When I woke up again, Death Emperor had come back and was picking up the pieces of the table he had broken in his earlier rage. He gave a sharp, sudden hiss, pulling back his hand, and heard my gasp. His hollow eyes glared at me; he was still angry.

"Good morning."

"Good morning," I returned, wondering where Koudelka and Zhen and Zhuzhen were. It would be safer with them around.

"Koudelka said you should rest in bed, since you're ill. You are to stay in there until I tell you otherwise, and if illness cannot make you obedient I will see what bars do."

He must have been furious to threaten me with a cell. I bit my lip and nodded, not trusting myself to speak without making him madder.

"Just go," he muttered. He turned his attention back to his hand. A small splinter stuck out of the grey-black palm before he tore it out.

I stood, clutching the blanket to my shoulders, and walked out into the hall. I had a general sense of where I was from the sunrise in the window-on the lower floor, to the right of the main hall. How to get from here to my room, I had no idea.

But I started walking, sure that if I idled Death Emperor would toss me in a cell immediately. As the hallway crossed with another, I turned right and continued.

Within fifteen minutes I was quite lost and starting to feel faint. Everything seemed to be spinning.

"You look sick as a dog."

"Hello, Margarete," I said, greeting her warily. If there was anyone in this castle who'd get me into more trouble than I was already, it'd be the sooty and snooty duster. "Can you please tell me how I can get to my room?"

"You don't want to explore?"

"Margarete, please, I don't feel well. I have to get to my room or-"

"Or?"

"...or Yuri will see me outside my room and toss me into a cell," I said in a small voice. She'd probably call Death Emperor right now, especially if she blamed me for the argument between her and Keith.

"So he's out of the West Wing...and he said that?" she murmured in surprise. "Where is he?"

"Where you left me last night. He seems...very upset about something..."

The duster studied me for a moment, then turned around. "Come on," she said, "Your room is this way." With that she swept to my left, leaving me to follow her.

"Thank you."

Margarete snorted. "I just don't want Master Yuri to regret any rash decisions."

I smiled. Even if the duster was rude, at least she was helpful. I watched her as we navigated the castle halls and noticed a piece of red against her black feathers.

"Do you grow roses in the castle?" I asked.

She turned round with a bemused look. "What brought that on?"

I knelt next to her. "You have a petal on you." Before she could protest I reached in her feathers and plucked out the bright red petal, a bit crumpled. "And it looks like it's fresh, so..."

"No-the garden's been neglected for quite some time-there's more!" she gasped.

I scanned the hall and found two more by a chair's legs. These were also crumpled, more than the first one, as if someone had torn them viciously off of their stem. There was only one other...person...with fingers roaming the castle. It must have been Death Emperor.

Margarete had been unnerved by these other petals. "Come on, quickly," she said. She swished so quickly I had to march to keep up.

"Halley!" she yelled, swooping into the kitchen. I stood outside. I wasn't in the mood to be the center of attention with Margarete's yelling. "Halley! Go take Alice to her room. I have to talk with your mother."

Over rose petals? I shook my head. It seemed so odd.

The battered teacup appeared with a clatter. "Come on, Alice, I'll take you to your room."

"Oh-that's alright, I know my way from here."

"Maybe, but if you faint again someone better be there."

The teacup's comment made me turn red. "I'm feeling a bit better." Still lightheaded, but better.

"Just in case. Margarete will probably bite my head off if I go back. She didn't sound too happy." He stopped his hopping to look back at me. "Did you do something?"

I shook my head and clutched my blanket tighter. "I'm too sick to do anything."

"Probably the master then..."

That must have been it. Since Death Emperor was the only one who could have plucked them, the rose petals must have reminded her about him. She'd seemed worried about him earlier.

Nothing else was said until we reached the bedroom. Then I fell on the bed with a murmur of thanks; Halley called out to Qiuhua before leaving.

I rolled up in the soft blanket like a caterpillar in a cocoon. Only my hair and eyes were out, and for a few minutes I indulged in its warmth and softness. But I wouldn't fall asleep, so with a sigh I reached out for my bible, pulling it close. The bible was opened to Mark.

In this way an hour passed, with me reading as Qiuhua hummed in the background. Then there was a terrible screech. My hand slammed the bible shut as I sat up.

"Oh, no," Qiuhua murmured.

The door flew open with a series of barks and two children's shrieking. Joshua and Sharon tumbled onto the bed and quickly hid in the folds of my blanket.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Everyone's arguing," Sharon answered.

"Over what?" The dresser moved over to us with slow, cautious steps. "How bad is it?" Her answer was a heavy thud and the sound of glass breaking downstairs. Oh, Lord, Death Emperor was really going on a rampage.

Joshua butted in before Sharon could explain: "Koudelka and Margarete said Master Yuri tore the rose!"

This drew a loud gasp from Qiuhua. I wondered why there was such a fuss over a flower. To be sure, roses were beautiful, but...

"And the master got really mad and started saying they had no right to accuse their lord," Sharon finished.

It was apparent from the distant voices that Death Emperor's reasoning hadn't sat too well with Koudelka. If she didn't stop arguing soon though, he might smash her...

"He didn't destroy it, did he?" Qiuhua cried.

"We don't know!"

"Is it really so bad?" I asked.

My intrusion silenced the conversation. Sharon and Joshua looked between Quihua and me, clearly at a loss.

"If he's destroyed it," Quihua said, "The curse is permanent."

"Oh," I gasped. No wonder it was creating such a commotion.

"Once all the petals fall, we'll be stuck like this, forever...but why would master Yuri do that?" the dresser asked herself.

Because he's not the real Yuri. He's a demon.

I realized suddenly that there had been no crashes downstairs for a while. The argument must have ended. "Go see what's going on," Qiuhua directed the two teacups, who hopped back onto Tiny.

How could I even have thought Death Emperor was once human? If he was willing to trap all these people as, as things...my hands clenched into fists. Yuri in the West Wing had been speaking the truth; Death Emperor was a monster who needed to be stopped.

If I could perform an exorcism, maybe it would break the curse. It would at least get rid of him.

"Quihua," I asked, "Do you have a silver bell?"

The dresser hesitated, each of her drawers shivering in its frame as she considered the contents. "Yes, I think I do...I'm just not sure where..."

"Could I look?" I asked. She said nothing, still puzzled it seemed, and I opened a drawer, then another, going through half of them before I found a small silver bell that give a clear, sweet ring when I shook it slightly. "Thank you."

"What are you going to do with it?"

Without holy water, a silver bell would have to be my instrument for an exorcism. But I couldn't tell Quihua that; there was no way the faithful servant would understand. I left the room without responding, wondering where I could find Death Emperor. The answer came swiftly, in the form of Margarete.

"What the hell are you doing out of your room?" she yelled at me. "If he sees you now he's liable to murder you."

"Where is he?"

"Outside, but-"

"Thank you," I answered and walked away before she could say more. My hands were trembling and causing the bell to rattle as I thought of her words. How could I possibly exorcise such a powerful demon? And if he saw my bible and bell, he would know for certain what I was attempting...if I could just surprise him...

I could tell that was going to be impossible when I came to a window. Yesterday's snowfall had not stopped, but had formed a thick layer that covered the earth; I couldn't possibly sneak up on Death Emperor with my boots crunching through all that. But as I turned to go back to my bedroom, a dark figure caught my eye and I stopped. When I pressed forward to the glass and looked out at an angle, I could see Death Emperor. He stood with his back to me, wings pulled in, a large tombstone in front of him.

If that had been all, I would have just continued on my way. But the crown of white on his skull and the drifts of snow on his wings caught my attention. As I watched, he shifted a little, but only a trickle of snow was dislodged; the rest remained, and the pile would only grow larger with time.

"Is something out there?"

I looked down at Koudelka, whose spout was raised towards me expectantly. "No, it's-Yuri," I said. "He's just standing there. I think it's a grave?

"His parents'," Koudelka said simply. "Well, all that snow should cool his temper."

"He's getting covered by it." With another peek out the window I confirmed that yes, Death Emperor remained at the grave.

"Good," the teapot muttered. She was probably still mad at him over the rose, so I let the comment pass and watched him. If Anne was buried there...if she was his mother, it made perfect sense for him to pay his respects. But there was also Yuri in the West Wing and which one was the real one? And what was the other?

I peered at Death Emperor, watching closely the few movements he did make. With only the thin, leathery skin draped over his bones and muscle, it was easy to see how they connected to each other, how they held him up-not well; his wings sagged and he was leaning slightly to one side.
"He seems sad," I said aloud, and then, "Maybe I should check on him?"

"Maybe you should rest up before you get yourself in trouble again," Koudelka said.

She had a good point. Though I was feeling better from my rest, I was by no means in top shape, and Death Emperor had told me to stay in bed-or be put in a cell.

I watched him lean forward and with a sweep of his arm send more of the white powder flying from the tombstone. His temper was terrible-I knew that well-but from what I had seen and what the servants said, he behaved decently otherwise. And right now, his anger seemed spent, leaving only a deep sadness.

"No, I think I will," I told Koudelka. The teapot simply sighed and wished me luck talking sense into him before she hopped away. I retrieved my cloak from the entrance hall, where it lay on the ground from yesterday. Even with it wrapped tightly around my shoulders, the stiff wind made me shiver. But Death Emperor was not far away; he soon came into sight as I walked around the castle.

He turned as I approached. "Alice," he said, his voice betraying the surprise his face could not show.

"I know you told me to stay in my room," I said quickly, "But I heard the shouting and-and I saw you just standing here-are you fine?"

"No," he said and turned back to the tombstone. Well, that was that, then. At least he hadn't made good on his promise to put me behind bars. That was probably the best I could hope for. I was about to head back inside when he finally said, "Thank you. For asking."

"I don't suppose there's anything I could do to help?" Feeling a little bolder, I approached his side and read the tombstone's inscription:

'Ben Hyuga Anne Hyuga Together in Death, as in Life.'

His head turned slightly towards me, the hollow eyes staring at me. The heavy gaze made me look down at the snow. "Honestly, I'm not sure."

"You didn't really ruin the rose, did you?"

"I did."

My eyes flew up to meet his in surprise. "Then-" My hand tightened on the silver bell in my pocket.

"A few petals," he said quickly, "the rest still remain. I hope its life hasn't been shortened...there's not much time left as is."

"Then why would you damage it?" I asked.

When he looked at me again, I thought he was angry and quickly turned my gaze aside. But he only snorted softly. "That witch never intended the curse to be lifted. She just wanted to torment us with an impossible hope."

"But you still hope."

He laughed. "Because I don't want to see the truth."

"Maybe I can help," I said, "if you'd just tell me more about the curse..."

He shook his head. "Maybe you will help. But it's not something you can just do...there's really no point in talking about it. It happens or it doesn't."

The wind picked up and I shivered, rubbing my arms together. I stiffened when Death Emperor stretched his wings, but he only held them around me, blocking the wind. "Thank you," I said.

"You'd better get inside."

I nodded, but then a thought occurred to me. "Can I ask you, one last thing? I...I know you told me not to go in the West Wing, and I'm sorry I did. But...why is that man in there?"

"What do you mean? You saw someone in there?"

"Yes," I said. "He was playing the piano, that's why I went in the..."

He grabbed my shoulder, the claws lightly digging in. "You saw him? But he's not-he isn't-"

"He's not what?"

I never got an answer; instead Death Emperor picked me up, cradling me in his shoulders, and took off into the air. I bit into my lip so hard it bled and grabbed his bony arms, praying he would not drop me. Now I was in trouble, but how was I to know a simple question would set him off?

He landed only briefly at the entrance and shook my hand off as he wrenched open the door. "Please, please put me down," I whispered quickly, and then as he launched into the air again, unevenly, "don't drop me!" There was a jolt as his feet grasped the railing on the second floor and then he was racing down the hallway towards the West Wing.

Though he held me in his arms, Death Emperor seemed to have forgotten me; when he reached the door he dropped me, not hard but a little roughly, and entered the wing. "Father?" he bellowed.

Father? I looked in the door, uncertain. Surely he couldn't mean the Yuri I'd met! He was old enough to be a father, but he couldn't have a fully grown son...wasn't Death Emperor an adult?

"Father!" Death Emperor tugged the ratty curtains open, flooding the neglected room with light. I couldn't see Yuri anywhere in sight; curious, I took a few steps into the room and stopped at the piano, my hand resting on the keys.

"Yuri?" I asked aloud, and Death Emperor turned to me.

"What?"

"Nothing," I said quickly, a little afraid. Given his reaction to me asking about Yuri, I probably shouldn't let him know I wanted to see the young man.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Zhuzhen demanded. I noticed that even as he stood in the doorway, he did not quite enter the room.

Death Emperor ignored the clock's question, instead grabbing the back of a chair and flinging it aside only to reveal more dust and forgotten things. "Where is he...where is he?" the demon growled.

Zhuzhen flung up his metal hands and faced me. "Alice, what has gotten into him?"

"I don't know," I said truthfully. "I mentioned that I saw a man in here."

"Yesterday?" The tick marks in his face bunched together in a frown. "But we'd have seen an intruder."

A high-pitched screech interrupted him as a chess set flew through the air and hit the far wall, pieces scattering over the floor. "Not an intruder," Death Emperor shouted. "Damn the man!"

"Has he finally lost it?" asked Koudelka, her spout poking into the room. Behind her I could see both Chris and Halley, as well as a few spoons and knives nattering at each other.

I felt worn out just watching Death Emperor storm around and sat down on the piano bench. Everything seemed so strange; shouldn't Yuri have been found by now? Though the disarray provided many hiding spaces, Death Emperor was methodically, madly ransacking the room. The din was loud and obnoxious and I closed my eyes, feeling a headache coming on...all I wanted to do was sleep...

I woke up just as I slipped off the bench, too late to catch myself but just in time to see the floor rush up before I hit my head. "Ow! I exclaimed, rubbing my forehead as I sat up. It wasn't just my head hurting, but every part of my body ached and I felt unbearably hot.

"Are you all right?" Zhuzhen asked me. I shook my head.

"No, I...it feels like my fever got worse suddenly...I was feeling better earlier..." I looked up when Death Emperor stood over me. He knelt and gathered my stiff body up in his arms. "I'm not sure I can handle any more flying," I said shakily.

"I'm not flying," he muttered. "I'll take you to your room." As he walked out of the room, I surveyed the destruction; the only thing which hadn't been moved was a glass case which held a vibrant red rose. Before the door closed, I saw one petal fall.