“Elisandra?” The Queen stopped in her tracks, paling at the sight of her own mother, looking young and vibrant as she had the day she had struck her down.
“Mother?”
“My sweet daughter. How long it’s been.”
Elisandra couldn’t move, frozen in her spot as she stared at the figure of her mother, Analise, stepping forward and slowly reaching her arms out.
“My Elsi. Why have you left me here to wither? How could you turn your back on me?”
Elisandra shook her head, stepping back, no longer feeling the searing pain in her ankle but a paralyzing fear enveloping her chest, making hard to breathe. “No, I never left you here. You’re dead. I—I killed you! I took the throne. It’s MINE!” She stepped back again, but her mother did not stop or fade. In fact each moment Elisandra believed her to be there, the stronger her figure became, no longer translucent, but solid and fleshed out.
“Elsi, you have to help me. You must get me out of here, for I am trapped, damned for all eternity…”
Elisandra lowered her dagger, her mouth dropping open at her mother’s words. “What do you mean? You’re dead. How can you be here? I never damned you. I sent you to the Summerlands, where it’s warm and quiet, away from here.”
Her mother smiled, pity blossoming in her face before she shook her head. “No, my dear child. I am lost, lost here forever because you damned me to this. Now, help me.”
Elisandra didn’t know what to do as the figure approached. So like her mother, so much so that she believed the wraith to be her. She looked so real, so much like the mother who had loved her and held her when the nightmares came, deep into the night. The same mother who’d soothe her when her magic would not cooperate and she had to do her lessons over and over again. The same loving mother who had tucked her into bed at night until… until…
Her mother had decided Elisandra, her daughter, was a threat. She had assassins sent to kill her one night as she slept. Her mother had lost her mind and had begun seeing things. She had penned Elisandra as another conspirator who had replaced her daughter and wanted her offed. Just like that, without confirming that it was really Elisandra whom she had ordered to end.
“No, don’t touch me! Don’t touch…” But her breath was cut off and she gasped as a blade jutted out from her chest, brilliant and bloody all at the same time.
“Don’t you know, mother? Don’t you know to never give a wraith the power to own you? It’s not hard, really.” Aveta shoved the knife further in and let her go, Elisandra crumbled to the floor, writhing and gasping for air.
Aveta watched her, knowing the wraith who had entranced her mother was near. She paid it no mind and without Elisandra to feed it, it faded and disappeared once more. Aveta did not smile or relish in the death of her mother. Though Elisandra still gasped and was unable to heal herself with the knife embedded in her heart, Aveta felt nothing. In fact, she felt so empty inside, and she knew it would be awhile before she felt anything again.
“Aveta…” Elisandra gasped as she reached toward her daughter, but the young woman stepped away.
“You stole me from my love. You chained me to my chambers without company, without a visit or a second thought of me. You threw me away and I did nothing but love you.” Aveta spoke but the words seem to come from someone else as she stared at her mother, who still struggled to breathe. The Queen shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
“Traitorous child…”
“Am I?” Aveta bent down to look at her mother eye to eye. “But who is the queen now?”
Elisandra’s face morphed to cold fury as she watched her daughter straighten and turn to leave the labyrinth.
“I have one thing left to take.” Elisandra hissed.
Aveta paid no mind as she continued her walk down the cavernous hall.
“You said I took your love from you? No. I did no such thing. But…I will make that accusation real. This one last moment, I grant you this one last thing.”
Aveta’s eyes widened and she turned to find the Queen holding her hands up in the air and whispering a curse as she closed her eyes and shot the last of her magic up toward the roof of the cavern.
What was she doing?
Aveta felt the ground rumble and swayed, reaching out to catch herself on the cavern wall. As she braced herself, she watched as the wall before her cracked from the ceiling to the ground. All around her, boulders and chunks of the cavern fell, and covered the floor with debris. As moments passed, it got worse as the structure began to collapse and the labyrinth walls began to fall, one by one, bringing much of the ceiling down with them.
Aveta turned to run, down the long corridors, twists and turns she’d memorized so many years ago. She dodged walls tilting down on her and shards of stalactites falling from nowhere and stabbing the ground with their massive spikes. She ran until the end of the cavern appeared, the one to the dungeon. As she turned back, she saw the last of the cavern disintegrate into rubble, impenetrable and full of boulders and rocks taller than any man.
She barely jumped into the dungeon when the cavern entrance sealed itself off from the rest of the castle with one huge slam of boulders that stopped pouring into the dungeon, as if cut off by some mystical boundary. The dust and dirt puffed into the room and the soldiers coughed and covered their noses as the cloud settled.
Aveta found herself on the ground, dirty, scraped in a trillion spots and her hair in wild tangles. She pushed off the floor to hop onto her feet and stare in horror at the collapsed tunnel which had held entrance to the labyrinth and to her love, Cranston.
“No!” She jumped onto the pile and ordered the stones to move, but only the small boulders dared to move, the larger ones ignored her commands and stayed put. There was no moving them, as if they were meant to seal off the labyrinth forever if they ever collapsed.
“No, please, no!” She slammed her fists against the rock, shaking some loose that rolled onto the ground before her.
“Your Majesty, we should leave, before the rest of the room collapses.” Her father, the first lieutenant held his hand out to her as he kneeled before her and touched her back gently.
His voice echoed in her head, but she barely registered it. She allowed him to lead her out of the dungeon and up into the rest of the Withering Palace. The soldiers and sluagh alike all kneeled as she walked past, a Queen in rags, dirty and bloodied from war. She had won everything and lost everything at the same time. A bitter sweet taste to relish.
He led her to Eladril, who’d also been enchanted to stay in her quarters for the last three years, but the spell was broken now and her faithful servant emerged, knowing without even asking what had ensued. She led the new Queen to her chambers to heal her, clean her up and redress her as the royal leader of all the Unseelie.
It was a glorious day for all as Queen Aveta ascended to her throne, a chair she had observed her entire life with wonder, now it held nothing but hate and heartbreak. She would never be happy here, but she had to rule, that was the whole idea of it all in the first place.
The only comfort she took in everything was that Cranston and his family were safe, deep beyond the dungeons of The Withering Palace in a place where poppies grew under the cherry blossom trees and the wind smelled of sweet honey, destined to remain peaceful forever. No one would bother them, as long as she lived, she would make sure no one knew of that place, a secret realm of Faerie.
Only The Withering Palace was privy to such a thing, and it spoke to no one but Aveta.
The End
Ready for more adventures in the Land of Faerie?
The series continues with Evangeline (A Dark Faerie Tale #0.5) and Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tale #1). http://amzn.com/B008ZHE2NQ
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Acknowledgements:
I want to thank my Indie Inked sisters. Your support has been endless and has pushed me to my limits, which I thought I’d never reach. I love
you guys and I know you’ll always have my back, and I yours.
Special thanks to my personal assistant Doris Orman, whose endless support has helped me become a better writer by freeing me up to do more of it. You rock and I’m lost without you!
Special thanks to those who helped me with some last minute stuff: Donna Gardner, J.T. Lewis, Joy Whiteside, Tiffany Saylor, Michelle McQueen, Raven Williams, Amber Wright, Juniper Wadsworth Olsen, Kathy Hanners, Sherry Christenson, Mira Dei Medici, Jennifer Martinez, Meredith Huyck and , Sandy Marie Apeldoorn,
Finally, thank you to my readers, you rock in every sense of the word. Your endless support help me continue doing what I love, telling stories! Without you, I’d still be lost in my own head by myself. Thank you!
About the Author
Alexia currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada–Sin City! She loves to spend every free moment writing or playing with her four rambunctious kids. Writing has always been her dream, and she has been writing ever since she can remember. She loves writing paranormal fantasy and poetry and devours books daily. Alexia also enjoys watching movies, dancing, singing loudly in the car and eating Italian food.
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Connect with Alexia Purdy:
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Twitter
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Goodreads Author page
Alexia Purdy’s Facebook Fan Page
Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tale) Facebook Fan page
Reign of Blood Series Facebook Fan Page
Also by Alexia Purdy:
Reign of Blood Series:
Reign of Blood
Disarming (Reign of Blood #2)
Elijah (The Miel Chronicles):
A Reign of Blood Companion Story
Amplified (Reign of Blood #3)
A Dark Faerie Tale Series:
Evangeline (A Dark Faerie Tale #0.5)
Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tale #1)
Ever Fire (A Dark Faerie Tale #2)
Ever Winter (A Dark Faerie Tale #3)
The Cursed (A Dark Faerie Tale #3.5)
Ever Wrath (A Dark Faerie Tale #4)
Short Stories:
The Faery Hunt
Never Say Such Things
Poetic Collections:
Whispers of Dreams
Five Fathoms
Anthology:
Beyond the Never
Soul Games
Faery Worlds
Available at all E-book retailers
DARK PROMISE
Dark Promise
A Between Worlds Novel
Julia Crane & Talia Jager
Copyright © 2012 Julia Crane and Talia Jager
All rights reserved.
This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission of the author.
This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events; to real people, living or dead; or to real locales are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and their resemblance, if any, to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental.
Published by Valknut Press, LLC
Cover Art by Kadri Umbleja
Editing by Christine LePorte
Formatted by CyberWitch Press, LLC
Acknowledgements
Our gratitude and appreciation to:
Our husbands, who love us and make writing possible;
Our kids, who make sure there is never a dull moment;
Our writer and reader friends, who beta read for us, encourage us, and help us;
Our team: Heather Adkins, Kadri Umbleja, Stephanie Mooney, and Christine LePorte for their services that make our book better.
Dedication
To our readers
Prologue
Hidden in the trees, Azura stood watching her daughter from afar, as she had done so many times in the past. Her daughter’s long blonde hair glistened in the sunlight, and her laughter danced on the breeze as she hurried down the sidewalk to the waiting car. Azura was too far away to see her child’s bright blue eyes, but she knew them well.
The humans had named her Rylie.
The humans who had become her parents, who had given Azura’s child a beautiful home, love, and happiness, and raised her as their own—and they had no idea that Rylie wasn’t theirs.
Tears sprang to Azura’s eyes as she remembered the day she had given her baby away to protect her. So much pain remained from what had been the hardest decision of her life. Azura had never been the same.
And now it was almost sixteen years later and time for Rylie’s transformation to begin. Soon, the girl would begin to change, and she wouldn’t understand why. She needed guidance; she needed to know what was in store.
But, most importantly, Azura needed to get her to safety before the dark faeries found her.
After her baby had been born with the mark of the Aurorian on her face, Azura was delighted to have such a special child. An Aurorian faery was extremely rare. The last one had been born over two hundred years before Azura’s child and had gone on to be a great, powerful faery. The mark meant that Rylie’s ability would be stronger than a normal faery’s power.
Azura had been awed by her precious new daughter, but even amidst the joy, she knew that the small star-shaped symbol on her infant’s face would bring darkness to them.
Only a few hours after Rylie’s birth, the dark faeries caught whispers of a marked child. Like bloodhounds, they showed up at Azura’s door and convinced her weak-minded husband to trade the child in exchange for access to their dark magick. Her husband had always thirsted for a better ability; it hadn’t taken much to sway him.
Even at the expense of his newborn daughter, Azura thought with disgust.
Azura knew she had to protect her child by switching her for a human one. In the human world, her daughter would have a chance. They knew nothing of faeries, much less the rare Aurorians, so prized for their power and revered for their ability to bring peace by force. Among humans, the child would have a chance at life.
While her husband discussed the terms of his agreement with the dark faery, Azura wrapped her child in a blanket and exited by way of the window. She went in search of a baby who was about to die.
If it weren’t for the fey’s ability to sense the passing of a life, things might have turned out for the worst, and her daughter could have been lost forever. But Azura thanked the gods for giving her not only the ability to sense the dying, but the power to disappear at will, so that nobody noticed Azura sneak into the hospital room, her child tucked against her body. Nobody saw as she took the dying human infant from its crib of wires and lamps to replace it with her own beloved daughter.
The human child didn’t survive but moments beyond the switch, as Azura knew would happen. Azura returned home, where she marked the dead baby’s face with the same birthmark—the birthmark that had been her daughter’s death sentence.
It was the only way to keep her little girl safe.
Azura took the child to her husband and the dark faeries, who were still seated in her kitchen as if they weren’t discussing the fate of a newborn. She had been relieved when the men believed the infant had died of natural causes.
She hadn’t only lost her baby that day. Ashamed—of his own behavior as a father willing to sell his child or of being unable to suit the terms of the dark faery agreement—Azura’s husband had disappeared. In one evening, she lost everything.
In the years to come, Azura had watched Rylie grow up from a distance. Although giving her up had been the hardest thing Azura had ever done, it only mattered that her daughter was safe.
Now, however, that was about to change. Once Rylie’s transforma
tion was complete, other faeries would be able to see that she was a faery, too. After they saw the birthmark, they’d know she wasn’t just any faery, but an Aurorian faery—and that put her in danger.
Azura had to go to her daughter and warn her of what was to come…but how?
Chapter One
Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I dabbed more concealer on the star-like birthmark near the corner of my right eye. It was useless; cover-up seemed to melt away when I put it over the pale shape. Stupid birthmark.
I considered making it pop, like I sometimes did by drawing lines to make it look like a shooting star, or outlining it with bright eyeliner to make it stand out—not that it didn’t already stand out next to the sapphire blue of my eye and my insanely pale skin. But if I tried to actually cover it, it rebelled—almost as if it had a life of its own.
With a sigh, I carefully placed the makeup back in the medicine cabinet, making sure everything was lined up perfectly. I switched a couple tubes around until they were color coordinated, and then arranged everything to face front to back. Things that were out of place drove me crazy.
I walked back to my room and stopped at the little white desk that my dad had made for me when I started middle school. An eerie feeling came over me, like I was being watched from beyond the window. Leaning over the desk, I pushed the turquoise curtains to the side and peered out, trying to find the source, but as usual, I saw nothing out of the ordinary. I shook it off and grabbed my iPhone and my early birthday present—a paisley Vera Bradley backpack. I had been bugging my mom to buy me one for months.
I hurried down the stairs and through the foyer into the kitchen. It was always bright and cheery, because the early morning sun shone right through the glass French doors and lit up the room. With the white and yellow walls, it was enough to make you feel better just by being there.
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