Darcel:
"Please, don't say it's true! Did she get away?!"
Rowan burst through the tree line, her voice trembling with desperation. The kings flanked her, their expressions carved from stone, but the dismay in their eyes betrayed them. Rowan's delicate features, usually serene, were marred with worry and disbelief.
Frankie's eyes flickered, the fire within them glowing brighter, but shame shadowed her face. "I'm afraid it is," she admitted, her voice steady despite the weight of her words. "But don't worry, I have a…" Her sentence faltered, the strength in her voice waning.
I stepped forward instinctively, my hand reaching for her as she swayed on her feet. "Frankie?"
Her gaze was distant and unfocused, as if she were looking past us and seeing something we couldn't.
"Her darker form
