“If Septius could get there, we can too,” Theo insisted. “We just have to figure out how he did it.”
“And where it is,” Stefan said bluntly. “Anything could be hiding it— illusion magic, portals— not to mention there could be thingsguardingit, too. If it’s such a well-kept secret that not even the gods know where it is, what chance do we have of getting there?”
I wasn’t sure. Had the Unseelie stone forced Septius to take it to this lost city, and then wiped his memory clean of the incident? It seemed like the only thing that made sense.
Yet Stefan made a very good point. If a god couldn’t find a city… then how could we?
Chapter Eight
Emma
Alost city. It was an unfathomable thought, that the Unseelie stone could be in a hidden place not even Droga could find. I’d had several conversations with Lucien on where— or what— this lost city could be, but nothing ever came of it.
We were closer to obtaining the last stone than ever before, but at the same time, the vital clue that could lead us to the Unseelie stone’s location was completely out of our grasp. I didn’t think any amount of research would uncover where this lost city was, or what Droga wanted to do with it. If the answer was in a book or scroll, Droga would’ve found it by now.
I felt very restless. Which was ironic, because the energy I had to spend was limited. Before, when we were searching for the stones, I always had school or running the kingdom to keep me busy, and give me a purpose when lapses of information or clues on the stones failed to show up. Now, I was more or less just waiting around for something to happen.
I woke up one April morning and decided that I was done with sitting on my hands. I walked to the nursery knowing today, I’d dosomethingto help my quest. Even though I didn’t know what it was.
Odette, Kiara and Delmare were all gathered in the nursery when I got there. Delmare was giving Kazim a bottle, while Kiara and Odette finished changing Kalina. Tygrys napped on a flower petal that had fallen from an orchid on the windowsill.
“You girls are up and at 'em,” I said as I walked in.
“Trying to get some practice in before the big day,” Delmare said as she laid Kazim back in his crib and placed a hand on her stomach. “This little one is late.”
“Well, the babyisStefan’s offspring, and he’s never on time,” Kiara joked.
“I’m ready whenever the kid is,” Delmare groaned. “Being pregnant was great when I wasn’t too big to move.”
“Are you worried about giving birth?” I asked.
“I’d rather go through labor at any point than go one more day being bloated,” she flatlined. “You should’ve seen what I’ve tried so far. Spicy food, walking, sex—”
“Bet your mate likes that one,” Kiara cracked.
There was a knock on the door. Ozzie poked his head in before waddling inside. “It smells like babies in here! And bubblegum!”
“That’d be me. New perfume,” Odette said.
Ozzie brushed back a bit of Kalina’s blonde hair with one finger before Kiara said, “What are you up to today, Ozzie?”
“I’m just looking for something to do. I baked way too much yesterday,” Ozzie said with a sigh. “Jas was busy, and, well… the kitchen got out of hand. There areso manyscones.”
“Howmany scones?” Odette asked eagerly.
“Do you guys want to have a late brunch? I thought a tea party would be wonderful, in this kind of weather,” Ozzie offered.
“Ooh, tea time,” Odette gushed. “I love it, let’s!”
“We should dress up the babies! It’d all be good fun,” Kiara insisted.
“We can all get ready! It’ll be just like being at the palace again—” Odette gushed, before she stopped.
Everyone looked at me, but I shrugged. “Tea time is fun. And I’ve got a dress my mother bought me from town that she’s been nagging me to wear. I might as well let her see me in it, before she gets offended.”
“I’ll set up the table,” Ozzie sang, and he hurried downstairs. I dressed Kalina in a very pretty robin’s blue dress, while the girls slipped Kazim into a tiny matching suit. They lookedveryadorable. Tygrys woke up and insisted on coming along, wearing the orchid leaf like a cloak as he buzzed after us.
We all changed into our fancy gowns, save for Delmare, who insisted she was uncomfortable enough and that her black sundress would suffice. My mother had gotten me this puffy blue gown in the same color as Kalina’s that was oddly cozy. The skirt floated around my ankles and skimmed my white-lace sandals as I carried Kalina downstairs.
