He laughed.‘Does she know? That dumb—’
I cut him a glare. We were working on being nicer to the queen. She was the reason we were still alive and not in a tiny cell with bars.
He cleared his throat.‘I doubt it.’
I looked over all the stuff and then finally saw a small basket at the back of the room. A red velvet blanket was stuffed in it with black feathers poking out. Next to it was a map of the realm.
My heart pinched. “Is this where you…?” I looked at Yanric.
He flew over to the basket and peered at me.‘Yes. And I searched for you in every village and town within a two-hour walking distance either way.’
I was three hours’ walking distance away. Kneeling and reaching out, I held up my hand and he perched on it.
‘I’m sorry for how I treated you when I first met you,’I told him.
Here he was living in a musty basement and searching for me every day for seventeen years, and the first time I saw him, I strangled him.
‘Forgiven.’He bowed slightly.
“Boo!” Eden jumped into the open room with her hands out, and I startled a little and then laughed.
“Hey, you made it!” I stood, and Yanric flew from my hand as I moved closer to greet my bestie. With no school today, Eden had promised to come by before the Winter Solstice ceremony and see to it that we were settled in.
“Whoa, what is all this stuff?” She ran her fingers over the glass cages.
“Old, dark artifacts. The queen went through and took some but left a bunch behind.”
She looked up at me in disbelief. “Girl, you own a mansion. This place is crazy big.”
I chuckled. “It comes with a maid and butler. Oh, and a stable hand.”
Eden crossed her arms, sulking. “Lucky.”
Laughter pealed out of me but quickly cut off in my throat when I heard a muffled voice.
I froze.
“What the fae was that?” Eden looked at me wide-eyed.
Oh good, she heard it too.
Yanric soared overhead, flying circles around the room, and I heard it again—a muffled, possibly male voice.
Chills raced up my arms as Eden scooted closer to me. “If we find a dead body or a ghost down here, I’m never coming back. Sorry, girl.”
I nodded in agreement. “Neither will I.” I’d rather live in the woods.
Yanric landed on a glass-top case that was covered in dust. His little feet made claw prints on top as he cocked his head and peered into the glass.
That voice came again, and Yanric looked up at me.‘Someone is speaking in there.’
What the…?
I stepped forward, a little less worried since I knew a whole person couldn’t fit in the display case. Yanric hopped onto my shoulder as I flipped the latch and opened the case.
Dust fell around me as I coughed and peered into the display. There was a single black onyx crystal in the shape of a seashell—and unintelligible voices were coming out of it.
Voices I didn’t recognize.
