Page 36 of Essence of the Throne

The Khyla wanders to the tip of my finger, closing the distance between its little body and my curious eyes. My expression is a mirror of Caspian’s when I showed him my umbral strand.

“Do you see it?” I murmur, entranced. The Khyla flits its wings, as if acknowledging my question, and I can’t help the small smile that blooms on my lips—an unguarded moment I immediately wish to snuff out. But I’m too focused on the translucence of the moth, appearing to be made of the glow itself. Their bodies are physical, but not. Neither here nor anywhere else. They just are.

It’s strange…I’d be convinced this was a mere dream if I didn’t know in my gut that these are as Caspian said. Though I don’t have the sense that they’re measuring our intentions. It feels more like a greeting. As they close in around Caspian and me, their fluttering begins to sound like whispers.

The prince drifts closer, his breath warm against my neck. “They seem drawn to you,” he remarks, eyes tracing the delicate contours of my face. “It’s almost as if they…” My eyes slide to his and pause for a moment. The warmth of the Khyla’s glow sinks across the expanse of his skin, contrasting the cool silver of his irises. It’s beautiful.

“As if they, what?” I study his features, unconstrained, allowing myself a moment to appreciate him while we’re safe within the Khyla.

He shakes his head. “Truthfully, I don’t know. Their glow just seems familiar.” I nod and drop my head to his chest when the moth lifts from my finger. I do not cuddle or engage in such intimate behaviors, but there’s a thickness in my soul pushing me into his arms. I go willingly, needing a few seconds ofhimbefore I force myself to pull back.

He looks at me with such adoration that it stings—probably the fucking moths making us feel far more deeply than normal. “They don’t seem to hate us. Perhaps they’ll tell the Palmluvela we’re not here to kill anyone and we’ll finally get answers.” He snorts at my words, looking as exhausted as I feel.

My mind drifts from awareness as I sink into the realization that, for the first time in my life, in this moment, I feel unequivocally safe and content.

Image of Ariella and Caspian surrounded by the Khyla.

Chapter Twelve

Ariella

Asharp sting radiates over my hip, painful enough that it wakes me. I groan and roll to my back, barely slipping back into unconsciousness before another sting forces my hand. I shove at Caspian before murmuring, “Prince, I told you I don’t fucking cuddle. Stay over there.” He doesn’t respond, nor does the pattern of his breathing change.

That may have been enough to satisfy me and allow sleep to take me once more, but something fresh and pungent settles in the damp air. A mere heartbeat later, I have my blade against the throat of whoever the fuck thought it was a good idea to step into our tent.

Unlucky for them.

My eyes are quick to focus, marking the two people who are crouched over me and Caspian. The one I assume was poking me drags his blade over my hip until it’s pressed deeply into my abdomen. I glance between the two and note the elongated blade the second holds over my sleeping prince.

If I slit this one’s throat, the other will get to Caspian before I can. If it were only me in here, they’d already be dead. But with him? That is not a risk I am willing to take.

The three of us remain quiet as we study each other. If they invaded our tent to hurt us, they could have done so when we were sleeping instead of waking me. They must want something.

But that is not a conversation I will have with Caspian’s life at risk, so I hold the knowing eyes in front of me and nod toward the entrance of the tent. He nods, barely perceptible in the lack of light. He pointedly looks at my arm that holds the blade, but I shake my head and tip it at the other person.

We watch each other, both of us trying to determine if the other will hold their word when weapons are drawn back. The man makes a decision and nods at his friend, who withdraws his blade and scuttles out of the tent without question.

My heart pounds as the remaining figure eyes the blade in my hand. I can sense Caspian’s tension behind me, the way he instinctively shifts, though he still remains unaware of our predicament. “Now,” I whisper, voice low and dangerous, “your turn.”

The intruder’s lips twitch into a smirk that serves to fuel my anger. “You’re just as they say,” he concedes, but there’s a sly glimmer in his eyes. Who? “Careful with that edge out here, love.”

“Do they teach you to mock your captors where you come from?” I counter, pressing the blade just hard enough to draw a bead of crimson from his throat. It slides down and mixes with the sweat pooling on his skin. “You’re still here because I’m generous. But that generosity has limits.”

His eyes flicker, momentarily darkening as the bite of my blade registers. But the smirk remains, twisted as if he finds humor in the unpredictability of the moment.

“Generosity, is it?” he muses, voice low enough not to wake Caspian, but taunting enough to push my patience. “We’ve heard much of your…benevolence.”

“Then you know not to test it further,” I reply, my voice a taut threat.

The man’s gaze darts past me, settling on Caspian. “If I were here for the Prince of Eldoria, he’d be gone by now,” he says with a strange mix of resignation and conviction. “But we do not want him.”

His words prickle under my skin. I shove him back and follow as he removes himself from the tent. I stand at guard, protecting what's mine, surveying the area to find at least two dozen men. “Then who sent you?”

“We are not sent, silver one,” he answers, a hint of offense coloring his tone. “The forest heard you coming long before you arrived. They are not pleased, yet they are curious and eager to meet you.”

My eyes narrow. “They?”

“The Seer,” he clarifies, his expression softening for the first time. “They wish to speak with you both. But understand this: our people do not welcome outsiders lightly. Your people have already disturbed the balance of the realms. However, the Seer believes you will restore what has been stolen, so you and the prince are permitted to enter our home.”

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