“Yes! We’re looking for a girl, black hair, gold eyes?”
“We’ve seen her.”
“Is she alright?”
“She fell ill. We’re taking care of her. Follow me.”
After four hours of riding, they arrived at the palace. Or rather, the not-palace.
Rooms hung from vines, connected to a tree from before time began. Wooden bridges strung the rooms together, twisting and turning and connecting into one another.
Sei’s almost entirely black eyes gazed around the massive wooden structure.
“That looks like sixty safety violations disguised as a treehouse,” Jackie said.
Sei doubled over in laughter. “No, no! It’s perfectly fine! The vines are probably more sturdy than the foundation of your castle.”
“You’ll be okay, sweetheart.”
The five hopped onto a platform on the ground. Two young monsters near the top moved their hands and vines shot up from the ground, pushing them onto an upper platform.
Sei guided them through the winding pathways, to the room Kimi was resting in. The winged woman stood in front of the door.
“Ulet! Your eyes are so red, have you been crying?” Maxine asked.
Ulet nodded.
“What happened?”
“This girl Sei found in the woods reminded me of her…”
“Lirret?”
“Mhm.”
“Juno and I had those same thoughts. She has your sister’s eyes.”
“Not only that. You are aware that monsters only awaken in the presence of other monsters?”
“Yes?”
“She was very ill when we found her. But the illness seemed unnatural, almost…”
“You think she’s a monster?”
Jem took a turn to speak. “That’s impossible. Her father is human.”
Ulet looked at Jem. “That may be true, but who was her mother?”
Karo spoke, “Other maids who’d been working in the palace called her a devil-child. Any evidence there?”
Kimi could hear them talking. But she couldn’t understand. Or care. She had much more pressing things at hand. Or perhaps, at claw.
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