Like a child, I decided to ignore him; I had no energy to fight him after a late night of planning. I was drained. In the depths of my wardrobe, I found my gown: a floor-length, delicate gold chainmail dress that hugged my body, with a back so low that any further would have been scandalous. The sleeves flared at my wrists. The metal fabric was see-through, but not enough for anyone to truly see anything underneath it. Closing my eyes, I morphed my hair into long, voluminous waves that looked like they had been plucked from a goddess. I kept my face simple yet striking with a smoky eye and deep brown lips. Then I made all of the skin on my body glow just slightly; I wanted to look ethereal and powerful.
I shimmied into the dress and when I walked out, Demir dropped his glass of wine. It spilled onto the floor as he stood there in silence, watching me, awestruck. His eyes tracked every plane of my body up and down as they darkened.
‘You look… ravishing, Princess.’
‘It’sQueennow, and you don’t look so terrible yourself. I forgot you could always clean up well.’ And it wasn’t a lie. His tall, lean build and olive skin perfectly contrasted with his black suit. It had gold embellishments throughout the stitching to match my dress, with a dragon brooch on his lapel featuring blue eyes the same colour as mine. It was a statement to everybody in attendance: he would no longer stand with his father.
Ignoring Cain’s prior warning, Demir and I left my bedchamber together to check on the preparations. The event would commence in a few hours. Mattias was everywhere I looked, directing everyone when it came to decorations, food and entertainment. Cain was standing close, keeping watch over the young Spirit Caster, not fully trusting him as he had only been on our doorstep for two weeks.
Sienna and Everett were setting up candles on any surface that had space in the castle, and even I could sense the ease withwhich they chatted with one another. Perhaps it was a mistake to have had Sienna look after Everett when they first arrived. But the damage was done now, and if recent events and Demir’s hard-to-swallow reminder had taught me anything, it was that I had no control over the feelings of those around me, as much as I wished I did.
As I walked with Demir trailing behind me, it was impossible not to notice the stares his clothing attracted. People’s eyes lingered a minute too long before they shifted to me, curiously. Cain, on the other hand, looked slightly pissed off. I hadn’t heeded his warnings to keep my distance. And although I still claimed to want the bond broken, I had finally admitted to myself that I truly didn’t. If theOraclewas right and I was to die at the hands of the Mrak in only two weeks, then I would live in this fairytale—real or not.
Across the great hall, Geraldine marched toward Cain at a speed I had not seen her move before. His brows furrowed at what she had to relay before he sped over to Demir and me. He nodded at Geraldine to relay the message before I raised my hand to stop her.
‘You are my advisor, Cain, not her. I understand that sometimes it’s faster to use Geraldine to relay messages, but you have never relied on those around you. You are capable of relaying this message yourself, so do not start this now.’
Cain’s lips quirked into a smile. We made a promise to each other long ago. We would never let his lack of anything render him invisible to those who had the ability to speak. Geraldine was visibly ruffled but softened once she saw Cain’s face.
Mother Zeina is here. She’s in the library, waiting for your decision.
She was early, and I was wholly unprepared for the information that was about to come to light. We nearly bolted to the library, Cain and I. It wasn’t until we arrived that I realised Demir had followed. I went to argue with him to remain outside but before I could utter the words he shot me a look that begged me to try him because he was unmovable on this and somethingbetween my thighs warmed at the possession. I couldn’t blame him; if she had information on his father or even our bond, he would want to know.
The air in the library was still and heavy. The sunlight that usually sparkled through the large stained-glass windows was covered in darkness. The room was chillier; it wasn't until I walked past the hearth that I realised the usual warm, bright flames were a mixture of silver and black. Whoever Mother Zeina was, she was powerful beyond measure; I could taste her magic in the air—it was thick and bitter. There was something about it that washed over me with sadness as I delved deeper into the room and moved closer to her.
I found her sitting in the chair where I had spent countless nights, with all the books I had been reading strewn out in front of her. Although the room had given me a distinct impression of the old woman I was about to meet, once I laid eyes on her, I was surprised by the warmth that radiated from her smile. There was nothing sinister about it. She reminded me of an old grandmother, and if it weren’t for the feelings this room evoked, I would never have thought of her as anything else.
‘Hello, Skylar Azdaja. It’s nice to finally meet you,’ she said, very obviously ignoring my title. Given her age, power and connection to the first dragons, there was no sense in arguing the point. I was no authority figure to her; that much was clear.
‘Hello, Zeina. Now tell me, given your level of power, why did you not just steal theOracleinstead of bartering for it?’ Demir and Cain tensed beside me, not liking that I sought to push the old bag of bones without any foreplay as I pulled the chair directly in front of her out and took my seat.
‘A failsafe of sorts; when I created it, the catch was that only those to whom it was gifted could use it. Granted, my use for it is quite different from how your people have historically used it.’
That piqued my interest. ‘And how do you plan to use it?’
She smiled again, this time with a little less warmth in her features. ‘I plan to reabsorb the power I imbued in it. I put thegift of my foresight into its pages, and I want it back. The world is about to either tilt into oblivion or enter a time of rapid change, and I want to know what’s to come.’
‘Death. That’s what’s to come.’
‘For you maybe, but I’m not bound to this world in the same way you are. I exist in many realities and planes of existence. Now, where is the book you call theOracle?’
Now it was my turn to smile. Cain stepped toward me sensing I was about to do something stupid and Demir stepped in front of Cain, blocking him from touching me. The old hag smirked at their movements.
‘Zeina, how about you tell me what you know first? If it’s of value, then I’ll decide whether it is worth theOracle.’ She visibly became angry at my audacity to set conditions on her, someone who had likely spent most of her life revered as a god of sorts. The dark flames in the hearth grew larger and crackled as the temperature dropped further in the room.
‘What I have are the answers to all the questions you seek to answer; however, you will not like a single one of them. I need a binding guarantee that you will not withhold it from me just to spite me for telling you hard to hear truths.’ She was smart and knew me well enough to understand that I tended to be driven by my emotions, but not today. Not with everything at stake.
Before Cain could stop me, I grabbed the blade I had strapped to the inside of my thigh and sliced open the palm of my hand, collecting three drops of blood. Mother Zeina visibly relaxed as she cupped her hand to collect the drops that dripped from the tip of the blade.
‘Should you answer every question of mine truthfully and fully, I will give you theOracleonce Demir and I have had a final look at it.’ That last part took her by surprise and she did not like it one bit. The fire roared in response to my underhanded trick. People tended to underestimate me as nothing more than a brute, but I had a mind for strategy. To be honest, after last night’s look at theOracle, I doubted I would see anything else inits pages. It was still showing me the image of Demir and me dead in the Ancient Forest, but I hoped for one more slice of information that might help me. It was a feeble, desperate attempt, but perhaps I would see what Mother Zeina was hoping to see; maybe her proximity would bolster the magic in the book and show me something new.
‘Fine… then let us begin. What do you want to know?’ she asked, and without skipping a beat, I answered with what was probably everyone else’s least important question.
‘How do I break my soul bond with the princeling over here?’
Demir tensed; he had not expected that to be the first thing I wanted answers to, but it was. Yes, I wanted him, and truth be told, I cared for him, and now that made me want to break the soul bond for a far different reason. Maybe I could protect him from suffering the same fate as I did after suffering at the hands of his father for all those years.
Mother Zeina’s smirk turned almost mischievous. ‘How interesting… Unfortunately, there is no way to break the bond. It will continue to grow until you can no longer escape it with logic or reason. Perhaps you’ve already reached that point. The only thing that ends a soul bond is death, which, based on theOracle, is coming for you soon, so you will have your wish.’
