The pounding in my skull was an outrageous cacophony of pain. It was as if my head was a cellar below a ballroom of giants. Clumsy,
drunken giants.
I groaned as I stumbled from bed and splashed my face with lukewarm water in the washroom. Summer was here in earnest, and I was dripping with sweat despite the hour. I had slept until late afternoon and then laid in bed until sundown, unable to move, contemplating everything Kane had said last night, both in the wine cellar and afterward.
Halden’s questions in the dungeon felt so obvious now. I wondered how much Gareth had told him about his plans to sell all of Evendell out to Lazarus. A small corner of my mind told me Halden likely knew it all, and still fought for him.
The guilt of helping him escape was crushing, and yet Kane had not mocked me for my choices, nor had he threatened me with any punishment. I had quite literally committed treason, and all he felt was rage on my behalf. Fury that someone had left me behind.
Truth was, he was more furious than I had even been. Even before Kane revealed the truth about Halden or the Fae, I knew I had never felt as much for Halden as I had for Kane in just the past few months. Granted, some of what I felt had been pure, seething hatred, but still. It was wild how just a little time away from Amber had completely changed my almost lifelong feelings for the fair-haired boy. What once felt all-consuming and charged was a blurry memory to me now, the same way one might look back on their first novel or taste of chocolate and think it was the best the continent had to offer. I didn’t know how many other facets of my previous life would
suffer from a similar realization.
Kane was gone when I rose with the setting sun, as I knew he would be, and I was grateful. I needed to talk to Mari. She didn’t know I was still here. For all she knew, I had left with Halden and the others. I needed to tell her everything Kane had revealed, and also that we had almost kissed. Knowing Mari, that would interest her even more.
Leigh would have been the most thrilled. Her crush back in Abbington may have been right all along. Minus the wings, there was likely Fae all over this kingdom. At the thought of Leigh my blood ran cold.
My mother, the eclipse. Shit, I had slept too late.
Shit, shit, shit.
The eclipse was tonight. I grabbed my pack and threw my training leathers on frantically. How could I have been so stupid? So sick from wine and caught up in my own ridiculous almost-romance with some dark king that I had nearly missed the chance to save my own mother.
I had to focus.
If I failed tonight, there would be plenty of time to beat myself up over the next year while I waited for the moon to hide itself again.
I needed to find Kane, and quickly. He had been honest with me last night, and now I was going to be honest with him. I would beg him to take me back to the site of the burrowroot. I wasn’t daring enough to face the forest at night alone, and he was the only person I trusted to get me there safely.
When I made it to the throne room, the sentries regarded me with ice in their eyes. I didn’t blame them; three prisoners had escaped last night. I would be on edge too.
“Good evening. I’d like an audience with the king. Can you tell him it’s Arwen Valondale?”
“He’s not here, Lady Arwen.”
“Where can I find him? Or Commander Griffin?”
The taller guard looked at the one with the mustache. Mustache shook his head.
“They’re not in Shadowhold, miss,” said Tall.
My stomach sank to the floor.
“Well, where are they? When will they be back?”
Then I remembered. Kane had said he’d be tracking down Halden.
Shit.
Too much wine was my enemy yet again.
Mustache widened his stance and put his hands on his waist as if trying to intimidate an animal.
“I think you’d best run along.”
I could have fought with them, begged for more information, but time was running out. I turned on my heel and ran toward the apothecary.
The lanterns were all out in the small room.
“Dagan!” I shouted, but the hollow bounce of my own voice against the wooden walls told me I was alone. He would have been a tough sell anyway.
I looked through the marbled windows at the warped moon in the sky. I had an hour at most. Silver moonlight glistened on something out of the corner of my eye, and I spun to see Dagan’s sword and scabbard tossed in the closet. He must have left it here when I missed my lesson this morning. I made a mental note to apologize for that and for what I was about to do. I grabbed the heavy weapon, slung it over my back, and hurtled toward the stables.
Once there, I guided a horse from her stall and hoped the sound of her hooves on the dirt path wasn’t as loud to anyone else as it was to me. I squinted in the clear night air but could only discern a couple of guards. The North Gate was much smaller than the castle entrance as it was backed up against a denser expanse of forest. Past the woods was a smattering of mountains, meaning it was much harder for enemies to gain access this way.
I had to think quickly. The moon was high in the sky, and I had exactly zero idea how to get myself and a horse past the six or so guards at the gate. I could probably find a way alone, but the horse was going to be a no go.
Maybe that was it—the horse was impossible to hide. She could serve as my decoy. I’d have to run to get to the clearing in time, but I had a shot.
Without another thought, I whispered an apology to the horse and smacked her hindquarters.
She took off like a creature possessed. The guards followed her, trying to grasp at her reins but the poor thing was spooked and beyond catching. I hoped they would be kind to her once she was returned to the stables.
When there was only one guard still standing by the gate—the others trying to corner the rogue stallion—I bolted. If I could make it through the metal entrance before he caught me, I knew I could outrun the guard. In the time it would take for the Onyx soldiers to get their steeds and catch me, I would have the burrowroot. I could face the consequences after.
I moved swiftly, sticking to the dark corners of the castle’s outer edge. I was almost at the gates when I lost my footing and flew forward. I landed hard on my wrist and felt instant, searing pain.
But that was going to have to be a problem for later.
I could fix my wrist once I had the burrowroot. Looking behind me I saw the spiked metal trap embedded in the grass. It was peppered throughout the entire courtyard that surrounded the North Gate. So less manned, but not less protected. I should have known.
I shot up.
And my heart dropped into my stomach with a thud.
I was staring directly at the guard. It was the same rosy-cheeked, yellow-bearded young man from the day Mari helped me visit Halden in his cell.
I braced myself to be manhandled back into the castle. Possibly the dungeons.
My mouth opened, an argument prepared on my tongue. But I hesitated. His expression. It was—blank.
He said nothing as he stared at me. Not even at me though. Almost… right through me.
As if I wasn’t standing right in front of him, covered in dirt and clutching my wrist, the guard furrowed his brow at something just past my head and tracked past me toward where I had fallen. He kicked at the metal trap with his shoe in confusion. I had no idea how I had gotten so lucky, but I wasn’t going to wait around to find out. I took off through the gate for the clearing.
As I ran, it hit me—Mari’s spell never wore off. I had to remember to tell her that her ‘simple cloaking spell’ might have worked a bit too well. Was it Briar’s amulet? Maybe it was time to return the enchanted item to Kane’s study.
The Shadow Woods were far more ominous at night. Gnarled branches made monstrous shapes in the shadows, and thorny bushes tore at my leathers. It was also far colder. Despite being at the peak of a sweltering summer, the enchanted, ancient Shadow Woods were chilling at nighttime, and a cool fog swam around my ankles. I wished I had brought the fox fur
—for warmth and comfort. Like a little girl, afraid of things I couldn’t see in the dark. I tried to remind myself that I had been here during the daytime and felt safe, but it was less than helpful. I had been safe because I was surrounded by guards and horses. Men that could protect me. And Kane.
I ran hard, breath punching out of my lungs. Nothing better for my fear than sprinting.
Still, my thoughts landed back on the king. I had done exactly what he asked me not to do. Snuck into the woods, at night, while he was gone. Even though I was no longer planning my escape, he would still be furious.
The feeling of weakness was back once again, as I rounded a fallen log and recalled how close I was to the clearing. It felt like more of my life than not was spent feeling weak and guilty. A small corner of my mind wondered if ending up in Shadowhold might have been my only chance at changing that. The heavy thump from Dagan’s sword hitting my back with each step told me maybe that instinct was right.
I still hoped I wouldn’t have to use it, though. It would be my first time fighting something other than Dagan who, despite not being the warmest fellow, did not actually wish to see me dead. Plus, I had Dagan’s sword, not my own. It was heavier than mine by at least double and required both hands to wield, while mine only needed one. I didn’t want to think of how difficult it would be to swing the piece around with my now sprained wrist.
My lungs weren’t as accustomed to runs such as these anymore, and by the time I arrived at the clearing, I was gasping. In the watery moonlight, the wet grass shone silver and the trees looked like one tangled, black
spiderweb. I had been fortunate to find my way through the dark maze, despite coming from the North Gate this time. Now, I needed to find the oak tree—but it all looked the same, and the eclipse would be any minute. I was running out of time.
“Bleeding Stones,” I breathed. I couldn’t have made it all this way in time for nothing.
Deep in the spiky bushes behind me, a wet, sloshing sound cut through the deafening quiet of night. I went stiff as a corpse and whirled my head to listen closer—my whole body recoiling at the undeniable sound of a creature feasting on something—or someone—that had not survived the night.
I dropped to the ground and crawled toward the bushes on my knees and elbows. Through the scraping twigs and spongy moss, I slinked until I could see through the thorns of the bushes and just barely make out the carcass of a deer.
A scream lodged in my throat at the sight before me.
Devouring the deer’s supple body were two lionlike creatures. I recognized them as chimeras, and particularly nasty ones at that. I had never seen the nocturnal creatures before but had read about them in one of Mari’s favorite books: Onyx’s Most Foul.
Beady eyes with no pupils. Gruesome, snarling snouts. Long, fanged teeth protruding from their mouths, coated in drool and meat. Their faces were so sleek and threatening, their gnarled claws so caked with dirt and blood, that my stomach turned from pure fear and I thought I might vomit.
Before I could scramble backward and heave out last night’s wine, I noticed where they were feasting. The poor doe was laid across the roots of the familiar oak tree.
Shit.
I wracked my brain. What did that Stones-damned book say about chimeras?
Mari had been talking nonstop that day in the library, so I had only made it a few sentences through the chapter on chimeras. Instead of knowledge of the creatures, I knew every detail of Mari’s favorite swimming hole in the
Shadow Woods, which her father would take her to when the summers became too hot to bear. I knew nothing about the beasts in front of me, but I did know how Owen always made sure to bring an altruistic soldier or two with them, because the woods were so unsafe. How her favorite guard had been an older man who always called her brainy braids, because she would wear these braids that—
Oh, Stones.
That was it.
The water. It wasn’t safe—chimeras couldn’t swim.
My eyes found the tree-covered path that Kane had taken me through all those months ago. This was a uniquely stupid plan—even for me—but I had no other options. I needed the creatures away from the oak tree, so I could access the root when it bloomed. I was not going to turn around and spend the rest of my life knowing that, if I ever saw my mother again, I’d had the chance to help her, and didn’t take it out of fear.
I dumped the sword and slid it under the bush in front of me. I couldn’t run fast enough with it strapped to my back, and it would be a good marker for the burrowroot when I made my way back. If I made my way back. And to be honest, I couldn’t use it with my wrist in this shape anyway. I would leave it in the woods altogether if it weren’t Dagan’s. It would be a shame to defeat not one but two horrific creatures, only for Dagan to kill me.
I made my way to the hollowed-out path in the trees that Kane had shown me, took a breath to quiet my nerves, and whistled at the chimeras. The piercing tune sliced through the silent woods and sent smaller animals scurrying. The two vicious creatures turned to face me, confusion and hunger in their eyes.
The larger of the two, with small, pointed ears, a wild mane, and rigid goat horns, ambled toward me, seemingly more curious than anything else. But that was all I needed. I picked up a couple of pebbles and nailed her in the head once, then twice. She pawed at her jutting brow and picked up speed, snarling.
And then I ran.
