Page 32 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses

I felt it.

It was in every breath I took, the heaviness settling deeper in my chest as the months and years stretched on. It was in the way the trees in the Emerald Forest, once sentient enough to whisper to me, had grown quieter, the river slower. The kingdom itself was suffocating under Heliconia’s curse, and we were powerless against it. My magic had strengthened since that horrible night seven years ago, but none of my gifts could stop the curse from spreading.

“She’s right,” I said quietly.

Sonoma’s mouth was a thin slash. “We’ll fight it. Like we always have.”

“We’re draining ourselves,” Lesha said, and though her words were gentle, Sonoma flinched.

“We’ve tried everything,” I whispered bleakly, the words barely audible. “All of it—useless. And now Amanti…” Her name cracked in my throat, a wound too fresh even after six months. “She should’ve been back by now.”

Lesha’s lips pressed into a tight line. “That’s why I’m going after her. She might have found something—an answer, a lead. Something we’ve missed.”

My chest tightened with every word. “What if she didn’t? What if?—”

“I have to try,” Lesha snapped, her voice rising before she sighed, dragging a hand through her hair. “And if the Fateswon’t come to us, I’ll find a way to get to them. We were faithful to them for years. I won’t allow them to turn their backs.”

“Maybe they can’t help,” Sonoma muttered, her gaze darkening as she leaned forward. “Maybe that’s why they’re silent.”

Lesha’s expression hardened. “You could tryhim, you know.”

“Absolutely not,” Sonoma hissed.

I studied them, confused. “Him who?”

Lesha opened her mouth, but Sonoma cut her off with a vicious look. “No one.”

Her tone was angry enough that I let it drop.

Seven years ago, I’d gotten the truth out of them. The secret my parents had kept from me since birth: that I was Chosen by the Fates to save the kingdom. Learning about their lie had hurt me deeply; a wound that had taken a long time to mend.

Believing in my own destiny took even longer.

I still had no idea how I could possibly be the one the Fates had chosen. Especially when they’d refused to answer our summons. But where faith failed, training took over. After years of practicing with the most formidable warriors to walk the realm, I’d honed myself into the weapon they’d bred me to be.

In all the ways that counted, I’d gotten my wish and become one of the Aine. We’d become equals, the four of us. Warriors fighting side by side for the same tenuous future. Until Amanti hadn’t returned.

Her absence had broken something in us all.

Lesha shook her head. “Fine, but the Fates know something—they always know something.”

“The temples are empty,” Sonoma said, her voice brittle. She was angry at the goddesses. I didn’t blame her. “Not even the whitestone is enough to summon them.”

“Then I’ll find another temple,” Lesha insisted stubbornly. “I’ll visit every temple from here to Vorinthia if I have to.”

Sonoma and I exchanged a glance.

Lesha was the last of us who still believed the Fates could be bargained with, that there was still some divine intervention left for us in this cursed world. Her steadfast faith—as naïve as it was—reminded me of Lilah. My sister’s innocence and sweet belief in the good this world had to offer were two of the things I loved most about her. About both of them. I refused to be the one to tell Lesha all the good in the realm was gone.

“Come home,” I whispered to her instead, my throat tight.

She smiled—a small, brittle thing. “I’ll do my best.”

Chapter Eleven

Aurelia

Trapped in a stranger’s bedroom, I accepted the fact that I would have to commit murder if I wanted to make it home. Venturing this far into the Broadlands had been a risk, but I’d had little choice. Apparently, the monsters that prowled here were counting on that.

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