Prologue
Sweat and blood trickled down the woman’s face as she tore through the dark woods, ignoring the twisted branches that repeatedly clawed at her. Heart pounding in her chest, she spared only a single breath to glance at the sleeping infant in her arms. The sopora weed held strong, and she prayed the child would slumber for many hours more.
By the time she arrived at the small structure in the clearing, her burgundy dress was torn and covered in mud, her legs threatening to give out at a moment's notice. She fell to her knees at the door of the ramshackle cottage.
“Caira!” she screamed with the last of her strength.
The icy fingers of fear squeezed tighter around her heart when she heard no movement inside. If the ancient World Walker wasn't home, there was no one left to save her and her daughter. This dark forest would become their tomb.
To her immense relief, the door finally creaked open, and Caira stepped out. It had been nearly a decade since she last laid eyes on the Walker, yet not one of those years showedon her face. No wrinkles marred her smooth alabaster skin, and her shoulder-length auburn hair held no traces of white. Her unforgiving slate gray eyes remained sharp as ever as they snapped down to the distraught woman.
Releasing a long-suffering sigh, Caira stretched out a hand. “Come inside, Leeara. You know it’s not safe out here.”
“No,” Leeara wheezed. “There is no time. I need you to send us away now.”
The Walker's eyes darted to the trees as the sound of leaves crunching under many boots reached them, growing louder with each passing second. Her lips pursed into a tight line, displeasure making her harsh features appear even more grim.
“Please help us,” Leeara begged. “You promised.”
Indecision rolled over the Walker’s face, and time stood still as Leeara waited for her fate to be determined.
Caira's shoulders sagged in resignation. “Yes, I promised. And so I shall.”
She grabbed a lantern and stepped from the crumbling old structure that had been her home for over a thousand years. Positioning herself in the clearing just beyond the cottage, she began to chant.
Leeara sagged against the door frame, watching as the Walker called upon her magic. Soon they would leave this world. Soon they would be safe.
Her relief was short-lived, though. The chanting abruptly died, taking Leeara's hope for a future along with it.
Caira peered into the dark of the forest around them, then turned to face Leeara, a touch of sadness in those gray eyes.
“They're here. I’m sorry, but I need more time.”
Anguish filled Leeara as she studied the sleeping child in her arms, the tattered gray blanket obscuring all but a perfect, tiny face. Her daughter had not yet seen her first year of life. Had not yet spoken her first words.
“You will live,” Leeara whispered, running her fingers through the fine tendrils of her daughter's hair. “You will live, you will be happy, and you will never think of this place, not even once.”
Summoning her remaining strength, Leeara stood up and strode over to the Walker. “Save Raynella,” she pleaded, handing over her only child.
Caira peered at the woman, the shouts of the king’s guards growing louder as they closed the distance. “And what will you do?” she asked, raising one perfectly arched eyebrow.
“Find you some more time.”
The chanting resumed behind Leeara as she stepped forward to meet the guards emerging from the depths of the ominous woods.
“You will not have her,” she spat at them.
“I’m afraid, Leeara, that you are very wrong.”
Her body stiffened, but she held her ground. She knew that voice. Remembered how it made her feel like she wasn’t alone all the time. Like she would always have someone in her corner, fighting for her. But the words were no longer kind, the voice no longer that of the person she once knew.
She held her ground as the dark-haired male emerged from the shadows, stepped in front of his soldiers, and regarded her with mixed emotions—pity and pride.
Leeara drew herself up, standing tall in defiance opposite the painfully handsome male.
“Bring the child, Leeara, and let us return to the palace,” he said. “Let us put this unpleasantness behind us.”
“I will never go with you,” she hissed. “Do you honestly think me to be so naïve? Do you think I didn’t hear all of you talking? I know what will happen, and I will not allow it.”
