Caspian’s face twists, and for the first time since we entered the throne room, he speaks. “Whatever you’re planning, Mother, you won’t win.”
Her grin widens, and her shadow-clad form seems to swell, her presence suffocating. “Oh, Caspian,” she coos, “I’ve already won.”
Darkness gathers in a pool beside her, then rises up, forming two figures. One I know all too well. Tall and grand, shadows fall off Faustrius’s antlers, and he wears that giant black sword at his side. But he’s got a tight grip on another figure, clutching her tight to his side.
Radiant light cuts through the gloom. A glowing bow.
Wrenley.
She wears her prismatic armor, except for the mask. Her short hair falls loosely around her face, but it’s her eyes that I can’t stop staring at. Completely black.
Under Sira’s control.
The guards behind us raise their weapons, but Keldarion holds up his fist, a motion to hold.
This isn’t good, Rosalina, Keldarion speaks in my mind.
The world tilts. I can’t breathe. My vision tunnels on the bow Wrenley holds, its curve so painfully familiar. The bow that struck my mate.
The memory hits me like a blade to the chest—Dayton falling, his blood on my hands. My heart ripped from me. I hear the scream that tore from my throat, raw and animalistic. The way my legs buckled as if the ground itself had betrayed me.
Now it’s back in her clutches.
I grab the daggers at my hips, but my fingers tremble. The weight of my breath is unbearable, my chest rising and falling too quickly. The buzzing grows louder, filling my ears.
I turn to Dayton, desperate for an anchor, for proof that he’s here, alive, whole. Sweat dots his brow despite the cold.
He meets my gaze.Rosie, I’m here. She’s not taking me again.He casts a menacing glare at Sira. “You’ll have a hardtime controlling the realms if you kill their leaders, Sira. You’d be queen of rebellion and ashes.”
Sira laughs. “What’s this? The High Prince of Summer using his brain for once? Because yes, I could end you all right now with the briefest thought. So you’d be wise to listen to what I have to say.”
Again, the guards at our backs seem poised to strike. But Keldarion growls lowly, “Hold.”
The buzzing fades. I swallow hard, forcing myself to focus. No matter what Sira throws at us, we’ll face it together. I nod, gripping my daggers tighter. I won’t let her take anyone from me again.
“Can you believe it?” Sira purrs. “I was searching all over the Vale for this wretch when I had the key to retrieving her all along. She flew back all on her own, screaming and demanding to know just what happened to Prince Kairyn. I suppose she didn’t like the little experiment we did on him. She might be a good shot, but of course, she wasn’t fast enough to use the bow on me.”
“How would she know what happened to Kairyn?” I breathe out at the same time as Caspian snaps his head to mine and mutters, “No fucking way.”
We stare at each other. There’s only one reason she could have felt Kairyn’s pain. The suffering that Kairyn went through could have unlocked something…
Wrenley and Kairyn are mates.
77
Rosalina
Caspian’s face wavers between horror and nauseated, but I’mnot surprised at all. I witnessed when Kairyn removed his helm for her, how he kissed her. How he gave up Spring’s blessing so I would rescue Wrenley.
My sister and Ezryn’s brother… The stars have woven us all together.
“Regardless,” Sira says as she waves a flippant hand, “Faustrius would like to see the boy. Retrieve him.”
“The turning of fae into an Elderblood has not been completed in thousands of years,” Faustrius says. “If he survived?—”
“We do not answer to your whims,” Keldarion growls.
“Point your arrow at the Autumn Prince,” Sira says.
