“There’s …” She looks down again. “There’s one more thing.”
“Something else?” I don’t know how much more I can take.
“Yes. Well, you see. When I was planning your initial overthrow.” Her face practically glows red at this point. “I thought the best way to get to you would be through Emma. I rather liked her, in fact, because she’s so kind and was always so very good to the staff, lesser fae, and—”
I try to be patient, but I fear I’m glaring at her.
She swallows hard and speaks faster. “So, yes. So, when we were initially planning, I had the idea of kidnapping Emma’s mother and bringing her to the Daylands—warded of course, against the sun—and perhaps using her to woo Emma to our side. The plan worked, and we were able to lure her to the Daylands by having our emissaries claim that Emma had summoned her to the palace.”
Hope, that eternal yet ephemeral spark, lights inside me. I grip her shoulders. “Look at me, Lunarie. Are you telling me Emma’s mother is alive?”
She nods. “She’s here. We’ve kept her hidden at a farm on the outskirts of Sonnen.” She tangles her fingers together again. “It’s not been easy. That changeling …” She shudders. “The vile words she utters.”
For the first time, I see a path forward. A way to set things right.
Lunarie presses a hand to her cheek. “Truly, my lord. Eloisa Druzy is shocking. The things she comes up with. The depravity on her tongue. Nothing like Emma.”
I smirk.Exactly like Emma.
31
Emma
The Shard of Day looks different now. Whenever I wake, I find the halls darker, the white stone streaked with red and deep veins of black. They ooze, and I try not to touch them as I search for Solano.
He has to be here. This is his palace, after all.
I feel as if I’ve spent years chasing shadows down the corridors. My voice echoes as I call out for someone to answer me. No one ever does.
The library is silent, the books in disarray, half of them rotting, the pages ripped and fading. It’s wrong. All of it is nothing like I remember.
But my memory is just as ruined. I can’t remember how I got here or what happened. So I roam the halls, endlessly searching. Until my steps lead me to the throne room. I can’t say for certain, but I feel as if I always return to this place.
I push open one of the huge doors and ease inside. It’s so dark now, the walls covered with oozing black and crimson. I can’t see the sun.
“Solano?” My voice doesn’t belong here. It seems to stop only inches from my mouth. As if I’m wrapped in a blanket, suffocating out in the open.
“Back so soon?” Eraldon’s voice crawls over my skin.
And then I remember. How many times has he caught me here? I don’t know.
I back away, but the door slams behind me.
He rises from his place on the throne, his gaze burning through me. “Our army is nearing the border, my pet. Soon, I’ll be with you again.”
A sound catches my ear, and I turn toward it.
He doesn’t seem to notice, because he advances on me. “I had all these grand plans of claiming you in front of Solano at the Nightkeep, but I’m beginning to warm to the idea of doing it in front of the entire day realm nobility. Don’t you think that would be a particularly nice touch?”
“It won’t happen.”
“Oh, my foolish little pet.” His gaze rakes down my body. “It’s already happening.”
The sound comes again. It’s high and sharp, like the voice of someone in distress. I turn toward it.
“What is it?” His eyes narrow, and then he turns his head toward where I’m looking. It’s just a throne room wall, one covered in filth and rot. But maybe there’s more, like a slight shimmer?
“I hear—”
