If you're ever tempted to believe that a perfect evening at Arcanum Academy can last until morning, let me disabuse you: the universe abhors stability. Or perhaps it just finds young love amusing. Either way, when I (Elyzara, professional disaster and princess on probation) awoke the day after my secret greenhouse date with Velka, the world had found a new way to test us.
I woke to the gentle sound of chaos.
It started with Riven bursting through my dormitory door, one shoe missing, his hair bristling in every direction as if he'd wrestled a wind elemental and lost. "Zari!" he cried, breathless. "Come quick. The hedgehogs have staged a coup."
I sat bolt upright, heart pounding, last night's magical calm vaporizing. "You mean the enchanted ones in the Herbology courtyard?"
Riven nodded, eyes wide. "Yes, but now they're everywhere. In the library, the dining hall—someone says they're wearing little protest banners."
