Page 130 of A Trial of Fate

“The reason you fail the trials.”

I staggered back a step, my brows raised in surprise as I sucked in a breath through my teeth. He did have a valid point. Even if my body disagreed, my mind identified the sound logic in what he said.

“All right.” I sighed heavily, looking down at myself, embarrassed by my reaction to the veil’s magic. It had lowered my inhibitions, and apparently, it was the same for Daxton. “I’m sorry, Daxton. I shouldn’t have crossed that line.”

“No, Skylar!” His voice pitched. “I didn’t intend to make you feel this way about our kiss.” He reached for my hand, but I hesitated and moved it away before he could latch on. The look on his face said that I might as well have slapped him. “I deserve that, I guess.”

“What do you want fromme, Daxton?” I asked the same question he said to me earlier on this ship. “I don’t like these mind games you’re playing with me. I am learning what I can from Castor, and I expect the banter and confusion from him—but not you. I expect honesty and openness.” I was practically yelling at him, and I didn’t really understand why. He was conflicted because he didn’t want me to lose focus and miss out on learning any skillset that could make the difference between me dying during the trials or winning.

That was the whole reason I was here, wasn’t it? But I dared to ask myself, was that enough? “I guess I’m conflicted too,” I said with a lowered voice, wrapping my arms around myself tightly. “So, we are both on the same page with our feelings in that respect, at least.”

He gave me an empathetic toothless grin while huffing a breath and leaned on the railing next to me. “Yes, it seems we are.”

“Do we have to make a decision about this right now?”

“Not if you don’t want to. No, we don’t,” he replied.

“All right then, let’s agreenot totalkabout us right now. And focus on the chaos of everything else happening around us.”

“I will respect your wishes, Spitfire. Always.” He was oddly quiet for a moment, so I dared to glance sideways at him. “Even though I will be reliving that moment in my mind over… and over again.” My mouth practically hung open with a look of shock and embarrassment flushing my cheeks.

“What?” Daxton shifted, turning his shoulders toward me. “Am I supposed to deny that I find you attractive or that our kiss was something I will forever cherish? You just stated that you expected honesty and openness from me.” That smug grin revealing one of his dimples ignited my core for multiple reasons. “There it is.”

“How do you do that?”

“What exactly?” Daxton asked as he arched his brow with a gleam in his eyes. I shook my head and stared back out toward the sea. “By the way, have you even noticed it yet?” Dax asked, nudgingme to turn around and look at what was ahead of us.

“Noticed…” I stopped, realizing I had been so preoccupied with our conversation that I had almost missed it.

There it was, the Inner Kingdom. The first landmarks along the shoreline reminded me of my own home, but instead of a tan sandy beach, this one was black. The forest behind it was dead, with wilting plant life surrounded by shadow. Thick veins of black vines threading through the landmass beyond the blackened sand.

“Is that the—”

“The wilt. Yes.”

The lush greenery that should have been bursting to life from the long branches and thick tree trunkswas gone. The meadows, the forest… it was all gone. There was so much decay it was difficult to fathom or look away. I swallowed a thick breath, understanding that this was the fate of our worlds if I did not succeed.

“I can’t believe this is what you are all living with,” I said in a low whisper.

“This is the most recent area that was overrun. Fortunately, this is not the state of every realm in our lands. Crimson City, Silver Meadows, and Aelius are all warded with most of our queen’s magic. She cannot heal the land that is destroyed, but she can help prevent it from spreading. The magic replenishes her wards that fend off the wilt.”

“Why didn’t she stop this?” I gestured toward the shoreline.

“It appears in different areas, spreading like wildfire once it has a hold of the earth. This northern area was overlooked because it was isolated with little to no fae kind residing here.”

“But there were some.” Dax nodded, and I shuddered, thinking about the fate of the fae who didn’t make it out in time. “Where will we dock?”

“We will enter Niamh Bay, but we will not venture into the city itself. I’m sure word has spread about your arrival, and the faster we reach Crimson City, the better.”

“Couldn’t you simply teleport us all there?”

“Since the queen siphoned my power, I have limited access to my gifts—for now. I cannot travel that far with this many passengers without draining my well of power dry.”

“I see.” I leaned over the rail and quietly watched the shoreline pass us by.

We remained at the front of the ship for the next few hours, silently watching the scenery as we sailed with the wind. The InnerKingdom was different from what I had imagined. Eventually, the decay of the wilt stopped, and the landscape began to change. Trees sprouted to life once more, with thick vegetation stretching as far as my eyes could see. To the right spanned a massive mountain range with the tops still painted white with snow despite the warm climate.

I knew the veil surrounded the island of the Inner Kingdom, but I was still surprised by the illusion it produced. You could see a faint difference when looking toward the magical invisible barrier, but only if you were searching for it. As we sailed into the night, Daxton kindly retrieved us some food, and we dined together on the ship’s deck under a blanket of stars.

---