Deidre
It has been almosta thousand years since someone has gone in and survived. We’ll see if you do.
Kane’s words had haunted me all night, and now, after minimal sleep, his guards dragged me outside into the dark, barefoot and only wearing a robe, to who knows where.
Gideon walked beside me, the night sky casting shadows over his face. “I'm sure everything will be fine,” he said with a smile that didn't match the worry in his pained brow.
“What's going to happen to me?”
Kane and his pixies walked ahead of us and the golden guard behind us, Liora on my left.
“I can't say,” Gideon responded. “Our traditions are sacred. When someone is in line to become queen or king, and it is not their bloodline on the throne, they must first do so with a blessing. If you cannot appease the ancient spirits, you are deemed unfit to rule.”
I gripped the thin robe tighter around me. Liora explained I had to go into the cave naked. No clothing, no perfume, no lotion. As bare as I could be.
Mud squished around my toes, the forest ground still damp from last night’s rain.
“Have faith, my lady,” Liora said beside me, her soothing voice doing little to still the shakes running up and down my spine.
“I could if somebody would tell me what is going to happen when I go in there.”
There was nothing in the temple texts about a mysterious cave or a blessing.
After my interaction with the pond creature and the redcap, I didn't trust any of the fae. If they didn't want to eat me, they wanted to poke and taunt me. Anything could be in that cave!
The collar itched my sweaty neck, and I stuck my finger under it, scratching my skin. A fog hovered over everything, including my hair, which I was sure had become a wild mess of frizz.
We walked through the forest, a group of will-o’-the-wisps lighting the path. They buzzed around the night sky like floating lights, bright like stars. The woods were dense with no clear path and yet everybody but me seemed to know where we were going.
The mountains stretched before us, massive and majestic. I glanced back at the castle, which peered over the treetops like a stone fort. We had been walking for hours. My bare feet had cuts and scratches all over them.
Why wouldn’t they let me wear shoes, at least until we reached the cave?
Was this part of the trial?
I tied the belt around the robe tighter, trying to cover myself more. The soft blue fabric trailed along the ground, covering my scratched, dirty feet. Water had seeped into thehem and slowly inched its way up, sending a chill through my bones.
Kane stopped, his pixies flying around him, speaking, though I couldn't hear what any of them said.
“We're here,” Gideon said. “Just be yourself.”
I don't know what that means anymore.
It was true. The version of me in this place wasn't who I had grown into.
“Deirdre,” Gideon said, placing his hands on my elbows and turning me to face him.
His hands on my arms made me jump. I glanced at Kane, expecting fury. Instead, he just stood there, his expression stoic. Kane must not have killed his people often if Gideon thought touching me would notenacta punishment.
“Remember who you were before you came here,” he said, his words even and steady. He smiled, revealing dimples, which I found odd for a fae. His warmth seemed to radiate from his hands into my arms. “Just be yourself and you'll be fine.”
“Enough,” Kane said, his gaze darting between us. “The ceremony will start.”
He pointed to a cave, motioning for me to move. It was nothing exquisite or beautiful. Just a dark opening into the mountain.
“What do I do?” I looked to Gideon. “Besides being myself?”
“Nothing,” Kane said, blocking my view of Gideon. “You enter and you either receive the blessing or you don't.”
