Eclipse tossed her head and cantered into a shadowy forest filled with trees that had lost most of their leaves.
She slowed to a walk and turned around as the other night mares ran past us, looking back at the barrier.
I clutched her thin mane as the barrier—immeasurably old and powerful—was pushed across the meadow.
It was a horrifically slow crawl. And every inch it gave up blackened and died once it hit the toxic air past the barrier.
Slowly, the barrier shrank, and the toxic outer realm ate up the entire meadow.
The ward stopped—making the ground shudder—just short of the forest the night mares and I were hiding in.
I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.
The Paragon said the fae realms were shrinking, but I never thought it would be this bad.
My eyes lingered on the bright magic symbols.
How am I supposed to solve this, if magic this powerful can’t hold up anymore to the toxic outer realm?
I started shaking, so I draped myself across Eclipse, greedily sucking up her heat.
“Why did you choose me to be queen?” I asked. “I can’t do anything about this. I was proud because I could lift up a shield faster—I can’t rebuild a ward.”
Blue Moon affectionately lipped my shoulder, and the glooms and shades appeared in the shadows of the forest, their eyes glowing in the dim light.
I shut my eyes and pushed my face into Eclipse’s bony neck.
I can’t do this. There’s no way I’m going to win—not my Court, not the stupid fae war for power, and certainly not this fight for the realm itself.
Eclipse’s muscles rippled as she stamped a hoof.
But they chose me. I have to try.
* * *
“You enterthe treasury through this door, find the artifact that resonates with you, then continue to the door on the far side of the chamber where Indigo, myself, and the Court will be waiting for you to complete the ceremony and claim your artifact,” Skye said. “Do you understand?”
“Yep,” I said, purposely popping the p.
Indigo plucked at my skirts, straightening them for me.
For this very official occasion, she’d selected a midnight blue, off the shoulder gown with lace sleeves and little crystals sewn into the torso so it resembled a twinkling night sky.
They hadn’t shoved a crown on my head yet—today I was wearing another silver circlet—but I was starting to wonder if there was a rule that required long sleeves and skirts to make the monarch as uncomfortable in summers as possible.
Probably. I bet it’s that darned original king’s work.
“How strongly will I feel the pull of the artifact that resonates with me?” I asked.
Skye had gotten herself a leather case for her tablet, which she flipped over it and gripped like a clutch as she frowned in thought. “That’s difficult to say, as only royals have experienced the process. When I researched the process, it seemed to be a very strong, unmistakable pull. When you touch it, you’ll know.”
“‘You’ll know,’ typical magic description,” I grumbled. “Thank you for researching this so thoroughly.”
Skye shrugged. “I had plenty of time while you were practicing magic and reading fae history books.”
“Ahh, yes, I was very happy to graduate from ‘Good Manners Mandy’ and move on to more serious topics,” I said. “Though I wish you had not given me the children’s textbook version.”
“Were you offended by the reading level?”
