Jonas sat in the carriage, watching the city sweep past in a blur of colours and movement, yet taking none of it in. The wheels clattered over cobblestones, each jolt sending a fresh spike of pain through his shoulder. His mind replayed the scene again and again.

Tait throwing himself into the storm of wind and ice. Delphi crying, lost in a nightmare she couldn't wake from. The maid, bleeding, the sharp copper smell of it still clinging to his memory.

The table. Being tied to it.

Jonas's stomach lurched. He pressed his palm flat against the seat and breathed through it. Focus. She nearly killed Emmy.

A sister who was a stranger. Who wielded power that felt… ungodly. Monstrous.

He touched his shoulder. His fingers found the damp warmth of blood seeping through the bandage. The ice needle had pierced deep before melting away, leaving behind a wound that throbbed in time with his heartbeat.

When the wind finally died and the shards fell to the floor, tinkling like broken glass against marble, he had helped Emmy to her feet. Her hand trembled in his. Together they watched as Tait held Delphi, her sobs filling the room with a sorrow so raw it felt like a physical force.

"Keep her contained!" Jonas had snapped, dragging Emmy away before she could see more. The word monster had risen in his throat, unbidden. He'd swallowed it. Barely.

Now they sat in silence, the carriage rattling toward the palace. Outside, street vendors called out their wares. A child laughed somewhere. The world carried on, oblivious.
This was too big for him alone. Too dangerous. Too unpredictable. If Delphi was volatile like that, she could be a danger to them all.

"That was her, wasn't it?" Emmy asked softly, pulling him from his spiraling thoughts. Her voice barely rose above the creak of leather seats. "Delphi."

Jonas exhaled, a long, slow breath that fogged faintly in the chill he still carried with him. He had brought Emmy along out of concern. Now he realized he had only made things more complicated. "Yes," he said eventually. "That is Delphi."

Emmy held his gaze for a long moment, then nodded. "The true daughter has really returned." Talking more to herself than to him.

Jonas looked away, watching rain begin to streak the window. He didn't correct her.

~

Back at the manor, Delphi walked slowly through the garden. Gravel crunched beneath her unsteady steps. Her breath came shallow, misting in the damp air. She had never lost control like that. Not once. Not in ten years.

Hope padded beside her, chattering about flowers and dew and the way the mist made her fur sparkle like tiny diamonds. Delphi barely heard her. Regret and old demons pressed in from all sides, heavier than the fog settling over the hedgerows.

Eventually, they reached a large pond. Or what had once been a pond. Now it was full of decay, stagnant water filmed with green scum, rotting leaves clumped in brown mats along the edges, the faint sweetness of decomposition rising with every breath. The remnants of a place she had once loved.

"This used to be my favorite place," Delphi murmured.

She reached out with her magic, invisible threads sinking into the water and deep into the cold, wet earth beneath. She pushed, shifting the soil, creating channels for the pond to drain. The ground groaned softly. Water gurgled and sucked at the mud. The effort made her dizzy, spots swimming at the edges of her vision. She sat down hard, palms pressing into the damp grass.

"Earth magic really isn't your thing," Hope chirped.

"Well," Delphi said dryly, "I could burn the pond. But that would be overkill."

Hope gasped dramatically. "Mother, did you crack a joke?"

Delphi didn't answer. Her eyes had gone distant again, lost in the nightmare she couldn't shake, ice forming unbidden, screams, the spray of red against pale skin.

Hours later, misty rain clung to the garden like gauze when Tait found her sitting by the half-drained pond, staring into nothing. Droplets hung from bare branches. The air smelled of wet stone and turned earth.

He sat beside her, his weight pressing into the sodden ground. "You've been here for hours. How are you still dry?"

Delphi didn't look at him. Warmth radiated from her skin in faint waves, barely visible as a shimmer. "Along with the ice magic you saw, I have fire." She hesitated. "Wind and water. Earth. Although, I can't really use it. And shadow magic."

Tait raised a brow. "So you're keeping dry with… an internal furnace?"

Delphi turned to him. A tiny smile tugged at her lips, the first crack in her mask all day. "Something like that."

They sat in silence, the rain whispering against leaves, pattering soft and steady on Tait's shoulders while Delphi remained untouched. Steam curled faintly where droplets came too close to her.

"Mother and Father are back," Tait said eventually. "His Majesty granted them leave."

Delphi sighed, the sound heavy with exhaustion. "When would they like me to get on stage?"

"Tomorrow morning. Breakfast." Tait stood, brushing wet grass from his trousers. "Until then, I'm to watch over you."

Delphi rose slowly, her legs stiff from sitting so long. "Jonas didn't hold back, did he?"

"No," Tait admitted.

They walked back toward the manor, their footsteps squelching on the muddy path. Hope trotted ahead, her small form vanishing and reappearing between ribbons of mist.

The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the drip of rain from eaves and branches. They both knew the truth, and neither wanted to speak it aloud. Delphi's power was dangerous. And if she lost control again…

The next time might end with more than a cut cheek.