I knew we had reached the coast before I even opened my eyes. A salty breeze wafted in through our carriage window and the temperature
dropped about twenty degrees.
“Oh, thank the Stones,” I mumbled, mouth still thick with sleep.
“Arwen, get up!” Mari’s voice sounded far away. I cracked one eye open to see her pressed up against the carriage side, head out the window, eyes squinting against the bright sun.
“It’s so beautiful,” she said.
I couldn’t help a smile, before I squeezed in beside her.
My heart shone in my chest at the sight, matching the bright sun outside.
Peridot was lusher and more breathtaking than anything I could have imagined. Once again, the weight of how little of Evendell I had experienced hit me like a gut punch.
The castle that sprawled before us atop the highest hill was like a ranch. Bamboo beams, a large, thatched gate, and miles of exotic, textured land spread in every direction. The smell of saltwater and plumeria filtered in as I spied cows, horses, and goats. Bright green hills rolled beyond the castle gates like waves in a sea, all dotted with tropical flowers. I’d have to look into their names now, too.
The city itself stretched beyond the fortress, weaving into the trees and hills and growing denser until I had to squint to make it out. As if Siren’s Cove was protected by its king’s stronghold, rather than the other way around. From what I could see, the city was more like my hometown of Abbington than what I imagined a bustling capital to be. Smoke billowed out of straw roofs, chickens and more horses squawked and neighed.
Families and children and women balancing buckets and baskets milled about.
But the most jaw-dropping view was much closer, out the carriage and to my right. A few miles down from the royal home was the beach.
The docks in Abbington were, at best, a murky, fishy hub for driftwood and pelicans. Boats and ships of all shapes and sizes crowded the harbor, and fishermen with few teeth took up whatever space was left. My siblings and I would walk forty minutes down to take a frigid dip, wandering back at dusk against the shimmering sun melting into the marina, our legs sore and tanned and reeking of brine and trout.
This was something else entirely. The crescent-shaped cove, sheltered by low stone cliffs, was filled with emerald waves rocking against a beach of soft pink sand. A thick rainforest grew beyond the cliffs, filled with spiked trees I had never seen before. A cool breeze mixed with humid air tickled my skin. I wanted to take a bite out of the atmosphere.
“Come on,” said Mari, pulling me out of the carriage as soon as it halted.
We followed the soldiers toward the castle gates.
I was less pleased to see Princess Amelia than I had anticipated. Her white-blonde hair cascaded over her loose clothing. A single beige band of fabric covered her chest but showed off the taut, tan skin of her belly. A skirt of the same breezy material flowed from low on her hips down to the ground.
She had an incredible body, and the sheer fabric made sure anyone in a five-mile radius knew it. Somewhere between watching her flirt her way into an alliance with an old flame and feeling Kane’s tongue in my mouth, I had decided she was my nemesis. Or perhaps something slightly less dramatic. But only slightly.
Next to her stood her father, King Eryx. He had the same pale hair, but far lighter skin and eyes of bright, warm Amber. Like sunflowers—just like his daughter’s.
“Welcome Commander Griffin,” Eryx boomed. Griffin bowed, and the rest of us followed suit.
“Commander.” Amelia greeted Griffin warmly. He bowed once more,
taking her hand and kissing it.
Eryx looked rather pleased at the interaction.
“Still waiting to take a wife, my dear commander?”
Amelia rolled her eyes with enough venom that even I cowered. But Griffin, cool as ever, didn’t even blush. “I have my hands a little full with our current circumstances, your majesty.”
Eryx gave a warm smile and a sly laugh. “Understood. I think I speak for all when I say we are grateful for your dedication. Once we have defeated the Amber bastards, I assure you my lovely Amelia will still be here, waiting. As always.”
I nearly went cross-eyed with the urge to roll my eyes. I didn’t particularly care for Amelia, but I didn’t like her father offering her up like cattle either.
“She may be tricky, but I wager the title of Prince of Peridot sweetens the pot?” His wet cackle turned into a cough, and Griffin’s bland smile never met his eyes.
I spotted Mari out of the corner of my eye, with a pinched look on her face. Without any more pleasantries—if that’s what we could call Eryx’s tactless offering—we were ushered inside the airy palace and Griffin followed Eryx into another hallway.
The princess acknowledged neither Mari nor I at all before disappearing. “She’s annoying, right?” Mari said under her breath.
“You have no idea.”
***
We were each shown our own room for the open-ended duration of our stay. I couldn’t help my theatrical gawk at the warm expanse of teakwood floors and the canopied bed upon entering. The breeze from the huge windows overlooking the glimmering turquoise bay flitted through my hair. A single exotic bird with wings of bright scarlet perched on the windowsill. I stretched out against the soft, white, cotton bed sheets and hummed in relief. No more inns, no more sweltering heat. Maybe I’d finally get a good
night’s sleep.
But I couldn’t rest yet. I’d promised Mari three books and I intended to keep said promise. Plus, I was excited to see the Peridot library. Shadowhold’s library was exquisite, and that was just an army stronghold. This was a palace in the Peridot capital of Siren’s Cove. Maybe their library was in a lagoon.
I made my way through the castle. Every inch was adorned with either vines, cushions, or delicate beadwork. I asked one of the servants who was dusting a canvas chaise for directions to the library. It was strange, having been a villager in a small town my whole life, then a prisoner just a few months ago, and now a guest of royalty.
The sound of the waves crashing in Siren’s bay followed me everywhere I went, like a welcome lullaby. I pushed open the bamboo doors to the library and passed a few shirtless Peridot soldiers clad in armored pants and helmets. Their torsos and forearms were covered in intricately patterned tattoos that matched their long spears.
The library was simple, filled with colorful books and scrolls, and had a warm hearth at the center of the room surrounded by white cushions. But the cozy fireplace and its few huddled readers wasn’t the room’s highlight
—it was the sprawling balcony that looked out onto the pristine bay. Calm, crystalline waters washed over the shore. To the left were at least fifteen massive ships with the green Peridot symbol imprinted on their sails. The sun hung low in the sky, reflecting off the waves in sparkling rays.
I didn’t know how I had gone twenty years without seeing an ocean like this, or how I would ever go another day without it again. Glittering sunshine, colors and textures and waves, I could barely believe it was real. Something about being at the edge of the continent felt at once both freeing and completely frightening. Frightening, and yet my all too familiar panic was nowhere to be found.
Pulling myself away from the view was like untangling a vine from its post. I finally made my way over to the section marked ‘Lore’, and pulled three books: one on Fae mythology, one grimoire, and one about various types of hybrid creatures and their diets. I knew my girl.
Plus, after everything Kane had told me, I wanted to learn more about the
Faeries as well. If he was somehow to beat his father, he needed all the information he could get. I tried not to think about the odds of him defeating the last living full-blooded Fae when he lost so terribly a mere fifty years ago.
On my way out I doubled back to the section marked ‘Horticulture’ and grabbed a book entitled Evendell Flora by Kingdom. That one was just for me.
I dropped the books outside Mari’s room, remembering that she was going to nap before dinner, and headed back to my room. A knock at my door had me back up before I had even crawled fully under the silken sheets for a nap of my own.
“Come in.”
Princess Amelia strolled inside and sat down on the bed. I scrambled to politely sit beside her, then tried to bow. It wasn’t pretty.
She gave me a pitying glance. “No need for… whatever that is. I brought you clothes for tonight’s dinner.” She handed me a similar dress to what she was wearing. Very sheer, pale blue fabric. It looked like it wouldn’t cover much of anything. “The tragically dark and heavy clothes of Onyx won’t suit you here.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” I said. “I have to ask, does the princess always hand deliver clothing to her guests?” I wasn’t sure what made me so snarky. I didn’t trust this woman. I trusted her even less when she was being kind to me.
She offered a prim smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“I know you think I am your enemy, Arwen. That I am trying to bed your king, or take him from you, or whatever little problems you concern yourself with. It could not be further from the truth. In fact, I want to offer you some advice. Woman to woman.”
Like a child being scolded, I stared down at my interwoven fingers. I didn’t dare bring up that I knew she had already bedded the King many times. I wasn’t sure who that discussion would be more unpleasant for, her or me. She dipped an elongated finger adorned with jewels under my chin and tilted my face up to hers.
“Kane Ravenwood has not been wholly truthful with you.” I blinked twice.
“I urge you not to lead with your heart,” she continued. “But rather with your mind and spirit. You seem a bright young woman. Do not be easily fooled by his allure.”
Before I could tell her I was more privy to his secrets than she thought, she got up and left the room, gently closing the door behind her.
I clamped my lips together, as irritation flickered inside me.
She couldn’t have been more wrong. Up until a few days ago, I would have agreed wholeheartedly. But he had finally let me in—shared his darkest secrets with me, as I had with him. Maybe Amelia was jealous, or maybe she was genuinely trying to help. Either way, it didn’t matter. I had no idea when or if I would see him again, and as long as we were apart, I wouldn’t let my faith in him waver.
I looked at the slips of fabric the princess had referred to as clothing. I wasn’t as slender as she was and wasn’t eager to have so much of my body on display. I undressed completely and slipped the blue fabric on. The wisps of shimmering sheerness looped around my neck and waist at a low angle, leaving my back and midriff exposed, before pooling on the floor like melted cream. It was less fabric than I had ever worn outside of my own bedroom.
I looked in the mirror anticipating mortification, but felt a surge of power waft over me in its place; I actually looked quite lovely.
I tucked my hair up atop my head and secured it with a black ribbon. You could take the girl out of Onyx, but you couldn’t take Onyx out of the—
My door creaked open and I turned, expecting Mari or Amelia once more.
Instead, I came face to face with a dazed Kane. “Fuck,” he grunted.
I was so shocked to see him, I was even less eloquent. “Huh?”
Kane cleared his throat. “Hello,” he said, flushing. “You look so—I mean, very—hello.” His brows knitted inward as if even he didn’t know what was coming out of his mouth.
He was here. In Peridot.
Alive, and happy to see me. I felt my cheeks warm. “Very hello to you, too.” I pulled him through the doorway and into my room, lifting on my toes to press a single kiss against his cheek. He had shaved, and his smooth jaw was hot under my lips.
“When did you arrive?” I asked, not recognizing the rasp in my voice.
His hands grasped my hips firmly, but he held me at a distance. “Moments ago. I need to show you something.”
My face fell. “Right now?”
Kane looked like he could break solid rock with his teeth. “If you can believe it, yes.”
He grasped my hand and pulled me down the wooden stairs into the great hall. The room smelled of freshly grilled fish and citrus fruit. My stomach rumbled. We were surrounded by Peridot nobles and commanders, and I thought absently that I should probably let go of the King’s hand.
But then I saw them, and all other thoughts disappeared from my mind.
