttendant; mentioned as liaison for garden visits and to bring dinner, underscoring Amara’s confinement.
- VoxMonstrous attackers in the abandoned corridors; multiple pursue Amara before Ezra’s shadows kill them.