The field outside Ferveem Forest was different to how we’d left it to travel to Prallues. Then, the flowers had withered away but the swaying grasses remained. Now, the field was entirely barren. Lifeless. An echo to my own changed circumstances.
My wish to raise the soldiers had completely drained the field. Shade had said magic was utilizing the energy surrounding us; had the wish used so much there was none left to feed the ground? The pit in my stomach deepened at the thought.
Several small tents were erected at the edge of the trees, and I was directed inside one with a thin bedroll. At least I’d be protected from the weather, even if it was warmer than Yinora this close to the coast.
I lay awake, staring at the blue canvas and wondering what the king could want from this forest and the final wish.
What he hadn’t realized though, regardless of what he wanted, I wouldn’t give it. There was only one wish left, and I would take it for myself. I had every intention to use it for something good and selfish.
It wouldn’t be for whatever nefarious reason the king demanded, and it wouldn’t be to kill Terym as Shade wanted.
No, there was something far more important I planned to wish for, and nothing,nothingwould stand in my way.
Chapter 38
Istumbled on the rocky path, unbalanced due to my still-bound hands and heavy exhaustion. The path lit only by the first slivers of the sun peaking over the horizon, I followed the king to where the saddled horses waited. I had been deep in a fitful sleep when Pierce roused me and we set on this journey.
I tugged at my bound wrists, a force of habit since I knew I couldn’t get free. If only I had access to Wista’s herbs, her tea would have healed the inflamed skin overnight. She was far away, tending to Eleanor, keeping her safe along with Harkin.
A small gust of cool air whirled around us, whipping my loose and knotted hair around my face and sending a shiver down my spine. An inescapable sense of dread had been steadily building since Pierce woke me. This trip into the depths of the forest could only mean one thing, but how would I make a wish if the sun wouldn’t reach me within the dark trees?
When we entered the forest, it was quiet, only the slight rustling of leaves as the breeze followed us in could be heard.Gray light filtered through the canopy overhead, our only guide through the overgrown path. It was that strange time between night and morning, a moment suspended as nocturnal animals returned home and those who prowled during the day had not yet risen. Even the owls were silent.
It took me a while to recognize the path, and it wasn’t the way to Shade’s cave, but to the Emyrdeis castle ruins. The route I took with Eleanor and Harkin.
Vines joined the surrounding trees, spotted with an occasional burst of purple. Purloe flowers.
The familiar scent, the one I now knew anywhere, penetrated the air, and when I squinted through the dimness, I could just make out the remaining castle turrets, a deep black against the lightening sky. I inhaled deeply, seeking the calming effects that usually accompanied the scent of purloe.
It didn’t come.
Lilac and sandalwood were there, but something was missing—Shade was missing. Instead of calming me, it filled me with a surge of intense longing laced with apprehension.
What could Terym possibly want at the castle?
I racked my brain, running through what little I knew of the history before the Great Divide. The castle had been in the Emyrdeis line for generations. The building of its walls the first true claim of the land of Galisordis. An intimidating presence to anyone who thought to defy the Emyrdeis rule. It stood through hundreds of battles, only falling to the fight between the Dark Bright Brothers, Bastian and Raiden.Shade.
After I’d learned who Shade really was, I had read several interpreted tomes on the history, none of them hinted to why we would be here.
Gensen raised a hand, halting our party at the edge of the clearing marking the castle grounds. I avoided Pierce’s gaze when he helped me from the horse, though I could feel his eyesdrilling into my skull. He had returned to his usual kind self on our journey here. The other men were rough in their treatment of me, but not Pierce. It didn’t matter. I hadn’t been able to look at him since Eleanor’s punishment.
Smoke filled the air when torches were lit around us, spitting out dancing light and caging us in a ball of yellow, the clearing beyond dim in the still-hidden sun.
“We’re looking for an archway,” Terym said, lifting a large book to show the gathered men. Gensen brought a torch close to illuminate the page. It was aged and fragile, the drawing unfamiliar—definitely not one I had seen in my research.
An intricate archway protruded from a solid stone wall. Engraved into the stone were depictions representing each of the four Gods, placed in a way to create a large doorway. Terym’s men immediately set off, taking most of the light with them. My “guard” kept me encircled, and with Pierce at my side, there was no escape. Terym paced before us, face on his shoes, but every so often, he would glance to the bobbing flames in the distance.
It wasn’t until the sun was high in the sky that one of the soldiers called out. They found something.
Terym set off in his direction, commanding us to follow. We passed Shade’s mother’s pergola, and I stared at it, wishing I could release Shade in that very spot so he could see it for himself.
We arrived at a section of the castle almost entirely in ruin, the crumbled walls reduced to small stones and dust. Thick leafy vines covered what remained of the stone, and thorns tore at my skin when we pushed through them and deep into the building itself.
On the other side of the thicket, Terym’s men waited, gathered around a wall completely intact and entirely free of the vines darkening the room. The stone, smooth and clean, glistenedunder the flickering firelight. It looked like it was built yesterday, exactly the way the pergola did.
I froze in place, heart beating wildly in my chest.
There, engraved in the white stone, was a beautiful carved archway. The artist from Terym’s book hadn’t done the sight true justice. A large sun beside an equally large moon were set at the top. Branching out from the sun were curved vines and flowers similar to the real ones surrounding us. From the moon, crashed large waves and swirling wind, spiraling down to make up the second half of the arch. Circling it all, were a mix of symbols. The language of the Gods.
