I groaned under my breath and chewed at the dried jerky. “Do the aches go away, eventually?”
Queen Mikko snorted softly. “They get worse.”
“The Fae truly did a number on us, yes?” I chewed thoughtfully. “The originals must have been even more savage than we know because wecanstill kill one another. Taking our power didn’t stop that. This feels like a punishment to me. I wonder what they did to make the Fae so angry.”
“They kept destroying themselves. It is that simple,” Queen Alora grumbled. “You are too young to understand what that means, but this is a test to see if we are worthy of the artifact, worthy of saving our realm. If not, they will let the giants destroy us, and then put them back to sleep. They will create something new that isworthy.”
That did ring true. I asked bluntly, “Is that what you would do?”
“Absolutely.”
“Hmm.” I tried to roll onto my side, but a gasp flew past my lips. I gripped my remaining meal and moaned in pain, “This is horrible.”
King Elon hissed, “You will get used to the pain.”
I really,reallydidn’t want to.
CHAPTER TEN
Confession of a princess:
I was stronger as a babe than I am now.
I have never been so physically weak. My mind is sharp, but my body is decidedly not. Fighting for my survival in the Blood Forest—without my Fae damned immortality—is a true testament to my willpower.
I will survive.
Even if I must kill every wretched creature here to do so.
The blackness gradually faded away from the night, and the arrowed top of our shared, brown burlap tent began to lighten from the muted sunrays outside. I watched it sluggishly grow brighter, with the fur blanket up to my nose, only my eyes peeking out. Someone had pulled my wool cap over my head to keep me warm while I had been dead to the realm—probably Father—which meant they had gone through my bag.
I would have to lie and say that I’d brought the drugging deceased soul mate pills for him if he had found them. Which he more than likely had. My actual heart wasn’t in pain as a survivor of a soul mate usually would be, so I didn’t need them. The Fae zapping our Fae-spark to nothing had taken that away, at least.
The rest of my body, though? I was still hurting hours after waking. Not eating and not moving hadnotdone my non-immortal body any favors. I also had a bruise on my right hip that was dreadfully tender. I wasn’t sure where I had obtained it, but I wasn’t going to complain. Father had done his best. It could have beenmuchworse if I’d been left alone with the other rulers in my weakened state of unconsciousness.
King Athon scooted closer to me, yet again, this time throwing one of his heavy legs over both of mine. Half of his body was now lying on top of me, crushing my aching frame. The breath from his parted mouth puffed against the top of my wool cap with every Fae damnedloudsnore rumbling from his atrocious chest.
I sighed heavily, and the blanket lifted for a moment from my mouth and then fell back down onto my lips. I muttered, “Will King Athon ever wake up?”
“He sleeps soundly.” Queen Mikko snickered. “He’s the only one who manages to sleep the whole night through.”
I pondered aloud, “Are we all sleeping in one tent because of the cold weather? Or is it because of something else?” They should have packed their own—Father and I had.
Queen Alora coughed hard. A nasty rattle rumbled in her chest with it. She didn’t sound well at all.
She clarified, “The first night here, we found out how cold it really becomes at night. We didn’t have time to set up a tent in the dark, so we had to sleep outside. Our lips were blue, and we could barely move the next morning we were so frozen stiff. After that, we did try separate tents, but we ended up sleeping in only one so we didn’t end up dead within a few days. We still haven’t recovered from that first night here.”
“Is that why you sound…ill?” I asked curiously.
“Yes. I am unsure what is going on with my body, but it is decidedly nasty. My lungs burn from coughing so hard, and my nose willnotstop running.”
“Is anyone else not well?” I asked quickly, worrying for my father. “Is King Traevon all right?”
King Elon snorted. “He had you to keep warm with the first night. He did better than all of us.”
“I do have a scratch on my forehead that burns,” Queen Mikko said absently. “I hope it is nothing too serious.”
“I have some facial ointment in my bag that may cool the sting. It is made from a very potent plant in my kingdom and soothes stress,” I offered helpfully. “I’ll find it when we get up.”
