In his deep voice, Blue Louie stated adamantly, “No.”
It was possible Blue Louie held our death strings.
I smiled sweetly at him.
Blue Louie did a double take at me. He stared for a long moment and then rolled his too large eyes at my antics.
“You will cut your hand and let your royal power blood drip onto the Blood Forest’s leaves,” Black Louie expounded in his monotone way, the book a few inches up higher on his face, apparently having issues with his eyes. “You will say the single wordgiants, and the Blood Forest will give you free entry one time only.”
King Traevon’s red brows furrowed low over his emerald eyes. “How do we exit?”
“Hold on a moment,” Black Louie stated. The book rose another inch higher. “Here it is. You will each hold onto the artifact found, and you will be freed from the Blood Forest.”
“So they must find the artifact before they can leave?” I asked for clarification. “They could be in there for a thousand years searching, but if they don’t find it, they’ll be imprisoned in the Blood Forest?”
“You are correct, Princess Trixie.” Black Louie moved the book a half-inch higher. “But you are incorrect on one point.”
“What is that?”
“You are assuming that it is only the rulers going. But do you not have royal power, too? Are you not also a direct descendant of an original?”
Is this what fainting feels like?
I was awfully lightheaded. I shook my head hard to snap out of my shock.Iwas going to search for these artifacts, too?
That couldn’t be right.
Father’s chair creaked as his spine straightened. Outrage—and fear—covered my father’s face. “My daughter cannot go into the damned Blood Forest!”
“She can. And she will,” Black Louie said. “I’m moving on from that topic. You can worry about that later on your own time.”
King Traevon’s wide eyes shot to me.
I stared back at him and shrugged a frightened shoulder.
What else was there to do? If I must go, then I must go.
Father leaned against the table and rubbed his forehead again, stress eating at his mouth, his lips pinched into the most severe of lines.
“As for the Blood Forest, when you all enter, your powers will be nullified,” Black Louie rambled on. “The Blood Forest removes any and all powers that are not pureblood born Fae, seeing as the originals tended to kill one another off too often for the Fae’s liking.”
Queen Mikko’s mist-created eyes were positively spinning in their sockets. “We will be powerless?”
“Except for your minds? Yes,” Black Louie stated.
“If we get hurt, will we still heal?” King Elon queried.
“No.”
“What about our immortality?” I pondered, having just reached my majority. “Will we continue to age?”
“Hold, please.” Black Louie pulled the book away from his face to flip a page; then it was smacked right back up to his face. He read for so long that I didn’t think he would find an answer. But he finally stated, “Yes, you will continue to age.”
My mouth gaped open. “How long does someone live when their body truly ages?”
Father murmured, “Great question, my heir.”
Black Louie droned, “The book does not say.”
