Chapter 21

As soon as I left Avalor's study, I felt the walls of that mansion closing in on me. I needed air, space to breathe. Everything was too heavy, too much: the prophecy, Avalor's half-spoken words, that weight of expectations that I had no preparation for. I heaved my breath and took off running past the empty portraits and sweeping arches, until finally, I found a door that led outside.

The cold night air felt like a wave, sharp and biting against my skin as I inhaled, feeling the need to quiet the storm that raged inside. The moon was placed very high in the sky, casting such an ethereal light over the garden that it was both beautiful and haunting reminded me of the power that was supposed to keep me.

The only sound was the crunch of my boots through leaves as I walked dazedly through the garden, but in my head, thoughts were confused, far too knotted to let anything make proper sense of what Avalor had spoken to me.