Wings of Fate: (Kingdoms of Faerie Book 1)

by Skye Horn

  The moonlight lit the clearing beautifully for his trained eyes, but he knew she still hadn’t learned how to use her senses.

  “You’re angry, and we are going to use that emotion,” he said, but she rolled her eyes, actually rolled her eyes. “Is that funny?”

  “It’s just that every single story you read about the ordinary person growing into a hero goes like this.”

  “Well, every story has to originate from something, doesn’t it? Maybe there’s truth in using emotion to fuel your power.” His wings stretched out behind him, and he watched Thea’s eyes widen a little as she realized what he planned to do.

  “You want me to fight you?” Her voice cracked. “Using magic?”

  “You can’t exactly fight Faylon.” He laughed, and the unicorn snorted in response. Thea’s face paled. “But first, I actually just want you to block my attacks. It’s dark, so this won’t be a test of using the elements, but we will test enhancing your senses with magic.”

  She seemed confused, so without hesitation he flew at her and, using the darkness as his companion, knocked her off her feet. He didn’t hit her hard enough to hurt her, but he imagined it would leave a bruise for the next day. He’d swept his wing under her leg, tripping her before she could even react, and caused her to land right on her tailbone. She cursed, rubbing her arm, which she’d thrown down to catch herself, and glared up at him.

  “Use your senses,” he repeated as she stood up again. He circled her, watching her eyes as they followed his foot movement, but not his wings. That was her first mistake.

  He lunged in again and used his wing to pin her back against a nearby tree. She whimpered and struggled against his iron grip.

  “This isn’t fair. You’re obviously stronger than me!”

  “Am I?” He let her go and tilted his head. “Maybe physically, but you need to use your—”

  “Senses, I know.” She spat out a little bit of blood from where she must have bitten her tongue and glowered at him.

  “Let’s try again.”

  The warriors’ dance went on for nearly an hour, but Thea didn’t seem to be listening or improving. Instead of using her senses, she kept trying to use the elements, which Kieran dodged with ease. He grew frustrated with her as the time ticked by, and finally, after pinning her yet again to the same tree with one of the same moves he’d been repeating, he quit.

  “You’re not listening to me,” he glowered, crossing his arms.

  “I don’t know how to use my senses, Kieran.” Thea sounded as frustrated as he felt. She’d already said this to him multiple times, but he didn’t know how to explain it to her. This was why they were trained as children, not adults. Children were far easier to explain things to, because they didn’t overthink what they were being told. Thea, on the other hand, was overthinking everything. “I’m never going to get this!”

  Kieran walked over to Thea, who immediately tensed up, as if she were expecting him to throw her on the ground or trip her again. She had minor cuts on her arms and face that made Kieran angry with himself. He hated hurting her, even if it was only minor injuries. He wanted to protect her, not cause her pain and anger.

  “I think I’m messing this up,” he said. “Let’s try something else.”

  Thea let out an audible sigh of frustration, but nodded that she would try whatever he wanted.

  “I want you to think about Marcus.” This seemed to catch her off guard. She tilted her head at him, as if waiting for the punchline. “Just trust me. I want you to think about Marcus and his death.”

  She recoiled. He knew she didn’t want to think about it, but this was all he had left. He didn’t know how to get her to tap into her emotion without completely overloading, but maybe she needed to overload. Maybe she needed to let herself feel the pain of losing Marcus again so that she could move on. He stepped away from her, giving her space to truly examine him.

  “Remember how helpless you felt with Amara? You’re not helpless. You have power beyond any other Fae, just waiting to be tapped into, but you need to find a reason to do it. You need to remember that Marcus wouldn’t have died if you had been more powerful. You need to remember that you could have saved him.”

  The words were harsh, and Kieran didn’t even know if they were true. Amara had put Thea in an impossible position, but he saw the anger burning in Thea’s eyes regardless. She believed she wasn’t strong enough to save Marcus, and he needed her to believe she could be strong enough to save them all. Her fingers twitched, and her eyes narrowed on him. He wanted to take back what he’d said, but it was too late, so he stuck by it. He squared his shoulders and stepped to the right slowly. Her eyes followed him instinctively. He saw the animal waiting to pounce. She didn’t move, though. Instead, her chest rose and fell in a subtle breath, just giving her away enough that Kieran knew she planned something.

  “Focus, Thea,” he reminded her and then lunged. She dodged his move with grace, and he fought back the urge to smile at the improvement. “If you can’t beat me, you’ll never beat Malachi.”

  This time, she stepped to the side, mirroring his movements. She glanced at his wings, his feet, and then finally his eyes, never allowing her gaze to settle for too long on one place.

  “Marcus is dead, and if you don’t get control of yourself, you and I will be dead too.”

  She lunged at him, but he dodged, causing her to stumble a little. Just as she regained her balance, he moved in her direction, ducking low to try catching her feet with his wings the same way he’d done multiple times before. This time, she jumped gracefully out of the way and landed light as a cat on her feet.

  “You’re not helping.” Her breathing was shallow, and he saw the tears that had swelled behind her angry eyes. It broke his heart, but he knew, despite her argument, that he was helping. She had dodged several of his attempts to knock her off her feet, and he hadn’t been going easy on her.

  They circled each other now, stalking slowly. Since she’d managed to dodge his physical attacks, he thought he’d try something else. He focused his mind and sent a gust of wind toward her without warning, causing her to fly back a few steps. She actually fell this time, but was back on her feet within seconds, not allowing him any time to get a hold on her.

  “You said no magic!”

  “Actually, I said you couldn’t use elemental magic.” This time, Kieran grinned, knowing it would annoy her. Surprisingly, Thea held up her hands and sent a similar gust of air back at him. His wings fluttered to keep him standing, and he soared into the air, roaring with laughter as she panted below. “Okay, I deserved that one.”

  He circled her from above and then dove quickly, just missing her as she rolled to the side. Her pants were coated in mud and snow now, and her hair had come loose from its braid. However, she continued to hold her ground, and her eyes focused on him, despite the darkness. Kieran knew she was finally tapping into her senses, because if she hadn’t been, there would be no way she could have avoided him. She could see him more clearly now and hear his wings folding behind him as he stood across from her.

  He watched as she ran her fingers through her red locks, brushing them off her face. Her chest rose in quick breaths, but she no longer looked ready to give up. Instead, she lowered to the ground and touched the forest floor with a smirk that made his heart skip. The ground trembled, and the roots of the trees shot up from the earth, reaching for him. It caught him by surprise, and he didn’t have time to get himself off the ground before they wrapped around his ankles. They tightened uncomfortably, and Kieran knew he was not off the hook for his comments about Marcus as Thea stalked toward him. He saw the power radiating behind her eyes. Golden specks lined her gray irises and her fingers twitched.

  She moved with utter grace and silence toward him.

  “See?” he said, trying not to sound nervous as she neared him. He knew there was no way he was getting himself out of her grip at the moment. His wings stretched out, trying to gain momentum, but he was a mous
e stuck in a trap. “I knew you could do it.”

  An orange glow settled over the trees as Thea stopped in front of Kieran. She no longer looked angry, but instead examined the way the roots held Kieran with a fascinated gaze.

  “I don’t feel like I’m going to pass out,” she said suddenly.

  “That’s because you were using all of your senses and balancing the magic instead of just wearing it all out in one swoop of power.”

  She kneeled down to touch the roots that twisted around his legs, and he swallowed hard, trying not to look at her kneeling in front of him.

  “I can’t teach you everything in one night, but this was a good start.” Kieran’s voice shook just slightly, drawing Thea’s attention back to his face. She touched the ground again, releasing him from the magical hold, and then stood straight once more.

  “Do you really believe Marcus died because I was too weak?” Thea asked in a small voice.

  “No, but I think people will continue dying if we don’t train you properly.” Kieran looked at her sympathetically. He knew his words had hurt her, but she would not say so. She nodded her head at him and then looked toward the rising sun.

  “I’m terrified that I won’t be able to learn everything in time to stop him,” she admitted.

  “You aren’t going to do this alone,” Kieran reminded her and stepped to stand at her side. “We’ll face this together.”

  He watched her watching the sunrise. The weight she’d lost in the weeks leading up to this point would take time to regain, as would her strength, but new found confidence was clear on her face. He would do everything in his power to get her back to full strength before he let her anywhere near King Malachi, but what scared him was her determination to prove herself worthy. If Thea really had been chosen by the Goddess to stop the darkness that Morrigan brought, then they really needed to prepare. A squeaky yawn from Thea told Kieran they couldn’t continue their training tonight. He smiled at her as she blushed and reached out to squeeze her hand. After the adrenaline of the training, Kieran wanted to do nothing more than to pull Thea against himself. They’d been exhausted from their constant movement over the last couple of days, not to mention he’d been worried they might’ve been followed. Now that they’d found a safe place to camp, the nervousness that she usually brought to him returned.

  He wanted to be with her, despite the rules against it, and that want was growing more and more difficult to control. He recalled the way her body had felt pressed against him during that stolen moment in his bedroom and wondered what might have happened if Ethel hadn’t walked in when she did. That moment had been a loss of control on both of their parts, but he didn’t regret it. If anything, it made being alone with her so much more difficult. They’d hardly touched, aside from some hand-holding and training, since they’d left Grimwalde, and Kieran suddenly realized just how much he hated that. It felt like his body was missing a limb when he was not near her. She’d asked him if he believed in soulmates, and how could he deny a soulmate who was standing directly in front of him?

  Is my love real enough to risk it all?

  He wanted to do more than touch Thea. He wanted to shout his love for her to the heavens and dare them to take her away from him. His mind spun with ideas of running away, of protecting her from the unknown future ahead of them so that he could selfishly keep her to himself forever. He knew it was wrong, but he wanted nothing more than to keep her safe and with him.

  “You should get some rest,” Kieran finally said. “I’ll take the first shift.”

  Thea looked toward the tent, oblivious to Kieran’s inner turmoil, and nodded her head. The dark shadows under her eyes reminded him just how tired she was, and he felt guilty for wanting to do anything but allow her to recover. He needed to get his head out of the clouds and focused back on the mission at hand. It was his job to get Thea prepared to fight the king, because if he failed, they would likely both die.

  She reached out and squeezed his hand.

  “Thank you for being patient with me,” she said. He could do nothing but nod. Her hand felt tiny in his own, and he fought the urge to lace his fingers with hers. The sun was rising above the trees now, reflecting beautifully on the lake’s surface, but the light made them vulnerable. He knew the likelihood of the king’s soldiers venturing toward the Threshold was low now that Thea was already in Faerie, but that didn’t mean he could just lower his guard. Despite wanting to follow her to the tent, Kieran watched as Thea walked away, disappearing into the shelter.

  Just as he was turning to scout the border of the lake, he saw Thea drop her muddy and wet clothing outside the tent’s opening. He swallowed hard and launched himself into the sky before his imagination could torture him any longer.

  Chapter 15

  Thea’s wet clothing left her shivering even after being discarded outside. She pulled on a dry nightshirt Iris had been kind enough to pack and attempted untangling her hair with her fingers. It felt disgusting, not having been washed in days, and she thought it was a wonder she even managed to get it into a braid that morning. She could hear Kieran flying above their campsite in a way that she’d never been able to before. Her newly sharpened Faerie senses, as she had decided to call them, made her feel like a different person. She wondered how she’d done anything without getting herself killed before learning how to use them. Without worry of exhaustion, Thea concentrated on warming the air inside the tent, and sighed happily when her shivering eased. A week ago, that simple magic would have been impossible for her to do. Now, it took only a sliver of her energy and a little focus.

  When her hair was finally untangled enough to lie down, Thea pulled a blanket over herself and rested her head on the pillow. She thought about Kieran protecting her from the skies above and smiled. The last couple of days had been difficult for both of them, and Thea knew Kieran worried about being followed. She desperately wished she could do more to help him relax, but the only thing she could really do was train enough to keep them from getting themselves killed when the time came to face danger again.

  Thea tucked an arm under her pillow and turned onto her side so she could watch the entrance of the tent. Training had left her sore and exhausted, so she shifted, trying to get comfortable on the hard ground. She’d done her best to clear the snow from beneath their tent before setting it up, but that left only the icy earth to cushion her sleep. It was not the most ideal. It made her miss Kieran’s large, pillow-covered bed, but she’d take the hard ground over putting the rest of their friends in danger any day.

  She closed her eyes, knowing the exhaustion would overtake her soon, and let her body relax into the blankets. It was difficult to fall asleep when the world continued to move around you, and having her days and nights switched did not help the dilemma. However, exhaustion won the battle against discomfort and within minutes reality faded into dreams.

  In this dream, Thea walked along the edge of the lake. She didn’t hear the Threshold calling her the way it had when they’d just arrived, but then again, she knew this was a dream. She walked barefoot through the grass, for in this dream it was spring, and then came to a stop at the sound of children’s voices.

  On the other side of the lake were two girls; neither realized that Thea stood watching. They looked to be only ten or eleven years old, and Thea watched as their bodies trembled with giggles when one tossed a bundle of flowers at the other, decorating her in shades of blue and yellow. One girl had hair the same color as Thea’s, while the other had hair as dark as midnight. They wore crowns of flowers atop their heads and sat in the grass picking daisies. The red-haired girl had tossed the flowers at the dark-haired one, before surprisingly making more grow from the ground with just her fingertips. Both girls smiled as the new blossoms sprang to life.

  “Children are always so innocent,” said a voice that caught Thea by surprise.

  A woman stood beside her, wearing a nearly see-through chiffon gown. Thea recognized Ainé immediately. For a moment, Thea onl
y stared at her, stunned by her beauty. She wore a crown of flowers similar to the ones that sat on the girls’ heads, and she smiled sadly as she watched them. Thea looked over at the children who continued to play without a care in the world about who might be watching them.

  “That’s you.” Thea didn’t need to ask. The girl’s red hair was identical to that of the woman standing beside her. Plus, there was something about the way she held herself, even as a child, that was familiar. “And that is…”

  Thea watched the dark-haired girl, tilting her head as if to get a better look. The name of the girl stuck to the top of her mouth like peanut butter, but how could she say it? How could that innocent child be the monster she was supposed to stop?

  “My sister, Morrigan,” Ainé confirmed without Thea even needing to ask the question. “Before she changed.”

  “What happened?” Thea asked. She knew it was an intrusive question, but if the Goddess was showing her this memory, she assumed it must be for a good reason.

  “She became jealous of my love for humanity.”

  “And that’s what made her a monster?” Thea said in disbelief.

  It seemed silly to her, but then again, until recently she’d never had a sister.

  “Jealousy is a dangerous emotion,” Ainé said, finally looking away from the two girls and at Thea. “You know that, though.”

  Thea thought of Kieran’s reaction to finding out about Marcus and blushed, embarrassed. She wondered just how much the Goddess knew about her and Kieran.

  “Is Kieran my soulmate?” she asked suddenly. Thea was pleased to see that she’d caught Ainé by surprise with her question. That meant she was not as all-knowing as everyone talked her up to be.