Page 100 of The Mirror in the Mountain

But to actually put it into practice still rankled.

“I’ll just be a minute,” I promised, kissing Tobias’s and Eva’s sleepy faces on both chubby cheeks. They wore their traveling cloaks as they waited for us by Quinn next to the mirror. Eva’seyes drooped closed as she leaned into her best friend who was already fast asleep on the divan beside her, Tobias yawning widely as he determinedly kept guard beside them.

My eyes locked with Amirah’s, noting the crease in her brow that betrayed her apprehension. “I’ll be right back. There’s something I need to do.”

“Strange how history repeats itself.”

The sprite’s words seemed to echo through me, as they had before. She had been waiting for me, the circle of trees seeming to appear the second I stepped into the forest in a place I knew for sure hadn’t existed before. Her wings fluttered wildly as those black eyes drank me in.

“More death. More war.” Her head cocked at an unnatural angle. “A shame even fae haven’t learned from their pasts.”

I hated that I was leaving, even if we would be free of that war. There was an intrinsic part of me that balked at the idea of running away, of hiding from a threat. But if it meant our children’s futures, the future of this realm…

“I wish we had.”

Perhaps the next generation would finally learn from our mistakes. But that wasn’t why I was here.

“Plenty will pay the ultimate price for the failures of a few.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, even that too loud in the muted forest. “For saving us.”

Those unblinking eyes seemed to widen, her head tilting to the other side. “It wasthemthat was promised. Your young ones,theirfuture. The future queen and the king who will save her. Not…”

When I closed my eyes, it was Adrian’s face that greeted me. The quirk of his smile, the dimple that accompanied it, the love in his gaze. My legs gave out from under me, and I suddenly found my fingers curling into the mossy knoll. I couldn’t stop the tears welling in my eyes as I opened them with a slow, defeated exhale. “Not us. Adrian…wearen’t going to survive this.”

It wasn’t a question. The sprite landed in front of me atop a giant white mushroom. Her large black eyes filled with something that almost looked like regret, her wings drooping forward as if weighed down by something heavy.

“But my children…they’ll live?”

“You will not return to this realm. But if you do not hide your young ones—take them away until they fully come into their power—it is the entire realm that will suffer your fate. Because the False One will win.”

Fate.

The word seemed to echo, reverberating out into the mist shrouding the trees before fully fading away.

“Can you help them? If I’m not going to be…” I choked, the words dying in my throat. “If they need someone after I’m gone…”

My gaze fell to my hands, my knuckles white where they curled into themselves. To the ring Adrian had given me long ago, its shadowy gray diamond shimmering in a familiar way as if to hint at what it truly contained. My plan to leave it here with her had been a contingency. Now the need to do so felt horribly prophetic.

Pulling it off my finger, I held it out to the sprite. “When my daughter returns…I can’t bring this with me, or I risk its magic being tracked. I was going to leave it in the castle but…” A tear ran down my cheek. “Give her this when the time is right. An escape, should she need it. Tell her to remember that ‘the only way out is through’.” My voice trembled as I added, “Please.”

The sprite’s eyes narrowed at the ring in recognition. Then she nodded. My hand shook as I placed it at her feet.

“Be safe,” I whispered as I turned away, rushing back to my children. To myanimawhose days were numbered right along with mine.

Our time together hadn’t been enough. Though if we had been granted an eternity, I doubt it would have been sufficient either. But to leave our children behind with the weight of the world on their shoulders…

My tears fell silently down my cheeks as I ran back toward the castle, pausing by the tree line to take in the home I would likely never see again. By the time I reached its gates, there was nothing left but their dried tracks on my skin.

Chapter 44

Eva

The looming battle felt like the air a heartbeat before a lightning strike. Our horses galloped as quickly as they could through the snowy trail, their ears pricked with anticipation as if they, too, could sense what was coming. Even the snowfall seemed to pause mid-flight, thick, pillowy flakes hovering around us as if forever suspended.

There was a palpable energy in the air as we stopped one last time to feed and water the horses and ourselves. I shoveled down a few handfuls of food I barely registered, even as I ate it, listening to the clink and clatter of metal as soldiers adjusted their armor—strategically placed metal plates, their matte black matching their leathers. Bash had helped me with my own battle gear this morning, the new adornments so magically light and perfectly conformed to my chest and back that I barely noticed the difference in wear. Or perhaps that was because I could hardly focus with what came next.

Our next stop would be the mountain. The only question was who would get there first.

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