Her mother’s pleading words made Lora reconsider her options. She couldn’t decide what to believe. But when she imagined the next few weeks, all she saw was grief. Could she believe her biological father’s words? He was nothing more than a stranger. It was likely that he was wrong. They didn’t have any proof beyond some whispered words.
But if she didn’t take the risk, would she be giving up the only chance to find a cure? Or would she simply avoid death herself? Could she live with herself knowing she could have possibly prevented her mum’s death?Death.The word had never sounded as scary, as final, as it did in this instant.
Her mother took a step towards her. “Do you understand?”
Lora tried to avoid her mother’s searching glance. “Yes, it’s too risky.”
Chapter3
Amira
Amira was suffocating in her dress yet her half-brother seemed unbothered by her laboured breathing. On the contrary, he seemed to be enjoying her suffering. Wryen’s olive skin appeared brighter than usual, though his lilac eyes were not distracting enough for her to forget about their mischievous glint.
Amira shifted on the carriage bench, hoping to find a more comfortable position. She brought herself closer to Wryen unintentionally. As soon as the heavy embroidered material of her long dress brushed his feet, he pushed it as far away from him as possible and turned that sly gaze on her again.
He smirked and lit his hand on fire. “Careful, Amira. You wouldn’t want your pretty dress to catch on fire.”
Amira froze, her eyes wide in terror. Wryen pushed his hand closer to Amira’s face. She sat completely still as he laughed. The flame was just close enough to heat her skin without burning her. She pulled back on instinct.
“Pathetic,” he snarled.
Amira didn’t say anything and closed her eyes. Soon she would be in Parae, free of her brother’s shadow. She just needed her marriage to King Karwyn Adelway to go through. After all, it was probably her only chance at having a semi-happy life.
She had only seen Karwyn once and she remembered thinking he was not bad-looking, yet she had felt nothing when their eyes had met. Karwyn had wonderful, vibrant turquoise eyes, the shade mirroring the stone of his kingdom. Wryen had admired Karwyn’s mesmerising eyes as a sign of his noble lineage and high powers. All Amira could see, though, was the emptiness hidden inside them. She truly hoped that after spending some actual time with him, they would grow to appreciate each other.
Amira’s own eyes weren’t as pure. The deep purple of her iris was lathered with dark brown speckles. Some had called it unique. Her half-brother, on the other hand, thought it was another sign of her bastard origins. Unlike Wryen, she was a level one fae—stronger and faster than an unblessed human, but still useless. If she hadn’t been born into a royal family, she would have probably worked in one of the fabric factories in Amryne. It was one of the things her half-brother liked to remind her of. As if she could ever forget. Her lack of powers had haunted Amira her whole life. Not only had she not inherited the same fire powers as Wryen had, she had no special powers to speak of.
The carriage came to a halt and Amira looked through the glazed windows. The gates of Parae stood in front of them, their silver decor blinding her. The sounds of the bustling city overwhelmed her heightened senses. She wondered if she would be able to see more of the city and its surroundings in the days to come. Her restless mind had hated being confined to the four walls of her bedroom for the better part of the last six years.
She knew the border to the human world was not far from the capital, yet as she peered through the window, twisting her neck to see more of the landscape, she saw nothing. Not even the faint indigo glimmer her late father had described.
A barely audible sigh escaped her as she moved away from the window. Amira didn’t know if it was from relief or disappointment. Back in Amryne, since the magical border was impossible to see from her city, she’d never thought much of it and the human world it kept at bay. Yet the thought of being so close to the border did frighten her a little. When she was a child, her brother had told her stories of fae who had felt irresistibly compelled to cross the border and had died a painful death as a result.
She felt her brother’s burning gaze on her as if he was trying to read her mind. In order to avoid whatever twisted comment was lying on his tongue, Amira focused her eyes on the streets the carriage was passing through.
A natural look of boredom settled on her face. She was disappointed by the architecture of the houses they were driving by. Only two or three stories high with flat rooftops and muted walls, they were far from the wonderful and extravagant houses of her home kingdom, Allamyst. Turosian didn’t place the same high value on beauty as Allamyst did, even though the latter was the less wealthy kingdom. Before the death of her father, Amira had taken a horse on a stroll through the streets of the capital, Amryne. She had marveled at the eccentric architecture and admired the nuance of colour; walking through Amryne felt like walking through the palette of the most brilliant painter. Here, she felt like she was passing through the thoughts of a very uninspired artist.
As she was reminiscing about her dear hometown and the freedom she used to have, Amira felt a kick on her leg. She opened her eyes to find Wryen staring at her impatiently.
“We have arrived at your new home, little sister,” he said sharply.
Amira put her hand on the carriage handle, ready to open the door, but her half-brother grabbed her arm and dragged her towards him. “Remember what I told you: Play nice and do not embarrass me more than you already do. And do not mess up my alliance with Karwyn.” He squeezed her arm so tightly that Amira let out an audible gasp. “Or else…”
He didn’t need to complete his threat. Amira knew perfectly well what he was capable of. The scars of his twisted punishments were still ingrained in her head. He let go of her arm and Amira tried to look unbothered. She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her in distress. She straightened her back, gently smoothed her long dark hair, and made sure the fabric of her dress did not show one wrinkle. Then she took a deep breath and opened the door.
Amira was immediately welcomed by a gentle breeze. Her eyes fluttered, blinded by the shining sun. She could feel its warmth spreading on her skin. She moved to exit the carriage before her eyes had adjusted to the daylight and her feet missed a step. Two hands grabbed her waist to prevent her from falling on her face. She was lifted for a brief second, a second of overwhelming freedom, and then her feet touched the ground and she came face to face with a strangely beautiful man. His pale, almost white hair was artfully painted with strokes of pastel pink. Smooth as enchanted glass, his dark bronze skin glistened in the warm sun. But the most special thing about him was that she did not feel the tiniest bit threatened by him. On the contrary, she felt like she could tell him all of her darkest secrets and he would just smile at her and make all her worries disappear. But she would never do that.
She smiled at him, not sure if the warmth she felt was from the bright sunshine or the man’s reassuring presence.
He removed his hands from around her waist and bowed deeply. “It would have been terrible to break your nose on your first day here,” the young man said with a cheeky smile.
Before she could thank him, a tall and serious man standing a few feet behind them walked up to her. “Enough chit-chat, Rhay. That is no proper way to welcome your future queen.” The stern man bowed before her. He held a striking resemblance to the man who had helped her out of the carriage, Rhay. Amira was surprised that a stranger had been the one to rescue her. Where was her fiancé?
Behind her, she felt her brother’s ever-present, torching gaze. The warmth of the sun seemed to vanish even though it still shone as brightly as before.
The serious man extended his hand and she forced herself to take it. “Princess Amira Rosston of Allamyst, it is my honour to welcome you to Parae in the name of the interim High King, Karwyn Adelway of Turosian.”
Amira looked over Rhay’s shoulder, but there was still no sign of her betrothed.
