Before I could respond, my mother closed the small door behind us with a soft thud, isolating us from the rest of the castle.
“Kristan, did you get what I asked for?”
She nodded quickly, swallowing back her sobs as I watched in confusion. When had my mother found the time to ask Kristan for anything?
"Yes, my Lady. I brought everything I could without drawing attention." She lifted the small enchanted bag. “Supplies and…” she hesitated. “A dagger.”
She handed them to me, but my eyes stayed locked on the dagger. Forged from gnome steel, its white marble hilt veined in gold gleamed in the light. At the pommel, my mother’s family crest—a delicate oleander flower set in a pink diamond—lent it a distinctly feminine touch. It was the very dagger I had commissioned as a gift for the completion of my secret training when I turned fifty.
It seemed I would finally get the chance to use it.
My mother touched Kristan’s shoulder affectionately. "You did well, my dear. Very well." She shifted her gaze to me and sighed. "Fiona, from this moment on, you’ll carry on alone."
My vision blurred. “I can’t go, Mama. I can’t leave you alone now.”
My mother’s eyes filled with tears, too, and she pulled me into the kind of tight hug only a mother could give. I sobbed into her shoulder, bending like a bow to reach her. Her scent—jasmine and sandalwood—was comforting and so nostalgic it hurt.
She smelled like home.
She ran her hand over the back of my head, just as she had when I fell and scraped my knee, gently stroking my hair.
“My love…” she whispered, holding my face between her hands, forcing me to meet her eyes through the haze of tears. “If you stay, they’ll try to kill you. And if that happens, your father and I will tear this kingdom apart with everyone in it. Do you understand?”
“I know, Mama,” I whispered, feeling the weight of my new appearance. “But where am I supposed to go? I don’t even know what to look for.”
Her fingers traced my face, wiping away tears I no longer cared about. All I wanted was to cry and be held.
"You’re going to the only place where you’ll be safe from all of them," she said, her voice low but heavy with meaning. “To Oksha.”
My eyes widened in disbelief.
“Oksha? Mama, that’s madness! They’re our enemies—the most feared orc clan in all of Ceilte!”
"But now you look like one of them." She didn’t blink, and the steel in her gaze made it clear this was no suggestion, but an order. "You’ll be safe there."
I swallowed hard, trying to process everything. Going to Oksha was like signing my death warrant in another way. It would be easier to face the Fae of Ceilte than to expose myself to the wrath of an orc clan.
"But if they find out who I am, they’ll kill me."
"Yes, which is why you’ll pretend to be a lost orc. Make up a story and infiltrate the clan. Don’t draw attention to yourself."
“But what about breaking the curse? How am I supposed to find a solution if I’m hiding in their village?”
A faint smile touched her lips. “Don’t worry about that, sweetheart. Your father and I will handle it., even if I have to pull Merith’s hair out strand by strand until she gives us an answer.”
The threat in her voice sent a chill up my spine. Facing Laurelin Kerridan as an enemy would be a nightmare. Beneathall her charm and humor, my mother could be merciless when she chose to be, as was the Fae way.
She lifted her arm and removed a small round charm from the bracelet of trinkets she always wore. It was a green emerald that vibrated with wild magic.
“This is the Orb of Caith. It belonged to your grandmother, Roselin. She used it when she fled the Autumn Court. It’ll guide you—not to where you want to go, but to where you need to be. Trust it.”
I took the Orb. The stone was cold to the touch, and the energy emanating from it made the hair on the back of my neck stand. My mother hugged me again as I tried not to think that this might be the last time we ever embraced.
“Go, my flower, and come back to me. With or without green skin, you’ll always be my daughter.”
With tears streaming down my face, I nodded.
"I’ll be back, Mama. I promise."
