by Anya Allyn
A cry tore painfully from inside me. “No... that can’t be true. This is another world—the world where I’ve been since escaping the dollhouse.”
He shook his head, his jaw clenching. “This is my world too, Cassie. It’s where I came from. It’s where all of us here at the castle... came from. This is the only place in the world untouched by the ice. What happened in this part of the world will soon happen to the rest of the world. Day by day, it’s coming. Until there’s nothing... and no one... left. Just this castle—this will be the only thing left in the world.”
A violent shudder racked my body. “Why would your family let this happen? If this is their own earth?”
His gaze grew far away. “Because the castle wants it. Henry opened the passage for the serpents—to destroy the Order, to destroy everyone who prevents the knowledge of the books from reaching the hands of the castle. Henry has become a favorite of Balthazar and he’ll be rewarded for his service to the castle.”
“But your parents, they said they would call the serpents off. They promised....”
“Yeah, in that tiny section of America. Miami will stay like an oasis... an icy oasis… as long as you do what the castle wants.”
I clutched the wall, bile rising in my throat.
* * * *
The next few days crashed past like furious waves. I was rock beneath the waves, numb and unfeeling.
Doctors came and tested Molly, me and Aisha for all kinds of things. We were subjected to blood samples, blood pressure tests, internal examinations and everything else they could probe or test. It seemed they needed to be assured of the future baby-making abilities of the brides of the castle.
26. HEART OF ICE
Molly and I slipped back into the ice world exactly one week later, on the calmest of days. A day where no wind gusted with fury over the heaped mounds of white. A day where no inhuman sounds rattled through the refrigerated air, chilling your bones. A day where the ever-gathering dark clouds had thinned, almost allowing a glimpse of pale sun.
We pushed the hoods back from our faces.
“Look.” Molly pointed to the bay. “The holes have frozen over.”
Shielding my eyes from the glare of the ice, I scanned the bay. There were no dark spots where a terrifying creature could raise its head and take a human screaming into the depths of the water. Small holes had been punched through the ice along the shoreline—I frowned at these until I noticed that some of them had fishing lines and traps set up. Humans had tried to fish the waters—which meant the serpents were really gone.
I breathed the chill air deep into my lungs. For now, the people still living here had been given a reprieve.
Henry was only allowing us a few moments here this time. Enough time to see for ourselves that this world was different.
I turned to head for the museum.
A figure stood silhouetted in the sunlight. Ethan.
“I’ll leave you to talk.” Molly shot me a sad glance. “I’m going inside to see Sophronia and Frances.” She quickly stepped away.
A broad grin spread across Ethan’s face. “Cassie!” He strode through the snow. “I tried to come see you at the castle a few times, but I couldn’t find you. Each time I started to panic until I saw you at your window.”
I gave him a tight smile. “I’m okay. They’ve just... kept me inside a lot.”
His arms came around me and he kissed the top of my head. An overpowering want welled inside me. I leaned into him, feeling his warmth as the sun washed weakly across us. I wanted to go with him, be with him, even if it was just for one day—one day that I could remember the rest of my life.
“Stay,” he whispered. “I’ll hide you. We’ll get away from here. Things are better now—we don’t know why, but the snakes have decided to slither away. They’ve gone.”
I breathed out silently on his shoulder, barely trusting myself to speak. “Will there be enough food for everyone? Did the cold kill all the fish in the bay?”
Sighing, he nodded. “The old species of fish. But there’s new species coming in, now that the monsters are gone. And there’s enough sun to grow the plants. There’ll be enough food.”
His hands slid down to my arms and he dropped his face to kiss me.
I stepped back.
He raised his eyes, giving me a questioning glance.
“I can’t come back here anymore, Ethan.”
“You what?”
“I don’t... want to come back here,” I said awkwardly. “My life is at the castle now.”
His face darkened, like a cloud crossing the sun. “What have they said to you? Or more to the point, what have they done to you?”
“Nothing. I made the decision myself. I’m seventeen now—time to grow up. And I’m tired of running. Just... tired.” The words were ash in my mouth. “I’m heading back to the castle in a minute, and I won’t be returning. I’m sorry....”
His face dropped. “I shouldn’t have told you—about your parents. It was too much all at once, wasn’t it? Too much of a shock. You need time to—”
“No, Ethan,” I told him. “It’s not my parents. Just let me go, okay? Don’t come looking for me. Don’t come back to the castle. Forget about me.”
I summoned the shadow, and it began to swarm around me. I let my eyelashes drift downward. I could no longer bear the look on his face, the hurt in his eyes. I couldn’t bear to see the person I was leaving behind.
27. DEAD ROSES
The day of my wedding dawned with a burnt amber sun. In mere hours, the preparations would begin. Part of me wanted it all over—I just wanted it to happen so I could rid myself of the sickening dread. But the weddings weren’t until twilight—and twilight at this time of year didn’t happen until almost ten at night.
The people of the castle took their breakfasts outside, as though the interior of the castle could not contain their anticipation. The last day of spring died slowly through the day, the air hung with a heavy sepia light.
Rose petals crunched under my feet along the galerie, their edges curled like dead brown spiders.
Molly had been claimed by Mrs. Baldcott—I found them walking arm-in-arm with through the orchards. Molly gazed at me from behind a curtain of red hair. I knew she was drawing on everything within her just to get through this day. Mrs. Baldcott steered Molly around by the arm and walked the opposite way.
Servants brought armfuls of cream-colored roses into the chapel. A sharp-faced woman who looked around one hundred stepped stiffly after the servants into the church, sheet music huddled close to her thin chest. She began practicing somber organ music. The deep notes rattled through my chest.
My hand closed around the music box that I'd concealed in my pinafore pocket, gripping so hard that the edges hurt my fingers. I needed to get away from here. I needed to find a place for my music box—somewhere outside the castle walls. Pushing through the doors of the gatehouse, I headed across the moors. I didn’t care who or what they sent after me.
Desperately, I searched until I found a tree with a large enough hollow. Kneeling before the tree, I pulled the music box onto my lap.
The music began before I had the lid completely open, and I trembled at the sound. The music was innocent and sad, like a childhood lost. I cradled the box to myself while hot tears burned in my eyes. I wasn’t a kid anymore. Even though it seemed like the past year had been carelessly pulled from under me, I was another year older. I was old enough now to have been married in dozens of places around the world. And this marriage today meant stopping the destruction of an entire region of America.
My world was already a frozen, icy grave. I had no way of knowing if there was even a way of bringing it back to life. Ethan, Frances, Sophronia, Nabaasa... they were flickers of light in a wasteland. My heart ached for all of them. And my heart ached for the Molly and Aisha lying there like beautiful statues in the museum basement. They would die without ever knowing they’d escaped from the dollhouse.
Since my
escape from the dollhouse, it felt like I’d spent all my time trying to see everything from up high—trying to climb to the highest branch of a tree for a clearer view. But I hadn’t noticed the roots that had climbed all around my legs.
Overhead, the sun moved position in the sky. I'd lost track of time. I couldn't let them find me here with the music box—they'd take it away from me.
I needed something to connect to, something outside of here... something that was part of Ethan. Ethan was someone I could never have, but the thought of him was keeping me sane. At least, I liked to believe I was still sane. I imagined touching his hair and face, feeling his warmth spread around me like heat from a distant fire.
Carefully, I fitted the box into the tree hollow, far enough in to protect it from rain.
Tree branches rustled overhead, watching my every move. The trees might have been here longer than the castle, witnessing every human who lived and died here over the centuries—knowing it was pointless to hold onto memories. I had to give everything away, forget everything that went before. My life was now to be here with Zach. And if the most I could ever do was to rid the people I loved of the serpents, that would have to be enough.
My fingers reluctantly let go of the cool wood of the box.
In another life... in a thousand, thousand other lives, I’m with Ethan.
But not this life.
Zach was waiting for me when I returned. Wordlessly, he took my hand and led me into the gardens. He sat me beside him, and when he bent his head down to mine, I touched mine to his in return.
“Zach,” I said softly, “I choose to let my former life go. I’ll give myself to you today.”
A sigh came from deep within his chest. “Not willingly.”
“No matter what the past was, we’re going to be together. We have to try to make the best of that.”
His expression was wry. “You’ll never feel about me the same way you used to. I can’t make it up to you and I can’t change your heart.”
“I don’t hate you anymore. There’s a start.” I drew my face back and gave him a tight smile.
“Mon Dieu! My bride doesn’t hate me....” His mouthed curved into a regretful grin.
It always surprised me when he used French expressions so naturally. He’d hidden so much from me in that first year I’d known him.
I stood. “I’d better go. Molly and I have been ordered to the dressing chambers by six. That’s over four hours just to get ready.”
He wrinkled his nose and forehead. “I don’t envy you any of that.” His hand squeezed mine. ”This is so not the way I pictured my wedding day with you. I mean, I used to harbor a dim hope that one day I could just run away and elope with you. But we’ll get through it, and I promise you brighter days ahead. Maybe soon I can persuade my family to head back to America, back in the other earth. I want to finish my degree. And you need to finish school.”
"Zach, is there a castle—on the other earth?"
"Yeah. This world is just the same as that one. Up to the point you popped up in it anyway. There's no one at that castle now though. All those people were brought here… and merged with us, years ago."
"What about the books of the mirrored tree?"
"Madame Celia destroyed them. This world is my family's last hope. That's two of the things I like about that world. There's no castle people, no books. We could go live there, just you and me and Molly and Parker."
I shook my head. “Your family won't allow that. They’ll never trust Molly and me enough.”
“Maybe you could show them you’ve changed your mind. Show them you want to be a Batiste.”
“They don’t see us as any more than a burden. At best, Molly and I are brood mares for the castle. Why do you think Molly and I were tested for our fertility? For the fun of it?”
“I’m sorry they put you through that. That wasn’t right. If it helps, us guys were tested too. Well, all except for Henry of course. Seems they want to make sure our kids are healthy.”
I couldn’t help but squirm a little at Zach’s mention of children. I wasn’t ready to have children—not for years and years at least.
He smiled. “Maybe trying for kids wouldn’t be so bad....” His hand reached for mine, our fingers intertwining. “But only when you’re ready. I mean, just because we marry tonight doesn’t mean we have to... y’know… go all the way.”
My face grew hot. “I haven’t given that side of things a lot of thought.”
“Does it sound wrong that I wish we had already done that? But back then, I didn’t want to. Not when you didn’t know who I really was. And you were too young. But at least, back then, you wanted me. I know you did.”
I looked away. “So what happens after we’re married? We say goodnight to each other every night and go to sleep in the same bed?”
“Yeah, well, we’ll be expected to sleep in the room together. But I’ll sleep on the couch if you want me to.”
“You’d do that?”
“Hey, I’d sleep on the floor next to your bed if you’d let me, and every morning when you wake, you can step on me like an old rug. How does that sound?” Zach gave a sheepdog expression that made me laugh, in spite of everything.
He let my fingers go, eyeing me with an undercurrent of pain and longing in his blue eyes.
The sun was already growing low in the sky as I walked across the drawbridge.
28. BRIDES OF THE CHATEAU
The wedding gowns hung like headless brides on nooses from the ceiling, their trains spilling along the floor. Dresses for Molly, Aisha, Audette and me. And a fifth gown hanging beside them.
I hadn’t seen the dressing chamber before. Viola told us that it was meant to be the private chamber of the lady of the castle. Dark orange light spilled across the stone floor from four narrow windows.
A thin figure sat in one of the dark recesses of the room—her legs tucked under her on a large, ornate chair. Lacey watched us silently as we moved into the chamber.
Six women, mostly married women from the castle, waited with brushes and combs. A chambermaid poured water into white pitchers.
Audette inspected the dress that was for her, barely concealing the smug grin on her face. She frowned as she noticed the fifth dress. “Who is this one for? God, it’s so old it looks like it would fall apart if you touched it. I wasn’t told about anyone else getting married here today, and I don’t like surprises.”
Viola wrinkled her nose. “Maybe it’s just a spare. Thank the gods it’s not for me. I’m so happy the castle didn’t choose for Clark and me to get hitched. He’s far too much of a child for me.”
“What’s the matter, dollybird? Sour grapes? Upset the castle didn’t want you for a bride? Or upset that Clarkson hooked up with Sienna last night? Perhaps he’s hedging his bets, trying to find another woman with whom to worm his way into the castle.” Audette raised her thin eyebrows.
Viola’s dismay was quickly replaced by a bright smile. “What the château wants is not my business, nor anyone else’s. You’ve come late to the chateau, so you can’t be expected to know that.”
Audette pursed her mouth. “Sweetie, I’ve got more than a hundred years on you. All you can claim is that you ran around these halls as a snotty-nosed brat.”
“At least I have castle blood. You have none. Oops, well actually, you have no blood at all.”
Cold fury crossed Audette’s face. The pitchers of water on the stand began shaking, water spilling out.
The chambermaid fussed around Audette, calming her. “We need to begin, my lady Audette, or we will not have time to prepare you.”
Aisha sat herself down on one of the chairs, refusing to look or speak to anyone except Viola and the chambermaid. Molly sat next to me, staring out the window. There’d been no windows in the dollhouse, but the château was just as much of a trap—perhaps even more so, because here, Molly and I couldn’t even escape into death.
The women moistened our hair with water, and then tugged and p
ulled our locks into rag curls. For hours, while our hair dried, we were expected to read quietly, or just stare off into oblivion. Aisha chose oblivion. Audette slept for the first hours, then woke and sat humming before a wall mirror, fixing her own hair. Molly and I stood at a window, watching the restless ocean. Again, I thought I saw something out there beneath the surface of the water, something that rippled differently to the current. Then it was gone.
Lacey pulled my dress down from the wall with a long-handled hook and laid it on a daybed beside me. “This is yours.” Her face was pensive.
I realized I hadn’t even been curious about which of the dresses was mine to wear. I pulled off my clothing and stepped into the gown as Lacey held it out. She brought it up over my shoulders, taking care with the stiff, fragile lace. The dress was scratchy. A musty scent rose from the neckline—a scent of moth balls and age. I gazed down at the bodice—it was crisscrossed with ribbons, my arms encased in long bell-shaped sleeves. Lacey gently tied the ribbons behind me, possibly afraid the aged ribbons would snap.
The others stepped into their gowns, transforming into medieval princesses. Sweat prickled the back of my neck. This was actually happening. It wasn’t a dream or a nightmare. All of us were marrying into the families of the castle.
The women busied themselves assembling a tray of brightly-colored cosmetics on a nearby set of drawers. Next they fixed smocks to all of us, except for Audette. They started on Aisha first, skillfully painting her lips red and making her eyes smoky and beautiful. Next they worked on Molly—turning her into someone who looked closer to a 1920s film star than the Molly I knew. I felt claustrophobia close over me as they began applying makeup to my face. It was too much of a reminder of the dollhouse.
Viola removed the smock from me with a flourish that reminded me of Henry brandishing his cape. “Go look,” she told me.
I made my way toward the only mirror in the room—a freestanding oval mirror. I stepped in front of the glass. At first, I recoiled. The girl in the mirror could not possibly be me. I hadn’t spent much time looking at my appearance in the mirror since arriving at the castle and hadn’t bothered with makeup at all. The makeup the women had applied looked so sophisticated. I looked so much older. I was older. I was seventeen now, and looked every bit a young woman—and that was terrifying.
