Peace and tranquility coated my mind down to the blood pumping inside my veins, lulling and coaxing any worries away as if they never were.
I eyed the skull beneath my right hand, poking my fingers into its hollow eye sockets. I lifted the skull with my crooked fingers so that I could stare the long-dead person in the face. I garbled, “What in the Fae fuck have I gotten myself into this time? Can you tell me?”
Predictably, the skull did not answer.
I tossed it to the side without care and scooted on my butt—using my hands and feet to push myself—climbing down the pile of bones that liked to roll underneath me on occasion. I finally touched the cave’s floor, black rock beneath my feet. I wobbled to stand straight on trembling legs, the scent of death and decay clinging to my rumpled finery.
I stood still for a long moment, contemplating hard.
I think I was supposed to be doing something today, an appointment that did not include bones and caves. The serenity coating my brain allowed me to think in peace. Iwassupposed to be doing something. I believed I should be saving the realm right now.
That was important. Extremely important.
I should get to that.
I stumbled on quaking legs toward the corner, where the light was coming from, an exit to the cave. I paused to stare down at a broken flying saddle. Dried brown blood coated the right leg strap, more blood smeared on the black rock next to it, the area fairly large.
That was my flying saddle.
I hummed softly, tilting back and forth on my feet.
Yes. That was right.
A sparkling dragon had injured my Fae-gift.
That should bother me, too. It was important.
But it did not. I still knew it should, though.
I scanned the cave’s interior, but my Fae-gift was no longer there—no dragon, either. I wondered where Penelope had gone, the dried blood on the rocky ground leading where I wished to go. I should not be in this cave. I would fix that.
I placed a hand against the wall for support and positioned one wobbling leg in front of the other. I staggered down the passageway, following the light until it became so bright I knew I was almost out of this damp place, staying as quiet as I could because I knew I should—just in case.
My feet crunched on snow as I exited the cave’s entrance.
I wavered on my legs as I surveyed the ground.
There were multiple footprints in the snow, along with hoof prints that were distinctly my Fae-gift’s—red blood dotting them. The hoof prints spotted with blood disappeared a short distance away, my Fae-gift obviously having taken flight.
Hmm.I had made it out of the cave. What next?
The sun crested the horizon, a new daybreak.
The quest for the artifact had officially begun.
I closed my eyes to think, the peace lulling.
I might have fallen asleep where I stood…
I shook my head hard and opened my eyes. That had not been smart. The sun was now higher on the horizon. I would keep my eyes open this time, while I thought.
I was not with the rulers as I should be, outside King Athon’s castle. They would be angry about that, I knew well, especially my father. The rulers needed to know I had not skipped the quest, that I was here—in Trumbalay, if the view of the city down this small foothill was not an illusion—and ready to do my duty. The dragon had not gone far from where it had captured us in the air, its hidden cave just outside the town.
I tilted my head back to the early morning sky. The dragon was not close by, nowhere to be seen. I hoped it was far,faraway right now and slumbering peacefully because...
I lifted my hands high into the air, swaying as I did so.
My royal firepower exploded out of my body, lighting up my entire frame, my red locks becoming one with the flames. I shot my fire as high as I could into the sky, igniting at full force, the euphoric power scorching through my veins in a heady rush.
