Page 25 of A Book of Royals and Deities

Just most.

“At least you were given the chance to love anyone. I was never allowed that privilege.”

We stare at each other until she nods her head to the barrier. “Maybe you will find love in there with your people.” Her eyes drop to the book. “Finish your task, Avaluna.” I follow her gaze to the box, hanging in a bag attached to my horse’s saddle. The book can’t do more than occasionally whisper through it; whatever that box is made of keeps it well and truly protected in there, but I still feel the weight of it like it’s heavy, not in a physical sense but in another way. A weight on my soul. I’ll be glad to get rid of it. “My father…he’ll come for you. Do you know that? You’ve not fulfilled your life in the way that he wanted, and by running away… It’s an insult he will not accept. I imagine he took flight the second he could, and those monsters are not far behind us.”

I shiver and not from the cold. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to unsee those creatures. The thought of the king, my abuser, chasing me on one…deities no. “I’ll make sure to keep a dagger next to me at all times because I’m ending my life before I let him take me back. He’ll come for you too, princess.”

She pats her thigh, where a dagger is clipped in. “I know, and I’d do the same. He’ll never find me. No one will ever again. I want to fade from this world and not have a title anymore. My mother, she died to make sure I could have this. She won’t be remembered as anything but some horrible queen of the vampyres who did evil acts, except in my memory. Because to me, she had two sides. One she was forced to be to survive, and the other was a mother.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to say something, anything, but I don’t find the words. She finds them for me. “Isn’t it funny? Every woman I know in this world is a victim, not a warrior, not a fighter. Then I met you, and you fought all the way here. You ran with me for a different future. Maybe there’d be a world where women aren’t just victims. Fae or vampyre.”

“Wouldn’t that be a dream?” I respond. The princess leaves unceremoniously, her horse as fast as a shooting star. I watch as she goes, disappearing into the thick forest in the opposite direction of the glittering barrier of magic. The howling wind is cold tonight, and I swear there’s a taste of snow drifting in the breeze. I shiver, even with the thick black coat wrapped around my shoulders. The weather is such a stark contrast to the sandy deserts of the south, where I have spent most of my life. I remember when I visited these lands last, and it was cold then.

Time to get through the barrier and find my freedom. I lift my chin and lead my horse straight towards the barrier that looks brighter, pouring light through the dark trees so I don’t even need a fire to see. The forest path is jagged and hard to ride through, and it takes me longer than I’d like to navigate through it. I can’t even see through the bushes and trees, but I know I’m getting close. The box starts shaking from side to side, vibrating almost all the time. My horse neighs and riles up, nearlythrowing me off, but I hold on as he settles. The box doesn’t stop vibrating. I pat his black mane. “It’s okay. Calm.”

Something more startles him. He stops, digging his hooves in, neighing loudly. I have to pull the reins tight to push him forward with more gentle encouragement, and I force him to go close to the barrier. He doesn’t want to, but he does, thankfully. When I’m a footstep away from the barrier, I reach out to touch it, but my hand just slips straight through like it doesn’t exist. The queen was right. I turn my horse and lead him into the barrier, and he manages to walk straight through with me. When I come out on the other side, there’s silence, followed by the sound of wings. Giant wings.

My eyes widen as I turn my head up, a shadow covering me like a thick cloud of rain, and I see a dragon. A real, alive dragon. The huge dragon flies straight across the sky. A magnificent, sparkling creature that looks like the purest grey tined diamonds. I watch in awe as it swiftly flies through the sky above, and I spot a person on its back. A fae. Gods, it’s all true.

I look in awe, in absolute awe of the magnificent creature before more fill the sky, all of them flying around. These dragons are bright yellow or gold, and much smaller than the grey one. They fly like they are in a formation, like it’s an army. An army getting ready for war. They definitely need this. I wonder if the sickness will be able to get through this barrier behind me. I need to tell whoever’s in charge of all this. They need to know what is coming behind me.

I follow the dragons through the forest. It’s easy to track them with the way they rustle the trees. Soon I start coming across tents, rows of tents and fae who have made their homes here, cooking and cleaning clothes to hang on lines between trees. Some cautiously watch me, and I notice right away that I’mattracting a lot of attention. I tug my cloak hood up and push my horse on down a cleared road. The box isn’t shaking anymore, and I don’t know if that’s worse than it shaking, but I feel like it’s happy, like it wants me to go this way.

Deities above, I hope I’m doing the right thing by bringing it here. I didn’t have anywhere else to go, unless I found my sister and her family. But going to them is a risk, and I know they will be safe with the rebellion. They are masters at making fae disappear—the odd vampyre too.

I don’t get much further before a huge man steps into my path, and I freeze. He’s stunning, absolutely breathtakingly every inch of what a male should be. Heat floods my body from my cheeks to my toes. I don’t know what to make of it as he stares right back at me with a cold unflinching gaze, with brown eyes so deep in colour that they don’t seem real. He’s tall, coming up on my horse’s neck, but it’s the way he holds himself that tells me he is well trained.

He has perfected himself. His dark hair is tied at the back of his neck, but some locks curl around his forehead. My mouth goes dry as he walks right over, smelling of smoke and wood. The smelling of all things forbidden and burning a desire in my stomach I haven’t felt in a long time. “I haven’t seen you around here before. Where exactly are you from in the city? And why are you coming close to the mansion? This path is to be kept clear. You must have heard the rules.”

Speak, Avaluna. Use your words. “I came from outside the barrier.”

His lips twitch. “Are you joking? You may be pretty, but not everyone’s going to believe your stories.” I grit my teeth, and his humour disappears when he realises I’m not joking with him.“You need proof or you need to leave the path. Go somewhere else.”

“I have a magical book in my bag, here.” I pat the bag. “Hidden in a box. If you take it out, it’ll start talking to you and make you go mad. I know what the vampyre king is doing right now because I was his blood slave and have been for years. The vampyre queen got me out and paid with her life. She sent me here to try to help. She sent me messages with warnings. The longer you and I stand here talking to each other, the longer the vampyre king out there has to amass an army, which we should all be very fucking fearful of. Please trust me and take me to whomever I need to see. I’ve travelled for a month straight to get here.”

I don’t know why he believes me. I wouldn’t if I was in his shoes, but he does. “I’m Calix. You?”

“Avaluna Lurion. I like to be called Luna.” I don’t want anyone to call me Ava again. That was his nickname for me, and I’m done hearing it. Luna was what my mother called me and what my family does too.

“Well then,Luna, I’ll lead your horse through. You can talk to my king. I don’t think you’re lying, but if he thinks you are, you’re dead.” A shiver goes down my spine, and I gulp, even when I have nothing to be scared of, because I’m not lying. I stay silent on the ride, sneaking looks at the handsome fae with spiked ears and a perfect jawline. Calix’s eyes drift back to me a few times, and I feel this draw to him, a strange draw to him.

I don’t usually like men, not in that sense. I am very much attracted to the male kind, but after all the years of abuse from the king, I’ve never dared look at another male, never dared let my eyes stray to anything that I could want for myself. But thismale, this huge man, has my heart racing. Maybe he thinks it’s in fear, but I can’t seem to pull my eyes off him. The way he looks back at me, I feel like he’s having the same problem. Two strangers, staring at each other for no good reason at all. As he leads me through a forest full of tents, of fae who stare at him with nothing but respect in their eyes, I wonder what happened here. Children’s laughter echoes along with dragon roars, and no one so much as blinks at the dragons flying high above. There’s a quietness, a stillness, even with dragons, that I’ve never seen before. Maybe it’s because there are no vampyres here.

Calix leads me up to stone gates, which are broken, smashed in, along with a stone wall used to mark the property outskirts, but now it’s nothing but dirty stone and ivy. There’s scorched markings on the ground that we walk over, nothing but black lines in the grass. He takes me through, down a cleared path, and I stare up at the giant old mansion that seems to appear out of nowhere. It’s got towers, tall structures, and hundreds of windows. Fae are walking in and out of the front door with ease.

I slide off my horse, only to see a familiar face. I recognize the woman handing out blankets. I don’t know the handsome man at her side, but he immediately steps in front of her, protecting her. “Who the fuck is this, Calix?”

Story Dehana turns to face me. Her eyes widen when she sees me. “Avaluna? Is that really you?”

I’m as shocked as she is, but words escape me. I can only nod. Calix frowns. “You know her?”

Story rushes over to me and pulls me into a tight hug. I didn’t know how much I needed that hug until I let myself sink into her embrace. “Hi.”

She grins at me as she pulls away, searching my face like I might have the answers to the questions written there. There are strange dragons drawn all over her arms in black ink, but her hair is braided in the same way she usually does, as she had it when we met. There’s a light to her eyes that I’ve never seen there before. She looks healthy, less pale, less downtrodden. Her skin is glowing, her bones are no longer sticking out of her cheeks, and she seems to have filled out. Freedom suits her. She doesn’t look like someone who’s drained every day of blood and fucked until they feel like they can’t walk anymore from the pain.

I smile softly at her until I dare to move my eyes to the intimidating fae man who is standing close. I gulp. There is a black moon on his face, black soft locks sweeping into his face, but there is a scary feeling to him that makes my stomach drop. “This is King Ziven of the Moon Dynasty. The dynasties were what split our lands years ago and ruled us in peace. The vampyres hid our history and took our power along with it. It’s all here, in the books and the people.” She steps back into King Ziven’s arm, which possessively curls around her waist. “What are you doing here? How are you here?”

The way this king holds her, the way she sinks into his touch without an inch of fear…I want that. I want to have someone I can trust like that. I clear my throat, the pressure of them all staring at me making me want to shrink. “The queen of the vampyres.” I notice how Story tenses. How badly did the queen torture her? I carry on. “She turned against the king for her youngest daughter’s freedom, and she freed me too. I didn’t expect it, we had no relationship or friendship prior. She decided that she was done being his queen. I don’t know why, but she packed up everything and made a plan. A foolproof plan for me and the princess to get here.”

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