Lexander did not sleep.
He tried.
That was the important distinction.
He lay in the enormous bed that had belonged to his father, staring at the canopy above him while the events of the day repeated themselves without mercy.
Seven lives.
Seven deaths.
Seven versions of himself.
And Queen Io—
No.
Not Queen Io.
Not only Queen Io.
A woman who had supposedly spent seven lifetimes finding him.
Loving him.
Losing him.
Lexander rolled onto his side.
“This is ridiculous.”
The room did not answer.
Which, under the circumstances, he considered reassuring.
He shut his eyes.
Immediately, he saw the ocean.
Lexander sat upright.
His heart hammered against his ribs.
The room was dark.
Cold moonlight spilled across the floor.
Nothing was there.
He pressed a hand against his chest.
“Seven lives,” he whispered.
The words sounded even more insane when he said them aloud.
He had considered asking Io if she had struck her head during the siege.
He had considered asking General Atreyu whether his Queen had always possessed a tendency toward elaborate delusions.
He had considered a great many things.
But then the candles had lit themselves.
And the chapel had grown cold.
And something beneath the mountains had apparently decided that Queen Io and he were important enough to murder.
So.
Perhaps asking about her mental state could wait until morning.
Lexander lay back down.
He closed his eyes.
And fell asleep.
He was drowning.
The realization came with no warning.
One moment there was darkness.
The next—
Water filled his lungs.
Lexander’s eyes snapped open.
Except they weren’t his eyes.
The sea raged around him.
His body was heavier.
Older.
His hands were calloused and bleeding as they clawed desperately toward the surface.
Up.
He needed to go up.
Light flickered somewhere above him.
His chest burned.
His body screamed.
Then—
A hand reached toward him.
Lexander froze.
There was someone in the water.
A woman.
Her hair floated around her face like black silk.
She reached for him.
He knew her.
The certainty struck him harder than the ocean.
Io.
But she wasn’t Io.
Not exactly.
She wore strange clothing.
The world around them felt wrong.
Older.
The woman grabbed his wrist.
Her mouth moved.
He couldn’t hear her.
The sea swallowed every sound.
Then—
She was gone.
Something pulled Lexander downward.
He opened his mouth to scream.
Water rushed into his lungs.
Darkness swallowed him.
Lexander woke screaming.
The bedroom doors exploded inward.
Half a dozen guards rushed inside.
The first was Lysandra.
She was barefoot and wearing a nightdress.
Her hair was wild.
Her face was terrified.
“LEX!”
Lexander sat upright.
For several seconds, he didn’t recognize her.
The ocean was still in his lungs.
He could still feel it.
Still taste the salt.
His hands moved to his throat.
He coughed violently.
“Brother?”
Lysandra climbed onto the bed.
“Lexander, look at me.”
He did.
Her face slowly came into focus.
“Lyssy.”
“I’m here.”
He grabbed her.
Lysandra gasped as he pulled her into an embrace.
For several seconds, he couldn’t let go.
She didn’t complain.
The guards exchanged uncertain looks.
Then Queen Lisbeth entered.
She wore a robe over her nightclothes.
Her expression changed the moment she saw her son.
“What happened?”
Lexander finally released his sister.
“I don’t know.”
That was the truth.
And somehow, it was worse.
Lisbeth sat beside him.
“Did someone enter your room?”
“No.”
“Did you see something?”
Lexander hesitated.
The answer should have been simple.
I dreamed.
Instead, he looked at his hands.
Water dripped from them.
Lexander stared.
One drop struck the bedsheets.
Then another.
Lysandra followed his gaze.
Her face turned white.
“Mother.”
Lisbeth looked down.
Silence.
Lexander’s hands were wet.
Not damp with sweat.
Wet.
Saltwater ran between his fingers.
One of the guards slowly stepped backward.
“No.”
Lysandra whispered.
Lexander stared at his palms.
Then the water stopped.
His hands became dry.
The sheets were dry.
As though nothing had happened.
No one spoke.
Finally, Lisbeth stood.
“Everyone out.”
The guards hesitated.
“Now.”
They bowed and left.
Lysandra remained.
“Not you.”
Lysandra’s eyes narrowed.
“I’m not going.”
“Lysandra.”
“No.”
Lisbeth looked toward her son.
Lexander gave a tired smile.
“Let her stay.”
His mother sighed.
Lysandra immediately looked victorious.
“Fine.”
She folded her arms.
“Now what happened?”
Lexander looked toward the window.
How could he explain?
How could he tell them that Queen Io might have been right?
That he had drowned.
Not last night.
Not yesterday.
But somewhere else.
Somewhen else.
“I had a dream.”
Lysandra stared.
“That’s it?”
“No.”
Lexander took a breath.
“I drowned.”
The amusement vanished from her face.
“I was in the sea.”
His voice became quieter.
“And someone tried to save me.”
Lisbeth sat down again.
“Who?”
Lexander swallowed.
“Io.”
Lysandra looked toward their mother.
Their mother looked toward him.
“Send for her.”
Queen Io arrived twenty minutes later.
She was fully dressed.
That bothered Lexander.
It was the middle of the night.
He had expected her to arrive exhausted and half-awake.
Instead, she entered his chambers wearing a dark military uniform with a sword at her hip.
As though she had been expecting this.
Lexander noticed immediately.
“You knew.”
Io stopped.
Her expression remained neutral.
“No.”
“That wasn’t a question.”
Lysandra stepped between them.
“What does that mean?”
Io looked at Lexander’s face.
Then at his hands.
Something changed.
Fear.
Not surprise.
Fear.
“Oh no.”
Lexander’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
Io approached the bed.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
He did.
The drowning.
The sea.
The woman.
The hand.
The strange clothing.
The sensation of being pulled downward.
Io remained silent.
When he finished, she looked toward the floor.
Lexander watched her.
“You remember it.”
She didn’t answer.
“You remember me drowning.”
Io slowly closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Lysandra stared.
“What?”
Io sat heavily in a chair.
For the first time, she looked genuinely exhausted.
“That was the third.”
Lexander’s blood went cold.
“The third life.”
His hands tightened.
“I drowned.”
Io nodded.
“You tried to save me.”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
The question seemed to hurt her.
“I almost did.”
Lexander looked away.
Io continued.
“I went into the water after you.”
Lisbeth stood.
“You what?”
Io looked at her.
“I couldn’t let him die.”
“You would have drowned.”
“Yes.”
“You were insane.”
Io smiled faintly.
“Yes.”
Lexander stared at her.
Something in the way she said it made his chest ache.
“I was twenty-one.”
Io’s voice became distant.
“He was twenty-two.”
She looked toward Lexander.
“You were a sailor.”
He leaned back.
“So apparently I was terrible at being one.”
Lysandra elbowed him.
“Not now.”
“Sorry.”
Io almost smiled.
Then the smile disappeared.
“There was a storm.”
Her voice grew quieter.
“Our ship broke apart.”
Lexander listened.
“I found you.”
She stared at her hands.
“You were still alive.”
“Then why—”
“Something grabbed you.”
The room became silent.
Lexander frowned.
“What?”
Io’s eyes met his.
“Something beneath the water.”
A cold feeling moved through him.
“A current?”
“No.”
“An animal?”
“No.”
Lexander’s expression hardened.
“Then what?”
Io looked away.
“I don’t know.”
Lysandra moved closer to her brother.
Lisbeth’s hand went to the knife concealed beneath her robe.
Io noticed.
Despite everything, she almost laughed.
“You can put that away, cousin.”
Lisbeth didn’t.
“Explain.”
Io’s expression became serious.
“I don’t remember everything.”
“Convenient.”
Lexander said.
Io’s eyes flashed toward him.
He immediately regretted it.
But only slightly.