“To be fair, I am not worried about who might be conspiring with her.” Ariesian pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, then shook his head. “What concerns me most is her intent. If she wishes to be rid of us, then she can very well try. I have no doubt we will make her rue the day. But if she wishes to poison the land, that is another matter entirely.”
It was a whisper at first, hardly noticeable, like a thread pulled loose from a masterful tapestry. But it echoed in Caelian’s mind with the other voices, except it was more grating and prominent. Not quite a wish, but a memory of one granted many years before, when she was a young girl. Her heart kicked, pounding in her chest, and her breathing grew shallow. From somewhere above her, she could’ve sworn she heard Kjeld say her name, but his voice was dissonant and garbled, like he was calling to her from underwater. She scrubbed her damp palmsagainst her skirts as the granted wish grew louder, drowning out the others, making the impact of its presence known. The words floated and tumbled over one another in her head until she picked them apart and slowly put them back together.
I wish this land would respond to my magic.
The familiar voice blared through Caelian’s mind with startling clarity, and it belonged solely to Queen Elowyn.
It was a wish Caelian heard when she was a child, seemingly innocuous at the time, when she was still learning about the power bestowed upon her. But she’d granted it, because the queen sounded pure of heart.
But Caelian had been tricked.
She’d been deceived.
Betrayed by her own magic.
“It’s my fault,” she gasped, struggling to stand, to catch her breath as the world around her tilted on its axis in a mess of colors and sounds. “It’s all my fault.”
Both Kjeld and Sarelle made to reach for her, but she stumbled away from them, pitching forward. Her footfalls carried her across the sitting room as she paced and tripped. Tears burned her eyes as the truth ripped from her in a broken, gasping sob.
“I granted her wish!” Caelian cried, scratching her nails against her palms. “I’m the reason the land responds to her vile magic. It’s because of me, because I thought I was doing something good. I granted her wish!”
My fault.
My fault.
My fault.
The words taunted her, storming around her in a violent frenzy, until Caelian couldn’t draw air. Her knees softened, her vision tunneled to a heinous shade of black, and the last thingshe remembered before there was nothing at all was Nyxian diving to catch her.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Kjeld tucked Caelian into bed, her shallow, broken breathing proof that she was crying even in her dreams.
It devastated him that she held herself accountable for all the turmoil caused by Elowyn. That she truly believed her actions were to blame, despite the fact that she was a child at the time. The moment her pulse started pounding, he knew something was wrong. But she’d spiraled so quickly into a state of self-loathing, succumbed to an intensely delirious mindset filled with regret and anguish, and he hadn’t been able to bring her back.
He released a harsh breath, gently brushing a few stray strands of silver and lavender hair back from her cheek. After seeing her so distraught, all he wanted to do was march into Terensel, break down the palace doors, and carve Elowyn into pieces while the blade ofKaldflamsang through the damn air.
“I have never felt more helpless.” He muttered the words out loud, belatedly remembering that he was not alone.
“There is nothing you could have done. But do not worry yourself, she’ll be safe with us,” Novalise whispered from where she was perched in a rocking chair, one hand resting upon her slightly swollen belly. She rocked slowly, methodically, hergown of navy fanning out around her. “We’ll be here when she awakens.”
Kjeld glanced around the rest of the room, meeting the soft and sympathetic gazes of the other females staring back at him—Creslyn, Sarelle, and Narissa. Creslyn was curled up behind her twin on the bed, while Sarelle and Narissa were seated on a small sofa near the armoire.
“Go on, then.” Creslyn shooed him away with a flippant wave of her hand. “Go plot the demise of the bitch who stole everything from us.”
Kjeld nodded, his determination bolstered by the desire for revenge. He bid the ladies a good evening and stalked from Caelian’s room through the glittering halls of House Celestine, his footfalls carrying him toward the sound of low, murmuring voices. The lighting in the formal sitting room was dimmer now. The fire in the hearth had been stoked back to life, but the faerie lights burning in the wall sconces emitted a deep amber glow. All the males were seated in the chairs or on sofas, save for Nyxian, who continued to glower by the hearth.
Kjeld stepped into the room and took a seat next to Solarius on the sofa.
Ariesian leaned back in his chair, his hands resting calmly on the embroidered arms, and propped his ankle on his knee. “We are all aware that the females in this house are more than capable of taking care of themselves. And while I have no intention of excluding them from any conversations regarding the future of this house, that does not mean I want to put any of them in harm’s way. I will take every extreme to protect them, no matter the cost. Are we agreed?”
There were nods and mutterings of assent, except for Nyxian, who was apparently still furious and harboring a ridiculously large grudge against his eldest brother.
“Yet you would send Sarelle into the lion’s den to lure Prince Aspen,” he drawled with a click of his tongue.
Ariesian’s cold, silver stare flicked to the youngest of the Starstorm males. “Sarelle knows and understands the dangers of meddling with Prince Aspen, and I would never force her hand. But in case you haven’t noticed, the prince seems plenty interested in entertaining her attention.”
Nyxian shoved off the hearth, his face a mask of barely contained fury. “He’s a fucking shifter! The Eyrewolfe, Aries! He may as well be rabid for that matter. She knows absolutely nothing about him, they’ve barely spoken a word to each other, and you want to lock them up in a marriage together?”
