Page 245 of A Dawn of Gods & Fury

“But why?” she pushes, not challenging my claim about the creatures that vanished.

I shrug.

Desty is silent as she traces the swirling lines on the stone with her fingertip.

“That looks like the writing on your forehead.”

“It is the script of the light.”

“We have one of these stones in Cirilea. It has something to do with the nymphs but I have no idea what.”

She hesitates. “The balance here is off.”

“I have no idea what you mean by that.”

“I sense both light and shadow in this cave. I cannot find the source of the light, and the shadow grows stronger by the minute.” Her black gaze veers to the corner where Queen Neilina and Tyree are as she says this.

“Your eyes haven’t gone back to normal. You know that, right?”

“I have reached for the light too much lately. They will remain like this for some time.”

“Is that a bad thing?” I know nothing about this conjurer except that she has helped us immensely, at her own peril.

She worries her lips over her answer. “I did not ask to be made this way. I did not ask for any of it.”

A dainty hand appears then, pawing at the ledge, and Queen Neilina sits up. Even from where I sit, I can see that the wounds in her chest and neck are closed. That is unheard of—to heal so quickly and from such devastating injuries without the aid of a caster.

“Mother.” Tyree bows his head in deference to his queen.

“Fates, Romeria looks exactly like her,” I whisper. Neilina’s blue eyes are glacial, though, as they rake over her surroundings, barely acknowledging me. Whatever happened to her, it must have been awful.

“Where am I?”

“In a mountain in Udrel,” Tyree says, drawing her gaze to him.

Her lashes flutter as she blinks, as if noticing her son there for the first time. “Prince Tyree of Ybaris.” It’s not a question, but it is an odd way to address your son. Then again, he did say people call her cold and distant.

A frown flickers across his forehead. “Yes.”

“Help me rise.”

He sets the tokens down and collects her hands, easing her to her feet.

She wobbles with her first steps, the skirt of her elegant gold and silver dress tattered and streaked with dirt. “How did I get here?”

“We do not know. We found you lying there with a blade through your neck.” He gestures at the makeshift bed. “We are high in the mountains with nothing but wyverns.”

“Wyverns,” she hisses, and an odd look of comprehension washes over her. “This is Vin’nyla’s meddling.”

Destry and I share a knowing look. My guess may not have been wrong. But it doesn’t explain why the fate would send the Ybarisan queen to a mountain in Udrel.

“Why are you here?” Neilina demands to know.

“That is a very long story, involving an escape from Cirilea, sea sirens, and conjurers chasing Annika.” He nods toward me.

I stand and take a step forward, offering Ybaris’s queen a polite nod. She may be dreadful, but she is Tyree’s mother, and despite my better judgment, I have feelings for him.

Her gaze narrows. “You are one of Malachi’s demons.”

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