King Aolis stiffened. “All who live in this realm serve me, regardless of whether or not they are members of my court,” he growled. The shadows in the room flickered as he spoke, reacting to his mood, and Gelsyne’s eyes narrowed as the shadows began to lengthen.
“Not just a traitor king, then,” she sneered. “A corrupted one, too.”
King Aolis sucked in a sharp breath. He clamped down on the rising hunger inside him, and reluctantly, the shadows retreated. For a heartbeat, he had almost lost control. That was unacceptable.
“General.” He addressed Slaugh this time, motioning for him to rise. “Where did you find this wench, and why have you brought her to me instead of executing her for treason?” Kidnapping the princess was considered a capital crime, and he’d put out an execution order for Gelsyne decades ago. Slaugh did not need Aolis’s permission to carry it out.
Slaugh smirked as he rose to his feet. “I found Gelsyne hiding out in a backwoods village in Domhain. She’s been living there the last eighteen years pretending to be a lesser fae, working as the village’s healer and going by the name Chaya, according to the Headman’s younger son. But it wasn’t Gelsyne who caught my interest. It was herdaughter, Adara. She came to the tryouts today, and during the combat trial she nearly killed a candidate using fire magic.”
“Fire magic?” King Aolis repeated. His pulse raced, and he had to fight the urge to leap up from his throne in excitement. “Are you certain?”
“She shot a fireball from her hand and nearly set an entire field aflame,” Slaugh said dryly. “Which should have been an impossibility, given that she’s a water fae.”
“A water fae?” Aolis’s gaze cut back to Gelsyne, whose complexion had gone pale beneath her dark skin. “How did you come to have a water fae for a daughter, Gelsyne?” He was curious to know more about the girl’s parentage. As Greater Fae with both the powers of air and water at his command, he was likely related to the girl, even if only distantly.
Gelsyne lifted her chin. “I will go to my grave before I give you any information that will help you capture Adara.”
“It’s too bad you no longer harbor any loyalty toward this court, Gelsyne,” Aolis said in a tragic voice. “This would be much less painful for both of us if you would cooperate. You see, I am not merely interested in your daughter because of her fire magic, though that is a rare talent indeed. I’m interested because she is key to defeating the shadow creatures, which is why I cannot allow you to stop me from finding her.”
Gelsyne snorted. “Say what you wish, Aolis, but we all know that you care more about holding onto the throne than you do about saving the kingdom. If that weren’t true, you wouldn’t have had Daryan assassinated at the wedding feast. Your own hatred and jealousy over the dragon who won Olette’s heart was more important to you than ending—”
Slaugh’s gauntleted hand cracked across Gelsyne’s face, cutting her off. The former courtier cried out as she stumbled back, a fresh gash opening across her cheek. Blood spilled from the wound, dripping down her jaw and splattering the bodice of her dress, and the dark force curled in Aolis’s chest stirred again.
Go ahead,the darkness inside him whispered.Take her. Just a taste. For us.
“That’s enough,” Aolis said through gritted teeth. He wasn’t sure if he was speaking to the darkness, or to Slaugh, or to Gelsyne, but he couldn’t allow this situation to spiral out of control. “Your treasonous words are not welcome at this court, Gelsyne. Take her to the dungeons,” he commanded. “I will interrogate her later.” Aolis wanted to do it now, but he knew his control was tenuous at best right now. He needed to make sure he had the darkness inside him fully in hand before he questioned Gelsyne.
“But Your Majesty,” Slaugh protested. “Surely you have more important things to do. I am more than capable of handling the interrogation myself. She undoubtedly has information that will help us capture the girl.”
Aolis shook his head. “No. I will handle this myself.” Both fae ignored Gelsyne’s struggles as she was removed from the throne room, her curses echoing off the stone walls. “Take two of your most trusted soldiers, and bring Adara to me. I will send word if I extract any relevant information from Gelsyne, but finding the girl cannot wait.”
Aolis needed to see Adara for himself to be sure, but there was little doubt in his mind that she was the child from the Oracle’s prophecy, the one he’d been searching for these last two decades. Finding her was the key to saving his kingdom and keeping his seat on the stolen throne beneath him.
Because Gelsyne was right. He was a traitor. But he’d done what he had to secure the future of his kingdom, and he couldn’t allow his sins to be in vain.
9
Adara
“Madness,” I muttered to myself as I stormed out of the ruin. This entire situation was absolute chaos. When I’d woken up this morning, I’d been a magically impotent fae. My only goal had been to get into the Edirian army, so I could prove to Dune and my mother that they were wrong about me, that therewasa place and a purpose for me outside the stifling safety of Fenwood Village. That even in a world where magical ability was prized above all else, I still had value.
But in the span of just a few hours, my entire life had been irrevocably altered. Now, I was a wanted fae with powerful fire magic humming in my veins—magic that everyone thought extinct in fae bloodlines. And if that weren’t bad enough, I’d somehow managed to find—and piss off—the only living dragon in Ediria.
Honestly, it was a miracle I was still breathing.
I didn’t know what the aural lights had had in mind when they’d brought me to him, but Einar was anything but helpful. All he wanted to do was fight with me, and I didn’t have time for that. Slaugh could have badly wounded my mother, or worse, killed her in retaliation for helping me escape. And given that Einar seemed to hate fae with a passion, I could hardly expect him to assist me anyway.
“Unbelievable,” I grumbled under my breath. I was so busy fuming over the situation that I almost didn’t hear the soft growl. My body reacted before my brain registered the sound, and I came to an abrupt halt in the middle of a clearing.
“What…” I stared, and the words died in my throat as a dire wolf stepped into the clearing—a massive beast with coal-black fur and fangs the size of my hand. Even from several yards away, I could already tell that the top of its head reached my shoulder, and that its jaws were capable of chomping my torso in half.
But the worst thing about the wolf was not its fangs or its jaws or its hulking size. It was the tendrils of darkness rippling from the ends of its fur, and the inky blackness that bled from its pupils and into the whites of its eyes, swallowing them whole.
This wasn’t just a dire wolf. It had become something twisted, something cursed.
A shadow creature.
Terror iced my veins as three more wolves stepped into the clearing, and I grasped for my short sword. My palms went clammy when they met my leather-clad thigh instead, and I realized I’d left the sword at the tryouts during the combat trial, when I’d had to switch it out for the wooden sword to fight Slaugh. My dagger was still in my boot, but I knew it would be of little use against such massive beasts. My fire magic would be a better bet.
