Page 36 of A Trial of Fate

Queen Minaeve moved out into the open meadow while Daxton and Castor remained behind in the silhouette of the shaded trees, their gazes firmly locked onto the queen’s every move. She meandered through the knee-high green grass, her long dress flowing elegantly behind her as the crown of three gems atop her head shimmered in the night.

I held my breath as she approached Shaw and me. On instinct, I reached out and grabbed his hand to try and settle his shaking nervesand my own. What were the criteria for being chosen? How would the High Fae queen know which one of us stood a chance at passing the trials and unlocking the Heart of Valdor?

Minaeve stopped in front of me, and I swore my heart skipped a beat. The cold breeze from before reappeared and wrapped itself around us. It swirled, making the air from our lungs fog as our swift, anxious breaths exited our bodies. The queen’s turquoise stare bore into us, seemingly searching for something just out of her reach.

What was she seeing in us? What was she thinking? She flashed me a half-grin, blinked, and continued walking toward the others for what seemed like a never-ending time loop.

Shaw was visibly shaking now. I didn’t know if it was from the unnatural cold or from the queen’s attention. Regardless of the reason, I moved next to him and wrapped my arm around his shoulder to try and settle his nerves.

“It’s okay, Shaw. She passed us… We were not chosen.”

“It’s not that.” Shaw took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. “Sky, someone has to go. I was scared it was you. Hell, I was even nervous it would be me… but it has to be someone.”

Before I could think of a way to comfort Shaw and assure him it would be all right, my own nightmare unfolded before my eyes. Queen Minaeve stopped in front of the youngest group of shifters, turning eighteen only this year or the last, with her gaze set firmly on my cousin, Neera.

She raised her tan-golden glowing hand and pressed it gently onto Neera’s paling cheek. “You, my young darling shifter, will be our champion and compete in the trials.”

No … Not Neera!

My eyes widened, and I gripped Shaw tightly to keep myself from falling over in the meadow. Off to the side, I could see a giant bear shift and take its human form. I had never seen Magnus look more terrified in my entire life. Neera was his baby girl, and since the day she was born, he was at the mercy of his daughter. His love for her would shatter worlds. He loved and cared for me as his own, but Neera was his heart and soul. He tore through the brush, not even bothering to find his discarded clothing, and barreled toward Neera and the High Fae queen.

“No, Magnus!” In a blink of an eye, Alistar shifted out of his wolf form and stood in his beta’s path. “You cannot interfere. That isan order.”

Magnus’s loyalty to our pack and the alpha was iron-clad. Never wavering. Even when my father Emery died in battle against the humans and Alistar took his mantle, Magnus was there to lend his support. This, however, was something different. This was Neera—and everyone knew how protective he was over his gentle, kind-hearted daughter.

Tears were streaming down Neera’s cheeks as the color drained from her sweet, freckled face. Her green eyes were so wide I could see them from across the distance. She didn’t want to go. She was utterly petrified.

“Father… please…” Terror radiated in her pleading voice.

The sound of his daughter in distress sent Magnus into a rage. The roar of a bear erupted from his human chest, and it made everyone in the meadow flinch. He stepped forward to press against Alistar’s hand, but the alpha grabbed him around the neck and forced him back. Magnus struggled to push Alistar aside, but the power of the alpha command, combined with his strength, was not something Magnus could overcome.

“I’m sorry, my friend,” Alistar said with remorse as he forced Magnus back.

A scream of pain rang across the night, and I immediately recognized that it was Julia’s mountain lion cry. While Magnus’s roar was filled with anger and aggression, hers was one of sorrow and loss. It was enough to break even the stone-cold heart of an emotionless hunter.

Tears dampened my cheeks and dripped onto the grass. “No. Not… Neera.”

Shaw turned to me with concern etched in every creased line of his face and desperation lingering in his eyes. “She won’t survive the trials, Skylar.” He only confirmed what I knew we were all thinking.

There was no telling what these trials held, but… no. Not Neera. The High Fae had been extremely cryptic, but we all knew she would not survive them. She would merely be a sacrifice to hold off the wilt for another century until another shifter was called for the task.

Without thinking further, I let go of Shaw and drew my shoulders back so I could yell across the open night air. “Take me,” I shouted.

Every pair of eyes snapped to me in both animal and humanform. I could feel the stares prickling across my skin, yet I knew what I had to do.

“I will compete in the trials. I will travel to the Inner Kingdom and unlock the Heart of Valdor.” I didn’t know if I could achieve this task, but the alternative was not an option. Neera would not be chosen.

A strange sense of calmness settled in my limbs, combined with a surge of strength swirling inside me. My animal agreed with my decision. She was balancing my fear with beats of courage that surged through my being.

“Take me.” I didn’t say it as an option. The High Fae would be bringingmeinstead of Neera. I walked away from Shaw, confidently standing alone in the meadow.

It was too late to get cold feet now.

Minaeve tilted her head to the side, meticulously examining me from head to toe like I was some kind of spectacle. Slowly, she released Neera from her hold and appeared in front of me in a flash of blinding speed. She circled me, like a predator stalking its prey. I had no clue what she was searching for, but I knew I could not show my fear or doubt. Despite what unknowns I had just pledged myself to, I would be strong for my people. I would be strong for my family, who raised me as their own and never made me feel like I was anything less than their own daughter.

The strikingly beautiful high queen gazed up into my eyes and spoke inside my mind,You are more than you appear. Her voice held a delicate air of feminine grace that made it easy to underestimate the power she held lurking beneath the surface of a divine face.The trials will challenge your mind, body, and soul. Testing the strength of your own heart to see if you are worthy. You must be willing to sacrifice everything you have and everything you are. None before you have volunteered for this, nor have they survived. Knowing this, do you still desire to declare yourself our champion?

She was giving me the choice to turn away, but I knew I could not take it. I could not live with the idea of Neera going instead of me… of anyone going in my place. This was myfate, and I would not turn back now.

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