Book 5: You Again

Ingrid

“I heard that Starfall Mountain is behind the recent… deaths in the Som family,” an officious-looking noblewoman says to her friend as they scurry past me.

I drop my charcoal onto the ledge at the bottom of my easel. After a month and a half of everyone calling the murders accidents, this is the third person today I’ve heard attribute them to something other than cruel fate. And I may have heard something like that yesterday, but I thought I was losing my mind. The palace is still packed with nobles from all over, lingering after Kaloni’s coronation—we’ve got no shortage of people with no idea what they’re talking about.

But this is no longer a coincidence. And this woman is the first with a name, not just “another kingdom.”

The pair of noblewomen disappear out of sight, and I wonder if I should chase after them. Then, I consider my soot-stained hands and the filthy apron over my dress. I either need to clean up or seek different sourc