I was running. I was back in the food court, falling, then I am in the purple world. I was back at the funeral where the different-colored sets of eyes pierced through me. Fingers went up to point, and I was called a witch. As I was trying to leave or do anything to stay alive, I looked at the sky, the sun blinding me, and cursed it for being so bright as I trip into the tree and fall back into the world with the blue sky that is my home.

  ? ? ?

  The dream repeats all throughout the night. On my morning bathroom run, I remember that I am stuck here. What will the ruler make me do next? I shiver. I return to my bed but feel eyes on me. I turn to see not only the king wide awake, but the first bit of light in the distance.

  “Did I wake you?” I ask, my voice hoarse.

  “No.”

  “Okay.”

  “Breakfast?” He suggests.

  I’m unsure if I’m imagining it, but it feels like the bargain has solidified now. It’s strong and unbending, which is on my mind as I eat. I can only consume so many eggs and sausage this early. I look over the table, which has plenty more to offer, and my stomach drops.

  The ruler doesn’t talk but asks that the table’s contents be taken to the community center. It’s my turn to raise an eyebrow.

  On the defensive side, he tells me how his court is at war. He’d do more than anything for his people.

  “I wasn’t judging,” I say simply, “I like that idea really.”

  His expression relaxes and becomes thoughtful. I ignore him and wonder what kind of weirdness today will bring.

  “So I heard that bargains could weaken a ruler's power,” he doesn't say anything, “has there been any difference with you?”

  “You know you could have asked to read the books in that room in the daylight,” he snaps, all lightness gone from him.

  I had waited until I was sure that he was asleep to start the books about his court i. I wipe my face clear of shock and return to looking out the window.

  It takes some working up to before I ask, “I wonder why someone like you would take that risk.”

  I’m digging, and he knows it. What kind of ruler is purely heartless, especially when they care about their people as he does? His eyes don’t leave mine.

  “I would do anything for my court.”

  “Right.” Greediness. That’s a large theme of the nighttime stories I learned from dad. Never trust a magical person, however… Maybe they’re not all power hungry?

  “And I imagine you’re trying to understand me?” I nod, “Break the curse. I wouldn’t bother getting to know each other, as you either break it, or everything here dies because of it.”

  I flinch at the harshness, but I know that he means it. He’ll give me information. I just have to look for it. I’m still trying to decode his words from yesterday. He had said no human ever leaves. Was it a warning? And why would he do that?

  “So you risked your own power to try to save another king from killing your soldiers and somehow triggering the fall of this world. How exactly is that connected?”

  “My patience is waning,” Another warning. Got it.

  “Maybe I don’t need to know you, but I do need to understand my situation.” I have him there, and he knows it, too.

  “Your very curse impacted the sun. The sun is the very element of power that the Sun King draws power from. It’s driven him mad. He would have never attacked if not. When one ruler falls or is unstable, our whole world will fall. Yes, my kingdom is directly taking the hit now, but the rest will follow until it is weak.”

  “I can’t break the curse.” He’s silent, “What if we killed him?”

  His eyes lock on mine, and I swear he mutters humans. My eyes go wide. He knows. He puts his hand up to stop me from speaking.

  “Killing him would leave his court broken. He has no heir to take over.”

  “Isn’t that sort of irresponsible? Do you…have an heir?”

  “I do not have children.”

  “What about family?”

  “We’ll visit them later in the cemetery.”

  “Oh,” I called him irresponsible.

  In a blink, we’re in an office. My mind feels left behind, and so does my body. I back away from the desk and run into the ruler. Heat rushes through me, and I blush.

  “Wh-What happened?”

  “The world must have shifted. We have about five minutes before we burn alive.”

  I’m staring at him wide-eyed as a smile creeps onto his face. I glare at him and cross my arms.

  “That’s not funny.”

  “Sure it is. Now take a seat while I contact my generals.”

  I sit across from him, still confused. It had to be him, right? I’m starting when he looks up and shakes his head.

  “Don’t stare, witch.”

  “Excuse me?” Now I'm angry, “What other powers do you have?”

  He’s on the phone, and I feel like strangling him, “Well, you don’t seem affected by the bargain to me.” I mutter.

  Maybe if I could teleport that easily, a mere inconvenience like a bargain wouldn’t bother me either. What other powers does he have at his disposal? Yet he hasn’t killed me? I suppose for today, I can take his word for him needing me alive. But a week from now?

  Again, we’re in a completely different place when I blink. He had just hung up the phone.

  “The ruler’s cemetery,” he supplies.

  In front of it, there are rolling hills of green hills, the old yellow grass still peaking up in tall heaps. Everything’s damp as I follow him into the metal gate, similar to the last cemetery I’d been in. From the open gate, I can make out at least a mile of crosses, the further away, the less faded. Headstone, the ones covered in moss, some cracked, lean to the land as if bowing to time itself.

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  “Are these just rulers?”

  “And respected individuals. A lot of soldiers. All courts come here to bury their loved ones.”

  “Why on your land?”

  “Because shadows veil them. Lead them to the afterworld.” Apparently so does the light fog.

  I nod solemnly. He transports us again to a part right below a hill. There's another tunnel, but this one is carved into the hill, stones holding it together.

  “A memorial,” he offers.

  There are names etched into the walls. There's only natural light, and I get an eerie feeling. I only hear my feet echo off the cold stone. The ruler makes no noise as I survey the graves.

  “They're in the walls,” I say more to myself than anything.

  “Feel their power?” He mumbles, “Use it to break the curse.”

  “I don't feel anything,” but it's a lie. A thousand presences surround me, threatening to eat me alive.

  There's a hiss, and I turn to him, “Only a mortal wouldn't feel the power here.”

  His voice is strained, like he is fighting something. Perhaps he is choking on all of the power as well.

  “Yes, I can feel it, but there's nothing to help me break the curse.”

  “Then we'll stay here until you find something.”

  I glare at him, but he says nothing, doesn't meet my eye.

  “Temper,” I roll my eyes.

  “The sun king has gone mad,” He states as if this justifies his every move.

  I blink, and we're in a new spot. My feet are on the uneven ground, a rock under my left foot, which I move, exposing the fresh Earth underneath. There are shovels and fresh dirt covering newly established graves. There are holes six feet deep all around me.

  “This is where my soldiers fighting against him now will go. How many more do I have to dig?” his voice cuts through my bones like the dry and cool air.

  “I warned you that I've never reversed a curse before. This is going to take me time.”

  “My people do not have time.”

  “And I'm sorry,” I say, my voice cracking.

  He takes a step away, putting his hands on his hips, “Tell me what you need to end it.”

  “Time,” I whisper.

  He nods and transports me back to the tunnel, but I walk out of it. It's too dark and creepy there. I walk back towards his soldiers, but then I turn and walk up a hill, meaning to go back to the gate.

  I feel a sting in my heart and stop. I look for the source, but there are no bugs near me. There is no one but the ruler. I look at my feet, the right grave one is an old one. But the right one… I can feel something. When I look at it again, I feel the sting again, stronger than ever, pulsing through my body as a jolt of energy would.

  The ruler's eyes sink to the ground, “I felt… Something,” I admit.

  “My father,” he says.

  The headstone, not mossy like the others, reads Adar Duncan, “Adar?” I ask aloud.

  The ruler looks at me, “What'd you feel?”

  “It's like… He stung me. Like a bee stung me, but stronger.”

  He nods, “My punishment for acting up. He has a wicked sense of humor.”

  “Why would he do that to me?”

  “I don't know. I haven't felt his power for years.”

  I get a form of tunnel vision. Only Kai, the keeper of the keys, can help you break the curse. The sting hits me again.

  I look to the ruler beside me, “He says Kai will help me break the curse. That he's the keeper of keys.”

  “Ask him more,” He says, his face pale.

  Who's Kai? I think as hard as I can. I turn to the ruler.

  “He's gone. He won't say anything else.” The world stops, the sounds are gone, and I gasp.

  I'm taken somewhere. Somewhere I've never been. I'm with everyone in the cemetery. Screams erupt. Sorrow injects me.

  “Help,” a distant voice cries. It's in a different language. Latin? Why would the ruler transport me here? But he’s not here with me. I no longer feel the bargain, and I’m alone in this world.

  A man grasps me by the collar of my shirt, “They took them!” His voice screams into my head, the sound of nails on chalk. I don’t need a translator to understand him.

  “It shouldn't have ended like this,” A woman grabs onto my pants. She shakes her head, her eyes black and filled with vengeance. I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm yelling at something.

  Someone yanks my hair, and I'm thrown to the ground, the woman scratching at me. A hand emerges from the dirt and wraps around my waist. It works to pull me under the dirt.

  A boy, no older than twelve, runs from a threat that I can't see in the trees that swirl into view. His feet stomp on the ground in a steady rhythm. Until they don't. He's shot down, an arrow piercing through his chest, his wound spilling and dying the mud beneath him dark red.

  I see a man in the middle of it all, dark shadows surrounding him. I can't tell where he ends, and the shadows begin. His arms are firmly at his sides, and his eyes are transfixed on mine.

  My legs move, and I am running in a way that I have never run before. I am dodging people, plants, trees, and roots. A sharp pain pierces me, but my legs are still in motion. I look ahead of me. I can get further! But like that, my face is in the mud.

  My hand instinctively covers my heart, the source of the pain. I am a young boy, my blood pooling around me, each breath of mine stings. My chest feels like it’s exploding, and I can do nothing.

  Someone calls to me, but I know that I am not going to make it. What am I still screaming? A different language flows out of my mouth, garbled and lifeless as I will soon be. A prayer?

  ? ? ?

  “Breathe,” the ruler is shaking me.

  I open my eyes and grab onto him. My hand flies to my heart, and I'm confused as I find that I’m alright. I look down at my shirt and feel nothing. I curl into a ball and sob. The ruler moved me just outside the gate and into the long, dead grass and short new grass.

  Slowly, the adrenaline fades. I sit upright. I feel the pain in my chest, the pool of blood beneath me. I straighten my shirt and feel the woman clutching it.

  I brush all of the water that I can off my legs, where I can feel the nails holding fast. I flip my wet hair out of my face, which was pulled, and lift my face to the rain, which washes away the feelings.

  “Mind telling me what the fuck happened?” The ruler asks.

  Oh no. I smell the stomach acid before it pours out of my mouth and onto the ground. My nervous system is screwed. I finally get a break, and I’m in the guest room bathroom with the ruler. My body sags, then rids itself of anything else in my system right into the toilet.

  The ruler moves my hair, but I smack him away immediately, remembering the vision. Shock fills his eyes, but he quickly shoves it away.

  “I'm going to take a shower,” I say, voice raspy.

  The ruler didn't move towards the door, and I shoot him a glare.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Let me get some clothes,” I walk past him, the motion sending a sharp pain through my stomach. It reminds me of the arrow, and I swallow repeatedly, hoping to get clothes before I’m back at the toilet. But I won’t make it. The ruler moves out of the way and sighs.

  I flush again and wipe my mouth hastily.

  “Feel better?”

  “No.”

  “Lay down on the bed when you can,” He says quietly.

  It takes me a few tries to get there, every muscle fighting me, but I do it.

  I hear the clacking on something, then the ringing.

  “Can I get some water, crackers, and any light food we have up here? Thank you.”

  There's a click, and the phone's back in place.

  I feel the bed lower as he sits next to me.

  “I'm going to check your temperature."

  “Fine,” is all I manage to say.

  He holds his hand in front of my forehead, then presses it there. I feel the heat from his power, then nothing as he pulls away, “You should really be on your side just in case.”

  He gently helps to reposition me, then gets up when there's a knock on the door.

  Someone comes in, but I'm already feeling weak enough to sleep. A glass of water is set on the bedside, and some talk happens. But the bed creaks again, and he's there, a frown set on his face.

  He brushes my hair out of my face, “Can you sit up?”I do it slowly, and he gives me the water, “Slow sips so that you don't get dehydrated or sick again.”

  I obey and taste the vomit in my mouth and take a larger sip to wash it down my throat. When I can't drink anymore, I hand it back, and he takes it. I just lay back down as slowly as I can.

  Everything quiets, and my eyelids drop. The heaviness is inevitable. I give in to it, never feeling him leave the bed.