When Amelia receives a mysterious key and a letter with a single word-"library"-she's compelled to return to her father's estate, a cold and vacant mansion she hasn't seen in years. Though she always knew she'd have to return, the shadowy halls now...
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Thunder clapped above me and my eyes shot open. I was back in my body, the cold damp earth beneath my back a jarring contrast to the blazing heat I'd felt in that vision. The once beautiful cherry blossom tree, now a blackened husk, rose into the sky like a charred skeleton. Tears pooled in my eyes, blurring my vision. What... what just happened? What was that?! I sat up slowly, my head splitting from a pounding headache. The weight of the vision pressed down on my heart. I clutched my head and stood on shaky legs.
A thick haze of fog had enveloped the village as I stumbled over rocks and decayed roots. Trying to get my bearings still reeling after the debilitating hallucination. The fog was so dense I nearly bumped into a statue—no, a person. The frozen fae. I blinked and my breath caught as I recognized his face.
The king!
My stomach dropped. The horrifying realization chilled my bones to the marrow. All those statues... were real! Real people with families. Friends. Everything I had just witnessed had been real! My heart twisted painfully in my chest. The queen—what happened to her and her child? Were they in Summer now? Could I find them?
I reached out, my hand brushing against the blackened bark. A jolt shot through me, and images flashed before my eyes. No—no, not again! I yanked my hand away, frightened of being pulled into another vision. But the tree hummed and a faint whisper cut through the silence.
Amelia...
It called my name. A plea on the wind. My heart raced. "What do you want? What could I possibly do?" My voice sounded small against the enormity of what I just learned. This tree—this thing—had drawn me here. Showed me visions of the past. Was it the same force that pulled me from my library into this cursed world? Why me? What could I possibly do to help?
No answer came.
I sighed and hesitantly reached out again, my hand trembling as it grazed the rough bark. This time, the images came slower, clearer. A gnarled root wrapped around a pink diamond. It shimmered like a soft rosy flame, locked behind a throne of ice. The next image—a giant evergreen, massive like the one I stood before, rising from the middle of a frozen lake. High in its branches, a glowing pinecone rested, pulsing with light.
I frowned, my brows furrowing as I tried to discern the meanings behind the images. Was it showing me something I was meant to find? I turned to retrieve my pack, but a bolt of energy shot through my arm. Pain—searing pain, like fire—raced across my back, flaring through the long, jagged scars. I gasped, biting back a cry as tears stung my eyes. The memories of that night surged forward, but I forced them down with trembling breaths.
After several deep breaths, the pain subsided to a dull throb, and I stared at the tree in shock. My body was still trembling as I reached behind me. Every nerve on edge, tingling bolts shot down my spine as my fingers lightly brushed the jagged lines.
My head swam, but I had to focus. I dug into my pack for the map. It only depicted Spring, but in the vision the king had spoken of Winter and Summer like they were kingdoms. Was the evergreen I saw in Winter? And the gem, hidden behind a throne of ice—was that in Winter's palace?
