Page 54 of A Petal in the Crown

"I promise, I'm fine," Evangeline said, once again reading Lea's mind. "Don't worry about me. You need to rest and focus on yourself. On what must be done."

"That’s all I’ve focused on since I returned," Lea said, a bit more harshly than she’d intended.

"I know, my dear girl. But even if the future isn’t written in stone, one thing is certain. Finding Alaric is of no use unless you learn to take his magic. I've seen his strength. And it only grows. With Eudora at his side…"

Evangeline trailed off, but Lea didn’t need her to finish her thought. She already knew. With Eudora at his side, this war just had just become a lot more difficult. And certainly, far more deadly.

Chapter 33

Lea

Lea struggled to keep her eyes open, fatigue pulling at her bones as she stripped down to her underclothes. The heat was stifling, even in the shade, so she wandered to the stream, praying to the goddess it would give her some much-needed relief.

She didn’t bother including the god of the sun in her prayers. He obviously hated her with the fiery passion of athousandsuns. It was obvious, based on his intense and unrelenting punishment. Lea had hoped that maybe after a few days his temper would dim. That he would realize she and the goddess had made the right decision. One meant to save the people he claimed to love. His people.Theirpeople. But no. Every day just seemed to get hotter, each passing hour bringing them closer and closer to incineration.

Pulling off her socks, Lea dipped her feet into the stream, groaning as the water washed over her skin. She waded further, goosebumps popping up all over her body at the stark contrast between the heat of the red sun and the chill of the water. Once she was about knee deep, Lea sat, relishing in her body temperature cooling as the water gently rushed around her shoulders. Tilting her head back, Lea undid her braid and positioned herself so that the water pulled her hair out behind her in a long golden trail.

It was the most human she’d felt in days, but even the relief from the unending sun did nothing to soothe her frazzled nerves. Eudora had been deceiving them this whole time—for who knows how long. A tiny pang of pity settled in her stomach as she thought about King Tanad. He’d certainly been fooled even worse than the rest of them.

And for what? Power? Riches? Lea wondered what Eudora’s plan had been. Had she been searching for a way to take Alaric’s power for herself? Would she come for Tanad’s power next? Or had she truly cared about him until he’d stood in the way of what she wanted most?

But to deceive him so thoroughly and completely… It was still the most surprising piece of the puzzle. After all, what was the point of holding all the power in the world if you couldn't use it for good? If you couldn't help the people you loved? If there was nobody left to love you back?

"There you are."

Lea snapped her head up as Gray plopped down on the rocky shoreline, pulling off his shoes and rolling up his trousers. He leaned closer to hand Lea a tin plate—dried meat, stale bread, and hard cheese. Her stomach clenched in protest, practically begging her not to eat. She was too anxious. Too overwhelmed.

But Gray wouldn’t be deterred, nodding at the plate and raising his eyebrows. His shadows floated forward as if they weren’t above force feeding her. Lea rolled her eyes, but grabbed a piece of bread and took an obligatory bite. It tasted like tree bark, but she swallowed it down anyway and bit off another chunk. It wouldn’t have mattered even if he’d brought her the most decadent quadruple chocolate cake with fresh berries and caramel. Even the richest, sweetest treat would taste like paper right now.

Lea’s stomach protested, but she kept chewing, forcing herself to swallow and eat some cheese. Who knew when they would have the time to eat again? And she needed her strength more than ever.

"Haveyoueaten?" she asked Gray, noticing he hadn't brought anything for himself.

"I ate mine on the walk over here," he said, splashing water on the back of his neck. "Tasted like dirt." He smirked, and Lea couldn’t help but smile. Even without the mate bond, he could read her so well. "Still finished it, though," he said pointedly.

"I’m going to eat it," Lea said, taking an exaggerated bite.

Gray pushed a thick cloud of shadows over their heads, blocking out a tiny portion of the other worldly bright light. Lea added her own shadows, forcing down a piece of dried meat.

"I don't like this, Gray," she finally said. "Not knowing where we're going.Whenwe’re going. Not knowing what we’re going to find when we get to whatever secret location we’re searching for."

"I don't either," Gray agreed. "Maybe we should rethink this." He tilted his head and clenched his jaw, his fingers cutting into his palms as he squeezed his hands into fists. He was more nervous than she’d seen him in some time, likely because of his lack of control of the situation, but Lea couldn’t blame him. She felt the same.

"We don’t have time to waste on rethinking things," Lea said, forcing her hands to remain at her sides rather than floating up to touch her flower crown.

Gray sighed. "I thought we were ready for anything. I planned for a hundred years. For every contingency. But what I didn't expect was Eudora helping Alaric."

Lea took another bite, chewing mechanically.

"I was thinking more about what Evangeline said. About you taking Alaric’s power…"

Lea swallowed, handing her plate back to Gray. He narrowed his eyes at the few pieces of meat remaining, but didn’t say anything.

"And?" Lea asked, already certain of what Gray was going to say.

"I think it’s a bad idea."

"Gray—"

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