Page 30 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses

Aurelia

Seven years later…

The castle library felt as hollow as my own heart. In my childhood, I’d avoided this room, dreading the boring lessons I’d been forced to take here. The ancient history tomes I’d been made to read and report on to my tutors. I would have much rather been outside in the forest, training with a sword or exploring on my horse. In the last seven years, however, this library had become a retreat from the threats that lurked beyond the walls. And in a twist of irony that I didn’t find the least bit funny, I’d spent countless hours poring over those same history books, searching for answers—with little to none to show for it.

Now, more often than not, I drank whiskey here instead and practiced my furyfire until the alcohol dulled my magic or snuffed it out entirely. Conjuring fire was a reckless thing to do among all these books. But maybe that was what made me do it. All these precious accounts of Menryth’s greatest magic-wielders, and none explained how or why Sevanwinds remained cursed. Or how I possessed the magic of Hel inside me.

Tonight, I wasn’t alone. Though none of us bothered with the haphazard piles of discarded volumes.

That wasn’t why we were here.

The great hearth crackled with fire, but no one spoke as the three of us gathered around it. My fingers dug into the armrest of my chair, knuckles turning white as I stared at the flames I’d conjured to light the kindling. Inside, my magic writhed and wriggled against the leash I’d learned to keep it on. Not from books but from practice—sweaty, tearful, raging practice. And even now, after such careful mastery, it wanted out. To fight. To rage. To curse every obstacle and horror we’d faced in the last few years.

I had too much control to let it.

But today, the temptation alone left me gritting my teeth.

Sonoma sat across from me, her silver hair glinting in the firelight, the same stern expression she always wore fastened in place—guarded but tired. The circles beneath her eyes were dark, suggesting sleepless nights and worrisome days. They were deeper ever since Amanti left.

No, since Amanti hadn’t returned.

Lesha stood by the window, her curvy silhouette framed by the dark sky. Her translucent wings were tucked in tight against her back; a sign of her tension. Outside, the world looked quiet, untouched. But we knew better. The curse was suffocating us, inch by inch. Year by year. Failure after failure. And now… Amanti had been gone for six months with no word.

In the past seven years, she’d made many trips across the continent to search for answers, and while none had yielded a cure, she’d always returned in one piece. This last one had been to follow a lead into the southern territories to a placecalled Vorinthia. The southernmost part of the continent where the remote and mostly uninhabited lands had once held a powerful tribe of magic-wielders now lost to the eons. According to our research, Vorinthia had been the last kingdom to wield magic as strong as Heliconia’s.

But Amanti hadn’t returned.

Her absence felt like a blow to the hope we’d managed to hang onto these last years. Hope for answers. For a way to end this purgatory.

Lesha’s voice broke the heavy quiet. “I’ve made a decision.”

I tore my gaze from the fire and looked at the dark-haired Aine who was like an aunt to me.

Her expression was pinched as she said, “I’m leaving tomorrow.”

My breath hitched in my chest. I’d known this was coming, had seen it in the determination that had hardened her normally soft features over the last few weeks. But hearing it still sent a wave of dread through me.

“Where do you intend to go?” I asked.

“South.”

To search for Amanti—and whatever kept her away.

“Is that safe?” I asked.

Lesha hadn’t left on her own for quite some time. Amanti had always been the stealthier of the two—and the one most willing and ready to sacrifice herself for us all. I tried not to think about that part. “If anyone finds you, they’ll know we’re here?—”

“No one will find me.”

Neither of us pointed out that someone had likely found Amanti already.

Besides, maybe she was right, and no one would notice her. The realm had bigger problems these days than an Aineno one had seen for seven years, even one presumed dead at the hands of Heliconia’s death curse.

Years ago, Amanti and Lesha had spread rumors to the other kingdoms that the Summer Court had succumbed to a dark enchantment that still hung over the entire city like a poisoned cloud. Fear had kept out all but the bravest—or most reckless—and any who dared try to come anyway were met with impenetrable wards thanks to the Aine’s magic.

After that, word spread that everyone inside these walls had fallen that night at the solstice party. Treasure hunters arrived in droves at first, but none managed to get through. Soldiers and mercenaries sent their recruits to test their strength and bravery against the magic that kept everyone out. Over time, they all stopped trying. It had been a year since a single soul had triggered the security traps Sonoma put in place. The loneliness that came with the solitude of surviving was enough to hollow me out. Some days, I pretended the rest of Menryth had died with us. It was easier than knowing they were out there somewhere.

It was a devastating thing to be thought dead—and then forgotten. But it was our best chance at surviving long enough to end this nightmare.

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