“All of the Queens before now have eaten all of the seeds, and they have all been unable to release the spirits as they should.”

“All of them?” Risa asked, incredulously. Then how had he even known it was possible?

Leo slowed, seeming to choose his words carefully.

“Since I have been here, yes. Before that, it was quite common, I’ve been told.” He continued rustling through papers. “I have taken notes on the attributes of all of the Queens, but this is the only thing that fits.”

Risa chewed on his words for a moment as she found herself a seat in a chair near the desk. “How long have you been here?” She asked. What she really wanted to know was how many years had those spirits been sitting in the fields.

Leo again hesitated, as though her wasn’t comfortable with sharing that information. She was about to recall her question when he answered.

“About…” he said, and then paused. “One hundred years, your time, give or take a few.”

Risa exhaled slowly. That was such a long time, even if it was less than she expected. “And all of the Queens in that time have eaten the seeds.”

“Yes.” He threw down one paper and picked up another.

“But if every Queen before you were here had eaten the seeds—”

“I can’t be sure of that,” Leo said, shaking his head a little. “I don’t know. It’s tradition so they should have, but I just don’t know.”

“Right…” She murmured; she had absolutely no idea. What was she supposed to do now? She looked around the room once more, ignoring the way her head spun. She definitely needed to sleep more, that was becoming obvious. “But I did it without all of the seeds.”

She said it more to herself than to Leo, but when he heard her he lowered his papers back to the desk. His mouth was set in a grim line that made Risa nervous, even more so when he turned his dark eyes on her.

“And that means that you no longer have the choice to eat the last pomegranate seed.”

A wave of realization crashed over her and Risa felt her blood run cold. She hadn’t forgotten about her limited time, but had done a damn good job of ignoring it. She wasn’t ready to face it, and Leo had just made the choice for her— that she would die in less than half a year. “You can’t do that,” she whispered, mostly because she knew that he could. Her eyes widened in horror as he continued to look at her, eyes filled with something akin to pity. He was serious.

She was trying to figure out what else to say, how else to convince him, when he sighed and looked away. “Of course,” he continued, “we will continue to try to find other options, but I can’t promise anything. I…”

Risa was busy looking at her hands, Leo’s voice flowing in and out of her consciousness. They had been her hands for her whole life. If she died, would they still be hers? Her head was pounding and it was becoming difficult to breath, as though was filled with cotton and only half of each breath made it through. She was going to die there. She was going to die.

“Risa.”

She snapped her head up, at the sound of her voice, spoken with a demand and strength she never would have expected out of Leo’s soft and gentle tone. She blinked rapidly, found his waiting gaze, and let him bring her through the fog.

“I’m scared,” she whispered. She hadn’t meant to say it. She regretted saying it immediately. But it was the truth.

Leo said nothing, but walked around the desk to her side. Shocked, she watched him approach and let him take her into his arms, wrapping her in his strong grip. She fell against his chest, surprised at the display but needing the stability more an cynicism. “I know.” He whispered, and somehow she felt that he really did know, really did understand. Just as she had comforted Ravi only hours before she now found herself facing all of the chaos just below the surface, except Leo was the one by her side.

Her head was throbbing, but she stayed still until he moved, disentangling himself from his awkward position, leaning down to hug her in her chair. Instead of standing, though, he crouched, putting himself at eye level to her.

“I need you to show me the flower,” he said, but he spoke gently. “We need to make sure.”

Risa nodded, understanding what he wanted, but she felt numb inside. Leo moved out of the way and she pushed herself out of the chair, heading to the main room and walking through the portal without any hesitation. So far, she hadn’t walked into a wall over it; why panic now? If Leo was surprised he didn’t show it. She tried not to look at the darkened windows as she walked past. She didn't have enough energy for another mystery right now.

She didn’t pass Ravi as she guided Leo out, or Eva for that matter; she was thankful. She didn’t want to explain, and to Ravi, she couldn’t. For the first time the sun hurt her eyes when she stepped outside, head thudding in disagreement, but she ignored it and walked on.

She could feel Leo watching her. He was paying attention to her actions and movements, as though they were important somehow. Risa ignored him and weaved her way through the fields, her feet taking her to where they needed to go. Soon, the flower stood before them.

Despite the hours passed since she had been here, it was as frosted as when she left. Small ice crystals covered it, dripping along the edges, and the flower itself was beginning to droop a small bit. Numbly, Risa extended her hand to point out the flower.