I finally broke the quiet. “Where are we going?”
Guardian Alleron glanced at me with disdain. He straightened his clothing and smoothed his hair. “We’ll travel south until dark, then we’ll stop at an inn and finish the rest of the journey in the coming days.”
My eyebrows shot up. “We’re going to Faewood?”
“Of course, to Faewood.”
“You’re truly taking me back to Emerson Estate? You actually think I’ll live there with you?”
“You have to. You have nobody without me.” His words were calm, but the edge of a threat loomed behind them.
I didn’t bother replying. My lips pursed, and I glanced at the disappearing capital behind us, growing farther and farther away. I’d seen this view once before, when Jax and I had been atop Phillen as we’d ridden into Jaggedston following our night in Fosterton all of those weeks ago.
Jax had stopped us in the Wood so he could rob me of my eyesight and change into his princely attire. That stretch of the Wood was just up ahead.
A ball of agony clogged my throat. How much had changed since that time.
I returned my attention to my guardian and crossed my arms. “And what about your voice? How did you get that back?”
He smiled smugly. “The courts hired an advanced spellcaster from Ironcrest, and once that spellcaster caught hold of Jax’s magic, he verified that my stolen voice had indeed come from your beloved prince.”
My eyes widened, and the implication of that statement wound around me like a coiling serpent, squeezing me so tightly that my breaths threatened to stop. The fact that my guardian’s robbed voice had been identified as Jax’s sense-stealing magic further proved his case that Jaxwasthe Dark Raider. And if the courts knew that, it was possible that they would eventually view me as his accomplice, which meant my freedom wasn’t guaranteed.
Magic roiled inside me. I had to stop this. All of this.Now.
I assessed the area more. Wind blew through the trees. The city was far enough away now that it was merely a glimmering speck. Houses and small dwellings from local fae had fallen behind us as well. Nobody was about.
My guardian regarded me from across the carpet, his gaze gentling in mock sympathy. “Elowen? When we get back, I’d like you to see the king right away. He’s?—”
“No!” I loosened my crossed arms and shot to a stand. Rage erupted inside me.
“No?”
“Correct,no. Fuck this. Fuckallof this.”
Before he knew what I was doing, I wrenched on my magic as fury blazed through me. Cold shadows lashed from my hands, shooting toward my guardian in a swell of power. He shrieked, but I wrapped my shadows around his mouth, neck, and chest.
“You willnotcommand me anymore!”
His eyes bulged, and his hands rose. Fire shot from his palms, shooting toward me.
I dove to the side, and my guardian’s fire element blasted right over me and hit a tree in the Wood. Smoke curled around its bark, and flames flickered at the tree’s base.
Hands whipping through the air, I wrenched my guardian off the carpet with my magic. Power unfurled within me. Magnificent, heady power. All of the heartache this male had caused me roared through me like a quickly spreading wildfire.
He’d abused me.
Used me.
Torturedme since I was a child.
And now, he’d taken the only fairy in my life who had actually cared about me. Who had ever trulylovedme.
“Elowen!” he muffled through my shadows, but I just gagged him more.
Another blast of fire shot from him, but it didn’t matter. Magic exploded out of me, coating me in shadows and repelling his fire like it was harmless smoke.
“Don’t you know what I am?” I asked, my voice rising. Power crackled around me. “I’m the queen of the semelees. The walker between the Veils. I am the enchantress of the shadows, and you will control meno more!”
