Terra had been right. She had always scolded Isla and her emotions.
Your feelings will be your ruin, she had said countless times. They made her weak. Vulnerable.
And now, they had ruined her plan at gaining access to the Sun Isle library.
She shouldn’t have gotten so angry at the king. She shouldn’t have expected him to be anything but insufferable.
Of course he would use her own words against her. Of course he would have a specter use her body for his own purposes yet deny her a simple request.
Isla had gone about it all the wrong way. She knew that now. But she refused to tell Celeste she had failed them. Again. Not when her friend had gone to such great lengths to secure the gloves.
She wouldn’t give up. Not yet.
Sun Isle was empty during the day, as expected. There was no one to gape at her bright-red dress. She hadn’t bothered wearing a more neutral shade. Any hue other than gold would stand out immediately, anyway.
The isle was gilded, just like its king. Gold everywhere. She didn’t waste time looking at its wonders, or lingering. She marched right up to the castle with resolve.
She didn’t care if all the guards in the palace tried to stop her, she was getting into that library.
As soon as she entered the castle, the sunshine from outside died. The only light came from fiery orbs and chandeliers. They filled every inch of the ceiling, doing what the king couldn’t.
“Isla, ruler of Wildling?”
She turned around to the guard who had spoken, ready to tell him he couldn’t keep her from the isle. That she was allowed to be here. But before she could, he spoke again.
“We’ve been expecting you. Please, follow me.” The guard’s gold-plated armor clinked as he turned on his heel and made his way down the
hallway.
Expecting you? She took off after him.
“You . . . have?” she said, looking around carefully, expecting to see more guards soon. To possibly be brought to some sort of dungeon.
He nodded. “I’ve been given orders to take you to the library.” Isla was silent. That couldn’t be right . . . it had taken her three days to find her nerve to venture into the Sunling land. The guard had been waiting right at the doors. There was no way he, or others, had been waiting for her to arrive.
Before long, he stopped in front of an entrance. “The king has ordered the library to be closed this week. You will be alone and are to have full access to any of the floors.”
She blinked. Oro had refused to take her here himself, yet he had given her exclusive privileges?
It had to be a trick.
Though, as long as she was able to search the library . . . she didn’t care. Isla bowed her head in thanks, pasting a smile on her face as if this was all normal. Expected. “Thank you,” she said.
“I will be out here, should you need anything.” The library doors closed behind her with a thud.
The guard was right. She had the entire space to herself. Ten floors of books. Galleries so long, she couldn’t see their end.
If she didn’t have a specific task, she would have loved to spend days in here, exploring.
But that wasn’t why she had fought so hard to get inside this room.
Isla took off, not knowing if more guards were coming to trap her, or if the king himself would appear any moment, to demand she tell him what she was looking for.
She fetched the Starling gloves from a hidden pocket in her cape and pulled them on with only minimal disgust. With so little time, she needed to touch everything and hope she got lucky.
The books were beautiful. Their covers were gold, gems up their spines.
Knowledge seemed to be prized on Sun Isle.
Dozens of tables filled the space, unlike any other library she had visited on the island. Did this mean Sunlings were granted full access inside?
No time to wonder. She looked for anything out of place, anything that looked special at all.
At the very end of the hall sat a hearth, big enough to swallow her whole. The flames inside crackled, almost like a beckoning.
She stopped in front of it.
The Skyling hidden section had been at the very top of the tower, high in the sky. The Moonling one had been engulfed in water.
Perhaps Sunling’s secret section was hidden in flames.
Before she could think better of it, Isla reached one glove toward the fire, knowing it could very well wilt to pieces. She braced herself for the pain and smell of double layers of flesh burning.
It did not. The fire vanished immediately, and she stepped into the mouth of the hearth. Pressed another hand against the stone wall behind it. And watched the brick fall away.
Her chest felt too tight. Her throat too dry.
This was it. The last library. The last place to search. She stepped inside.
Sunlings had more relics than any of the other realms combined. There were shelves of them, sitting in the near darkness.
Isla didn’t waste a moment.
She was thorough. She picked up every single enchantment in the room. Held it for a few seconds. Pulled some apart, making sure nothing was hidden inside. There were dozens.
None of them resembled a giant needle.
None, besides a few swords, even had a point.
No. This couldn’t be right. They had searched every library on Lightlark. The text had said—
It had said the bondbreaker was in a library centuries ago. More than enough time for it to have gone missing.
Or to have been destroyed.
Or maybe . . . it never even existed in the first place.
Her chest filled with fury, then worry, then sadness. Celeste and Isla had planned for years. This was their way to break their curses. This was the key to her freedom.
This was the plan that guaranteed she would be off the island before the fiftieth day.
Now, the ball was just three days away. And there was no bondbreaker.
