Page 25 of Queen of Stars and Shadows

Owyn, who is sitting to my right, reaches out and touches my knee. “Think about it, Sarielle. I know you don’t want to leave Zyren, but staying could get you killed. That achieves nothing.”

I look down, my fingers twisting around each other in knots in my lap. It’s not just Zyren. I can’t tell him about my deal with the demon. It’s too awful, my shame too great. If I run now, I’m condemning my entire realm. And with these rifts, possibly all of Aureon. There will be not one, but two terrible enemies roaming freely, hellbent on destroying everything good.

“I can’t. I’m sorry.” I look over at him. “You should go. Take Lilette.”

“And leave you here alone?” My friend looks deeply wounded. “I am not leaving you, not after we were reunited.”

“I can’t live with your blood on my hands, Lilette,” I say pleadingly. “Please go with them.”

She shakes her head violently. “Just as you can’t go, I can’t either. End of discussion, Sarielle.”

“You know I go where you go,” Owyn says to me. “I made a promise to your mother, and I won’t break that oath.”

I sigh and reach out and squeeze their hands. “You are good friends.”

Owyn stares into the embers for a moment, his brow furrowed in contemplation.

“What is it?” I ask.

“If you had full control of your magic again, you could make the nightmares turn against Avonia,” he says.

I frown. “Yeah, but it’s still so weak. I could barely even break the lock on my cell.”

Zara locks eyes with me. “We’ve all noticed that our magic is lessened here, though not as badly as yours. You mentioned the High Priest had something to do with that.”

“Yes. I’m not sure how he’s doing it, but he keeps it almost entirely contained.”

She shrugs. “Well, what if you could free that magic? Maybe that will help you get your strength back so you can command your nightmares once again.”

I chew on my lower lip. “I mean, that could help, but I have no idea how he does it. How he keeps the magic so tightly controlled.”

“I think I do,” Lilette says.

My head swivels toward her. “You do?”

“After the first time you visited me in my dreams, you warned me not to trust him. Well, I started watching him more closely. One night, he summoned me into his chambers to share wine,and I noticed a door at the back of the room. It was closed, but there was a faint glow coming from the crack underneath it. He noticed me looking at it and told me he kept some rare crystals for special rituals. But something about it didn’t sit right. It might be nothing…”

“Or it could be everything,” Zara says. “It’s certainly worth a look—the palace is abandoned now, yes?”

“Yes,” Lilette says.

“And it’s not terribly far from here,” I add.

Owyn runs a hand over his face. “I don’t know that it would return all of your magic—I still think the rifts are the cause of your drain. But if you got even some of it back, that would help. And we’re running slim on options.”

I mull over his words. If we detour and go to the Amethyst Palace, only to fail in freeing the magic, we’ll have wasted a day when I have such limited time left before the demon is freed. But if we find what’s controlling the magic, and I get evensomepower back, I have a chance, at least. A chance to defeat Avonia and reclaim my throne in the Court of Nightmares.

“As you said, I don’t have many options. We should try it.” I turn to Zara and Asher. “But I agree you two should find others who can join us against Avonia. If I can regain control of my magic and the nightmares, and we have an army to fight with us, we stand a chance.”

“It sounds like the queen has given her orders,” Owyn says with a small smile.

“I am queen of nothing at the moment,” I say softly. “All I truly want is for our realms to be safe, and Zyren back at my side.”

“I guess we will bid you farewell, then,” Asher says, rising from his seat at the fire.

Zara gets up with him, and we exchange goodbyes.

“Thank you for trusting me,” I tell them. “I won’t ever forget it.”

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