Thirty-Four
Twenty-four hours later, we found ourselves at the opening of the tunnel within my walls. Sitting there waiting was Sienna; she ran up and embraced me. Peeling her arms away from me, I stepped back, not having the energy to listen to her gushing.
‘Enough, Sienna. Any news from Cain in my absence?’ I asked, stepping past her and allowing her to trail behind me as Everett and Demir followed closely, having no other option.
‘Yes, there’s a note in your room—one he instructed Geraldine not to open. She’s slightly disgruntled about it, if I’m being honest. You hungry?’
‘Starving!’ Everett piped up from behind us. She gave him a cursory glance, but I could see where her eyes lingered ever so slightly on his body.
‘Feed them and show them to some rooms; let them bathe, but make sure they are watched by three guards each. I also want a Forest Fae with each of them. I have some things to do. Call everyone together; I want a meeting in three hours.’
‘You need to eat and rest, Skylar. You look like you’ve been through hell,’ Sienna said, all but ignoring me in front of our guests—the attitude would not go unchecked.
‘That’sQueenSkylar to you, Sienna and don’t fucking forget it. I’ll rest when I’m dead. Now leave, before I truly lose my fucking mind at you. I am too exhausted to deal with you talking back today, and warn the others to pull their head in because I have run out of patience.’
Demir and Everett both eyed me curiously, not knowing how to deal with my outburst. Sienna took it in stride and took them to eat while I rerouted myself to my chambers. There, I found the note from Cain sitting on my table next to my sword.
I have looked into the power of the eternal flame, and from my findings, it seems you have barely scratched the surface of its capabilities. In truth, you may have already experienced the most it will give you. The flame is a living thing and chooses how wide the powers it gives you will extend; it must deem you worthy of certain gifts. So far, you are the only one in recorded history to unravel this many, but there are legends of old that once, during a time of great need, the flame was able to call upon the dragons. A time lost in the history books. I have a lead on some information about your Zauvek bond. Once I have anything substantial, I will send word. Be safe, Skylar.
The dragons had long been dead but I had to find a way to summon them from the spirit realm in my fight with Morgad and the Mrak. The only thing that could provide me with any more insight, besides waiting for my next update from Cain, was theOracle. I headed down to the library and found myself in that cold, dark room with nothing but a jewel encrusted book sitting before me, almost taunting me.
I opened theOracleand inhaled deeply as the black smoke billowed from its pages, willing it to show me how I could win this using the eternal flame. Instead of showing me images of dragons, it showed me Demir’s book. I turned the pages once more, and again it showed me his book. I became frustrated and turned the pages a third time, only to see his book once more.
I slammed it shut and pulled the book out of my pocket. It was the first time I had opened it since I took it from Everett. When I opened its pages, I was confronted with a script I hadnever seen before, with lines that swirled across the pages. Perhaps it was a code that only Demir and Everett knew, the bastards.
After showeringand changing into my black fighting leathers and boots, I entered my council room to find Geraldine, Sienna, and Jasper sitting there with Everett and Demir. They all rose to welcome me and remained standing as I poured myself a glass of red wine. They only sat after I took my place, having heeded Sienna’s warning.
‘I don’t think they should be here.’ Geraldine gestured towards Demir and Everett.
‘They are harmless. Do you need to hear it for yourself?’ I asked. Geraldine nodded.
Standing once again, I walked behind the men and turned their chairs to face me. ‘Princeling, where do your loyalties lie?’
‘With you and only you.’
‘And you?’ I asked, turning to Everett.
‘To Demir, and only Demir—so by extension, you unfortunately,’ he said as my palm collided with his face.
‘Disrespect me in my home again and there will be a blade in that hand next time, understood?’ Everett looked to Demir for help, but he simply smirked at his friend.
‘What does the flame say?’ Sienna asked.
Demir did not miss a moment in asking, ‘What flame?’
I shot Sienna a glare that made her slink back into her chair.
‘The flame that made my pretty brown eyes blue and tells me if those in my presence are lying to me.’ At that, Everett’s mouth all but dropped open.
‘Sienna, have you heard of someone who is neither a Wiccan nor a Fae and has the ability to heal or perhaps use magic to change the words on a page into something unreadable for an outsider?’ I asked as I eyed Everett and Demir’s reaction.Demir’s smirk only widened, telling me I was right in thinking that whatever gifts Everett had were what blocked me from reading the book.
‘There’s mention of one other group; they’re known as the Nomadie. There aren’t many left, and they are extremely powerful. They were banished from the continent hundreds of years ago; the Wiccans hunt them, believing their powers can be absorbed and fed back to the mother, from whom the base of all our magic is drawn. The Fae and the Wiccans are limited in what our magic can do; I can heal, Jasper can grow and control plants, but a Nomadie can bend magic to its will and make it do anything. They all have their specialties where their power is strongest,’ Sienna explained as Everett began to shift back in his chair, eyeing the door.
Just as he stood to leave, I grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back into the chair. ‘Well, Everett here is a Nomadie—do what you want with him. I want to know the extent of his powers as soon as possible, including the powers he may not realise he has.’ Sienna’s head snapped to Everett so quickly I thought I heard it crack. I waved them off, dismissing them. If there was any magic Everett had that we could exploit in this battle, we needed to know sooner rather than later. Demir stepped towards him, but my cutting glare stopped him in his tracks.
‘Status reports. Now,’ I commanded.
Jasper spoke of the rescued Forest Fae and how their training was progressing. He had settled into his new role in Cain’s absence. ‘Cain is making progress in Voldina with Jade. The people are rallying behind her, and she has temporarily reclaimed her throne. It is a tenuous hold on power until they finish executing the traitors who killed Raleigh. Our soldiers at the Ancient Forest have seen no movement, but we have pulled back some forces at the border to support them, as we know something is brewing. There were, however, some fatalities in your absence; the Morgadians forgot their place for a moment andbecame overzealous once news broke that there was a border ban thinking we had done it out of fear.’
