Page 50 of Cursed Crowns

Rose sat bolt upright, smacking her head against something hard. There came a muttered curse, and, as her eyes adjusted to the morning sunlight, she realized she’d headbutted Kai in the nose.

On the other side of the bed, where he was pulling on his boots, Shen wheezed with laughter. “Some warrior witch you are,” he said. “Nearly got yourself knocked out by a slumbering royal. I did tell you not to wake her.”

Rose rubbed her forehead, trying to cast off the horror of her nightmare. She frowned at both of them. “How long have you two been awake?”

“Hours,” said Kai, his voice stuffy as he held his nose. “Ever since that damned wolf started chewing on my hair.” He glared pointedly at Elske, who was curled up by the door. “Butsomeone”—he jerked his head in Shen’s direction—“insisted we let you sleep.”

“What?” Rose scrambled out of bed. “What time is it?”

“It’s barely an hour after sunrise. You needed rest,” said Shen as he retied his hair in its leather strap. “And you were talking in your sleep,” he added, with a wink. “We wanted to eavesdrop.”

“Oh no.” Rose felt herself pale. “What was I saying?”

“Oh, Shen!” cried Kai in falsetto. “Why didn’t you tell me you were cousins with the most handsome man in Eana? I wish I could kiss him instead.”

Shen crossed the room in a blur to punch his cousin in the shoulder. “I can’t believe I’m related to you.”

“What was I really saying?” she asked, praying she hadn’t screamed in her sleep. Or, worse, fawned over Shen. Oh, she’d die of embarrassment.

“You said Wren’s name a few times, but mostly you were talking about food,” said Shen, and Rose could hear the laughter in his voice. “At one point, it sounded like you were listing all your favorite things to eat. Chocolate, cheese, jam, bread, gooseberry tarts...”

“I am rather hungry,” Rose admitted, with great relief. “Do you think we could also have some tea before we set off?”

“By all means, Queenie, have your tea.” Kai rolled his eyes. “Why rush ourselves to uncover an entire kingdom of people trapped beneath the desert?”

“A good cup of tea sets the day in motion,” said Rose as she scooted out of bed, stopping to pet Elske before she sought out her hairbrush. “Everyone likes tea. I bet evenyoulike tea.”

“Can’t stand the stuff,” said Kai. “Unless it’s been spiked with whiskey.”

“I’m sure.” A thought occurred to Rose, then. She set the brush down. “How has the Sunkissed Kingdom lasted this long without provisions?”

“Because it knows how to survive,” he said simply. “The Sunkissed Kingdom is thousands of years old, Queenie. As old as Eana, the first witch. It was built by ancient magic.” He stalked to the window, his eyes straining as if he could see the lost kingdom shimmering just beyond the horizon. “It’s always been able to disappear at will. To hide when it needs to. From desert storms. From enemies.”

“From me,” muttered Shen, who was idly fingering the ruby ring that hung from his neck.

Kai frowned. “Eighteen years ago, something went wrong. The kingdom hid but we couldn’t undo it. We couldn’t be found. We lost the wind, the sun, the horizon. The desert became our sky. Our earth.Our world.” His voice turned distant, and Rose saw in Kai the same glassy-eyed wistfulness that came over Shen whenever he spoke of his childhood in the desert. “But the magic that kept us trapped beneath the sands provided for us, too. In the Sunkissed Kingdom, there’s a place called the Hall of Bounty, a chamber that offers us whatever we need—water, food, weapons,whiskey...” He rolled his hand.

“What about sunlight?” said Shen. “Didn’t you need it to train?”

Rose was just about to ask the same thing. She knew warriors were charged by the sun. It was the source of their magic, the very root of their energy.

“It gave us that, too,” said Kai. “On training days, when I visited the hall, it would fill with streaming sunlight. The walls themselves would shine, the ceiling glittering so brightly it would burn tears in my eyes. But I didn’t care. I would stand in the middle of that room, with my arms flung out, gathering the energy to me.” He turned from the window. “But it was never the same. Our people deserve to feel the true sun on their faces again.”

Shen tucked the ring back under his shirt. “We’ll find them.”

Kai nodded at Rose. “Just as soon as the queen has her tea, right?”

“I’ll forgo my tea,” said Rose quickly. “We’ll take our breakfast on the road.”

Shen managed to charm the kitchen staff into giving them a parcel of bread, cheese, and jam for the road. They were in the middle of sneaking Elske out of the room, when a maid caught sight of the massive wolf in the stairwell and let out a scream loud enough to wake the entire town.

“Big dog, isn’t she?” said Rose, cheerfully patting Elske’s head. “She’s as friendly as anything.”

Elske growled at the maid, sending her scurrying past them.

Outside, the wolf stalked back and forth between Victory and Storm, as if daring the horses to gallop off without her.

“That beast is going to slow us down,” said Kai, glaring at her. “And she’s not riding with me.”

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