by J. L. Weil
Kai snickered.
Shooting him a death glare, I whirled on him, which meant I didn’t see Devyn move until my feet were swept off the ground. He slung me over his shoulder, a curtain of my hair falling over my face. “Devyn!” I screeched. “Put me down.”
His boots clamored back down the rickety stone steps; his fingers secured around my legs. “I’m saving you from yourself. That is also part of my job.”
My arms dangled down his back. “Not funny.” Although, the only one laughing was Kai. Go figure. The sadistic Unseelie would find this hilarious.
It was a half a mile before Devyn lowered me to my feet, satisfied we were far enough from the Divine Circle. I gave him an exasperated look as I smoothed my dark hair. “That was utterly unnecessary.”
The Shaman shrugged. “We can agree to disagree.”
Another mile or so went by before I could no longer handle the silence. My mind was still stuck on the Elder Tree and the darkness.
“I don’t understand something I read in the book Ryker gave me about the blight.” At the mention of my uncle, Devyn stiffened, but I continued. “If this evil goes that far back, to the beginning of this world, how did it originate? Was it always just here? And how did it get here? Was it really just because my grandfather died?”
Devyn drew in a measured breath. “There are theories, of course. Dark magic. A spell your grandfather weaved if anything should happen to him. Blood of the corrupted. All stories, as far as I’m concerned. Like with any good story, the truth of it gets lost through translation. Who is to say what is real or what is fabricated, spun by elaborate storytelling?”
My brows pinched. “So, you’re saying you have no idea why or how the darkness came to Katsura, only that it appeared after the king died?”
“Pretty much, Kitten.”
Unease bubbled in my stomach. “I have this feeling that the blight was caused intentionally, not naturally. And the more I think about it, the more I’m afraid it is true. It’s making me sick.”
Devyn considered my theory, but didn’t seem surprised by it, as if he, too, had thought about the possibility. “If a fae, or something else, brought this darkness into our world, I will hunt them down for you. They will wish they’d never done such a heinous act.”
“What would be the motive?” Kai asked, taking a sudden interest. His features were more serious than normal.
“I don’t know. Not yet. Power, maybe,” I suggested. It was the most obvious response.
“But only someone with royal blood would benefit from King Ryo’s death, assuming you were never found in the human world,” Kai countered. “Without an heir, any royal could have been appointed by the fae council, or a trial could have been held.”
“However, the blight changes things,” Devyn mused. “Not just any royal would do then. Only a Kitsune has the power to heal the land.”
We weren’t going to get answers by spitballing ideas here in Willowland. If I wanted answers, I had to get to Katsura. Only there I might be able to uncover the truth of what happened, not just to my grandfather but how the darkness came into existence. Surely, someone there had information.
We veered off the way, traveling deeper into the woods of past kings and queens. In the dwindling hours, I didn’t see a stitch of civilization. Nothing stirred, not even the land on either side of the off beaten path.
Then the rain started. Great. Another miserable night camping under the trees.
My only saving grace were the flames I created to dry our clothes the next morning, because nothing was worse than dirty, wet clothes clinging to the body.
Another week on the road stretched before us and the borders of Katsura— at least. I’d never walked so much in my life, and the only one happy about it was the fox inside me. It gave her the chance to run. She preferred the woods at night, when all the little fae critters came out, eyes glowing from the branches and behind the bushes. The fox wanted to hunt, now that the magic of the Divine Circle was no longer felt. That was one thing on which the Kitsune and I didn’t agree. Regardless of the desire to kill, I restrained those animal instincts.
However, the fox was growing stronger by the day, and I was confident that by the time we arrived in Katsura, I would not be able to suppress her needs any longer.
I shifted out of my fox form, shaking off the last tingles of magic that danced over my skin. The moons were two slices of crescent light in the night. I lifted my face, soaking in the pale glow. Behind me, Kai and Devyn’s footsteps moved quietly through the wild grass, Tink’s wings beating rapidly in the air. Devyn made me promise not to take off and to keep close. Another reason I had to rein in the fox.
“Did you enjoy your run?” Kai asked with a lazy half-smirk. The moon lightened his blond hair.
Stretching out my arms and rolling my neck, I smiled. “It was lovely. Now if only the rain would quit.”
“Can’t you work your mojo and banish the clouds?” Kai waved a hand toward the sky.
“I could, but I prefer not to mess with nature.”
“How do you know the storm is natural?” he asked, brow raised. “It could very well be another fae.”
“I could have done without that information,” I mumbled, eyeing the grey sky with a suspicion that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
Devyn’s hand suddenly reached out, clasping around my arm to stop me in my tracks. I shifted my gaze in his direction, brows lifted in question. Yet, as our eyes connected, I understood his concern.
Small tremors quaked under my feet like Hell was rumbling, and a zinging current crackled over my skin. It was the only warning right before a shudder ripped through the world, so strong that it knocked me off my feet.
Chapter Sixteen
KARINA
Devyn helped me stand, while Kai dusted the dirt from his pants. “What the hell was that?” I asked. Uninjured, the shock of what happened had my heart battering against my chest.
The look Devyn and Kai shared did nothing to quiet the anxiety bouncing inside me. If anything, the uneasiness between them was freaking me out. “They’ve closed the borders,” Devyn finally informed, his green eyes glancing off into the distance as a muscle feathered along his jaw.
Tink hugged a thin tree branch nearby, appearing to be unharmed.
“Why would they close the borders? And which kingdom?” I inquired. After the severity of that shock, I couldn’t be sure from where it had stemmed. The boundary of Katsura was still days away, so I wasn’t sure it mattered.
That had to be bad. Really bad.
“Willowland,” Kai answered, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“What does that mean?” I hated having to ask a million questions. Hated not understanding all the inner workings of each kingdom.
Glints of moonlight shimmered off Devyn’s bright eyes. “It means no one comes or leaves this place until they open again.”
Blood rushed into my head as understanding dawned. That meant I couldn’t get to Katsura, which explained the deep frown that settled on Devyn’s lips. “How can they do that?”
“The more pressing question is, why would Lady Awyn close the borders,” Kai mused.
“Who?” I asked, rubbing at my scuffed elbow. I’d sustained a few scratches from the fall that were already starting to heal.
“Lady Awyn rules over Willowland,” Tink informed, landing on my shoulder. “She has for the last two hundred years.
Holy shit. Two hundred years?
Devyn’s spine stiffened; his eyes set onto a particular point in the distance. “Something must be happening. It’s been decades since a region in the Second Moon shut down its walls to the other kingdoms.”
“I guess we have no choice but to find out,” I muttered, a sinking feeling pitting in my belly.
Devyn’s gaze slid in my direction. “I don’t like this.” His tone hardened.
Despite my desperate prayers over the following days, my hopes of being wrong were crushed once we reached the edge of W
illowland. What should have been the crossing into a magical kingdom, was a glass wall that prevented us from leaving.
My heart cleaved open.
In front of us, loomed the golden gate that should have welcomed us home. Lining both sides stood a fence made of thorns. Dark stains congealed on parts of the metal, and I was positive it was blood.
I glared at the invisible wall that stood in our way, making it impossible for us to pass through the gate and see to the other side. “There has to be a way to get through. Kai, can’t you void to the other side and unlock a door or something?”
“It isn’t locked with a key, little queen. I’d have to break the magical lock, but even then, we’d have the shield to deal with. And as much as it pains me to admit, I’m not sure I can break the protection.” He tilted his head to the side, like he was studying the spell that barred us from Katsura.
“How fucking tall is this thing?” I raged, pounding my fists on the clear barrier that stretched to the sky, disappearing into gray clouds smudged like charcoal on paper over our heads. A shock jolted through me with each hit.
“The protective wards are said to reach the world of the gods,” Tink whispered. She was standing on the ground—something she rarely did—her neck craned back.
“They were a gift from the gods themselves,” Devyn informed, shoving a hand through his hair.
“Fucking great,” I snapped at no one in particular. “Now what?”
Devyn turned his back to the shield and faced me, shoulders back. “We talk to Awyn,” he said pointedly.
Rolling his eyes, Kai snorted. “Wonderful. That should go over well.”
“Let me guess, she hates you?” I asked dryly.
The Unseelie’s grin was full of wicked delight. “On the contrary, little queen. Awyn adores me. Perhaps a bit too much. It’s my brother she isn’t fond of. Isn’t that right, Devyn?”
A tense moment passed between them with the look Devyn cut him. “Shut up.”
Kai laughed.
Okay, now I was beyond curious about why Awyn had a problem with the Shaman. There was a story there, I sensed it, and I wanted to know what it was. Yet, I had a feeling neither of the two were going to spill the details. “Is Lady Awyn even going to see us?” I asked, twisting my necklace.
Devyn’s features turned to stone. “She won’t have a choice. You’re the queen of Katsura.”
Apprehension flickered through me. “You’re forgetting one minor detail, Devyn.”
A single brow lifted.
“I haven’t been crowned. No other ruler will acknowledge me as queen until I’m sitting on the throne.” Which wouldn’t happen if I couldn’t get to my own kingdom. My life was such a damn mess all the time.
Kai stepped away from the gate and turned his body toward a path in the opposite direction. “Awyn is known to be a fair ruler.”
That time it was Devyn who snorted. “She is also known to be finicky and to hold a grudge… for decades.” He sounded as if he knew it from personal experience. Again, I couldn’t help being curious about his relationship with Lady Awyn.
“She sounds lovely. Can’t wait to meet her,” I muttered, feeling anything but excitement.
The detour to Willowland’s central city, where Lady Awyn resided, was an inconvenience, as was the fact that the borders were closed. I had seen the defense that kept its residents from leaving and visitors from entering, and I was almost afraid to find out what happened to a person who tried to pass them. An image of being fried to the point where my skeleton zapped like a cartoon flashed in my mind.
This kingdom was made of endless forests, wild fields of flowers, and occasional low plateaus of mossy grass and stone. It was a beautiful land, and if I weren’t so stressed out, I might have been able to appreciate its whimsical yet mythical charm. Tink seemed right at home, fluttering among the colorful flowers. Perhaps this was her home. I had never asked from which part of the Second Moon she came.
I smelled the smoke, the scent of burning wood and savory meats before I saw the lights. Cresting over a hill, I caught my first glimpse of Daevion, the capital of Willowland.
Buildings crafted of stone that aged to a grayish color stood tall. In the center of the city was a castle, surrounded by towers. Hidden in the trees were safeguards, my Kitsune picking up the hum of magical wards.
“Will we be welcomed?” I murmured as we walked tiredly along the pebbled path leading into the city.
Devyn’s sharp eyes darted from one corner to the other. “There are guards in each of the towers. They won’t let us get inside the castle without being greeted and vetted first. This is the one time we will actually benefit from Kai’s companionship.”
Kai half-heartedly objected with a snort. “I can recall more than one occasion where I’ve been an asset to our little queen.”
A low growl rumbled in Devyn’s throat. “She is not our anything.”
Winking at me, Kai continued to saunter by my other side, sandwiching me between the two of them. “Ah, but she will be our queen, little brother, even if she is your mate. It’s imperative for you to learn to share her now, rather than later.”
If I hadn’t been in the middle, Devyn would have surely reached out and grabbed his stepbrother by the shirt. “Cut the shit and just get us inside the castle,” he snarled.
With a smirk, Kai glanced at me. “If the queen asks nicely…”
“Kai, can you please get me inside to see Lady Awyn?” I quickly asked, before Devyn kicked-drop him right in the middle of town.
He tipped his head toward me. “It would be my pleasure, little queen.”
Once the sentinels approached us outside of the massive arched doorways, Kai lifted a hand in greeting. In unison, the men crossed their spears in an X, blocking us from further entrance. The pair, dressed in fae fighting leathers, turned their keen eyes to Devyn.
The Shaman scowled in return.
“I said I would get you inside the castle,” Kai muttered out the side of his mouth to me. “I never promised I’d get the Shaman inside.”
“Kai,” I groaned, his name rolling off my tongue like a curse. “I’m not going anywhere without Devyn.”
“How did I know you’d say that?” A heavy sigh expelled from his lungs. “I’ll vouch for the Sin Eater,” Kai told the hostile men, as if the words were sour in his mouth.
Neither seemed altogether pleased with Kai’s endorsement on my mate’s behalf, and I worried we would be turned away before stepping a single foot in the castle.
They continued to eye Devyn in a way that screamed they wanted to run him through with a spear, until Kai grew bored of waiting, and opened his mouth to undoubtedly say something sarcastic. Before he could, the sentinels lowered their weapons, reluctantly letting us pass.
“Wise choice,” Kai added like a self-righteous royal, and then led us through the ancient fortress, obviously well acquainted with its layout.
“How well do you know Lady Awyn?” I quietly asked, giving Kai a sidelong glance.
His lips curled into a smile that resembled that of a satisfied male, who knew intimate details about the woman of the house.
I scrunched up my nose. “Isn’t she, like old?” The last thing I wanted to envision was Kai doing the nasty with any woman, but a wrinkled hag was even worse.
His chuckle was downright devious. “Age with fae is irrelevant. You and Devyn are both considered babies to most of us.”
“Yeah, but I’ll still kick your ass,” Devyn made sure to add. The Shaman’s eyes continued to skim around every corner we passed, as if he was waiting for someone to storm down the hall and order his arrest. He was edgy, which then made me edgy.
I tried to relax by taking in the castle details while we walked, from the blue velvet curtains to the maple furnishes. Each room held warmth. Lady Awyn had a different approach than that of my Uncle Ryker. Her home, regardless that it was constructed of stone, oozed comfort and hominess.
Crossing a set of double doors,
Kai took us into a courtyard. It wasn’t the lush greens or statues that stopped me in my tracks.
It was the lady of the castle.
Awyn wasn’t seated on a throne as I expected, but lounging on a bench in front of a water fountain. Mist wove in and around her body, giving her an ethereal aura. The front part of her long dark hair was twisted into a crown of braids on the top of her head, the remaining fell almost to her waist.
“Hello, Kai,” the queen purred. “It is always a pleasure to see you, but…” Awyn’s tawny eyes shifted to Devyn. “You know the Sin Eater and I are on uneven footing these years.” The seductive smile reserved for Kai turned predatory on Devyn, fae canines gleaming.
Kai walked over to Awyn and kissed both sides of her cheeks. “Yes, well, he is family.”
“Hmm.” She pressed her lips together.
There was something chillingly beautiful about her, but I sensed I needed to be careful.
“And you must be the half human our entire world is in an uprise about. Hello, Your Highness.” She gave a slight nod of her head, in what was almost a sign of respect.
Dare I hope?
Two guards shifted into a stance at the courtyard’s entrance, and I feared this might not be a friendly meeting after all. “Lady Awyn. Thank you for seeing me,” I greeted, doing my best to sound dignified.
“You’re a royal, despite what some might think, and that means something to me. I still respect the old ways. There was a time when fae took humans to bed regularly.” Her casual mention of sex was probably meant to shock me. It didn’t work. Not after I had already more or less pictured her in bed with Kai.
“Then you understand why and who Devyn is to me.” I wanted to make a clear point to Awyn. Nothing would happen to Devyn, not unless she wanted to have a problem with me.
Her clever gaze regarded the Shaman silently as her fingernails tapped against the bench. “He is your guardian, that is obvious, but what I am most interested in, is the fact that you have taken him as your mate.” She tsked. “That is against the rules.”