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  Apparently, neither could Eucilla.

  “So only the True Incarnation can go in and live and going in will prove once and for all that I am the one!” she exclaimed.

  Morbain frowned. “Well, yes my pet but I don’t think—”

  “I’m the one!” Eucilla shouted, running for the doorway.

  I saw at once that the idiot was going to get herself killed, trying to prove a point that wasn’t true. Jumping after her, I barely caught her wrist in one hand as she teetered in the doorway in her ridiculous heels.

  “Eucilla wait—this is suicide,” I protested, trying to keep her from crossing the threshold.

  “For you, maybe.” She flashed me a look and then surged forward, through the doorway and into the lovely, idyllic garden.

  I hung onto her wrist grimly as we went, knowing she could be killed if I let go. Sure enough, since I was touching her, neither one of us were harmed. I could breathe easily and the plants and bushes that brushed us didn’t hurt a bit.

  I wished I could go sit on the golden bench and watch the blue water in the little brook ripple and babble and just rest for a minute. It felt like these stupid Trials had been going on for ages and I was tired and hungry, despite the tube of nutripaste Kristoff had made me eat that morning.

  But there was no rest while Eucilla was with me. The minute we got into the garden, she began fighting me.

  “Let go! Let me go!” she demanded, trying to twist loose of my grip on her wrist.

  “No.” I hung on tight. “If I do, you’ll die.”

  “You’ll die, you mean,” she hissed. “Since I am the True Incarnation. You’re only holding on to me to save your own miserable life.”

  “Eucilla, my dear, you’ve made your point.” Morbain’s voice sounded high and strained. “We can all see that you’ve entered the Garden of Death and no harm has befallen you, so you must be the True Incarnation. You can come back now.”

  “She’s only come to no harm because my Lady Charlotte is keeping her from it by staying in contact with her,” Kristoff said sternly. “Without her touch, your candidate would die.”

  “Not true! Head Councilor Tannus, I demand that my Lady Eucilla be declared the True Incarnation at once so that this travesty can end!” Morbain exclaimed.

  Still fighting with Eucilla, I turned my head to see that the Head Councilor was nodding, as though this actually seemed like a reasonable proposition to him.

  What was going on with this guy? Either he was deep in Morbain’s pocket or he was working some agenda of his own.

  Kristoff was staring at him and Morbain angrily and the other Councilors were murmuring amongst themselves.

  “My Lady Charlotte,” Kristoff said to me, raising his voice to be heard over the babble. “You must release your grip on Eucilla’s arm.”

  “No,” I said grimly, thinking of the Hippocratic Oath I’d taken. “First, do no harm.” Well, I would be doing a hell of a lot of harm by letting go of Eucilla. She was a real piece of work but she didn’t deserve to die just for being a delusional idiot.

  Kristoff frowned. “My Lady, it is the only way to prove the truth of the matter.”

  “I don’t care,” I said, still gripping her arm. “I’m not going to let her die. You don’t understand, Kristoff—she really believes she’s the one.”

  It was true—now that I was in firm contact with Eucilla, my touch-sense told me so. She really, honestly believed that she was meant to be the next Goddess-Empress and she refused to let anything change her mind. Also, she was spoiled, entitled, and came from an immensely rich family. But I could have guessed all that without my La-ti-zal powers.

  “Let me go!” Eucilla stormed, still trying to twist away from me. “You off-worlder, imposter, piece of commoner trash! Let…Me…GO!”

  As she screamed the last word, she stomped down on my bare foot and shoved me with her free hand as hard as she could.

  I fell in the grass on the side of the golden gravel path, my toes throbbing and the wind knocked out of me from the fall. Eucilla, meanwhile, stood tall in the garden laughing and doing a little happy-dance of triumph.

  “You see?” she shrieked, jumping up and down, which caused the terlings to stand up on their little hind legs and begin chattering angrily. Eucilla paid them no attention. “Do you see?” she yelled, waving her arms wildly. “This proves it! This proves that I and I alone am the…”

  Her words ended in a horrible, wracking cough. A panicked expression crossed her once-lovely face and her hands went to her throat. A hoarse gasping sound came from her mouth and she stumbled to her knees and then toppled over into one of the flowering bushes beside the path. Immediately the terlings came rushing over, scampering over her fallen form, scratching her with their sharp little claws.

  “Eucilla!” I said, or tried to say, anyway. I had fallen really hard when she hit me and I was still struggling to get some air back in my lungs.

  “Ah…gah!” she gasped, her long body fishtailing in the bushes, trying to throw off the jewel-colored chipmunk-creatures. I was horrified to see that the lush, turquoise leaves were cutting her flesh like knives and the flowers were leaving angry red welts over her skin and face. Her dress protected most of her torso and legs but her feet, strapped into their high heels, had landed in the little babbling brook. As I watched, the innocent-looking water began to melt her footwear, which was smoking and letting off an acrid stench like something dissolving in acid.

  Grimly, I got to my feet, even though it felt like the foot Eucilla has stomped on might be broken. I tried to walk mainly on my heel, to keep the pressure off my throbbing toes and arch, as I hobbled around to where she lay, stretched on the deadly grass.

  “Shoo! Shoo!” I brushed at the terlings and they scampered away, still chattering angrily.

  Grabbing Eucilla’s arms, I began to haul her towards the doorway. But though she looked so willowy and thin, she was heavy—really heavy. Also, I was trying to drag her through the thick grass and out of the bushes that seemed to want to hold on to her. It was almost as if the plants were hungry and Eucilla was the only food they’d seen in a long time.

  “Uhhh,” I gasped, taking a firmer grip and yanking harder. “Come…on!” But no matter how hard I pulled, she wasn’t budging.

  Suddenly, someone was beside me.

  I looked up and saw Kristoff, reaching for Eucilla’s limp form. Already welts had formed on his gold-tan skin where some of the branches of the bushes had brushed it and there were cuts on his arms where the leaves had sliced him.

  “Kristoff, no!” I gasped. “You’ll die!”

  “Not if you let go of her and hold on to me,” he said grimly.

  I saw at once what he meant and reached for his muscular bicep. The moment my skin touched his, he drew a deep breath and the tight, strained look left his face.

  “Ahh—that’s better. Don’t lose your hold on me, my Lady,” he said, taking a firm grip on Eucilla’s arms.

  “I won’t,” I promised.

  I think Kristoff wanted to pick Eucilla up and carry her, as he had done for me so many times. But as I had noticed earlier, the hungry branches of the bushes she had fallen into did not want to give up their prey. In the end, he had to drag her out by her arms, as I had been trying to do. Luckily, being so much stronger than me, he was actually able to do it. After what felt like forever, we were able to pull Eucilla out of the deadly garden.

  As soon as she was out, I had Kristoff lay her out on the floor and felt for a pulse.

  Nothing. No breathing either. I wished desperately that I was back home in the Pit where I could call for a crash cart. But I had to do the best I could.

  “You,” I said pointing to the Head Councilor, “Go get a healer now. Well, don’t just stand there!” I yelled when he just stared at me like I had grown a second head. “This woman needs medical attention. Get me a healer who has the antidote to this poison!”

  After another look at me that was half angry, half frighten